Math Geek Fun with Numbers

Did you ever play the license plate game? You probably played it on a road trip....looking for license plates from every state in the nation. Well, I played the "math" version. I looked for, and delighted in finding, math "equations" in license plate numbers. If there was 145 as part of the sequence, woohoo, 1+4=5. 164... the square root of 16 is 4! That one was worth more points for being more advanced. Ok, but super bonus points in that one, because 16x4=64! I just taught Tim this game and he shook his head, admitting that perhaps I was more of a math geek than even he was! It brings me comfort to find these "math games" in real life, and in my life in particular. I was always thrilled that my birthday 5/25 is a special mathematical number. (5 squared = 25!) When I found out Tim's bday, I knew I was in love: 7/5/75!! maybe not an equation, but a pattern!! I really love palindromes too, you know the same number forward and backward. Thrilled that I graduated high school in 1991. Now in my family's life it keeps going! Lucy was born 5/12/09. Henry was born 5/19/12. (ok, that one is more of a tongue twister that keeps me on my toes when trying to remember and speak them outloud.) I had a positive pregnancy test for Henry on 9/10/11. Lucy's home test was positive 9/7/08. (a little out of order, still counts in my mind). Both of my kids had due dates of May 16. (Henry's was changed to May 20). Henry weighed 8 pounds, 8.8 ounces at birth!!! We all gasped when we saw it on the scale, because 8 is a lucky number in Chinese culture!! How wonderful to be all 8s! Now I stretch it out a little: Lucy's first tooth came on 12/12. We almost got married on 9/8/07. We really wanted to, but there were a couple of factors standing in out way. So we had to go with the next week, 9/15/07. Every year, I have to re-do the math...."no, it wasn't the cool number..it was a week later...ok, now I remember." I go thru the whole step, because I usually forget what year we got married. I asked Tim recently if he was worried about our kids' math education. Did he want to be actively involved in the math curriculum I pick for homeschooling. He basically said that she has to uphold the reputation of 1.5 billion Chinese people who have excelled in math before her! He excelled in math of course. Went on to major in math at Yale, then earned his MBA at MIT. (he doesn't brag about these, but I do). Of course he got perfect scores on every math test/math portion of tests he has ever taken. I was math student of the month in 12 grade!! With my picture up on the wall and eveything. ;) I still have the picture and title to prove it. I got a score of 4 out of 5 on my AP calculus exam in high school, earning me college credit. Tim found that out several months into us dating, and apparently it was the deciding factor in whether he could ask me to marry him!! I guess math will be pretty important and fun in our family. I got Lucy an abacus this week; I can't wait to teach her my mental math games that make every day life a little more pleasant. Oh, and Sonja.....don't forget, 3:33, the best time of the day! (In junior high and high school we were on the bus coming home from school, and it was a ritual to make sure we acknowledge the exact time of 3:33 and announce it to anyone sitting by us!) These clock games are nearly endless: 12:34, 1:23, 3:21...I'll think of these as I drift off to sleep!