Thoughts of an introverted bookworm and avid jigsaw puzzler
Moonlit Blossoms is a 1000-piece puzzle, and the brand is listed on Amazon as PICKFORU. It was my first puzzle on the new puzzle board that I just got. It’s so pretty!
It does have a lot of dark areas, however. I probably wouldn’t have chosen it if I didn’t know it had letters on the back so I could do it in sections.
I got the Playboda puzzle board that I have been seeing all over TikTok and so far I love it! It is made for a 1500-piece puzzle so it will hold the larger 1000-piece puzzles I sometimes run across. It rotates, which is awesome, and it fits on the little table I have in the living room so now I can puzzle in front of the TV.
It has a black neoprene pad that you can put over your puzzle while it is in progress to protect it from pets and other hazards. It also includes four drawers to use as sorting trays.
Koala House Party is a 1000-piece puzzle from eeBoo, and the artist is Uta Krogmann. I know some people don’t like glossy pieces, but I don’t mind them. I really enjoyed this one!
What I’m Reading Now
Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation by Kristin Kobes DuMez – I am just a few chapters in and I am totally engrossed in this book.
Pack Up the Moon by Kristan Higgins – I just got this one on my Libby app; haven’t started it yet.
What I Recently Finished:
The Sister Effect by Susan Mallery – I gave this one five stars. It was so well-done.
The Excellent Lombards by Jane Hamilton – I gave this one two stars, which is pretty rare for me. I did finish it, but it just wasn’t my favorite style of writing.
The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center – This was an enjoyable book about two writers writing and falling in love. Very good.
Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle – Another five star book. I loved the premise and I didn’t guess the twist, which doesn’t happen very often.
The Summer Book Club by Susan Mallery – This was a good read.
Toxic Prey by John Sandford – Yet another five star rating – I have hardly given any this year and now I have three in one month! This is listed as #34 in the Lucas Davenport series. Goodreads also has it filed as #3 in the Letty Davenport series since it includes her as well (she is Lucas’s daughter.) I flew through this one.
What I’ve Added to my TBR List:
Miss Amelia’s List by Mercedes Lackey – This is #17 in the Elemental Masters series
Nashville Dreams by Pamela M. Kelley
If you’re on Goodreads, feel free to add me as a friend. I’m always looking for new recommendations!
I did these two puzzles one day apart. I got them both for free from a local puzzle box and they are from different brands, but when I looked closely at the boxes, I discovered they are from the same artist – Nancy Wernersbach. I thought that was a neat coincidence!
The Ravensburger puzzle had one piece missing and it was the largest 300-piece puzzle I have seen so far. The pieces were so big!
Shopping for the Garden from Bits and Pieces, 300 pieces
Santorini Sunset from Ravensburger, 300 pieces
Super fun and easy puzzle! Second time doing this one, this time with a friend.
Go Camping! is a 500-piece puzzle from Ceaco, and the artist is Olivia Gibbs.
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte is a 1000-piece puzzle from Eurographics. The image is from a painting by Georges Seurat.
This was by far one of the hardest puzzles I have ever done! I chose it for a puzzle game I am doing that asked for a fine art puzzle. This image has always been my favorite painting, and I have even seen the original in person at the Art Institute of Chicago.
In addition to the pointillism painting style making it difficult, the loose fit of the pieces and the pieces all being the same shape increases the challenge by an exponential amount.
I had it almost done when a friend came over, so she helped me put in the last twenty or so pieces. So glad to have it done!
Toadstool Cottage is a 300-piece puzzle, and the company is listed on Amazon as Nichpedr.
This was such a unique puzzle. The pieces appear to be very thin wood, and they have a matte finish. There are letters on the back to assist with sorting, but I did not use them given the low piece count. It took a bit of effort to click the pieces into place, but the upside was that there were no false fits. You can pick up the finished puzzle easily because of how tightly it fits together.
The box was very plain with just a sticker of the image on the box. There was a nice sized poster and a zipper top resealable bag. It was a risk ordering from an unknown puzzle company, so I was very pleased with how it turned out.
I wanted to write a catch up post since it has been a while. The main areas I want to cover are Michael, work, health, church, and friends.
Michael left his job in May. He was having an emotional crisis and just couldn’t handle it anymore. I’m not going to post the details because it’s not my story to tell, but it was a difficult time. It has taken a while to get new services in place, but we are meeting with a new employment agency next week, and he is planning to complete a community based work assessment. This will involve working for a few hours at several different jobs to see what he likes and has aptitude for. It will also help the new agency to get to know him.
Work is going well. I am continuing to enter new products and also supporting the staff with the ERP. I recently approached my boss about reviewing my title and compensation and did get a new title and a raise. My title has changed from Data Specialist to Software Analyst, which I feel is a good reflection of what I have been doing for a while now.
I have been making a lot of progress on my health lately. I met with a new psychiatrist. She is a nurse practitioner at the Penn State Hershey autism clinic. Our first appointment was about an hour and a half, and we covered a lot of information in that time! We decided to keep my meds where they are for right now and reassess at our next appointment. I am currently taking Risperidone and Sertraline. I am thinking of trying to switch from the Risperidone to a mood stabilizer that would be less likely to cause weight gain.
I also had an EGD recently to check for the level of eosinophils in my esophagus. The pathology report seems to say there weren’t any, which is good news, although the doctor did say there were rings and inflammation visible, which is continued evidence of EOE. I have a telehealth appointment scheduled with my allergist to discuss next steps and what medication would be most appropriate for me.
Another important step I took was visiting a new dentist. I have had one bad experience since leaving my previous dentist due to an insurance issue, but I was hopeful about this one because I had gotten a good referral to them. I was so pleased with them – everyone was friendly and helpful. The doctor explained everything very well, and we are going to work through my dental issues over time. I am scheduled with them for a cleaning and two cavities to be taken care of. I also got referrals for one tooth extraction and one possible root canal. I think that will be a good start, although there will still be more to be done.
My diabetes is going okay. I have had a harder time lately keeping my carbs down. My A1C recently went up from 5.9 to 6.4. The doctor was still happy with that, but I know that I need to do a better job. It’s a constant struggle!
I am still loving my church, The Journey. I am actually watching the service from this morning as I write this post. I didn’t go because I was feeling depressed when I woke up and couldn’t get myself together to go in person. Thankfully, they stream the service online. I have joined the community ministry team and am looking forward to my first event with them, the Back to School party. It’s a Saturday afternoon community event with free food and haircuts and backpacks with school supplies. I am going to help with registration.
With regard to friends, I am still seeing Kim most Saturdays for lunch and a movie. She is going through a difficult time right now. Renee has been busy, but we still text and talk sometimes. I am hoping to plan a visit soon. I have done a couple of things with Suzanne, and she is a good support if I am having a hard day. On a sad note, I haven’t had any contact with Jessyca for several weeks. She lost her job and the last I heard from her was two days after that happened. She has not responded to any of my messages since then. I am so sad about this because I miss her a great deal and I also am quite worried about her.
So that’s an update on my life right now. I feel good about the progress I have made in a lot of areas, and I am looking forward to continuing my efforts to make things better.
Beauty Guru is a 1000-piece puzzle from Buffalo Games. The artist is Aimee Stewart. Even though I have heard of her and seen lots of pictures of her puzzles, this is the first one of hers that I have done. I picked it up at Community Aid because I like the colorful, cluttered appearance of it.
This puzzle was definitely challenging to do, although not so much that I got frustrated. I did the makeup brushes last, and they took quite a while to get done. I thought the quality was very good, and it included a nice-sized poster.
In So Many Words 