It’s tempting on Friday evenings to come home from work, put on the sweats, and spend the night vegging out on the couch.  Embarassingly, it isn’t that uncommon for me to crash out by 9 on a Friday (yes, I am self-admittedly lame).  But tonight the sunshine drew us outside and we found ourselves at the lawn bowling green just up the street from our house.  Friday night is free “open bowl”, and anyone is welcome to come use the clubhouse balls and grab a lane on the green.  Shane and I did this once last summer and had a fantastic time – I don’t know why it took us so long to get back.  But it must have been pretty apparent that we weren’t regulars, because a very friendly woman approached us as we started to set up our lane and asked if we’d like a lesson.  She gave us a refresher course on the basics and we were left to begin our lawn bowling dual.  Such a great game (similar to bocce ball, but played on a smooth green) in such a great setting (the course is on Beacon Hill and has an amazing view of the city).  The best part?  I think I might have actually found a game in which I can hold my own against Shane.  Finally!  We had a pretty intense head-to-head match going.  Thank goodness our friends J and J showed up to relieve some of the tension.  I’m a competetive player and a terribly sore loser, especially when it comes to losing to Shane (I have been known to throw pieces of sporting equipment or even video game controllers when he really starts to get a lead on me), so it’s always a good idea to have someone else in the mix to mediate the competition.  We switched to pairs mode, which was even more fun, as there were more balls in play and more chances to knock each other out of the way.  Fun stuff, seriously.  This green is such a great little neighborhood jem.  Check it out.