The picture tonight is one of Joan and I with the FINISHED puzzle. This was the hardest puzzle I've ever done, but it was really so much fun. Joan came a couple of days ago when I was taking an off day and we spent the afternoon working this puzzle. She came, again, today and we both were so discouraged with it. At one point we had the gorilla's hands overlapping the cat's shoulder, but we didn't know how to correct it. All the pieces in this puzzle fit together, but, obviously they picture doesn't work unless you get the pieces in the right places! I never, ever had so many pieces that I KNEW were right and then took them out to put them somewhere else. It was bizarre! Tom (Rose) we kept wishing you were here to whittle some pieces to fit better; were your ears burning? Notice the cribbage boards above Joan's head; Tom made those for my mom when we were in high school. This isn't the best shot of the puzzle, but if you click on the picture, you can see it better. There are over 1,000 pieces, and this is the puzzle we started in Gatlinburg. Mason is the real hero; he found one of the pieces between our unit at the condo and the car the next morning after I'd packed it the night before we left to come home. Thank you, Mason! I figured if he found a piece, there was no telling how many pieces fell out that nobody found.
At one point Joan and I were both ready to throw the puzzle into the trash. We figured there was no way this was going to work. My mother (who died in 1986, but only her body is gone; she is here with me all the time as long as I can remember her and do all the things she taught me) wouldn't let me throw away ANYTHING, let alone something that had become part of the family!
They say working jigsaw puzzles is good for the mind. MD Anderson has them all over the place for all us chemo brains to work. I hope this was good for me; I loved doing it. I really thank God that we got it finished instead of giving up on it. It feels good to complete a task.
Tomorrow the Mexican Restaurant is closed, so David and Dorothy are coming here for lunch after church. I'm making a meatloaf and having that yummy salad of Ruthie's, some fresh baked rolls, and some fresh squash and tomatoes from Joan's garden. Yum! Terri asked me for the recipe for Ruthie's pea salad, so I emailed it to her. I think I can post it in the comments, too, in case anyone else wants it.
By the way, those pictures on the wall are Don's family. His mother and daddy are in the little picture on the bottom. His baby sister, Doris, is in the picture by herself. The three kids in the top are Don, on the left, his older sister, Janet, and his brother, Gene. Only Don and Doris are left.
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