SIDEBAR: If you love March even more...

In the previous post, various other ways to celebrate the month of March.  For those who want to celebrate day by day, here are a few days of observance:

• March 1 is National Pig Day and beginning of Eastern Orthodox Lent
  
• March 2 is Peach Blossom Day and Red Cross Day
• March 3 is National Sportsmanship Day. So be nice.
• March 6 is Employee Appreciation Day and National Frozen Food Day
  
• March 10 is the Jewish Purim holiday
  
• March 8 is International Women's Day
  
• March 11 is the Hindu festival of Holi
  
• March 12 is Plant a Flower Day
  
• March 16 is Freedom of Information Day
• March 17 is (duh) St. Patrick's Day
• March 19 is St. Joseph's Feast Day
• March 20 is the first day of Spring and International Earth Day
• March 21 is the International Day for the Elimination of Race Discrimination
• March 22 is World Water Day
• March 23 is World Meteorological Day
  
• March 27 is National "Joe" Day
• March 30 is National Doctor's Day

Move over Pat--you're not the only March Holiday!

St. Patrick's Day is right up there with Christmas and Halloween. Corned beef and cabbage are the staple meals on the 17th day of March. And this Americanized Catholic holiday is not complete without drinking alcohol throughout the entire day.

But while many are making their pub reservations in advance, we fail to recognize all the other holidays and days of observance this month. Yes, you Irish, St. Patty's Day and Irish-American Heritage Month are not the only ones celebrated in March!

• National Women's History Month--the theme this year is "Women Taking the Lead to Save our Planet."
• National Nutrition Month, where this month's theme is "Eat Right" in America.
• Music in our Schools Month raises awareness for the importance of music education, and their theme for 2009 is "Music! Just Imagine..."
• Going along with music is Poetry Month, so reach deep into your inner self this month.
  
• Despite all the bad press lately, National Peanut Month is still underway. Lots of other food holidays occur in March too.
• Red Cross Month is celebrated this month for the 66th time since FDR first declared it to help with World War Two efforts.
• National Frozen Food Month celebrates the laziness and inability to cook in all of us. This one may be my favorite.
• March is National Kidney Month, aiming to promote kidney health and awareness

A few weekly celebrations in March include:

• National Girl Scouts Week is from March 8-14
• March 15-20 is National Inhalant Prevention Awareness Week
• Since National Craft Month is in March, from the 16-22 you can celebrate National Crochet Week
• The 20-26 of this month is National Bubble Week
• American Chocolate Week is March's third week

Photo credit: Keith Srakocic/Associated Press