If there is any more rain, we're going to have to grow gills. Yesterday it rained steadily from dawn till dusk and more rain clouds are expected to head our way over the next few days. We don't mind though. Last night Paul and I put on our water-resistant jackets, pulled the hoods up over our heads, and took a stroll around the downtown in the midst of the down-pour, feeling a bit like little kids (minus the splashing in puddles and picking up worms). This morning we went for a walk around the neighborhood and I took some pictures of the effect El Nino had on our little 150 year old town.

Today Paul and I went thrift store shopping and it was so much fun! We got so many useful and unique items in great condition for a fraction of what we would normally pay - I'm totally sold on thrift store shopping now (Paul was convinced long ago). I still don't really want to wear someone else's old clothes, but I'll use their gently used dishes and furniture in a heartbeat. The chair pictured above has a tag on the underside of the seat from some fancy schmancy Scandinavian furniture store in San Francisco and the turquoise creamer is from the 1940's. We picked up some other stuff too, but those were my favorite.  We also went to this used bookstore called Odyssey in Novato that is going out of business and has therefore slashed their prices to 80% of the already marked down price. It was amazing. I did the math and on average we paid 93 cents per book (and two of them were N.T. Wright books that sell on Amazon for over thirty dollars). Even though we spent money, we paid so little and got so much that it felt like we were somehow being good stewards. I guess if we had just stayed home we wouldn't have spent a dime though. Oh... but if we had stayed home we wouldn't have given our charitable donation to the Boys and Girls Club or the Hospice of Petaluma!  

On another note, Paul and I start taking Latin at the Petaluma junior college on Tuesday. We're both super excited. Perhaps we'll be able to read Winnie Ille Pu by June! (I'm kind of being facetious, but that would be cool.)