Puzzled

I did something yesterday that I haven't done in a long time. I slept over 12 hours!! Fell asleep on the couch around 4:30 in the afternoon and got out of bed at 5:30 this morning.

I had some running around to do in the morning including the sobering visit to the car dealer to find out the approximate value of my car and the price of buying a new one. Oh boy! But more on that another day - I'm not quite at the point that I need to make a commitment.

When I was driving on the highway, I was exhausted and so I stopped at the onRoute to get a tea and take a quick break. Picked up some stuff, dropped off some stuff and gave a quick lesson in computerized long arm quilting. The lesson was supposed to be an hour or so, but my dentist agreed to see me in the afternoon. Teeth are X-rayed and checked - everything seems to be fine. Better to check it out, but problems could surface months down the road if the impact damaged the nerves. Oh, joy. But at least I've done my due diligence.

When I got home, I was exhausted and cold. I'm cold all the time these days. I hate the thought of seat warmers - I've lived my life without them and what's a little bit of cold when you first get in the car. Well, the rental has seat warmers and I can't get enough of them - that's how cold I am. I got home and I warmed up my big shoulder pad and I flaked on the couch and finally moved to bed around 9:30 PM.  I think I'm fighting a cold and my brain seems fuzzy. No - no concussion. I didn't hit my head on anything.

But enough of that gloom and doom - I did discover something yesterday. I love how people get back to me from the blog posts. Some people comment right on the blog, some people e-mail me and some people phone me. I got a phone call (thanks Elaine!) about a store near me that sells puzzles, games, and toys. I was in the neighborhood yesterday and decided to take a peek. Oh my - what a place. If you're in the market for a jigsaw puzzle, then you need to visit this place. It's called Hobby and Toy Central and located in the Heartland shopping area. I believe it's a chain so you can find it elsewhere. Since I'm not a big shopper, I'd no idea this store existed. Well - you should pay a visit. It's crazy!!!

I think the largest puzzle I've ever worked on had 4,000 pieces which is a lot of pieces. But LOOK - at these ones. OH crap - the grammar checker is telling me I should say "which ARE a lot of pieces", but that doesn't sound right. I'm learning a lot about grammar with this checker, but there are times when I think it's out to lunch. I get why it's saying ARE instead of IS, but..............

Might be hard to see, but those boxes in the middle are 9,000 pieces. Yikes - that's a lot of pieces. And what are those portable mats???  I wasn't in the mood to check stuff out more. I might have to go back.

9,000 piece puzzles in those big boxes on top

About the time that I found what I was looking for an employee came over to help me. We chatted about the size of puzzles because I had just spotted this box. The big white one up top - guess how many pieces in that one???

32,000 piece puzzle

 No - that is NOT a typo. That's insane. How long would that take to put together???  Oh - but that's not the largest says the employee. No - there's a 40,000 piece one and it's hanging on the wall.

40,000 piece puzzle

I guess it's like 10 - 4,000 piece puzzles together. This is a Disney theme. Costs close to $600 dollars. I told Ronda, who likes Disney - I think she likes Disney that she should get this. Can you believe it???  Here's a better picture of that puzzle and other ridiculously huge puzzles. Where would you work on that???

I used to do a lot of puzzles when we were kids at home and when I started out on my own. I probably did the same ones over and over again. When you look at the dollar value of a puzzle - $30 for a 1,000 piece puzzle, it's good entertainment value.

The folks at my parent's apartment pass along the puzzles when they're finished. That's what you need to find - is a puzzle network who you can swap with to get even more value.

Despite the fact that I already have 27 puzzles in the house, I did purchase one more. But I'm not going to start it until the one that's already started is finished.

I did a bit of work on it this morning. I also did a wee bit of sewing yesterday morning and a small job this morning in the studio, but I've basically neglected it for two whole days in a row. That's unbelievable. I'm just not there yet. Isn't that stupid?

Oh - I have one other suggestion that we should all do in the event that we're ever in a situation and not sure what to do.

Call your insurance broker and ask them for the phone number of a towing company that they want you to deal with. I have a feeling that the one that came to my rescue is going to make life difficult for us (that's what the insurance company told me - the towing company has a reputation) and I only used their rental car for a couple of hours. I don't think they were too happy about that. Apparently, they DICTATE when the insurance company can come in to do the assessment. YES - I signed a paper that I probably shouldn't have. So have that chat with your insurance broker NOW so you're not going to have to wait so long. The holidays aren't helping my situation.

Secondly, look up the local police phone number in your area. You know there are times when you don't need to call 911, but you do need to call the police. Put it in your phone so you have it.

The third thing - DO NOT keep stuff in your car. Not only is this temptation for thieves, but if you have an accident, EVERYTHING becomes a lethal weapon. Thankfully, my car was pretty much empty. A couple of dog toys, my gym bag because I was on the way to the gym and a yoga mat and that damn GPS on the dash.

On that note, I'm out of here. There are a few errands I would like to do today - nothing huge thank goodness and then I'm free the entire day. I might try and get a wee bit of sewing done and I might not. I'll see how I feel. This lull is just temporary!!!  Like I said, I feel my sinus is not happy and I'm thinking I might have a cold coming on. I'm sure that's what caused me to sleep so much yesterday. Even a nice home cooked meal didn't lift me off the couch. I just couldn't get the energy to get off the couch.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!