Until this year, I had never heard of St. Patrick’s Day presents.  On Monday, my co-worker Lauren started talking about her in-law’s St. Patrick’s Day traditions, which include some presents.  And, I noticed a few blogs today talking about leprechauns visiting and leaving behind presents.  Where have I been, especially since I have Irish ancestry?  I so want in on this holiday tradition!

Also, I have a St. Patrick’s Day fact for you just in case you didn’t know.  Yesterday, I put my Facebook status as, “Jennifer Elyse Blaser says, ‘Happy St. Paddy’s Day!’”  I showed this to my co-worker Erin because someone had commented about my correct use of punctuation, and since I’m a tech writer, I was kind of proud of myself and wanted to show it off. Erin proceeded to ask, “Isn’t it St. Patty’s Day with Ts?”

I was taken aback, not because I thought she was being rude, but because I had never heard of St. Patrick’s Day being shortened to St. Patty’s Day.  I told her I had always seen it with Ds.  Erin and a couple of other co-workers thought Erin’s reasoning was well-founded because Patty is short for Patrick.  I’ll admit I thought her reasoning was well-founded too; I just always thought the reason for the Ds was because it was more masculine.  I decided to check it out.  St. Patrick’s Day is shortened to St. Paddy’s Day because Paddy is actually short for Padraig (pronounced Pah drig), which is the Irish Gaelic form of Patrick.

Update: Poll closed.

Time changes and I don’t mix very well.  I have a hard time adjusting because I usually go to bed and wake up at such specific times and my body doesn’t want to cooperate with the change very well.  (When I used to travel for work, this was always hard to deal with when I traveled east.  It’s not such an ordeal when I traveled west because I just went to bed and woke up earlier.)  The spring Daylight Saving Time change affects me the same way traveling east does.  It’s probably not hard for you to imagine that I hate Daylight Saving Time.

Frankly, I don’t see the point of Daylight Saving Time and I really wish Utah (or the U.S.) would follow Arizona’s and Hawaii’s lead and do away with it completely.  In fact, there are several countries that have never used Daylight Saving Time or don’t use it anymore.

I realize Daylight Saving Time gives us less light during the mornings and more light during the afternoons when we’re actually awake and doing something.  But, it seems to me, that this just makes winter seem longer once Daylight Saving Time ends in November.  I’d think that we’d want more light during the winter when the days are shorter.  Why don’t we just “spring ahead” and never “fall back?”  That way, we have the benefits of Daylight Saving Time in the afternoon during the summer and our days will seem longer during the winter too.  It seems like a win/win situation to me and it won’t disrupt our sleep schedule, except the one time!

Update: Poll closed.

I want to know how other couples sleep.  Since almost the first day of our marriage, Corey and I have slept with separate blankets.  The reasons have changed over the years, but it still comes down to us sleeping with a separate blanket.

At first, we slept with different blankets because I loved my flannel blanket my mom made me when I went to college.  It was so comfy and warm that I didn’t want to give it up.  Unfortunately, it was only large enough for a single mattress, so we couldn’t share it.

After my blanket died, we tried to sleep with the same blanket.  After about a month of trying, we decided it didn’t work because I’m a violent sleeper.  Not only did I hog the blanket, Corey also didn’t have any cushioning between him and me when I’d kick or move. Poor Corey.

At this point, we’ve just given up on the idea of being a normal couple and sleeping with the same blanket.  However, the idea of a normal couple got me thinking.  How many couples actually sleep with the same blanket?  I thought it’d be interesting to find out among my friends and family at least.

Update: Poll closed.