Your Weekly Antics - The Shamrock Shake is Back Edition...3/3/22

Well kids, we're getting there, we're in the first week of March and with that, the countdown begins...14 days until St. Patrick's day, 10 days until The Worcester St. Patrick's Day Parade, 17 days until the first day of spring, and 45 days until Easter. It's also 110 days until summer, but we'll leave that for another weeks Antics. The temps may read that it's freezing outside, but as long as the sun's shining, our brains trick us in to thinking we're on the cusp of spring. Don't be fooled...the calendar tells us that the first day of spring is in 17 days, but if you've lived here long enough, you know that just because the calendar says so doesn't always mean that's the case. Be careful what the calendar promises you, it can't be trusted. Here's what I've got...

1. The Shamrock Shake. That's right people, with March, and St. Patrick's Day and spring, comes McDonald's coveted Shamrock Shake. According to my sources, folk lore and urban legend, the Shamrock Shake has quite the fan base and following. It's said that it was originally concocted by Hal Rosen, a McDonald's franchise owner in Connecticut back in 1967, hitting the circuit around 1970. We know this spring delight of guilty pleasure for it's fast food minty goodness, but back then, there was zero mint, nada, nothing of the sort in the original Shamrock Shake creation - instead it consisted of vanilla ice cream mashup with lemon/lime sherbet and vanilla syrup. ZERO mint. (Howstuffworks.com 2/3/2021) Enjoy it while it lasts, because although March is 31 days long, this seasonal treat tends to make its exit soon after St. Patrick's day comes and goes on the 17th. ***If you're curiosity is peaked and you'd like to know the ingredients of this beloved shake, check out this link. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/carolinekee/how-much-sugar-calories-shamrock-shake

***If you don't want to feel like you need to spend an hour on the treadmill after drinking one, don't click on the link...it's up to you. Drink up.

2. Who says todays kids aren’t resourceful? Exhibit 1 How the middle kid removes the Soob from the snow without a shovel. My suggestion to her was to use a serving spoon, but looks like she didn’t need my advice after all.

3. The dogs were barking and I asked the youngest Kap kid what their problem was. She says, I don’t know, I just walked in the kitchen and there’s some guy standing at our back door. So naturally I asked her who it was. She tells me she has no idea. I ask her if she's planning on answering the door and she looked at me like I was nuts while telling me no. Here's how it went down...Me, "Meri who is it?" Meri, "I don’t know." Me - "Did it occur to you that maybe you should answer the door?" Meri, "I don’t know who that guy is… so no, I’m not answering it…"

4. So here are my thoughts on this…for starters…I could say well, stranger danger, do I really want the kid answering the door to a stranger? There are a lot of weirdo’s out there, and we all know our dogs would run and hide should there be a problem once someone tries to breech the perimeter. Then I’m thinking, hadn’t I asked her, would she have mentioned it? Probably not – I think she planned to keep it moving. And last, do you think that maybe this generation reacts to regular every day situations like this as if they were receiving a text? As in, hmmm that’s a text from my Mom, I don’t feel like opening and reading it right now – is this the same thing as…hmmm, someone’s at the back door but I don’t feel like opening it and talking to anyone right now so I’m just going to ignore it. Think about it...makes sense, right?

5. The Prodigal Daughter returns from her weeklong dog sitting gig. Harley was not impressed. Bad enough she walks Carl, not Harl, but this is considered 100% legit cheating on her. To make matters worse, middle kid was hunkered down in our recent snowstorm with Nash the dog, while Harley sat in the window awaiting her return wondering if she was out there lost in the snow walking Carl. Reaghan gets home and Harley successfully snubbed her. This dog is better at doling out Irish guilt than I am. Exhibit 2, Nash. Harley would not approve of this photo.

6. Exhibit 3, M&M's. Who doesn't love an M&M of the peanut variety so much so that one attempts to hide them from their siblings, or more specifically, their Father? Well let me tell you something...when the older sister is away dog sitting and not around to defend and hide her secret stash of chocolate, it's fair game. It doesn't matter how far in the back of the freezer you attempt to hide them, they will be discovered and when this happens, all bets are off and consider them gone. If you're out of the house for more than 24 consecutive hours at a time, it's fair game. Next time pack them up and take them with you. Unless one has recently moved in to this house, one should know how things go...you've got to be smarter than that...

7. Heads up – anyone out there doing errands for Sue Miller, she now compensates your good deeds in homemade mac n cheese. Ask Kolby – after taking the longest route ever to follow Grammy to her car drop off destination for detailing, she received a pan of it. Meri is now concerned she’s been knocked out of the mac n cheese rotation because she doesn’t drive. Meri, Kiley and Bryce, you better start washing floors or folding clothes or you may not see Gram’s mac n cheese until you’re of legal driving age and can be put to good use. Get it together.

8. Fun fact…just because you rename a street doesn’t mean that the street is going to be mysteriously crime and hooligan free. Just saying. Although I appreciate the effort, it just doesn’t work that way.

9. With the above said, just because a street has been renamed to a friendlier version of its former self does not mean that you should not be cautious and take special care to keep your mouth shut. That is not one of my finer qualities. Keep your mouth shut, trust me.

10. Check out this fool. How do you think this ended for her? Above freezing temps, gorgeous sunny day, snow melting off the awning...recipe for disaster. Exhibit 4. Goose being baited by members of the Kap pack to let herself out on to the deck. This is when Goose becomes a sitting duck. Sometimes it’s almost criminal how much material the occupants of this house provide me.

And last but not least, despite baseball's opening day being officially postponed, chin up...warmer days and spring are still coming whether the baseball season's ready for us or not. This only means I'll be bored and have more time on my hands to provide you all with on going weekly nonsense.

Have a great weekend!