Top O' the mornin' to ya, Kiss me I'm Irish, Tickle my shillelagh_.etc_etc_ blah, blah, blah. We went to Fluke's on St. Patrick's Day, or should I say Amateur Night. I celebrated St. Patrick's Day 4 times last month. Sure there wasn't a parade or green beer or anything, but after my 6th Piels Light I swear I saw some Leprechauns. As a matter of fact, I think they are the ones that make everything hurt in the morning, including my hair.

Before I get into the story, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my Slovak bride for cooking up a mean corned beef and cabbage dinner for my birthday. I wished one of my presents was a case of Beano or Gas-X. How old am I? I am as old as yesterday and as young as tomorrow_. I would like you to meet my girlfriend Yesterday and my mistress Tomorrow. - Just kidding. My bride assures me that we are happily married. My dad was the guest of honor at my birthday dinner. I am excited about being retired for almost a year and here he is retired for almost 30. He's a great guy. I will tell you some stories about our bi-monthly library trips sometime.

Anyway_. We go to Fluke's on State Road. My son and his friends, Sean , Mike, Ed, and Joe are already there. They were nice enough to save us a couple seats at the bar. I have to say that St. Patty's Day has sort of turned into Mardi Gras. Everyone had green beads and painted faces. I flashed my "man boobs" several times, but nobody threw me any beads. Granted, with my shirt off, I look like a hairy glass of milk.

Fluke's had live Irish Bands all day and $2 pints of beer. You can't beat that. We didn't really get the true effect of a live band because they were performing in a tent in the parking lot. It was 40 degrees outside, but my barstool was a toasty 98.6. We had a special treat from some local Irish dancers coming from the parade. They put on quite a show. They kept asking me for my autograph. At first I wasn't sure what they were talking about, but after a few seconds I realized. So, not wanting to bust their bubble, I signed a few autographs. They went something like this:

Before we called it a night, we met a couple of ladies at the bar. They explained that they had to leave because their kids were with a babysitter. So, we bought them a drink. At this point I figured I was contributing to the delinquency of a mother. What the heck, it's St. Patrick's Day. They stayed for another drink and went home to tuck their kids into bed...... Lullaby 'hic' and good 'hic' night. Ahhhh, my kids remember that one.

So anyway, it was a great night of Irish music, dancing, and beer. And as Saint Patrick once said,____.. "Where the !#&* did all these snakes come from?