Spirit Week

Yesterday marked the start of our homecoming spirit week. Since we don't have a competitive football team, there is no game, no real culmination, but that doesn't stop us from dressing like fools for five days and having a dance Thursday night.

Yesterday was school spirit day and the school bought everyone matching tshirts. It was a little creepy to be in the halls between classes and see EVERYONE in the exact same thing. But, it was a nice idea and now I have yet another school shirt to rock at the gym. Tomorrow is "professional dress" day, which means I can wear parent-teacher conference wear and be okay. Thursday is twin day, which I might pass on - last year the whole SS department went as "twins" (technically, qunituplets), but this year's department doesn't have that same vibe. Friday is class color day and I will rock some combination of green (Seniors) and black/white (7th graders). You may have noticed that I skipped today (Happy Halloween, by the way). That is because today deserves a paragraph all its own.

Today is "'bama day." A 'bama, as far as I can tell is pretty unique to the DC area. Everyone who has lived here long enough simply knows what a 'bama is, but probably can't actually articulate that knowledge. "A 'bama is...you know...a 'bama" is what my kids have told me for the last two years. 'Bama outfits range from crazily mismatched to raggedy and dusty, but what they all have in common is their pure outlandish-ness. Earlier this month, I got a reasonable explanation. As I suspected 'bama is short for Alabama and the idea is that people in that state dress is loud and sometimes clashing colors. So "'bama day" is, in essence, mismatch day. Only for any of you who teach in schools with mismatch day, trust me when I tell you this is mismatch day to the Nth degree. Craziness will reign supreme in school today.

To answer your question, yes I did dress for 'bama day, as hard as it was for me. My whole being shies away from mismatching clothes and I have always had trouble embracing this particular spirit day (regardless of its name). Today I am wearing a navy blue skirt that has light blue and light green circles and dots on it. I am also wearing red loafers and a two-toned pink striped polo shirt. It's not the light up tiara, shorts on top of pants ensemble that another teacher is rocking, but it is the best this Banana Republic girl can do. (Note that I wore flip flops and a jean jacket to school so that when I stopped for treats this morning, I passed as an average young professional. And I have jeans and a black button down in my bag so I can go babysit after work in regular clothes.)

Oh. And Halloween in DC? 75 degrees and sunny. Happy day.