I had such a nice Christmas this year. My company was closed on the 24th and 25th, and I took the 23rd as a floating holiday, so with the weekend I had five days off. It took me a while to get my apartment decorated this year, but I finally did it and was able to enjoy my tree and other decorations for a couple of weeks leading up to the big day.
Michael was with me on Christmas Day this year, and we slept in until around 10am and then opened our stockings and gave each other presents. I decided that I wanted to have Michael be in charge of filling my stocking starting next year and when I told him that, he wanted help shopping for me this year to add to the couple of little things I had bought for myself. I thought that was very sweet.
For presents, Michael gave me two puzzles – one for Christmas and one for my birthday. He picked them from my Amazon wish list, so I definitely liked them!
In addition to his stocking stuffers, I got him a set of Pokemon books, a Lego set, and a new keyboard for his computer. I usually get him a video game, but he only had one on his list this year, and his dad got it for him. I did put gift cards for Nintendo and Steam in his stocking along with a bunch of different treats.
Peanut Butter got a small squirrel stuffed with catnip. I think he liked it!
After we opened presents, I made us French toast for breakfast and then got started on dinner, which was a turkey breast with assorted sides (different for each of us based on what we like). Later that day, I watched the Doctor Who Christmas special, so that was fun. All in all, it was a very good day!
Winter Lights is a 500-piece puzzle from Galison, and the artist is Joy LaForme. This was a gift from my friend Kim. She is really good at picking out puzzles I like, and this one is no exception!
It is kind of hard to see from a photo, but the puzzle has gold foil accents on it, which are so festive. I enjoyed putting together all of the buildings and vehicles most of all. The image is a bit dark, but it wasn’t too bad to work with.
Love for Holiday Baking is a 1000-piece heart-shaped, Christmas-themed puzzle from Callie Danielle. I got it at Target several months ago and have been holding onto it until now when it would fit the season.
My friend Suzanne came over one evening last week and this is the puzzle she chose to help with. She worked on the border, which is her favorite part, and I worked on some of the larger items pictured in the puzzle. Once I was on my own, I spent several evenings working on this puzzle.
Pros:
Adorable image
Fun heart shape
Unique take on a holiday puzzle by focusing on baking related items
Cons:
Very small, random-cut pieces
Thin pieces were hard for me to pick up
Extremely loose fit, came apart if bumped even slightly
I went on a journey with this one. Starting out, I felt hopeful that it would be pretty easy, but that quickly shifted into feeling overwhelmed. Once I got all of the larger items in the image put together, I sorted by shape and started working piece by piece. After a while, I started to make some progress on the big open spaces and felt better about the experience. As always, once it was finished, I felt a sense of accomplishment and appreciated how adorable this puzzle was.
I will admit that having done a few harder puzzles recently prompted me to go through my wish list and remove some that I thought might be on the harder side.
This is another catch-up post, but hopefully a bit more of a fun one. I’m not going to talk about work or health issues in this one.
In early November, Michael ran a short D&D campaign for me that he created based on Undertale and Delta Rune. It was actually a lot of fun, and I thought he did a great job writing it, drawing the maps, and running the campaign.
I tried a couple of new things in November as well. I had my first meeting on the planning committee for the 10th Annual Mother-to-Mother Luncheon. This year they are having it in three locations, one of which is Harrisburg. I volunteered to run the registration committee. I also attended a potluck and a support group meeting at a new organization called the Neurodiverse Network. I enjoyed the potluck, but the support group was a bit uncomfortable, especially when someone started saying how much they hate autism moms. I used to fit into that category and, although I have changed a lot of my views over time, I am still bouncing between being an autistic woman and the mother of an autistic adult. I haven’t interacted with them any further, and I doubt that I will.
In mid-November, our good friends Bill & Jenn came for a visit one evening. We had dinner and great conversation. Jenn even played puzzle chess with me and liked it enough that she wanted to play a second round!
For Thanksgiving, Michael was at his dad’s house, so I went to Renee’s for the day. Her boys were there as well as a couple of friends. Her boyfriend Chris cooked the meal, and it was fantastic. The brined turkey was so flavorful and my favorite sides were the sweet potato casserole with pecans and the sausage stuffing muffins. I took a 300-piece puzzle to do with whoever wanted to join in (Colorful Harvest, posted earlier this month).
On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Kim & I went to see the movie Wicked. I didn’t really know the story, although I had heard a couple of the songs from the musical before. I absolutely loved it! It was 2 hours 40 minutes, but felt much shorter than that. I can’t wait until part 2 comes out next year!
Here are a couple of pictures I wanted to share. One was taken in the front of my church while I was greeting last Sunday, and the other is a picture of my former dog Baxter with his new owner’s mother’s dog Hudson. I am so glad he is still doing well.
I finally decorated my apartment this week, after having the boxes sit in my living room for a week or so. I would like to get a bigger, fuller tree sometime, but this one will do for now.
This week has been a bit busier. On Tuesday, Suzanne came over. We ordered Panera and started a puzzle. On Wednesday, Renee took me to Gabriella Italian Restaurant for my birthday. We had a great time and some wonderful food. On Friday, Jessyca showed up at my place with a Christmas gift for me, a custom puzzle. I was so surprised and happy to see her again after several months of total silence from her. Today, Michael & I went to an open house at a center that our church is considering a move to. We would need to build a worship space to add to the existing building, but it does seem like a pretty good option for us. I’m looking forward to seeing if things work out for this.
I’ll sign off with a pic of my recent haircut. I’m not going to keep it this short, but I do kind of like how it looks.
This year, I took off the week between Christmas and New Year’s. I like having off at this time of year because work is usually slow, and it’s nice to have a few days to just putter around.
Christmas Eve fell on a Sunday this year. I went to the family-friendly morning service and the evening candlelight service. I really enjoyed the evening service, although the wax from the candle did drip onto my hands a couple of times! After church, I redid the puzzle Michael Storrings New York City Subway.
Christmas day was pretty quiet. I watched a few episodes of Silo and did some reading. My mom had sent money for Christmas, and I had bought a few books that had been on my wish list for a while because it didn’t seem like the library was ever going to get them. I have read the first two already and loved them!
Michael came home around 6:30. He had forgotten my presents at his dad’s house, so I gave him mine and opened the couple I had gotten myself, lol. We had dinner together, and then later on, his dad brought over the presents Michael had gotten me. Of course, he got me two puzzles – one for Christmas and one for my birthday!
Wednesday and Thursday Michael had work from 10-2. On Wednesday, Kim came over, and we ate lunch and watched a movie. After I picked Michael up, we went to Target to get a drive up order. I have decided to use Target instead of Amazon when I can due to a package being stolen last week.
On Thursday, I had therapy, which went well. I also went to Barnes and Noble to check out their puzzle selection. They had a good number, but I didn’t see anything I had to have. After I picked Michael up, we went to the Colonial Park Mall to pick up a package from the Amazon locker. That’s what I have decided to do for things I have to get from Amazon.
On Friday, I went to get an oil change. In the afternoon, we attempted to build two dining room chairs. We had built the first two when Bill & Jenn were coming over, but we had more people coming over that evening, so we needed them. One of them was fine, but the other one had an issue with one of the screws not going in properly. I also made artichoke dip and monster cookies. Along with that, I served veggies and dip plus meat, cheese, and crackers.
Friday evening was a lot of fun. Renee and her boys, Evan and Hans, came over along with our friend Chris. They enjoyed the food, and we played part of a game of Star Munchkin. Chris cleaned up my kitchen for me and superglued the chair piece that was causing a problem. It was a wonderful evening!
On Saturday, Kim came over for our weekly lunch and movie. I took a nap that afternoon because I had stayed up way too late the night before. I also went to bed early and woke up Sunday just in time for the online pre-recorded service my church did for what they call Sabbath Sunday. They are closed the week between Christmas and New Year’s to give the staff a rest.
Sunday afternoon, I started a 1000 piece puzzle that I had won in a contest a little over a year ago. I will share that in a separate post. I did stay up until 2 am on New Year’s Day to finish it.
Monday was New Year’s Day and the last day of my break. I slept in, and then Michael and I drove to Target to pick up a vacuum I had ordered. I got him Chick-fil-A since we were near there (I had already eaten lunch). When we got home, I did a 100-piece puzzle as part of the Winter Bingo for The Casual Puzzler’s Facebook group. I also did a 500-piece puzzle, also for the Winter Bingo. I’ll post both of those later this week.
All in all, this was a fun and relaxing break for me. I really like having some time off around the holidays.
Edited to add: I forgot to mention that my friend Kim gave me a 500-piece puzzle when she came over on Wednesday, and I put it together that night.
Today was Thanksgiving Day, and it was a good one. I got up early to start the turkey. It was my first time cooking a turkey. We were given a full Thanksgiving dinner from Michael’s caseworker, so I decided to give it a try.
While the turkey was cooking, I got out a 500-piece puzzle called Cats In Quarantine from Exploding Kittens. The artist is David Kantrowitz. It was super fun. I loved the image and the quality. The pieces fit together well, and you could easily move small sections around. The only weird thing was that some of the colors on the included poster didn’t really match the puzzle.
I thought I would sit down and write an update as to what’s going on these days.
The holidays are going to be different this year. Normally, we get together with my husband’s family for Thanksgiving Day and also for Christmas Eve. But my father-in-law is still undergoing chemo and needs to be very careful to avoid catching anything, so we are not going to be getting together this year. My parents both live in Illinois, so we don’t usually see them at the holidays either.
My in-laws decided to splurge this year and got us a grill as an early Christmas present. It’s the same model they have, and it’s really nice. We have used it a couple of times already. Speaking of early Christmas presents, we have done a little shopping for ourselves as well. I got new drapes for the dining room and a replacement set of Little House books since my originals are in bad condition and I still enjoy re-reading the series from time to time. Joe got barbecue tools and a cover for the new grill. Michael has been updating his wish list on Amazon for any family that want to get him something.
Michael has been struggling a bit with the hybrid schedule his school is on this fall. His grades aren’t as good as they normally are because he has missed a few assignments or not read all the directions for the week when he is online. He has also been feeling a bit stressed/overwhelmed with things. His psychiatrist has increased one of his meds to help, and we are also back to biweekly sessions with his therapist. The autistic support teacher is also meeting with him over Zoom once a week to review his assignments and the directions for the week in his classes.
For his senior year, Michael is taking English, Chemistry, Financial Algebra, and four credits of Electronics Technology. He was originally going to take a couple of half-credit electives, but he doesn’t need them to graduate so he decided not to take them. The seniors have online school Monday – Wednesday and in person school Thursday and Friday. Thursdays are his academic classes, and since there are only three of them he gets out at 11am. Fridays he has his shop all day. The shop teacher has them working on individual projects for part of the day, and Michael is programming a video game for his project.
Work has been busy but not overwhelmingly so. We are still working towards our new computer system and are finalizing all the product data uploads now. We hope to be live before Thanksgiving. I think the timing is good, because we will have a few weeks during our typically slower time to get used to the new system. Then when things pick up in January, everyone should be pretty comfortable with it.
So that’s the news for now. Hope you are all doing well and staying healthy.
In So Many Words 