Floral Reflections is a beautiful 500-piece puzzle from Ravensburger that I have had my eye on for quite a while. My friend Jessyca came over on Memorial Day to hang out and after lunch we decided to do this puzzle together.
We sorted by color but didn’t pull the edges out and then started working at different ends of the puzzle. It worked out well because there are six sections so we could each do three of them. I finished a little bit ahead of her, so I helped with her last section.
This is such a gorgeous image, and it was very enjoyable to put together. The Ravensburger quality is always good, and it was especially nice to be working on it with another person.
After we finished the puzzle, we talked for a while and then decided to watch a movie. We settled on Falling for Figaro, partly because she had seen and liked the main actress in another movie (Patti Cake$). We both enjoyed the movie, and I plan to watch the other movie whenever I start up my Apple TV subscription again (that will be once Foundation and Silo have new seasons available)!
While she was there, I got a delivery of another puzzle I had ordered off Amazon. It came in a brown paper envelope, and the puzzle box was so mangled that it had torn open on one corner. There were even loose pieces in the packaging! I immediately contacted Amazon to initiate a return!
I had such a nice, relaxing day with my friend. I am so glad that I have been able to meet some people at my new church that I really click with!
Edible Flowers is a 1000-piece puzzle from Galison, and the artist is Olga Akbarova. It’s so pretty – I love it!
One of my other new friends from church, Suzanne, came over to puzzle with me, and she picked this from my to-do shelf. She started with the border, which was challenging because it is mostly black. After a while of doing that, she worked on the signs for each flower.
I started with the words in the center of the puzzle and then moved onto different flowers depending on which color had the smallest amount of pieces. Once we each had a few things completed, we started putting them into position. This picture shows how far we got that evening.
I asked her if she wanted me to set it aside until she could come back and work on it some more, but she was fine with me finishing it up. So I did that the next day! Here’s the finished puzzle – isn’t it pretty!
I really enjoyed this puzzle. It was a nice level of difficulty and was good quality. The colors and textures were easy to separate into the different flowers. There wasn’t too much solid black, and the border was pretty easy once the rest of the puzzle was completed. Highly recommend!
Recently I had the opportunity to attend Brick Fest, which is an event designed for Lego fans of all ages. I went with my friend Jessyca, and we had a great time!
There were a ton of builds to see, including some very large scale ones, and there were also many interactive areas. We did quite a few of them:
Meet N Greet with two of the stars from Lego Masters
Derby, where you build a car on a provided base and then it is raced against other cars down a short track
Coloring with Lego markers and Lego gel pens on coloring sheets they provided
Building a section of a mosaic based on a template you were given
Playing in a brick pit (Jessyca did this – I don’t have a picture)
Jessyca had a VIP ticket, so she got to do a custom build which was a little robot and get an event pin and sticker. She was able to get doubles of those to share with me.
The Meet N Greet was with Manny and Patrick from the show Lego Masters. I haven’t seen the show, but Jessyca is a huge fan and was really excited to meet Manny especially. She took a picture of me with them:
Here are some of the builds we saw:
Here is the car I built and the derby track:
Here’s my coloring page and the other swag I got:
And here is the mosaic tile I built along with a picture of the mosaic in progress:
There were other areas where you could build with different types of bricks, but we didn’t do all of them. We spent about 3 hours there, which we were happy with.
If you are interested in attending Brick Fest, check out their website for other locations and dates.
I have recently made a couple of new friends at the church I attend now, and both of them enjoy doing puzzles. My friend Jessyca came over to do a puzzle and enjoyed it so much she came back two more times so we could finish it together!
I let her choose the puzzle, and she picked Ice Cream Dream by Lego because she likes Legos. It’s a 1000-piece puzzle that I got as a birthday gift a couple of years ago, and I had done it in January of 2023.
We took the time to sort by color and did each ice cream tub as a mini puzzle before putting them together and filling in the border and in-between pieces. You can see our progress in the three sessions in the photos below.
I had such a good time puzzling with a friend. And this weekend, I’m going to Brick Fest with her to see the actual thing!
A lot has happened the last few weeks, so I wanted to jot things down for myself to remember.
Michael started working his first job in mid-December, and he is currently working 12 hours per week. The job is at a laundry facility that supports the Fort Indiantown Gap. He is working with linens and towels. There have been a few challenges as he learns the job, but he is continuing to improve.
Also in mid-December, I started having swallowing issues again and went in early February to have an endoscopy with dilation. In the meantime, I also visited an allergist to discuss my problems eating eggs. Now that I have been diagnosed with diabetes, it would be helpful to be able to eat eggs. (I can eat them as an ingredient in baked goods, just not in their original form.) The allergist told me about a new medication, Dupixent, that treats EOE and said I might be a candidate for it. She is requesting my GI records to evaluate my case.
After my endoscopy, the GI doc said he did find increased eosinophils and prescribed a steroid called Budesonide. I can only get it in a capsule, however, and I am terrified to try to swallow it because I have gotten pills stuck before. It also can increase blood sugar, and I don’t have a way to check my sugar right now. My PCP said she could put me on a continuous glucose monitor if I needed it. I have decided to just wait until I meet with the allergist to discuss the Dupixent again before I choose whether to take the Budesonide. Another factor is that the GI doc didn’t answer my questions about the medication despite my sending multiple messages to his office, and the allergist is very thorough in explaining things.
In other news, I have been getting more involved at my new church. The women’s table group I was a part of last fall has started again, so I am enjoying that. I also attended my first Ash Wednesday service. It was quite moving, and I have joined a Lenten book study that the pastor is leading weekly over Zoom. We have just had one meeting so far, and there were eight of us including the pastor. I was very nervous to participate, but I did force myself to speak up one time during the session. I am hopeful that by preparing my thoughts ahead of time, I will be able to participate more during the rest of the sessions.
Another thing I am going to be doing at church is greeting one service a month. I met with the hospitality team leader and she showed me what was involved, and next Sunday will be my first time doing it. I am actually not nervous about interacting with people because it should be pretty straightforward. The only thing I am nervous about is whether the arthritis in my right hip will act up. It does bother me when I am standing during worship at church, but I think if I move around a bit while greeting, it will be okay.
In friend news, Renee had her third back surgery. The doctor replaced her remaining rod with two new curved rods and also put in something to help the vertebrae grow. I am seeing Kim weekly for lunch and a movie. Yesterday, she helped me hang the two puzzles in the picture above. I’m really happy with them.
I have also made two new friends at church – Suzanne and Jessyca. Suzanne and I have gotten together three times for dinner, and Jessyca is coming over tomorrow to do a puzzle. I have met some other people that I talk to at church as well. It feels good to be expanding my circle a bit!
I’ll wrap up here as that is quite a lot for one post!
I sometimes find it interesting to look back at what I have posted here and see how things have changed. In September 2016, I posted Unmotivated = Overwhelmed and shared about how life was basically kicking my butt.
Things are much different now, partly because of the progress I have made with my medication and therapy, as I posted in My Journey with Psych Meds a few days ago. Here are the things that were overwhelming me back then with an update on where I am now:
Adjusting to being married again – Joe & I have been married for 2 1/2 years now and have bought a house. I have really settled in to the relationship and feel much more comfortable being myself around him.
Continuing existing friendships while being married – Of my three close friends, I still have two of them and those relationships are going very well. I seem to have lost the other one, who stopped responding to my attempts to connect a few months ago. I was really upset about it for a long time, but now I am moving on.
Getting used to a new church and trying to make connections there – We are now going to a life group connected with our church that meets every other Wednesday night. There are two other couples in the group, and we have really bonded. We are all friends on Facebook, and we have good conversations when we are together. Currently we are reading the book The Purpose Driven Life together and discussing it.
Trying to participate in group conversations at lunchtime (can handle 1 person or maybe 2, but more than that gets tricky) – I work from home now so almost all my communication is through email or Skype IM. I rarely have to talk to anyone at work, and then it is always one-on-one. I still find group conversations difficult and mostly stay quiet during them, although I am comfortable speaking at the life group I mentioned.
Parenting an autistic 14-year old boy – Michael is 16 now and just about to finish 9th grade. We spent 8 months in Family Based Mental Health Services, and it was very helpful in dealing with his depression and anxiety (along with medication that took a while to figure out). Now he is back in the regular services and sees a mobile therapist once a week. I feel our relationship is a lot stronger – we talk more and play games together. He is also more sociable – going to Smash Bros tournaments and having a friend over to play video games occasionally.
All in all, life is good. We are talking about getting a dog sometime in the next few months. Joe & I are going to Boston for a few days this summer, and next year we are planning a trip for the three of us to Illinois to see both my parents and possibly some other family. We have a few unexpected home repairs to deal with, but Joe is very handy and will probably be able to take care of them himself, which is a huge blessing.
So, how are you feeling these days – motivated or overwhelmed?
In So Many Words 