Just as I was slowly digging myself out of a hole, I spent most of yesterday in bed. Though my lovely virus is no longer keeping me up a night (blessings!) a deluge of spring allergies and cramps have taken over. You win some, you lose some, right?
Though I’m still feeling under the weather and am now (count ‘em) several weeks behind on getting caught up, I’m counting my blessings. I had a mammogram a couple of weeks ago that revealed “irregularities” so had to go to the Breast Cancer Center for more tests. For almost two weeks, I lived under the dark cloud of “I may have breast cancer” and was relieved when my new tests turned out normal last Friday. On that same day, my mom was released from the hospital and yesterday, I tested negative for whopping cough.
You could say I’d just like to forget last week even happened.
Through it all, we’ve been having some fun festivities. I’m a holiday gal but if I was to list out my favorites, St. Patrick’s Day would be near the bottom so I don’t put much effort into it. That said, I’m not one of those naysayer moms who poo-poos holiday revelries. While my kids are little and still want to believe and build leprechaun traps, far be it for me to squash their imaginations and enthusiasm for the whimsical, fun parts of childhood.
Of note: Bode did not catch a leprechaun. This time.
Because I was feeling sick, I kept the mischief to a minimum. Knocked-over traps, green milk, a chocolate gold coin trail leading to their treasure in the basement (highly-coveted Nutter Butters) and Lucky Charms for breakfast. We kept it simple but my kids were thrilled.
We also made shamrock-shaped sugar cookies for friends who’ve helped me survive the last couple of weeks.
Confession: We ate far more than we gave away.
That night, we had the missionaries and a friend over for dinner. I have always hated Irish food but at a recent Costco visit, the kids and Jamie begged me to make corned beef for St. Patrick’s Day dinner. I relented and paired it with potatoes and a green salad. To tie it all in, I made one more Irish item: soda bread. Since I haven’t met a homemade bread I haven’t liked, I figured there would be at least one Irish food I liked.
I was wrong.
Next year, I’m sticking with shamrock cookies.
I'm a Canadian-born mom of two, former Denver Post columnist, family travel writer, editor of MileHighMamas.com and 9News contributor. Expert on all things Utah, Denver, family and travel. Lover of laughter and life. Happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin. 