St. Patricks Day

Ah!  St. Patrick's Day!

This is a holiday I look forward to every year.  I know it is not considered one of the major holidays, but it is so much fun and definitely worth celebrating.  We all need to recognize and celebrate special days every now and then.  It just makes life fun! (Like having pie on Pi day)

I have been wearing green all week in anticipation (and my shamrock earrings).  Well, the day is finally here.  :)  My kiddos are not, so we had to celebrate with our Irish dinner early.  This year we actually had corned beef and Irish potatoes.  We will never have cabbage or sauerkraut at this house.  (Much to Eric's chagrin)  Usually our Irish dinner consists of potato soup--I think at least Eric was excited by the change this year.  Of course, we had to have green punch (lime sherbet and lemon-lime soda).  We have it at all celebrations, but it was necessary at our St. Patrick's Day dinner because it is green.  :)  Our Jell-O salad wasn't quite ready for Thursday night dinner, so we had it for snack yesterday just before the kiddos left.

Of course, we all made sure we had green picked out to wear today and even wore green to bed last night.  It would be awful for someone to catch you without green and get to give you a pinch early in the morning.  :)  Our daughter remembered her green pajamas, but forgot to pack her green shirt for today.  Grandma to the rescue!!!  She is all decked out in green and safe from pinches.

 I wish I could say the same for all the people I met today.  There were several not wearing green everywhere I went.  I wanted to pinch them, but realized that is not appropriate for an adult to do to strangers.  At what age does celebrating St. Patrick's Day not become important?  I noticed the kids I saw today were almost all wearing green.  At what age does it become inappropriate to go around reminding others of St. Patrick's day with a friendly pinch when they forget to wear green?  Of course, I wouldn't let my children pinch strangers (on this or any other day).  So, maybe it's not about age at all, but more about familiarity.  Because, I would still pinch family members and close friends if they didn't wear green.  I don't think I'll ever outgrow that.

How did you celebrate St. Patrick's Day this year?  Did you add any new traditions?  Did you miss any old ones?  I miss getting to see Irish step dancers, but don't know where to find them in Western Kansas.  Are you wearing green?

P.S.  If you wear a shirt with a NCAA team on it--like "Rock, Shock, Shamrock" (Go KU!!!)--be prepared to talk to random strangers about the NCAA Tournament.  It is March Madness after all!!!