Happy St. Paddy’s Day, friends! Hope you are having a lovely day celebrating your Irish heritage or pretending you have Irish heritage or enjoying the Irish heritage of the guy next to you. Or eating Mexican food, as my buddy Rob does, to avoid the crowds at the Irish pub. Or celebrating the fact that gay and lesbian military veterans marched openly for the first time this year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Boston. Go Green!

Today I am celebrating my own Irish heritage (which is more likely Scottish, but still) and the fact that for the first time in about two weeks I have no appointments and no sick kids home with me today. Green or no green, I am ready to pinch myself. [<– Edit to add that I spoke too soon on this one. Fozzie wasn’t quite ready for his triumphant return to school this morning and had to be picked up. Hello again, lolling on the couch and whining whenever I leave the room. Awesome.]

St. Paddy’s Day always reminds me of the trip Hubs and I took to Ireland in 2008 — it was sort of our last hurrah before pregnancy and kids subsumed took over enriched our lives. I’m posting a couple of my favorite pictures from that trip. These pictures remind me how much beauty and adventure is in the world, just waiting for each of us to say, “Okay, I’m game.”

Today is also — unbelievably — the tenth anniversary of the death of my dear friend Laura Jackson, who I met in Austin during one of the most turbulent times of my life. She was so cool, so centered, so strong, even in the face of terminal brain cancer. She was adventurous and funny and refreshingly candid; and she mentored me without knowing she was doing it. I still think of her often and I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to know her.

Okay, enough mush. Slainte!

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MJ Pullen

M.J. Pullen is a distracted writer and the mom of two boys in Roswell, Georgia, where she is absolutely late for something important right now. Her books include quirky romantic comedies and playful women's fiction. She blogs erratically with writing advice, random observations, and reflections on raising very loud kids and dogs. Join her Distracted Readers newsletter list for updates, free content, giveaways and more.