Got some “stuff” going on around here. Possibly very good stuff, but I’ll be able to talk about it in a few days. It’s sort of got me preoccupied at the moment, leaving not much room for anything else. I don’t like being cryptic, and thank God this isn’t happening in the days before April 1st, or else you guys would all be waiting for the punch line. 
Still, it is what it is, and I’m not sure I’m not waiting for the punchline, myself.
In the meantime, I’m just doing what I do. (Doo-be-doo-be-doo.) Life goes on. Sam and his crickets took third place in his division of the science fair, for which he got a medal and quite a long-lasting glow of grinning pride on his face. Gabe, of course, was insanely jealous – first Sam got a trophy, and now a medal?! When on Sunday Sam got a second medal (for participation in the Sunday School’s Olympics-themed musical the week before), we were prepared for a volcanic eruption from him. Thankfully, he had gotten a cookie from his own Sunday School teacher, and as far as he was concerned, that made them equal.
I’m trying to decide what to do for a race in May. They’re all at least an hour away, except for the one 5K that’s along the very same course I ran this weekend. It was scenic, mind you, but did I love it enough to pay a registration fee to do it again? I’m not thinking so. Might just spend the month really cranking up my endurance for the Lighthouse Run in June. Saturdays are prime days to run and run without a work-imposed time limit, so every one will be precious.
Quick, random poll!
Loading ...I personally found it tricky, but Sam loves the nines and always gets them much faster than, say, sums of eight.
I’m doing this race as my first 50K/ultra in July 2012. I’m so tardy to the party but...
I like the nines. Nine is also the magic number of transpositions – if the numbers you added up aren’t what you expected, and are off by a multiple of nine, you more than likely transposed a number…
27 written backwards is 72 – 72-27 = 45, which is divisible by nine.
I know, I know – TMI.
Certified numbers geek here.
Add 10, subtract 1.
Subtract 10, add 1.
That’s what my head goes through when adding 9s… for some reason it doesn’t with 8s.
In general, though, my addition/subtraction skills are awful.
9s are easy! Add 10, subtract 1. 7s are the ones that I hate. I notice (my dd is in grade 2) that they teach a lot of different strategies now than they did when I was a kid. I remember the strategy being “LEARN THESE!” but now they do a lot of stuff like adding 10 and subtracting 1 or 2 or whatever.
See, I started teaching Sam with the whole “add 10, subtract 1″ thing, and within a week he didn’t need to think about it anymore to get the right answer. “I love the nines!” he crows. Me, I’m still having to go through those steps in my head.
It’s funny; I was discussing this with a friend of mine whose son is in Sam’s class, and her husband is having her son learn the facts by rote, which seems to work for them. Meanwhile, I’m teaching Sam that “Curvy, soft 8 and 6 are smoochy-in-love and enjoy Valentine’s Day on the 14th!” which seems extremely helpful for the way his mind works.
Are you pregnant??
NO, no no no no. No. No.