St. Patrick's Day

Aw, St. Patrick's Day!  That time honored tradition of honoring our Irish roots by drinking green beer, eating corned beef and cabbage, and dancing the Irish Two Step.

I'm German.  Almost 100% Kraut.  Beer makes me bloated.  I can't dance.  Corned beef and cabbage are the foods of fat and happy Kings, though, and I will be fat and happy too cause I love 'em both.

Despite the fact that I am not Irish in the least, I am Lutheran.  Therefore, I do believe Saint Patrick would have been cool with me.

Growing up, though, St. Patrick's Day scared me.  I still remember those years I forgot to wear green.  I would walk around with my head hung down in shame and swear to the mean boy sitting next to me that I was wearing green underwear.   And I wasn't even that afraid of getting pinched.  It was the whole, "I am a social idiot today".  "I can't even get it together long enough to even put on a stupid green shamrock pin."  The walk of shame was an all day ordeal.

Today I am wearing green.  I even have on these sweet, glittery shamrock earrings from Claire's.  And you can bet your bippy that both of my children are wearing green.  No child of mine will endure the St. Patrick's Day Walk of Shame.  That will be my legacy.

The best thing about St. Patrick's Day as an adult is the fact that you are allowed to act like an idiot for no other reason than the fact that the Irish know how to party and they want us all to join in on the fun. And it's a great excuse to spend money at Party City, or the City of Doom as I like to call it.  That's because of the ridiculously loud and horrible music and the small, scary aisles covered in cheap, plastic crap.

I do hope that everyone, no matter their background or religious beliefs, will take time today to thank the Irish for making such a cool day filled with the magic of leprechauns, pots of gold, and rainbows the size of Ireland itself.

Tonight, my friends, me and my family are headed down the road to our area's new pizza joint.  Once there, we will delight in dining on Reuben Pizza and taking in the sights and sounds of small town life.  I might even risk the bloat and have a green beer, because St. Patrick's Day only comes once a year and, after all, I AM wearing green.