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Do you feel lucky today? I do! Too bad we're not going to Vegas tonight to test our luck, but instead Lee & I will be driving to San Francisco to spend the weekend with my whole family (parents included) to celebrate Paul's BIG birthday. The plans for tomorrow are a secret, but should be super fun. I of course, will take tons of pictures, but it might take a while for them to reach this blog since I'm incredibly behind!

Here are some interesting facts about the number 8:

Chemistry
-The atomic number of oxygen.
-The number of allotropes of carbon.
-The most stable allotrope of a sulfur molecule is made of eight sulfur atoms arranged in a rhombic form.
-The maximum number of electrons that can occupy a valence shell.
-The red pigment Lycopene consits of eight isoprene units.

Biology
-There are eight known B vitamins that play important roles in cell metabolism.
-All spiders, and more generally all arachnids, have eight legs. An octopus has eight tentacles.
-Timothy Leary identified a hierarchy of eight levels of consciousness
-In the human adult dentition there are 8 teeth in each quadrant. The 8th tooth is the so called the wisdom tooth.

In religion
-The Jewish religious rite of brit milah is held on a baby boy's eighth day of life
-Hanukkah is an eight-day Jewish holiday that starts on the 25th day of Kislev
-Shemini Atzeret (Hebrew: "Eighth Day of Assembly") is a one-day Jewish holiday immediately following the seven-day holiday of Sukkot
-The Eight Immortals are Chinese deities
-Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that humans are responsible for their actions by the age of 8. Before that age, children lack sufficient knowledge to commit sin and are therefore exempt from judgment for their actions.
-In Christianity, it is allegoric to: what is beyond time (because the number 7 refers to the days of the week which repeat themselves), and is the number of Beatitudes.
-In Islam, It is the number of Angels carrying The Holy Throne of Allah in heavens.
In Neopaganism, there are eight Sabbats, festivals, seasons, or spokes in the Wheel of the Year.
-In Hinduism it's the number of wealth , abundance. The Goddess Lakshmi has eightfold forms. There are eight nidhis - seats of wealth.

In superstition and divination
-If each of the classical elements is assigned a cosmic projection, the resulting number (8) represents them.

As a lucky or unlucky number
-Eight is considered a lucky number in Chinese culture because it sounds like the word "prosper" or "wealth".
-In numerology, 8 is the number of building, and in some theories, also the number of destruction.

In astrology
-In Astrology, Scorpio is the 8th astrological sign of the Zodiac
-In the middle ages, 8 was the number of "unmoving" stars in the sky, and symbolized the perfectioning of incoming planetary energy

In music
-A note played for one-eighth the duration of a whole note is called an eighth note, or quaver
-An octave, the interval between two notes with the same letter name (where one has double the frequency of the other), is so called because there are eight notes on a western scale between the two, including the notes themselves
-There are eight notes in an octatonic scale
-There are eight musicians in an octet
-"Eight maids a-milking" is the gift on the eighth day of Christmas in the carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas"
-The 8-track cartridge is a musical recording format
-Eight Seconds, a Canadian musical group popular in the 1980s with their most notable song "Kiss You (When It's Dangerous)"
-"Eight Days a Week" is a #1 single for the music group The Beatles.

In sports
In football, the number 8 has historically been the number of the Central Midfielder while in rugby union the number eight central back row position wears the 8 shirt. Similarly in baseball, in its numbering system used to record defensive plays, eight represents the center fielder's position. The Philadelphia Flyers once had a line called the Crazy Eights with Eric Lindros at center (88); Mark Recchi (8); and Brent Fedyk (18). Kobe Bryant wore this number for most parts of his career. 49ers Quarterback Steve Young wore this number. In chess, each side has eight pawns and the board is made of 64 squares arranged in an eight by eight lattice. The eight queens puzzle is a challenge to arrange eight queens on the board so that none can capture any of the others.

Eight ball billiards is played with 15 balls; the black ball numbered 8 being the middle and most important one. Magic 8 Ball is a randomized process of predicting the future or answering various questions, packaged to resemble this ball and often sold as a fortune-telling device.

In rowing an 'eight' refers to a sweep oar boat with eight rowers plus a coxswain.

In rugby union, the only position without a proper name is the Number 8, a forward position.

It is the retired jersey number of Baseball Hall of Fame players Cal Ripken, Jr., Joe Morgan, Willie Stargell, Carl Yastrzemski, and Yogi Berra.

In hockey, Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, widely considered the most talented player in the league, wears the number 8.

Happy 8/8/8 everyone!!