One Rainy Saturday . . .

Here's what I woke up to this morning:

I wasn't really surprised. It's been raining on and off the last few days, with lots more wet weather forcasted for next week. Amazing sunny autumn days are gone it seems; wet, damp autumn days are here. But I don't mind.

When I consider the gorgeous summer we had, and the beautiful fall we've enjoyed thus far (all of September and the first half of October anyway), I can't complain. Without the rain, we wouldn't have the beauty. The cloudy wet weather makes me appreciate the sun all the more and I will gladly make the trade Washington requires. Five months of rain for seven months of glorious splendor. I don't mind.

On account of the weather, we treated ourselves to a lazy Saturday morning. Caleb watched Monsters Inc. Jason read a book. I cleaned my kitchen.

I wanted to clean my kitchen this morning. This whole last week was a catch-up week for me. Happens every time I get sick. I'm sick for a week, then spend the next picking up the pieces. Housework gets let go; errands go un-run. And no matter how hard I tried this week, my kitchen would. not. stay. clean.

Cooking and baking doesn't help, but what am I supposed to do? Not feed my family? Not bake goodies for the women's bible study? Not try out delicious new recipes from Bakerella??? I think not. I'm not a bad housekeeper. I just need a Mary Poppins around to snap her fingers whenever I make a mess. ;)

Anyhow, I had the kitchen half-way done last night before we left for Comedy Night at my in-laws church. This morning, while Caleb happily giggled over hairy blue monsters and one eyed cretins, I suddenly found myself with all the time I needed to get that scrubbing done. And oh! I enjoyed every minute. Cleaning is very therapeutic for me. If I can do it alone and uninterrupted, that is.

I sorta assumed that, with the rain and all, we wouldn't go anywhere today. I thought to myself, sponge and dirty platter in hand, Wow, this will be the first Saturday in months that we haven't gone hiking. Weekend hikes have sorta become a family custom since we moved, one that all three of us enjoy.

Turns out I assumed wrong. After his movie, Caleb started his customary I-have-way-too-much-energy-so-I'm-going-to-bounce-off-the-walls-now routine. When I caught him with a mouthful of Tums pilfered from the bathroom, I knew this whole stay indoors thing wasn't going to work. For him or for me.

Jasooooon! I'm going to kill him!

That's my code for "Honey, we need to get him out of the house. NOW!"

So we bundled up and introduced Caleb to some new friends: these shiny green rain boots.

These boots were made for walkin'

And that's just what they'll do!

One of these days these boots are gonna

Walk all over you!

We went to Joseph Whidbey SP, which is where we go when we aren't feeling too adventurous. It's familiar. The paths are easy. It's our home away from home.

Yeah we got wet, but you know what? We didn't care. We saw a bald eagle. Caleb ran around and tried to catch the rain. We breathed in the smell of wet fir trees. We came home, changed our damp clothes, ate lunch. Caleb went down for a nap and we watched some Burn Notice. I listened to my husband laugh while I snuggled under some blankets on the couch. Whenever I went into the kitchen for something, I sighed contentedly at the sight of NO DISHES on the counters and NO DIRT on the floor. I may never want to cook again.

All in all, not a bad way to spend a Saturday, eh?