Sport Bowl Sioux Falls

Thursday, June 26th, 2008 by Alyice

Avoiding the heat and getting out of the rain is easy thanks to Sport Bowl in Sioux Falls. I must have passed by Sport Bowl a hundred times since my mother-in-law moved towards old downtown Sioux Falls but I never gave it a second thought until last week. The kids and I wanted to get out of the house. We wanted something different to do and we wanted it to be “cheap”. So we decided to give Sport Bowl a try.

Upon entering the facility there is a hint of cigarette smoke lingering in the air, but thanks to the ventilation it’s not enough to send my allergies into an attack. Off to the left is a Pro Shop where one can buy a beginner’s bowling kit for just $99.95—something I plan on getting if we decide to make this a regular habit as my fingers are too fat for the ten pound bowling balls—and on the immediate right are vending machines for drinks and candies. A few steps further has you choosing between the small diner on the right or the pool parlor on the left. Straight ahead are the bowling lanes.

On the first visit, we opted for bowling. The prices were pretty reasonable, too. $1.50 for shoe rentals—which my daughter firmly told me grossed her out and if we were to make this a regular thing, she’d need her own pair of shoes—and $2.50 per person, per game.

I must admit that I am a rather poor bowler. For starters, my fingers have always been on the chubby side (even when I weighed in at 120 pounds) so they don’t fit in bowling balls that I can actually lift with ease. Second, playing once a year doesn’t allow for improved skills. And third, I have a natural tendency to twist my arm as I throw the ball down the lane.

You should see me bowl. It’s quite comical. My form is poor and my balls seem to have a mind of their own. Sometimes my fingers get stuck in the ball causing me to fight for a release, other times the ball simply plops right out of my hand making a little thump sounds as it bounces a time or two before finally rolling down the lane, and then there are my gutter balls. I have more gutter balls than one person should be allowed. And yet, I have fun. I get really excited when I actually knock down more than two pins and my kids don’t seem too embarrassed by my little victory dance.

On our second visit, we opted for shooting pool and at just $5 per hour, per table, it was a steal! The pool tables and pool sticks did look a little beaten, but aside from looks they seemed in top shape.

Honestly, I’m no better at pool than I am at bowling. My son thought he was better off choosing me over his younger sister as a partner—boy was he mistaken! Not only did nearly every turn result in hitting the white ball into a pocket, but I cost us the game once by hitting in the eight ball. My daughter, my son, and my husband can “play them some pool” so it was no surprise that after the second game, I was asked to sit out so they could play “Cut Throat”. Honestly, I didn’t mind. It was fun just to be there as a family and I really did enjoy them succeeding at something I have yet to master—even got a kick out of their jump shots.

As for the arcade Sport Bowl touts…I’d pass. There are only a handful of games. You’re better off taking a drive to Dave & Buster’s in Omaha, Nebraska and making a day of it.

If you’re looking for an inexpensive family outing and can get out during the day—before the evening crowd of smokers and drinkers arrive—it’s worth the trip! They open at nine in the morning and close sometime after eleven in the evening. Visit Sport Bowl online (http://www.siouxfallssportbowl.com) for more information or drive to 1901 Burnside, Sioux Falls, SD or call 605-336-6063.

Until next time…

Posted in Area Attractions | 2 Comments »

Family Circle

Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 by Alyice

This canvas was designed for my sister-in-law. She’s the one who somehow manages to keep everything together when our worlds are falling apart. I honestly don’t know how I would have survived the deaths of my daughter or my mother without her! She’s also the one who keeps family traditions alive. Oh, how I do miss her family gatherings—living several states apart makes it difficult to attend them.

Before my mother passed away, my sister-in-law had developed a really nice relationship with her so I felt it only appropriate to incorporate a poem that my mother had given me so many years ago. The photo is of my mother-in-law.

The poem reads:

Our family is a circle of love…
Chosen for each other and blessed by God above,
Our family is a circle over everlasting love.

With sharing and support,
Laughter and affection,
Our homemade joy and caring
Deepen our connection.

We’ll keep these tokens with us
So that, near or far apart,
We’ll find each other’s love
Forever close in heart.

I just hope she knows how truly special she really is!

Posted in Wednesday Art | No Comments »

Slowing Down Is…

Monday, June 23rd, 2008 by Alyice

“Life is what happens to you
while you’re busy making other plans.”
– John Lennon

Slowing down is not about being lazy, lacking motivation, or even lacking aspiration. Slowing down is about learning to live in the present moment without always looking foward or moving towards the future. It’s about looking at the world around you and really seeing it—not the blur that often results from living a fast-paced lifestyle. And it’s about truly engaging in life, not just letting it pass you by.

But obtaining or even keeping the “slow down” mentality isn’t always easy; especially since we live in a society that thrives on instant gratification, multi-tasking, the need for speed, and materialism (a.k.a. keeping up with the Joneses of the world).

We live in a society that truly believes our identities are made up of what we do for a living, how successful we are, or what material possessions we own. It’s no longer enough to simply say, “I am a stay-at-home mother on a quest to raise three healthy, happy children.” We must now say, “I am a work-at-home mother running a successful business while homeschooling my three children.” It’s no longer enough to have a comfortable house in which to live, we must have “the” house—the house of status.

So how do we slow down when the odds are stacked against us? How do we slow down and still succeed in both business and life?

Those are questions I’ve been trying to answer myself. It’s easy to say we want to do this or that, but with so many messages bombarding our phsychie on a daily basis, it isn’t always easy to hear our own thoughts, let alone act upon them. That’s why I think it’s important to find like-minded people who believe as we do. In building relationships with people of similar mindsets we can encourage and uplift each other as we strive to make changes in our lives that allow us to live the “slow down” mentality.

I once had a friend who believed the opposite as I and every time I tried to slow down and change the way I was living, I was met with opposition. That opposition caused me to feel guilty—even ashamed—with my decision to live the life I continually felt pulled towards. Eventually our relationship dissolved and I realized that it wasn’t because we didn’t care for one another, it was simply that our lives had pulled us in two totally different directions which often resulted in unnessary conflict.

Besides finding like-minded individuals to hang out with, a few simple changes can help reduce the amount of unwanted stress and unnecessary temptation in our lives. Here are some ways I’ve taken action over the years. I hope they help you, too!

Stop junk mail.
Junk mail not only wastes our natural resources, but causes us to desire things we really don’t need, often have no use for, and more than likely will not use. Visit DMA Choice, Direct Mail, Val-Pak Coupons, Valassis, and Catalog Choice
End telemarketer calls.
Not only are they annoying, but they waste our time. Visit Do Not Call
Reduce email.
Get off listserves and newsletters you get no value from. Filter spam messages by sending them to your trash can before you ever see them. Opt out of spam advertisers by visiting http://www.dmachoice.org/EMPS/
End Credit Card Offers.
No reason to keep tempting yourself with credit card offers that promise you the vacation, the big screen television, or the vehicle you’ve always coveted. Visit Opt Out Prescreen
Tell companies you do business with not to rent or share your information.
When you sign up for a credit card, a magazine subscription, or even donate to charity, your information is sold to like-minded businesses which results in more junk mail, more email spam, and more unsolicited phone calls. Make sure you let companies you do business with know that this is unacceptable.
Limit online and television time.
Both the Internet and television have hundreds of advertisements designed to get you right back into the materialistic mindest. By cutting back on the time you spend surfing the web or watching television, you cut back on temptation and you free yourself for more important stuff like spending time with family and friends and hobbies. I know a couple who Tivos all their movies so that they can watch television on their time and without the commercial interuptions.
Avoid window shopping as a form of entertainment.
How many times have we said, “I’m bored. I think I’ll go window shopping or people watching” only to find ourselves coming home with bags of things we had no intention of buying? Window shopping is a huge American pastime but it does nothing to improve the quality of our lives.
Cut back.
We, Americans, are gluttonous people. I hate to admit it because it’s not flattering in the least, but it’s true. We work ourselves to death so that we can afford things that we don’t necessarily need and can often do without. Working overtime and missing out on life simply to afford the materialistic lifestyle is crazy, as is working overtime to pay for credit card bills with charges that are over two years old.
Declutter.
Take the time to go through your home and weed out anything you no longer use, fit into, or feel a connection to. Then hold a garage sale, open up an eBay account, or visit a “we buy used” shop. What you can’t sell donate to a charity you believe in. Not only will your life feel instantly lighter, but you’ll feel fantastic afterwards.
I don’t know about you, but I personally hate dusting and the more items I own, the more things I have to dust. But more importantly, the more I declutter our home, the more I realize we’ve wasted x amount of our lives working for x amount of items only to discover that they weren’t all they were cracked up to be.
Re-connect.
Make a true connection with Mother Earth, with people, with yourself, with God. Take time to truly live in the presence by giving back to the earth through nature conservacy measures or planting a garden; by spending time with people through physical activities, social gatherings, or games; by rediscovering who you are through creative and intellictual measures, or by finding a spiritual connection.
Delegate.
Delegation is probably the most difficult task to achieve because it means relying on someone else to help you get the job down. It means giving children specific chores, relying on your partner to follow-through, bartering services with someone else, paying someone to complete the task, or simply asking for help from a friend. It’s literally about giving up control and letting someone else handle the reigns so you can move onto other things and that’s not always easy to do. But oh, the rewards are so worth it!