Nothing But A Wet Pant Leg

Since we've moved here I've been asked "Is it really true about all the rain that Seattle gets?" My response has always included a "no" with a more drawn out response to describe the weather that we get here. If you were to ask me that same question this past week I would have given you a very unenthusiastic yes! I think out of the past 2 weeks we have had at least 8 days of rain- 5 of which came in a row Monday-Friday of this past week. As I walked from my car to the school building Friday morning all I could think about was how tired I was to have spent the past week having a constant wet pant leg. There are no umbrellas, rain coats, or other weather paraphanalia that can keep them dry-leading to my subsequent complaints. I take that back-there is something that can keep them dry- those really ugly rain boots that feel like they are made of some sort of rubber and have a funky smell and squeak once they come in contact with rain. I couldn't bear to put my poor feet through such ugliness. I guess wet pant legs it is then.
Joe and I decided today that if the weather was going to be gray and dreary then we should plan for an indoor activity to entertain us. What did we come up with? A beer tour and tasting of the 9th largest brewery in the country. I'm not even a beer fan but enjoy learning about new things and a few sips of some pretty good tasting beer definitely made this dreary day a little bit better. For $1 we got to try 5 different 4 oz beers at the Redhook Brewery. I had just two before I cut myself off as the beer was going straight to my head. I finally learned what "IPA" stands for, the definition of "hoppy" beer and that at one time Washington was the state with the highest beer consumption per capita. And here we thought it was all about the coffee! Annheiser Bush is a large distributor for this brewery so it can be found on the east coast if anyone is looking to try something new. We had a pretty entertaining tour guide who you can tell enjoys her job (and her alcohol :-)
I'm fortunate enough that my district observes Martin Luther King Day so I get to start my week off how I would prefer-with Monday off! I plan to once again pour through our cook books in hopes of finding new recipes for the week with ingredients that I can pronounce and directions to follow that don't cause me more stress than my day job. Nicole vs. Cooking Round 2. Winner announced next weekend.