Back to Reality

Derek here with a quick note following my sojourn to the land of the Evergreen State, home of crunchy granolas, lots and lots of trees, rain, and some chilly weather. We had a great time at Pike Place Market where we dined at the Jasmine Thai restaurant, got some great cheese from Beecher's Cheese (get the Flagship) and generally had a great time being all touristy. The best part was when we went to eat at a health food store. My youngest daughter has celiac disease, which means the Irish in her doesn't like wheat; specifically the gluten. So we end up frequenting stores like this a lot because they carry a lot of gluten free products. Anyway, I had all 4 of my girls plus my niece; needless to say all the NPR crowd are eyeballing us like we are from another planet, I mean, how DARE we have more than one child! Let alone 5 of them! Well, my niece, being 3, spilled water on her self. She didn't like it and immediately let everyone know...loudly. That went over like a lead balloon. Seriously, people were openly staring at this point like we were a freak show! The wife and I are laughing (c'mon, 5 girls, 12 and under??? Emotional roller coaster all the freakin' time!!! You have to laugh, or go crazy...) It all ended well, though, we got da Niece dried off and finished her organic, free range chicken sammy with organic mayo and tomatoes...good times. Other than that, we found everyone there to be very friendly, kind and quite fun. Granted, we got there during a period of good weather so everyone was out and about enjoying the sunshine and green grass.
The one political discussion I did have while up there (my sister and I have an agreement not to talk politics) was quite interesting. The gist of it was that Obama was going to save us all, and if they needed to squelch a few dissenters, as long as it was for the greater good, it was okay. Yeah. I was shocked. This was from a very successful business owner, too! Crazy times we live in.