Origins

In an effort to determine if I should be celebrating St Patty's day in the American way by hitting pubs and drinking as much green beer as I can, or if I should be celebrating it in the Irish way and taking myself to church, I called my mom for some help with family names. This is what I came up with when I did my 2½ minute surname origin search:

• my last name is English (which I knew)
• Mom's maiden name is Irish or Scottish (which I knew but I don't know which country her people are from)
  
• My paternal grandmother's maiden name is English
  
• My maternal grandmother's maiden name is English
• my mom's grandmother's maiden name is English (on her mother's side)
• my mom's grandmother's maiden name is German or Irish (on her father's side -- again, I don't know which country her people are from)

That, my friends, is a lot of English.

I think I'm going to celebrate in the American, non-Irish way! Except I refuse to drink green beer. Maybe I'll just pick up a bottle of Jameson's and drink it with pals. And S.

Dad doesn't know his grandmother's maiden name but he thinks his sister is working on their family tree. Maybe I'll know soon and maybe his side of my family tree is LOADED with Irish folk.

----------

On another note: skiing was great, I didn't break any bones and I can't wait to go out West and ski the big mountains. Boyne Highlands has an vertical drop of 552 feet. So it's not really a mountain, but it's plenty intimidating for beginners.

----------

GUINNESS CUPCAKES - my new favorite. Recipe here.