Today was a little bit of a challenge because two of the kids were kinda sick. Not enough to really stay at home in bed but enough to be wary of the kind of bad day we could have since they weren’t feeling 100%. And rain was the order of the day. So late church was in order but I had to take my oldest to Sunday school. She is prepping for communion and can’t miss a class. So wave 1 of the family went early for the 9:30a Sunday school with the rest of the family reinforcing the group for 10:45a church.

That all seemed to go well given how two of the kids felt so we grabbed some lunch at the local Sonic and headed over to where the church bowling event was happening. Now, none of my kids had ever been bowling before. There were about 8 families from the church so we got to meet a few more people. And, man, was it fun. It was so funny to see the kids struggle with the 8 pound ball, manuever it into position, coax it down the lane with their body language and explode with happiness when they knocked over more than one pin. There was even one series where my little boy got a spare, both my girls got strikes, my wife got a spare and I knocked down…..seven. It was pretty funny and we all had a great time. We will definitely have to do that again as a family. NOTE: bumpers are the best thing in bowling since they drilled those three holes in the ball for your fingers.

After church and bowling, I had to race home so I could catch the rest of the NASCAR Daytona 500 (get it?…..”race” home…..hahahaha — I know, that was pretty bad.) I’m a pretty big NASCAR Cup fan and, while I don’t particularly like the Daytona 500, it was a race that had many firsts for me. It was the first race of the season, it was my first NASCAR race here in Kentucky and it was my first race I got to watch in HDTV. And all I can say is “WOW!!!!!”. I got the attic antenna dialed in and tuned it on the 42″ Sony wide screen at around lap 60 (of 200). I was in heaven and my wife just couldn’t see what all the fuss was about. The cars and picture looked spectacular with all the detail. Now I just have to get the cable run so I can remove the “temporary” cable running across the hallway from the attic down the stairs to the TV. If you haven’t seen an HDTV picture yet, especially a sporting event, do yourself a favor and check it out. It is the new wave of TV. Oh, and by the way, my driver won the race so I was thrilled! What a great start for the season. I can’t wait until next week’s race at Fontana, California. This was a race I had been going to since it’s inaugural race in 1997 with my dad and brother-in-law. It was a great tradition but me moving to Kentucky and my bro-in-law moving to Washington state kinda made it difficult to continue it. To all my friends attending next weekend, I will miss you, the BBQ, the comraderie and the fun. Enjoy it for me — I’ll be watching you on TV.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net