Three things

First, the loss of the greatest ribs in the world. I'm officially in mourning. Eric and I frequented a restaurant here in Laurel called Hard Times Cafe and I promise, they had absolutely the best ribs I've ever had! Plus amazing nachos and a huge salad with cucumbers that came with the ribs. It was my favorite place to eat! Unfortunately when we returned from our cruise last December, the Hard Times was all boarded up. It was a sad, sad day! But there was still hope... Hard Times is a chain and we knew that there was another one in Columbia, just 20 minutes away. So last Friday night we decided to go try it. Sadly, it just wasn't the same. The waitress wouldn't let us order a "half" order of the nachos like we always do (the regular portion is HUGE), the salad was very small and had no cucumbers, and the ribs were terrible! They were so tough that I had to cut through them with a knife! I felt like crying. The only plus side is that there are other Hard Times restaurants in the area, a little farther away. So we'll give those a try and see if we have any luck. I'll keep you posted as I'm sure you are on the edge of your seat waiting to hear if we've found the long lost best ribs in the world!

Second item of business: duckpin bowling. Last night we went duckpin bowling with some friends and it was so much fun! This special type of bowling is only available up here in yankee land. The lane is the same size, but that's where the similarities with real bowling end. You use a tiny little bowling ball (see picture below) and tiny little pins. And you get 3 tries each frame instead of just 2. You'd think that duckpin would be easier since everything is smaller, but that's far from the truth! It's SO difficult! Mostly I think because when you hit the pins, they don't tend to knock the others over. You have to deliver the ball at just the right angle in order to get multiple pins knocked over. The result is that only 2 of us scored over 100 points all night (Eric and myself, thank you very much)! There are some other pictures posted below of our awesomely fun night. We played girls versus guys. The girls decided to take a "v is for victory" picture before we found out that we were going to lose (it was a complete shock), and then the guys got to sport the real v's for victory after they won...every game!

Lastly, I have majorly important advice to give. If you have a dog, you HAVE TO watch the show "The Dog Whisperer". It's on the National Geographic channel at 8pm on Fridays and they replay it at various times throughout the week. If you don't have the National Geographic Channel, then you can still read Cesar's blog on his website (see link above). We have learned SO much from the show and this guy's techniques really do work! An absolutely must-watch show for all dog owners!