Festive Earrings

Today was my last school day of 2011. The winter break begins when the Holiday Concent ends. I wore this pair of green Christmas bulbs, a red turtleneck, and a white vest for holiday cheer.

This morning my happy students bounced in, many bearing gifts. The most remarkable was this hand-crocheted scarf, made by Ri (short for Henri). He started crocheting in September so that he could complete gifts for all of his teachers. Ri is my tallest 3rd grader, a rough-and-tumble sort of a guy. This scarf looks like someone spilled a box of the colorful candy called Nerds, he says. A big box!

And today added three wonderful new pairs of earrings to my collection. A lovely pair of birds, some Indian drums that my colleague Debbie bought at the beach, and a pair made of soda can pop-tops adorned with beads. No worries now about finishing off my year of 365 different pairs in style!

A saleswoman in a store eyed my earrings and scarf today and pronounced, "My aren't you festive!" Yes, I am. Let the festivities begin!