A Day Late and A Dollar Short

Before I do anything, I want to wish my dear friend "J" a very Happy Belated Birthday!!!  You would think that I wouldn't let the birthday of someone so dear to me slip by without me noticing, but it seems like I've been doing that a lot lately.  Last December I even forgot it was my own birthday until my family reminded me.

I have a calendar, I read it daily because it's chock full of appointments, things to do, places to go, but for some reason I thought today was the 15th and that Sunday was St. Patrick's Day.  Maybe I can blame my neighbor who told me in a phone conversation that she was fixing corned beef and cabbage on Sunday...so my feeble brain thought we were off by one day.  But I can't blame anyone but myself I'm afraid, and I think it's a symptom of having too many irons in the fire.

Whatever the reason...it wasn't because I don't love and appreciate my friend.  And if you knew her you would love and appreciate her too.  See, she won't care one bit that I forgot, she's like that, always thinking about others when she should be thinking about herself. 

Anyway, I will make it up to her I promise, and in the meantime I will mortify her by publicly wishing her a Happy Birthday on my blog...one day late and many dollars short of what I wish it could be!  J, when I'm rich and famous...I'll rent us a jet and we'll take tea in London for your birthday!

Once I did realize the date, I decided I better get my act together and pull together a proper St. Patrick's Day post...this time I'm posting early since who knows what I will remember tomorrow.  And since I have recently discovered that I have both Irish and Scottish ancestry, I feel a special kinship to the holiday.

I should have known that there was some Irish floating around in my DNA because my maternal grandfather had many of the traits typically associated with the Irish, ones he passed along...like hardworking, stubborn, and a quick temper.  I won't say if I've inherited all of these, but if you look up stubborn in the dictionary you might just find a photo of me...this is according to Mr. Tide so I'm not sure we can verify the accuracy of it all. ;-)

When I was little I thought my grandmother must be a leprechaun.  She had a keen knack for standing in her yard and spotting a 4 leaf clover from a mile away.  Ok, that might be a slight exaggeration, but she found one every single time she looked so I knew for sure she was blessed with luck and good eyesight...things I imagine any self respecting leprechaun must embody.

Today, when I was out with the dogs I looked down and BAM, just like that I found a 4 leaf clover.  My grandmother must have been watching over me because I really didn't have a clue what to write about or photograph for St. Patrick's Day this year.  Thank you Nan!

If you are of Irish decent, or just want to wear green this St. Patrick's Day, I say go for it.  Having a little extra luck on your side can never hurt right?

And thank you for all of your lovely comments and emails about my post yesterday...I love it when you all make me think...and even more when you make me smile!