#76

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

Back story: Two years ago this March, my entire family headed over to California to see our youngest sister, Jessica, compete in the National Drill Competition. We spent I think 5 days out there; fitting in the competition obviously, 3 days at Disneyland, 1 day at Seaworld, the beach and even a day at Universal Studios. Well the day we chose to do Universal Studios, fell on St. Patty's Day. My stepmom Nancy supplied each of us with a green shirt. All the guys shirts matched, the girls matched and then the 3 grandkids matched. I loved it!!! We had a family photo taken outside Universal, plus it was so easy to spot each other when separated! **We do matching shirt day a lot when traveling with my Dad & Nancy. We've not only done numerous matching shirt days on several trips, but we've also done 'plaid short day' once or twice. The guys are good sports...not huge fans of matching with our large group, but they do it with a smile on their face. I sure do love traveling with my family!!!

Anyway, we all still own AND wear those green shirts we wore on that infamous day in Universal Studios. In fact every time I wear that shirt in front of certain members of my family, they tease and ask, "Is it St Patrick's Day?" Or they'll say "Happy St. Patty's Day Erica!" The first few times were funny and we all relived the original experience...but every time gets a little irritating. Its almost come down to me purposely not wearing the shirt when I know I'm going to see my family. Come on guys, I'm not the ONLY one who still wears the shirt...I just apparently wear it more than most. My sister Andee wears hers occasionally and Joe wears his. Of course they also get ridicule, but for some reason its worse when I wear mine. Oh well, at least it'll be a long running inside joke that our family will share for years to come.

With TODAY being St Patrick's Day, I decided it was appropriate to wear that special green shirt. Once I got to work, I took my #76 photo and sent it to parts my family, wishing them a "Happy St. Patrick's Day" and letting them know I'm wearing my shirt with pride and I'm thinking of each of them. Of course I got a few happy comments from Nancy & Jessica; my bro-in-law Jesse (the mastermind behind the ridicule) laughed and told me I was "too legit to quit!"  Here's the photo:

But the BEST response to my photo-message, was this response I got from my sister Kalie:

With a message saying, "I'm wearing mine too. Weird." 

HAHAHAHA! I love my family! Kalie still owns the shirt, as well as myself and we both picked it as our St. Patty's green today. (Andee probably would have worn hers, as well, if she had changed out of her pajamas today.)

I just wanted to give you an insight as to how awesome my family can be. The inside jokes, harmless teasing and unspoken support. LOVE YOU GUYS!