Irish Confessional

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I'm in San Francisco with my husband and some friends from Minneapolis and I plan to take them to the Buena Vista bar later for Irish Coffee. Of course, I'll be wearing a bit of green--my Shamrock pin from the old country.

First though (after some sleep!) I plan to run across the Golden Gate bridge. I brought my Human Race t-shirt from a previous year. The Human Race, you may remember, is an 8K St. Patrick's race that I used to run in St. Paul. I used to really enjoy that race and since there aren't any races in SLO to celebrate the holiday, I'll have to make due with past events.

And yes, I'm still running, although not blogging about it these days. There are lots of reasons--Facebook, SDs retirement, too many commitments--but I still like to pretend that I'm a blogger. And I've been saving a joke to share with you on St. Patrick's Day; after all, it's a tradition! Here it is:

An Irishman goes into the confessional box after years of being away from the Church. Along one wall he sees a fully equipped bar with Guinness on tap. On the other wall is a dazzling array of the finest cigars and chocolates.

Then the priest comes in. "Father, forgive me, for 'tis been a very long time since I've been to confession, but I must first admit that the confessional box is much more inviting than it used to be.

"Get out," says the priest. "You're on my side."

May you be fleet of feet, strong of heart, and always find your happy pace. :-)