Howdy, folks.

Trying out my cowgirl lingo.

I think I'll pass.

So, not a whole lot to share this morning. The weather here has been beautiful for the early part of November. The Princess and I have gone for a walk a couple of days now, and hopefully we'll manage to get a couple more walks in since it's supposed to be nice for the rest of the weekend.

The boys are off to school.

Hubby is off to work.

I'm still trying to finish my manuscript, but for as wonderful as Her Majesty has been when we're taking walks, she's not so accommodating when I'm trying to type.

It's very irritating.

So I'll be sneaking in paragraphs here and there, doing my best to keep her distracted while I try to work.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend, and have warm, sunny weather to play in.

Later.

Good morning.

Well, I'm going to tell a funny on myself today because I feel like a total idiot and maybe y'all will get a good laugh in the middle of the week.

So last night, Hubby and I were working on dinner. We decided to make toasted sub sandwiches just because it sounded good and we didn't have to do a lot of "cooking".

We got all the ingredients out, and I remembered we'd brought home a ton of home-grown peppers from my mother's house over the weekend. A neighbor across the street from her has a garden and has been very generous in sharing with our family. And the peppers varied from green & red, jalapenos, etc.

So we're cooking and I grabbed a banana pepper; nice, mild, slightly sweet. I cleaned out the seeds, cut it into strips, and my son asked for a bite.

Sure.

I handed him a piece.

He took a bite.

His face turned bright red, he started panting and drooling, and waving his hand at his gaping mouth.

"It's hot! It's hot!" he screamed.

We gave him a glass of milk and Hubby stared at me. I stared back.

"They're only banana peppers," I said. "They shouldn't be hot."

Hubby popped a piece in his mouth. Same reaction. Red face, drooling, panting. "Not banana peppers!" He chugged from the jug of milk.

Well, yes, actually they are banana peppers, but I found out that if you plant sweet peppers close to spicy peppers, they become cross-pollinated and result in spicy peppers.

And the worst part is that I got those seeds and the oil all over my fingers and no matter how many times I washed my hands last night, I still couldn't get the spicy off them.

My mouth burned every time I got my fingers near it. Managed to burn my eyes when I was washing my face before bed. My skin sizzled all night.

Totally felt like a moron.

So I'll probably be avoiding peppers for a while, and I think my son probably will, too.

Hope the rest of your week goes well.

Later.

Hi everyone!

Monday again, and we're back to the grind after a busy weekend. We took the kids to my Mom's house for Halloween, and we got a ton of candy. I don't think they'll be able to eat it all anytime soon.

Of course, being my kids, they'll probably have it finished by the end of the week.

I got to stay the night with my sweet little nephew, and he was totally adorable, as usual.

We hurried home on Sunday afternoon so I could stop by my friend Lacy's baby shower, which was totally cute.

And today, because of the time change, the boys were up very early and ready to go to school. Like, arguing with me because we couldn't walk out the door that very moment.

I'm really liking the change this year because the kids are going to bed early, we're up earlier without feeling exhausted, and I've already gotten the dishes and a couple of loads of laundry going.

Of course, the Princess is feeling really good, and has been into everything all morning long. Hopefully she'll wear herself out playing this morning and will take a great nap this afternoon.

And I guess that's it for us. I need to go switch the laundry and start folding. Exciting. Not.

Have a great week.

Later.

Hello, all.

It's Friday!!! Yay!!!

I'm working on the laundry, the boys are out of school and watching movies, and the Princess is running around the house looking for attention.

We're headed to Mom's for the weekend. The boys want to Trick-or-Treat there, I get to help my sister-in-law with adorable little Hudson, and Hubby will be working at the farm with my brother.

So I have a ton of stuff to pack for the trip: costumes, clothes, etc.

Hopefully the boys will entertain themselves and their sister while I work, and then we'll be off.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween.

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY today to my friend, Holly!!!

Later.

Warning: A Rant in Progress

Hey.

Well, t-ball is over. The last game did not go well.

We did lose, which wasn't the problem.

We lost badly, as in, very unsportsman-like on the part of, not the kids, but the parents.

There were a handful of adults who complained to the umps about the scorekeeping, several of the calls, and were frankly getting hysterical about how the kids were playing.

They are little kids. Most of them are up early so their parents can get to work, they are in school and/or daycare all day, and then they are rushed to the t-ball field for the 6pm games, and expected to fully concentrate on the game? Come on.

It was a very cold evening, the Princess refused to keep her jacket on (she thought it was funny to take it off and make me put it back on) so I used that as an excuse to leave the stands.

It was just getting to the point that I was embarrassed by the yelling and carrying on.

Now, I want to make it very clear that I love all our little guys on the team. And I really, really like their parents. I think we've had a fantastic season, and a fantastic group of people this year. Hands down.

But this game, they were just over the top. I was unhappy with the way the other team acted on Saturday, and then our people turned around and acted the same way, or worse. Not cool.

I wanted our team to win just as much as everyone else. It would have been wonderful to go an entire season undefeated. We ended up being 8-1 and we were locked for 1st place anyway. So personally, I think one loss isn't the end of the world. The kids did a great job, they are improving by leaps and bounds every day, and the spring season is going to be fabulous to watch.

But we've got to bring the outrageous anger down a notch. Some days, it is just not our game. Some days, it is. But the adults need to keep it together for the kids. Watching their parents come unglued on the officials, the coaches, or the other team isn't setting the example I want my boys to follow.

So my rant is over now. Please continue on with your day, and have a wonderful rest of the week.

Later.

Hey, everybody.

Well, we had a super busy weekend. The first event to kick off our mad dash around the state was two t-ball games on Saturday morning.

First of all, it was quite chilly. We had the boys in long-johns and long sleeved shirs, plus hoodies while they played. The Princess had thermal jammies, jeans, a long sleeved shirt, hoodie, plus a lighter coat.

Second, it was muddy. The field hadn't dried enough from the soaking it got on Thursday. And twenty-something little boys from the two teams had way more fun throwing themselves down in the mud than playing the game. And the Princess was determined to drop herself into as much of the mud outside the field as she could find.

Third, our team played well, we won both games, but for some reason there was some sort of situation during the first game that came up from a dead ball play, an out for one of our players, and another of our players going back to third base after he thought he scored.

This situation went from bad to worse because the other team kept complaining to the ump (one coach in particular) about how our player at 3rd should have been called out, too.

The ump said no, dead ball (whatever that means), the kid gets to go back to his base, our other player was already out, end of discussion.

But the other team's coach would not let it go.

So the ump tossed him from the game and refused to let him back on the field until the start of the next game.

Our team was a little shocked by the whole thing. Or at least I was. I didn't see the problem. The kid who should have been out was out, the kid who should have gone back to 3rd base went, no one on the other team ever tagged him in an attempt to make a play so there was no reason to insist the player at 3rd should be out, too.

And all this happened in front of both sets of kids and their parents. It just seemed completely ridiculous to me. If the coach had an issue, it needed to be discussed privately, or after the game, but not in a huge scene in front of the children.

For all I know, the other coach had a legit complaint, and I just didn't know the rules well enough to get it.

BUT NOT IN FRONT OF THE KIDS!

Today is supposed to be the last game until the spring season. Hopefully it will be a good game. With no arguing.

If we win, we'll go undefeated for the fall season. But even if we don't, the kids will still have a good time.

That's all for now.

Later.

Hello, all.

Woohoo, it's Friday!

I would love to say I'm looking forward to a nice, relaxing weekend at home with my family, but that's not really the case. This weekend is going to be go-go-go for everybody.

Today is going to be me fighting The Princess for writing time, followed by picking the boys up from school and running to pick up gifts for my sister-in-law's baby shower on Sunday.

Tomorrow is t-ball, a writer's meeting, and a trip to Mom's house, where I am so happy I get to see my little nephew again. Oh, yeah . . . and my brother and sister-in-law.

Sunday is two baby showers, more time with baby Hudson, and scrambling like crazy to meet my word count goals for those two days.

The Princess has decided that naps are no longer necessary, which is making for long days for Mommy. Especially when trying to write. The minute she hears the click of the keyboard, she assumes it's party time, and crawls into my lap (on top of the computer), and demands her turn slapping at the keys.

And when I put her down, she throws herself on the floor and has a tantrum worthy of an Academy Award.

So this should be a very interesting weekend, seeing if I can get everything done.

Hope your weekend goes well. Everyone stay safe.

Later.