Weathering the Weather

It's been raining a lot lately. And by a lot, I mean I probably should be spending less time playing Animal Crossing and more time working on that ark. None of the rulers in this house seem to measure cubits, however, so I'll keep procrastinating taking that trip to Home Depot.

Do you guys like the rain?

I guess that's a weird question but I always hear mixed responses from everyone. Some people tolerate it, some people hate it. Some people flip-flop. They're fine for the first five minutes and then suddenly they start complaining about how they're "done with this shit."

Me? I love the rain.

Sure, it makes me sleepy like a cat. I also tend to still get jumpy during the especially loud thunderstorms (a great big shout-out to a certain someone who doesn't mind waking up and treating me like a four-year-old on those nights.), but for the most part, I really do love it. I tend to love all weather, for that matter. Not the aftermath of it - the shoveling, the damage, the ocean of water that is now in my parking spot that I have to part like the Red Sea if I want to get into my car dryly - but the weather itself. The herculean wind gusts battering the house, the snow softly falling on the deck outside the window, the rain beating against the roof of the sun porch behind my room. I love the act of it, of that natural chaos happening. It's a change from the average for me, and it often serves to be my biggest creative jumpstarter.

I take full advantage of storms. I'll often check the weather days ahead and see if I can schedule writing during the rain. I trekked through one of those freaky storms today so I could sit up in the cafe loft and edit while I watched the raindrops beating down on the sidewalk in front of the open door.

It's a weird little quirk of mine, I suppose. But I genuinely thrive during these things.

Baking: My other rainy day habit.

A week ago we had about a straight week of rain, and it was crazy. I was sitting in my living room when I felt it, the weird restless feeling I get when I think about the long list of recipes i have saved and how I could really go for something warm and yummy. Luckily, I had just the thing bookmarked.

Brittany's Pantry: Ginger Chai Blondies

(Brittany's Pantry has like a BILLION delicious recipes and you all should go there and look at them!)

Good golly these things are delicious. I'd made them once before and tested them on the guys and they all seemed to like them, and they're definitely just the thing I wanted to eat during the Great Flood of '13. I decided I would make a tray of them, then sit with a mug of tea and edit, edit, edit. The only thing difficult about making them is that when the recipe says the batter will be sticky...it'll be like spreading grout. You don't think it's going to fit the entire pan. But it does. I swear it does. 

So that's how I spent a rainy night. Tazo Sweet Cinnamon Spice Tea, a plate of ginger chai blondies, and a group of whiny teenage elves and shapeshifters battling it out in front of me.

Typical Wednesday.