Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Thanks To My Fellow Bloggers and The St. Patrick's Day Story




Thanks To My Fellow Bloggers


I would like to start today's post with a great big thank you to two of my fellow bloggers, Katie of Katie's Korner and Donna of My Tasty Treasures, for the recipes I got from your blogs.


This is the Shrimp from Katie's Korner. It was spicy and delicious and the perfect side for our thick cut strip steaks. Thanks, Katie!




Here is Chicken Mutz, compliments of Donna and her Firefighter Husband. The recipe calls for stuffing the chicken with mozzarella cheese, but I strayed a bit and also made one stuffed with pepper jack cheese and one with colby jack cheese. They were all delicious. Thanks Donna!


The St. Patrick's Day Story

I know you've been waiting to find out the reason I dislike St. Patrick's Day. You couldn't sleep last night and you've been waiting for my new post all morning, right? Well, maybe not, but here it is anyway.

Today is my birthday! Because I have had the same birthday all my life, it has always been the day after St. Patrick's Day. It's not much of an issue now that I'm older (41 today, in case you were wondering), but when I was a kid I really hated it.

Remember, back when you were in elementary school, how the teacher would have all the kids draw a picture and write a personal note to the birthday girl/boy about why she/he was special? For me they were all the same. Maybe because the St. Patrick's Day decorations were still hanging on the walls, I'm not sure, but every picture that every kid drew seemed to have shamrocks, leprechauns, and/or rainbows with pots of gold in them. They would say things like "Willoughby is special because she likes to play fun games" and the drawing would be me playing jump rope with a leprechaun! Or "Willoughby is special because she is nice" followed by a drawing of me wearing a complete shamrock ensemble. Some of the drawings even depicted me as a leprechaun! It was like that all through elementary school.

Years later, after I thought I had escaped the birthday/St. Pat's connection, one of my co-workers brought in a cake for my birthday (she decorated cakes as a side job, the boss paid her to bring in cakes for everyone's birthday). The cake was frosted in white and covered with green plastic shamrocks. When it was cut, the frosting between the layers was revealed. What color do you suppose it was? That's right, green!

So that, my friends, is why I am not a fan of St. Patrick's Day. It's not quite as interesting as the reasons some of you guessed, but it's the truth.

One last, semi-interesting thing. This is my 50th post! It seems a perfect time to thank those of you who read (and perhaps) enjoy my blog. I love writing it, and I enjoy the comments you leave.

That's all for now, I've got to go put on my shamrock ensemble and play jump rope with a leprechaun. It's my birthday and that's (apparently) what I do!



14 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh Willoughby. That's sad! My daughter's birthday is just after Christmas, but she is the opposite! She just loves that her birthday is during the nativity. December is her FAVORITE month. We do follow certain guidelines, however, the most important being that birthday gifts are NOT to be wrapped in Christmas paper! LOL. We place her gifts under the tree which, on December 28, officially changes from a Christmas tree to a "birthday tree".

By the way, I hope your birthday is a very happy one. Enjoy some cake, some ice cream and have lots of frivolous fun!

L.B. said...

That makes perfect sense.

I despise Aug. 8 because it too falls the day before my birthday :)

Heidi said...

Happy Birthday! I hope you have a great one :)

L.B. said...

Yes, forgot to wish you a Happy Birthday. Feliz Cumpleanos! March 18 rules!

And your blog is always a great read. Congrats on the milestone.

Willoughby said...

5th - Thanks for the birthday wishes. We don't plan on doing anything special tonight, we're waiting until Saturday to celebrate. The tradition is that my husband and the kids make a nice dinner while I do whatever I want! They clean up afterward, too.

L.B. - I envy you having a summer birthday. I wish I did, and even more than myself, I wish my kids did so we could have outdoor birthday parties.

On the other hand, I feel bad for you that everyone is still celebrating August 8 on your birthday. Bummer!

Donna-FFW said...

First, congrats on your 50th post and happy birthday. Secondly, I am so glad you enjoyed the chicken mutz and you will have made my husbands day by trying it! I love your choice of cheese. Ill have to tell him to switch it up next time! Thanks for the shout out:)

Tattoos and Teething Rings said...

Happy Birthday!! And congrats on 50 posts; I love reading them, keep it up. As for the birthday after St. Pat's, it could be worse, trust me. A friend of mine had her first son last year on St. Pat's day, he just turned 1 yesterday. When he was born and still in the hospital, the nurses gave him a little hat with shamrocks on it, which I'm sure is just the first of many green b-day items he'll end up with, and they're Mexican so St. Pat's means next to nothing to them!

Raoulysgirl said...

Happy Birthday and Happy Blog Birthday! Wow...I was close with my guess (lol)!

My birthday is exactly one week before Christmas. I get so many "this is for your birthday AND Christmas" gifts that I have stopped counting.

Gracey said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Gracey said...

Sorry for messing up with my comment above. I don't know what I did, but I can't seem to be able to fix it. I hope you do. Sorry again! BUT:

Happy birthday! I hope you have fun, both today and during the weekend!

As for the birthday date, I can totally relate. Mine is on January 7th, which happens to be St John's day in Greece. So basically, 50% of Greek people have a nameday that day, they celebrate and rarely show up if I have the party on the same day!

To make matters worse, my own father and sister have a nameday that day too... so much for feeling "special" and everything!

And don't get me started on the "this is gift is for Christmas AND birthday" thing!

Willoughby said...

Thank you, everyone, for the birthday wishes! I see I'm not the only one who has a birthday close to a holiday.

Katie said...

I am so glad to hear that you enjoyed the shrimp. My husband took leftovers to lunch the next day over pasta and he enjoyed it all over again. Also, Happy Birthday!! I have a neice that was actually born on St. Patrick's day and I am sure she would agree with you! Here is to 50 more posts from you!!

Lissaloo said...

I missed it! I'm sorry :( HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY! and I'm sorry you have to share it, that is totally not fair :(

Walk Forrest Walk said...

Add me to this list of wishing you a happy birthday. May you have many more. (It looks like just you and I voted for Forrest to visit the 13 colonies.) Now according to the voting. I got to learn all about the Emerald Island. Happy Birthday