The Luck of the Irish...Or not!

Our St. Patrick's Day celebrating over the years

May the sun shine, all day long,
everything go right, and nothing wrong.
May those you love bring love back to you,
and may all the wishes you wish come true!

This year was a bit of a hectic St. Patrick's day. We love this day of celebrating parts of our heritage, but this time we did not have the luck of the Irish on our side. It did not turn out to be a horrible day. We just look forward to the day so much, that to sprinkle it with any unfortunate events was a little disheartening. 

We started the week, with the purchase of this little guy pictured, Odhran (meaning pale green). I found him at a little trinket shop (I love antique shops). One morning, Meli discovered that he was in a new location (a little curious). So they started to keep an eye out and noticed that each morning he was in a different place (even more curious!. Will and I had no idea what was going on. So, Colin came to the conclusion that maybe Odhran is a magical leprechaun!  Sure enough each morning he had moved to weirder and weirder locations. Then on St. Patrick's Day morning he had a chocolate surprise surrounding him. Colin decided to set a trap for him to see if we could catch him. His first trap was a little scary looking. He had sharp nails poking down a plastic jar. Will helped him with a more safe and humane approach.

Colin woke the next morning to all of our toilet water green and Odhran on top of the shoe box. Not captured like he had hoped. He did discover Meli's Elsa shoe inside the box too!

Colin's trap

That morning was pretty crazy with all of the kids' excitement with the magical discoveries, trying to get both ready for school, and myself ready for my day. I was also trying to start our Guinness Stew in the crockpot. I really need to start reading recipes the night before. There was a lot more that went into it then just dumping ingredients into the crockpot. It was totally worth the extra chaos. So delicious!

Later I came home to Irish music, a clean house and the lovely aroma of the Guinness stew. I opened a bottle of Guinness and started making the champ and traditional Irish soda bread....then Will's phone somehow (conflicting stories from Colin and Will) broke. Well the screen would not unlock and had lines going across it. I googled how to fix it, which involved tools and a suction thing...more work than either of us wanted to do. Sadly, it was Will's work phone and he needed it functional for work the next day. So, after dinner I headed into town to our local AT&T store. Thankfully the employee was very helpful and we were able to get Will added to our plan. I can no longer tease him about his tiny phone, since he got the iPhone 6 like me. He even got the plus, so it is better than mine. Such a stinker. I never get to brag about my phone because I always go for the oldest one they carry. For being in IT, I try to avoid the newest technologies.  The last time I got a phone, they did not have any of the "free" ones, so I got drawn in by the big stature of the iPhone 6. Totally out of character, but I really do like it. Anyways, my mom was also up for an upgrade...and they were having a super good deal on the iPad...long story short I was there quite some time. Until closing in fact. 

So, a bit of bad luck...but Will got a new fancy phone, the kids an iPad to use for educational games after school. If they earn it...that is another story though. At least the food was tasty, the beer delightful, and the company of family wonderful. 

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday!!!

I will leave you with a few of my favorite Irish blessings:

May you always have walls for the winds,
a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire,
laughter to cheer you, those you love near you,
and all your heart might desire.

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May St. Patrick guard you wherever you go,
and guide you in whatever you do--
and may his loving protection be a blessing to you always.

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May God grant you always...
A sunbeam to warm you,
A moonbeam to charm you,
A sheltering angel, so nothing can harm you.