St Pat’s Got a Brand New Hat

Sometimes celebrating a holiday takes me away from the keyboard, and St.  Patrick’s Day was just one of those holidays.  Christmas and Thanksgiving is for celebrating time with family.  Fourth of July is for rejoicing over the birth of our nation.  Valentine’s Day is for pushing people to get out there and meet people… or drop some serious cash to prove that they still kinda, sorta like the person they are with.  President’s Day is for vaguely trying to figure out exactly which Presidents we are celebrating and why.  St. Patrick’s Day to me is for celebrating life and the great people around you then just seeing where the day takes you.  With such beautiful weather yesterday and great friends, it was an easy holiday to enjoy.
How did I spend my St. Patrick’s Day?  Well, obviously, I wore green all day both to dust off the softball skills but throughout the rest of the day too.  I made sure to check out some fun clips from the Leprechaun movies and of course, dyed things green that have no reason to be green other than its just kind of cool to look at.  Note to blog: dying coca cola green does not really do anything.
Now for a short history lesson on who else but St. Patrick.  While his life is mostly blanks that have been filled in by limited information, he was captured by slavers when living in Wales at the age of 16.  They took him to Ireland where he spent many years before he escaped.  He later returned to Ireland as a bishop spreading the word of God and basically taking the hills by storm.  St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on the day of his death, March 17th.  The day is supposed to be spent as a Holy Day of Obligation.  What is a Holy Day of Obligation you ask?  Well, that is a great question.  I had to look it up myself, not being Catholic but Protestant- all of the religion with slightly less of Sunday morning in church traditions.  Besides, Protestants are not “required” to give up anything for Lent.  ::enjoys a nice piece of chocolate on a bed of potato chips washed down by some soda while playing video games and Facebooking hard::
Oh, it appears I went on a tangent.  Back to the Holy Day of Obligation… now where was I… oh yes.  Well, that is a great question.  This is a day that is on Sundays or other holy days where the faithful are obliged to participate in Mass and go to church.  They are also to abstain from works or affairs which hinder worshiping God or the suitable relaxation of mind and body.  So we have decided that the best way for most people to celebrate this holiday is to start drinking at 7 am, push our bodies to the upmost limits so that it can take a full week of lying in bed afterward to recover, and the closest we come to a church is if we have to pass one on the way to a bar that’s name starts with “Mc” or ends in “urphy.”  Hmmmm… I guess this is not the first holiday we have kind of made our own…
What fun Irish themed drinks did you have to celebrate the holiday?  Here is a recipe inspired by the most common drink in Ireland to drink that you can bust out at your St. Patty’s Day party next year.
Whether you celebrated the holiday by hunting Leprechaun (this trap would work if your Leprechaun is extra slow), drinking over 15 Shamrock Shakes in one day, watching some great Disney original movies, or just kicking it back with some friends, I hope you all had a great St. Patty’s Day.  Check back later today as I celebrate Awkward Day and Pillsbury Doughboy’s Birthday.  I have a feeling my coworkers will love me tomorrow…