Einsteinmas.

Today is Pi Day.

I have written about Pi Day before (check it out). You might not have known that today is also Albert Einstein's birthday.

A bit devastated I did not have time to make a pi(e) this year... maybe this weekend? Belated pi(e)?

Anyways, here are some pi songs to make you smile:

Pi Day (Waaaaaaay better than Rebecca Black's original)

and

Mathematical Pi (Best pi song ever.)

Pi Day.

Yesterday was Pi Day.

For those of you who are not math geeks like myself, pi (π) is a Greek letter that is used as a symbol for the ratio of the perimeter of a circle to it's radius. π is an irrational number, which means it cannot be expressed as a fraction, and it's decimals go on forever without repeating. Since this is not very handy, π (3.14159265358979323846264338327...) is often rounded to 3.14 which is a good enough approximation for most intents and purposes.

Pi crops up everywhere in science and math. As such, it makes mathematicians and scientists fairly excited. And we celebrate it on March 14 (3/14... get it?).

Math and Science departments at schools are no different. Yesterday we had some Pi Day festivities in the gymnasium with prizes on hand. There was a challenge to see who could memorize the most digits of π (winner was the winner last year.. this year's was a school record of 517 digits with no mistake), a pie-eating contest, and a raffle to pie a teacher in the face.

And yes, I got pie-ed in the face. 

Along with 7 other teachers, I volunteered to take a cream pie in the face. My skin felt remarkably smooth for the rest of the day. But the sprinkles got caked in my hair. 

The things I do to get teenagers interested in math and science!

An Apple Pi(e) I made a few years ago.

Christmas Eve.

It's Christmas Eve! School is (finally!) out for the year, and it's time for me to get into a more seasonal, festive spirit. It would help if all the snow hadn't melted, but what can you do?

Spending the night at my parents tonight (how else will Santa know where to find me?) which means today and tomorrow will be filled with good food, great friends, and lots of laughs.

It will also involve the annual reading of Clement Moore's 1823 classic "A Visit From St. Nicholas"...

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."

Decorations.

I was having a rough week last week (just some of those days, you know?) and two things made me feel heaps better....

1. I bought myself flowers. Flowers just make me so happy! (I love my plants... but none of them are flowering right now...)

2. We decorated the house for Christmas!

Our Christmas tree is so tall and skinny and silly looking because it was meant for an apartment building. Nothing says Christmas like saving space!

Because our tree came pre-decorated with pine cones and holly berries (which I found out Saturday night at 10 pm) we decided to keep the decorations simple and minimal. My parents gave us the old decorations from our childhood tree (which were old then) and we put up the cute little wooden ones. ... and a few other gems.

Because nothing says 'festive' like the Christmas Steam Boat.

Or the Christmas Winnie the Pooh...

I think my grandmother knit a whole trees worth of these one year... We had to put up at least one.

Muppet Family Christmas.

One of my favorite holiday traditions is watching Jim Henson's Muppet Family Christmas while I bake. If you haven't seen it, I highly suggest you do so. Now would be okay.

I have seen it so many times (several times a year pretty much since I was born) that I know all the words by heart. It has inflitrated my life to the point that, whenever any one says "Look what I've got!" my brain immediately follows it up with... "Christmas cookies!".

Sometimes I even say it out loud. And obviously in this way... (now is where you watch the YouTube clip, starting at 2:13...)