We’re sitting in the stands. . .
and Warwick is keeping the books.  You know for softball. How many runs, number of pop-ups, where balls are going in the outfield, all the little details he loves so much.

He points to center field and yells to the positioning coach, ” The ball is going to short stop! Slow runner on second. Tag her – – – then throw to first!”

And then all hell broke loose.

It was a total blur.
The pitching coach starts pointing at Warwick, hateful and sharp. “Don’t talk about my girls like that!” Eyes glaring. Nose pinched.

A lady dressed in a cotton red TIGHT sundress, slowly pulls herself from her seat and starts gurgling, “That’s my baby he’s talking about! YOU betta not be talkin’ bout my baby! MY baby ain’t slow. . . . .”

And then. . . . . .
my sweet darling husband starts hollering and rebutting and refuting his case.
He’s pointing in all directions, standing up, sitting down, and then laughing in an odd ‘you crazy nonsensical people’ sort of way.
There is so much yelling that it all becomes a blur.
I make sure my mom has the little girls in case the lunatic hooker woman comes over, and I have to take off my rings and go scrappy on her.
I reach over to Warwick and rub his arm.
It’s like the Starship Enterprise is going down, and we don’t know if we’re going to make it out alive. But we know we’ll go down fighting.

I don’t say anything, but I gently touch his arm again, which tells him please be quiet. It’s okay. You’re not wrong, but just let it go.

Before it’s all said and done, one of our coaches gets thrown out of the game for standing up for my husband.
Another one of the other teams coaches gets thrown out for yelling obscenities.
I think . . . . . I yelled . . . . . .something I shouldn’t have.
My stomach got sick.
The girls went on to play 4 more games.
And they won the District Championship.

And now, we’ll be doing it all over again this weekend in State.
Hopefully.
Less the drama.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

My life these days is on the cusp of change.
Everything is going by so fast, that suddenly I don’t even have the chance to write it all down.

Right now we are in the height of All Star Softball season with Bella and Soledad, so we are all softball, all the time. Which is why I haven’t had as much time as I’d like for writing.

But I think I’m going to start trying something new.
Writing no matter what.
With or without pictures.
With or without recipes.
I’m just going to let you know what’s going on.
And hopefully you’ll let me know what your thinking too.

So here’s to life always on the change.
May we be able to keep up!

XOXO – Nicki

Zucchini Soup
I’ve been cooking a little differently lately. Lots of things that keep well in the fridge, that can be eaten quickly and prepared fast too!  This soup is EXTREMELY Healthy, easy and total comfort food. The recipe comes from my girlfriend Laura, who prepares this for her daughter often. She blends her version up with an immersion blender, but I decided to leave it whole (slightly smashing it with a potato masher), because I like the chunky bits.

Ingredients:
2 TB Olive Oil
4 zucchini
1 potato
1 carrot
1 Leek
1 Sweet Onion
chicken or vegetable stock, to cover
salt and pepper, to taste
2 TB of soft cheese like Goat cheese or Laughing Cow Cheese, plus more for garnish

Directions:

1. In a large pot, heat oil on medium high heat. Add chopped onion. Cook 3-5 minutes. Add remaining vegetables. Cover with stock. Cook for 30 minutes or until soft. Season with salt and pepper. Add 2 TB of soft cheese. Stir until melted. Serve warm with extra cheese on top!