Wherever you go and whatever you do, May the luck of the Irish be there with you.

I probably should have been an elementary school teacher rather than high school. (Except for the part where I don’t really like little kids. I mean, I like them – and love my nieces and nephews – I just don’t have the patience to be with 25 of them for 8 hours every single day. With high school students, you can say “Guys – I feel like crap today. If you work quietly I’ll love you forever” and they’ll do it. You don’t get as many gifts, but you get to have actual conversations with them, even if your vocabulary IS stunted for the duration of your career.)

But when it comes to decorating, and doing cutesy things, I am definitely more on the primary school level. In fact, if I had taught elementary, I probably would have eventually succumbed and… wait for it…. worn those gawdawful sweaters with appliqués and giant buttons every holiday. You know the ones I’m talking about – actual blinking Christmas tree sweaters in December, a bunny rabbit with easter egg buttons at Easter, and a bright green blouse with shamrock buttons in March. Like this:

At the high school level, this isn’t as common, so I was able to poke fun at them instead of being tempted to wear them. Instead, I would wear a pink shirt on St. Valentine’s Day, black and orange on Halloween, and for Christmas: a cute t-shirt from Target that had a reindeer on it and says “Vixen.” So while I’m not officially a teacher in a classroom with kids anymore, I don’t think I’ll ever get rid of my “teachery” habits. I realized this today when I got ready and chose a bright green shirt. (Hold on, let me take a quick picture with my phone… here you go.)
I’m pretty sure that in my professional, educational establishment of employment, nobody is going to come up and pinch me if I’m not wearing green on St. Patty’s Day. But as a high school teacher, you pretty much want to avoid any situations in which a student would think it is somewhat appropriate to pinch you, so I still dress in those terms on this holiday. (Plus, have you SEEN my chubby cheeks? For some reason, people think it is okay to pinch chubby cheeks. It’s not. Just like you should never walk up to a random pregnant woman and rub her belly. Personally, I think it is weird when people do that.)

So anyway, since I’m 25% Irish, I will rock my Kelly green shirt and be proud that at least I’m not wearing any sort of leprechaun. Happy St. Patrick’s Day.

May you always have work for your hands to do.

May your pockets hold always a coin or two.

May the sun shine bright on your windowpane.

May the rainbow be certain to follow each rain.

May the hand of a friend always be near you.

And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.