Something on your “to-do list” that never gets done.
I’m the worst when it comes to doing this for my husband. It always starts with the famous last words, “Oh honey I’ll take care of it!” In this case, it is photos I scanned to send to a friend.
3 weeks later… “No, I haven’t printed them yet. but I will.”
5 weeks later… “Oh! They came out really weird on the printer, so I sent them to Snapfish and I’ll pick them up at Walgreens”
7 weeks later… Picking them up at Walgreens. “Sorry not here! Do you have the email? Uh, this says CVS”. Oh crap .
9 weeks later… “I picked them up! I’ll send them out!”
12 weeks later… “uh, no I haven’t sent them out. In fact, I can’t remember where I put the ones I picked up.”
He says today, “I should have done it myself.” “Yes, maybe you should have”, I replied.
I could have shown him how to select, how to order, either pickup or have Snapfish send them directly to his house and moved on to something else on my To-Do List that never gets done!
While in California in November, Aunt Mindy was working on a jigsaw puzzle. She has a nice set up at her recliner with a light and puzzle table with drawers for sorting. I’d done a few puzzle in the past and always enjoyed the hunt and thrill when you find the right pieces early on.
I bought this puzzle and the roll up pad for myself LAST CHRISTMAS but honestly was afraid to start because I didn’t know how long it would take….would I get bored?……would someone in my house be annoyed it was taking me so long? They were tucked away on the bottom shelf of our bookcase along with my adult coloring book and pencils, my French lesson card deck, my knitting books…you get the picture right?
When I opened the 1000 piece puzzle box and thought “oh my God this is going to take me a lifetime to put together”, I thought it was all about patience to complete it. As I progressed, I realized it was more about focusing on one task at a time.
Started during Christmas week; Progress on January 5th
Of course I started with the edges, praying that the size would fit on the table! Thankfully I had a 1/2 inch on either side to work with! The pad is felt-like and held everything in place. I put a mark 8” in on the pad in case I needed to roll it up.
Nearly every night after dinner I would turn on the overhead lights and start examining pieces and comparing them to parts of the puzzle and the picture. Some parts stood out but of course, it’s a puzzle, it’s not meant to be easy! At first I was putting pieces in the area I thought they belonged to, but it just got to crowded so I put them all back in the box and would pick a house or section and sort for that. What a thrill it was the first time I connected a section to the sides!
So close to the edge!
Altogether it took me about three weeks to complete. I didn’t work every evening, but when I did it was about an hour at a time. No one complained about it taking up space (I think that issue is all in my head). I didn’t lose any pieces although when I couldn’t find the last edge piece, I thought one was! I think what I enjoyed most was there was an end in sight right from the beginning.
A Day in Paris – Done!
I looked at it lovingly for a day and then took it apart. Today I bought another 1000 piece puzzle and found a pack of 7 trays for sorting that stack together! I’m going to spend a little time on my other hobbies but now that I know I can focus on it and have the patience to see it through, I’m looking forward to it!
How do you feel about puzzles? Are you a master puzzler or prefer to pass them by?
Do you play in your daily life? What says “playtime” to you?
For various reasons, I’m pretty tightly wound. But lately, I feel the corkscrew loosening as my job duties at our business change.
For me, playtime is doing those things I enjoy – playing the piano, reading, working in my She Shed organizing pictures and writing, and even working on the jigsaw puzzle while watching television. It is hiking with my husband or even when I go out on my own.
Playtime is anything not related to business and household chores!
Thoughts From The Passenger Seat 