This month marks five years since I started doing puzzles, so I celebrated by putting together my very first puzzle again. When I had done it the first time, several of the pieces had separated from the cardboard backing, so I took some time to glue them back together.
The quality of the puzzle was definitely an issue with a lot of peeling on the knobs and the pieces having what I can only describe as a squishy fit. The finish was quite glossy as well, and the lighting where I was doing it made that challenging.
I still had a great time putting it together though. The flowers and butterflies/other insects came together quickly and the words took a bit longer, just how I remember it the first time.
I am so thankful to my therapist who suggested way back when that I needed another hobby besides reading. Little did she know my foray into puzzling would turn into an ongoing obsession that would give me so much joy and result in me finding a whole bunch of people who love it just as much as I do!
Puzzle: Rare and Beautiful by Puzzle Crush, 500 pieces
This was a busy week. Last Sunday Michael and I had lunch with our friends Mike and Sherry. It was nice to see them as it had been a while since we got together. I also needed to get their house key since I had agreed to feed their cats while they went on a trip. Mike also asked if I could tape the back of a puzzle he had done because he wanted to frame it, so I did that on Saturday.
Here is the puzzle he did and what it looks like with puzzle glue sheets on it.
On Wednesday, my friend Suzanne came over. We ordered pizza and she helped me finish a puzzle I was working on that had gotten to the challenging spots. I was very glad for her help and her company. Then on Friday, my friend Renee came up and we went together to see Shakespeare in the Park. This theater group has been doing free plays every summer for thirty-three years! Renee and I have gone the last three years, and we really enjoy it. The play this year was As You Like It, and it was a lot of fun.
I had orthodontist and eye doctor appointments this week, and both went well. I also helped Michael fill out paperwork for a new therapist and coached him on how to tell his current therapist he wanted to stop seeing him. Michael felt like the conversation went well, and I am so proud of him.
I still get overwhelmed when I am busy or things are very loud, but I’m glad to be better able to handle social things better than I had been.
I had a pretty good week. My boss was on vacation and things were pretty quiet at work, so I got a lot of new products entered. I mostly puzzled in the evenings, other than taking Michael to his social skills group on Tuesday.
Last Sunday, we celebrated Pride Sunday at my church. I took a couple of photos, one of the artwork done during worship and another of the rainbow cupcakes we enjoyed after the service. It was a lovely service.
I had planned to go to Shakespeare in the Park with a friend, but I found out the performances are only held Wednesday-Saturday, so we weren’t able to do that on Sunday. We are hoping to make it before the run ends on the 20th.
My friend Kim came over for lunch and a movie on Saturday. Here’s a pic of her little dog Darcy curled up on my lap during the movie. So cute!
Today is my work anniversary, marking 31 years at my company! I can hardly believe it has been so long!
This week has been pretty eventful. I am still in the process of switching the meds that the psychiatrist changed for me. The new one was delayed by insurance. It normally comes in a capsule, but I have trouble swallowing those, so she prescribed a tablet. They wouldn’t approve it, but they said if I have swallowing issues I could get the liquid. That seems kind of stupid to me, but I’m just hoping it doesn’t taste terrible. I have been feeling better just with the lowered dose of the original med, so that’s progress at least.
My friend Renee and her boyfriend Chris (pictured above) came over on Friday to hang out, and we had a really good time. I overdid it on the carbs and afterwards I was feeling a bit off. It felt different from when I have high blood sugar, so I checked my sugar and it was only 75! I looked it up and it sounds like it was reactive hypoglycemia, which is when your body keeps making insulin longer than is needed after a high amount of carbs. I ate some candy and checked again in 15 minutes and it was up to 130. Later on it started getting low again, so I had some more candy.
The whole incident was pretty scary, but the really interesting thing was that my cat was climbing all over me and nudging me until I woke up fully and got up to check my blood sugar. I had heard about dogs that can smell low blood sugar, but I didn’t realize that cats sometimes do that too. I am so thankful that he was persistent!
I have been puzzling a lot. My follower count on Instagram has been slowly growing, and I just hit 2000 followers, which I am happy about. I took a screenshot to commemorate it:
On Saturday, I went to the puzzling group at a local library – the one I tried out last month. There were about 7 of us there, so we split into 2 groups. Our group did two 500 piece puzzles in the time we were there.
Here are the puzzles we did at the library:
Musical Mermaids by Bonnie White, Bits and Pieces, 500 pieces
Niagara Falls by Eric Dowdle, Dowdle, 500 pieces
Sunday I am planning to go to church and then in the evening Renee is coming again so we can go to Shakespeare in the Park. This year they are doing As You Like It. I am looking forward to both outings, which is a big improvement for me. Hopefully, I will enjoy them both and not be overstimulated.
As Mental Health Awareness month comes to a close, I wanted to share an update on my own mental health. For those who do not know, I have Bipolar 2 and I am also autistic.
I have been going through a difficult time the last few months. I started to feel easily overstimulated by social events and to feel restless when working or even sometimes relaxing. It got to the point where it took all of my energy to get through my workday, and I had to force myself to keep appointments for myself and my son. I stopped doing anything outside of what was absolutely required, even switching to watching church online.
After some research, it seemed I might have been experiencing autistic burnout, which is usually the result of spending years masking to fit in with neurotypical people. Not everything fit this explanation, but a lot of it did. After allowing myself a lot of time to rest, I started feeling like I wanted to be involved in social activities again, but I still had the sense that it would be too much for me.
Earlier this week, I met with my psychiatrist and I shared with her what I have been dealing with. She asked a lot of questions that didn’t make sense to me at first, but then she shared her suspicion that my symptoms might be related to a medication I was taking. We talked about some options and decided to gradually switch over to a different one and see how that helps.
I am still tapering off the first med, but I do feel a glimmer of hope that things could get better. I am thankful for a mental health professional that understands autism as well as mental health issues and can help figure out what is going on and offer a path forward.
I have been feeling pretty stressed this week. Between Michael and myself, we had several appointments so we both had to take time off work and run around for those. He also had a meltdown near the end of his work shift on Wednesday when something upsetting happened.
On another day, he might have been able to shake it off, but he was dealing with a cold and also feeling hot, which is a trigger for him by itself. I get so nervous for him when things like this happen because I worry not only about this job but about his future when I am not here to be a safety net. He does not have all the skills or resources to take care of himself.
Hopefully this week will be better for both of us.
I love this pic of Peanut Butter. I had folded a blanket and left it on the floor, and he partly wormed his way underneath the top layer. So cute!
This week was a pretty good one. I am starting to feel a little bit more like myself again. although some days I have been really tired from staying up too late the night before. Work is going well, and Michael seems to be doing okay at his job, which I am thankful for. I got a much-needed haircut on Friday evening, and I saw my friend Kim on Saturday after a few weeks of us being busy with other things.
I have been doing a lot of puzzling and TV watching lately and not as much reading. I did sit down and write a few book reviews, though, so I will be posting those soon.
My biggest struggle lately has been with impulse control. This affects me in a number of areas and I am looking forward to talking with my psychiatrist in a couple of weeks. I think I may need to adjust some of my meds to help me stay more centered.
This week was fairly busy for me. On Monday evening, the committee members from the autism mothers luncheon met at a restaurant for a debrief of the event and some socializing. We had a very nice time and shared some good ideas for next year.
On Tuesday, Michael had some dental work done. His dentist prescribed some medication to relax him, which he took the night before and the morning of. Everything went very well, which was a relief for both of us. He has to go back in a couple of weeks to get some work done on the other side, but he has the meds for that so I think it will be fine.
Michael’s case manager came over on Wednesday for a quick check-in. He is on the list for the state autism waiver, which would entitle him to some helpful services, but there is no way to say when he will be approved. It does by need rather than in order, so it can take a while.
Friday evening my friend Suzanne came over, and we ordered Chinese takeout and did a puzzle. This week, I had also seen a post on Facebook for a puzzle group that meets at a local library, and the next meeting was Saturday afternoon. I was a bit nervous because I have had trouble handling social events for the last few months, but I figured this would be pretty low key and not too loud.
I’m not going to go into the details of the afternoon right now because I am still processing my feelings about it. It was positive overall, but there were some awkward moments on my part that I was really embarrassed about later and even when I woke up this morning. I ended up spending some time reading posts on a Facebook group I am in for women with autism, and that made me feel better. Hearing what people similar to me are going through makes me feel less alone in my different-ness.
Today, I did some more puzzling and also some personal admin stuff that needed to get done. It has turned out to be a pretty good weekend, and I am looking forward to the upcoming week.
This picture is from the 2026 Autism Mother to Mother Luncheon held in Harrisburg, PA last weekend. The luncheon was started several years ago, and the main location is currently in Chambersburg, PA. The idea is to provide a special day for mothers and female caregivers of children with autism. It includes a catered lunch and a program with music and an inspirational speaker. This is the second year it has been livestreamed to other locations, and I have been part of the planning committee for the Harrisburg location both times.
My contribution to the event was to oversee registration. This involved keeping track of the online registrations as they come in as well as preparing the items we hand out at registration such as the name tags and programs. It was nice to be able to use my strengths to help out in this way.
The event went really well. We had 73 women in attendance and also provided childcare for 15 kids. There were a couple of hiccups that we can address for next time, but no major issues that I am aware of. I did have to personally step out of the after-lunch program because I was overstimulated after two days of in person preparations and then all the noise and bustle of the event. I hung out in the office for a while and did a few cleanup tasks before heading home. I didn’t have that level of difficulty last year, I was just exhausted, but I have been experiencing what many call autistic burnout for a few months, so that likely explains it.
I am hopeful that I will be able to do it again next year, but I will have to see how I feel when the time to start planning comes around. Perhaps there are changes I can make to how I participate so that I can still contribute.
Here are a couple of pics from the registration area:
This was a pretty busy week for me, but at least I did get to do some puzzling and a bit of reading.
The autism mother to mother luncheon that I am helping to plan is this coming Saturday, so this week is crunch time. I still need to finalize the program and get the files ready to print for the name tags and other things. I’m planning to spend some time on that today and am hoping to get it all ready to go. I took off this Thursday and Friday to go to the church to put things together so we are all ready for registration.
Healthcare rant incoming: My son had his first cleaning with his new dentist. Before we scheduled the appointment, we had a consultation to discuss what they could do in terms of sedation for doing fillings or other work like that and they said they could prescribe Valium for him to take before the appointment. At his cleaning, they did find some cavities, but the hygienist told me the dentist said he wanted to see how he would do without medication for this first time doing fillings. I pushed back and explained that he needed the medication and that was the whole reason we did a consultation before scheduling the cleaning, to make sure it would be available. After that, she went back to the dentist and he did prescribe the medication. It’s so frustrating that we had to have the conversation again!
