My Impulse Purchase

Sometimes when I go to the Senior Center I work on a puzzle with some other seniors and find I enjoy it!  Since then, I've been sort of wanting to try doing a puzzle of my own.  I own a big one that I did years ago with my parents, but didn't want to set up that big one.  So, when I was in Marc's and saw they had 500-pc. puzzles for just $1.99, I bought one I thought would be fairly easy.

I sorted the pieces by color to help save time hunting for certain pieces and started on the border.  It was harder than I expected, but I did get it together, sort of.  I knew one piece at the top wasn't quite right, but was close and didn't know where else to put it.  It turned out that this puzzle was tougher

than I thought it would be.  I looked at the path pieces I sorted and thought no way is there enough here for that path!  But there was.  Several times I looked and looked for a certain shaped piece and again thought there has to be some pieces missing, but there wasn't.  It was much harder than it looked because pieces would be so close, but not fit exact.  As you can see from the picture, many colors are repeated in different places and sometimes I couldn't go by matching the color because the next piece started something different, like switching from flowers to the bushes, or from the house to a tree.

I stuck with it and eventually was able to rearrange the top border and complete the whole puzzle.  It was actually fun and relaxing for me, a great way to wind down right before going to bed.  I felt a sense of accomplishment when I finished it all by myself in ten days.   

When was the last time you did a puzzle?  What was your last impulse purchase?  I don't usually make impulse purchases, so this was rare for me.  What about you?

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5 Things I Learned This Week #96 (puzzle, books, pets, costumes)

Library Books

I learned that I should take my library book along even if I am renewing it because if someone is waiting for it, I won't be able to renew it. Today I had to make two trips. I had Private Justice by Terri Blackstock for three weeks and didn't get to it. I really want to read this one so I'm going to re-order it since I couldn't renew it Saturday.

Paperback Swap

Paperback Swap is donating new books to school in need when members turn in their credits. They buy a new book to donate for every credit turned in! I think that's pretty cool--donated 4 of mine.

Correction: My First Costume Was NOT a Clown

Thanks to iMemories.com, when I was looking through my old movies I discovered that my first Halloween costume was not a clown, but a rabbit!

Applying Frontline

I finally learned the secret to applying Frontline to my pets. Do not push their fur aside until I see their skin, just go ahead and push the applicator down into their fur. Moving their fur seems to be disturbing to them and gives them a warning. By just pushing the applicator down through their fur, they don't know it's coming I guess.

Sudoku

I did my first Sudoku puzzle! It's just logic but you have to look for the squares that can't be any other number.

Click to find more Friday Fragments.

Check out our three giveaways: Drawing is Nov. 20 for Hard Cache by Charles Neff (Suspense/mystery) and Drawing is Nov. 25 for You Already Know How To Be Great (Self-help) by Alan Fine and drawing is Nov. 28 for My Funny Dad, Harry.

Three Questions For You--What Do You Think?

 


(1)  A few houses down the street from us is a yard with these pretty purple flowers. Our next door neighbor also has some like them in her backyard but she couldn’t tell me what kind they were. Do you know?

(2)  Gerard and I played checkers July 4th weekend and normally he wins. We haven’t played in a long time though so he was a little rusty and made some bad moves. Our first game was a draw, he won the second game, and I won the third. I think though, that I really won the first game too because near the end he did not jump when he could have and moved a different piece instead. I said I get his man for not jumping, but then he took back his move and jumped then. What do you think? Once you move and your hand comes off the piece, can you take back that move? I think not, but Gerard thinks you can in this situation because the rule is you have to jump. (He just ignores that part about taking the piece for not jumping.)

3)  While walking Abby, I noticed the location of the flag on this house and wondered how they got it up there. Do you think they stood on a ladder on the porch and reached up? Or do you think they climbed out of that second floor window onto the roof and reached down? I just wonder.
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The Hardest Puzzle We Ever Did--The Castle

My mom loved puzzles and I remember working on several with her. Not that I was much help although she was very patient and I did get better at doing them. I remember several very hard ones: the huge swan puzzle with mostly green pieces, a farmland puzzle with mostly blue and brown pieces and a very pretty bird puzzle that I bought for her. It had several colorful parrots and a cockatoo in it. The hardest one though was the 3-D castle.

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6 Things I Learned In Week 14 of 2009

Child Tracking System

I first learned that parents can get a child location GPS tracking system when I read about it at For Your Protection. It is available through a company called Amber Alert GPS. By having your child take a tiny gadget with them, it will let you know their location where ever they go, providing they do actually keep it with them. For Your Protection is a great blog that I highly recommend. It has a wealth of good information about protecting your family and your home. I just discovered it this week through Entrecard.

Puzzles

I found a resource for puzzles for kids this week at www.akidsheart.com where I printed out an Easter puzzle to use for my Sunday School class. It also had word searches and puzzles for the Jewish holidays too.

Resurrection Buns

The 5th & 6th graders made these in Sunday School last week and they really taste good! Even I made a couple!! Here are the steps:
1--Get Pillsbury brand Grands Biscuits
2--flatten chunks of dough to a 5" diameter circle (represents the tomb)
3--brush on some melted butter, sprinkle some cinnamon & sugar (represents spices)
4--put a big marshmallow in the middle (represents Christ's body)
5--Fold the marshmallow up in the dough and pinch closed
6--spread melted butter and cinnamon on outside and place upside down on cookie sheet
7--bake 10-12 minutes at temperature on instructions of package
The marshmallow disappears, just like Christ's body when he rose from the dead. They really taste good too!

Blogging Better

Through The Divine Miss Mommy blog I came across a post telling about how she is participating in an offer from Pro Blogger giving free tips and assignments for improving your blog. I went right over to sign up for this free tutorial from one of the best!

Shirts

At Beth and Cory's Mom blog I found out there's a site where you can design your own shirt! At VistaPrint you can customize your own t-shirt for under $10!






The story about getting my cat, Manny, is up on the cat/dog blog today. He wanted me to be sure to let my readers on here know about it.