By Leslie Lindsay

The season of giving and food and shopping and lights is among us.  And my brain has most definitely gotten the work out.  Here’s the deal:  I have always hated math.  It’s just not my thing–and that’s okay.  There are other things I am good at and there are others  who typically help make sense of the numbers world.

So what does math and the holidays have to do with one another?  Let me explain:

• I am trying to figure out how many sheets of glitzy gold paper I need in order to prepare my Christmas letter.  No biggie, right?  Well, once typed everthing up and formatted it in the computer, I printed it off as a little trial run.  Okay…I see I can fit three “columns” of Christmas letter to one 8 1/2″ x 11″ sheet of paper.  I have 75 letters to send…see where this is going?  Sounds like a bad word problem from math classes of yesteryear.  But, alas I am using that algebra I learned for my own crafting needs.
• Since my hubby is a little Scrooge-y when it comes to exterior illumination–I do it. (“Qhat do electric lights have to do with the birth of Jesus?” he asks…good point.  No such thing as electricity back in His time).  So, I go outside with a ball of lights and cords and stand there looking at my one outlet at the porch and the 5 things I want lit up…how in the world am I going to get this to happen?!  So, I head to Target and stand for probably 15 minutes–no joke–staring at the exterior illumination section (yes, they have one) trying to determine what I need to hook everything up–safely.  Three-pronged outlets, grounded outlets, covered outlets, photocell technology, timers, clips, staple guns, stakes…you name it, they got it!  I think I need a degree in electrical engineering to get the job done (oh, where are my “enginerd” friends from college?!  I need you!).
• And how could I forget to mention the sheer cost of it all?!  I do a little algebra all day as I mentally add up the costs of things.  1 pair of scottie dog P.J.s at x dollars + 2 pairs of plaid clogs at 2(x) dollars – a return of the snowman p.j.s I changed my mind about = I don’t know…hopefully I’ll break even.  Maybe a remainder of 7.  R = 7 (remember long-division?)

And so, my friends that is how I use my mathematical education…and that is what is in my brain today, Thursday December 1st 2011.