Hi-Lo Doubles, Travolta Tragedy, Books and Cars.

I was thrown for a bit of a loop yesterday when I was told at the tournament that I couldn't use my 128 average from the end of last season and had to use my 153 average from November. All kinds of valid reasons. However, I was somewhat annoyed at being told this 5 minutes before the tournament started so I guess it didn't help my bowling - my excuse anyway. I bowled two not very good games but the third game was pretty good. However, my partner bowled well for the first two games so we didn't have any reason to hang our heads and ended up with 96 pins over average. The winners were well in the 200s for their poa, so we were not even close. Enjoyed ourselves though. Matt and my partner's husband ended up bowling as well to fill in for people who didn't turn up. Their scores were not counted or anything, but it meant they didn't have to just sit and watch. I don't understand people who just don't turn up. There may have been others in their league who would have enjoyed taking part, but these people just throw away the opportunity without thought. Very sad news on the TV this morning, the Travolta family have just lost their 16 yr old son Jett who hit his head in the bath and subsequently died whilst they were on holiday in the Bahamas. Read an article here about the incident on Friday. One of the most tragic things that can happen is to lose a child. I read an article this weekend about dealing with reactions to the heavy snow conditions and current financial crisis by reading stories about people in worse conditions i.e. the siege of Stalingrad during the second world war. Funny, to me, I prefer to read happy stories not tales of people in worse situations than myself. Currently I am reading my first, but certainly not my last, Jennifer Fallon story. Its called The Immortal Prince and is part of her newest Tide Lords series. I can't wait to get the rest of them although I don't think they are available in North America yet. I just finished the second book in the Winds of the Forelands tetralogy by David B. Coe, Seeds of Betrayal, which was very good too. I have ordered the next in the series from the library so should get it quite soon. We had car problems this weekend. Specifically yesterday, we thought we wouldn't be able to get to the tournament as the car wouldn't start. Then when we left the bowling alley it wouldn't start again. We had a new starter motor a few months ago because we were having problems, but it didn't fix it so we need to go back and make a noise about it. The car goes totally dead for a while and after a number of tries, it will eventually start. Weird business altogether. Here is another recipe from my original Weight Watchers cookbook which we have made many times over the years and always enjoyed. Fish Creams Serves 4 8 oz cooked smoked haddock (or any other smoked fish, can also use canned salmon or tuna) 1/4 pt. water juice of 1/2 a lemon salt freshly ground black pepper 8 oz. cottage cheese 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce few drops Tabasco sauce Paprika pepper Poach the haddock until tender in a pan with the water, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Drain the fish and discard any bones and skin and mash the fish with a fork to form a coarse texture. Add the cottage cheese, Worcestershire and Tabasco sauce, mix well and adjust seasoning. Place in individual ramekin dishes and chill in the fridge. To serve, sprinkle with paprika and place on hot dry toast (1 oz. per person). Have a great day.