Happy St. Patrick's Day!

"Don't mess with the Irish. "

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Little Irish Alison

(circa 1982)

I don't like beer.

I've never been drunk (that I remember).

I don't have an Irish accent (however, I did when I was a wee little one).

I don't have red hair.

I've never kissed the Blarney Stone.

I don't have freckles.

I'm not short (5'4" is technically average, thank you very much).

I don't golf.

I don't like corned beef and cabbage.

I don't have rosy cheeks.

I can't dance the Irish Jig.

I'm not very good at telling stories.

I'm not very lucky (blessed, but not lucky).

I can't swallow even a drop of whiskey without making a seriously ugly face.

I am an enigma to the Irish culture.

Yet, I am proud to be 100% Irish.

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An Irish Quiz

1.) Some areas in Ireland are known to receive this many inches of rain each year, which accounts for the brilliantly green grass that has earned Ireland the nickname the "emerald isle":
a. Sixty inches
b.Seventy inches
c. Eighty inches
d. Ninety inches

2) "Erin Go Bragh," a phrase heard often on St. Patrick's Day, means:
a. I Love Ireland
b. Ireland Forever
c. Brave and Free
d. Ireland, My Home

3) Irish tradition says that anyone who kisses the blarney stone, which is located near this town, will be blessed with the Irish "gift of gab":
a. Dublin
b. Wexford
c. Cork
d. Waterford

4) This Nobel Prize-winning Irish poet and playwright was also a senator of the Irish Free State from 1922 to 1928:
a. George Bernard Shaw
b. James Joyce
c. Jonathan Swift
d. William Butler Yeats

5) Traditional Irish music has found an international audience with the popularity of such Celtic bands as:
a.The Chieftains
b. The Lads
c. Shannon Rovers
d. Sweet Honey in the Rock

6) In November 1995, the people of Ireland narrowly passed a referendum legalizing:
a. Same-sex marriages
b. Abortion
c. Divorce
d. Marijuana

7) With 27,136 square miles of land, the Republic of Ireland is approximately half the size of this U.S. state:
a. Texas
b. California
c. Louisiana
d. Arkansas

8) Today, this number of Americans trace their ancestry back to Ireland:
a. Ten million
b. Twenty-five million
c. Forty million
d. Sixty-five million

Answers:

1. D

2. B

3. C (Also famous for where I was born)

4. D

5. A

6. C

7. D

8. C

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The PARTY

We had a great party on Saturday night. I did a horrible job of taking pictures of our guests. I started going room to room, but only made it to the kitchen when I got distracted. You will see my priorities depicted in the pictures below- food and Josh. Josh had a great time with the Irish hats that I used to decorate. I had to include the pictures because they were just too funny.

" I love me Lucky Charms."


The headless leprechaun.

This just makes me laugh.

The one picture I snapped during the party. All my guests did a great job of wearing green and drinking Guinness. I was impressed. I served all green food, as you can see from the spread. Kacey particularly enjoyed the green shamrock jello jigglers.

I found these green mini beer mugs and HAD to fill them with lime jello shots.

This basket is filled with all my favorite Irish goodies.

Yummy!

The Crunchies were a real hit! They're my favorite too.

My favorite little Irish Man:

Josh on St. Patrick's Day 2007

(giving his Irish gangster sign)