Skip to main content

the so-so present idea

While at the gym I saw an advertisement on television for personalized puzzles. All you had to do was go to the website, type in an address, and the puzzle would be centered on that address and extend outward approximately a mile in each direction..a colorized satellite view! Coming from a family of puzzle lovers (working a jigsaw puzzle is a Christmas family tradition) and marrying into one meant this was a GREAT idea!!!

So I ordered a puzzle for Mrs. Bryan, and one of the church Dad pastored while I was growing up (and where my parents, 2 sisters, an aunt, and 2 cousins all got married) for the holidays. Mom and Dad's puzzle was actually for their anniversary (Dec 27), but I gave it to them on Christmas Eve so we could all work on it Christmas Day. A 400 piece puzzle would certainly be finished by the time everyone left Christmas Day, right?

3 Days and countless reworks later, the puzzle was complete (minus 3 pieces). It was an absolute nightmare to put together. We don't know what happened to the missing pieces, either. My sister's dog could have eaten them, they could have been knocked off the table and picked up with all the wrapping paper, or maybe they weren't sent (though that's not very likely). All in all, this little 400 piece puzzle is the HARDEST puzzle I have ever worked in my life.

Aunt Linda and Mom examine the non-interlocking border pieces.

Jennifer and Niki tackle the roads and streets.

The "finished project" (Cordova, AL) with three missing pieces. Had it not been for the railroad tracks we might not have ever got this puzzle together. Not what I intended, but this puzzle will definitely be one for the memory books!

Comments

Lydia said…
I love puzzles but that does NOT even look fun. And to get to the end and have pieces missing? That would make me scream.

Popular posts from this blog

things we do for love

Saturday we had a baby shower for Bobby's niece. As I was making the mints, Bobby asked what else was on the menu. After I recited off the litany of items, he responded with "No peanut butter?! This shower is for Hannah! What's she going to eat?" (Hannah has had stomach problems over the years and has been unable to tolerate many foods, but peanut butter has been her staple.) Despite my assurances that she would enjoy the foods we were having, he was adamant that I needed to make peanut butter & jelly sandwiches for the shower. Even though I protested that NOBODY took that to a shower, he persisted, and informed me I could make them dainty with my little cutter. And so I did. To my surprise all but 3 were eaten. Who'd a thunk it?

get your house in order

My grandmothers were very clean people. My mother thoroughly enjoys cleaning, though she doesn't quite hit the same level my grandmothers were on. I don't enjoy cleaning, but I do like things to be clean. I've almost given up on neatness. One thing that they all instilled in me is the crazy concept that your house must be in order before you go somewhere big - like a vacation or something. After all, you could die in a car crash or have to go to the hospital, and then people would go into your house and find it in a terrible mess. Who wants to be remembered by that? So up until this past year, I would sometimes be up almost all night not only trying to get things packed up, but also trying to totally clean house as well. Or should I say, make the house presentable? The Chinese had a horrible superstition that my mother and grandparents would have enjoyed. Spring Festival (the Chinese New Year based on the lunar calendar) required EVERYTHING to be cleaned top to

fun...funny houses

 We saw the above house in Pittsboro while on our way to the mountains. It was the strangest house I've ever seen. Evidently this isn't a modification, for Bobby remembers thinking it funny as a child. Evidently a governor lived here at one point. I think the sign said it's now a Masonic lodge. And if seeing one funny house wasn't enough, the latest issue of This Old House had a link to their website that had several galleries of funny (or strange houses). Here's my favorites from their collection:   Szymbark , Poland  This just makes me laugh, and I would love to visit this house in person. Created by a designer who wanted to demonstrate "wrong-doings against humanity".  Visitors have stood in line for as long as 6 hours to tour the house, and many come out feeling "sea-sick".     Kalambaka, Greece... This 1,000 foot cliff drop has housed monastaries since the 11th century. Six of them are open to the public, " assuming, of course, th