I had a pretty good week. My boss was on vacation and things were pretty quiet at work, so I got a lot of new products entered. I mostly puzzled in the evenings, other than taking Michael to his social skills group on Tuesday.
Last Sunday, we celebrated Pride Sunday at my church. I took a couple of photos, one of the artwork done during worship and another of the rainbow cupcakes we enjoyed after the service. It was a lovely service.
I had planned to go to Shakespeare in the Park with a friend, but I found out the performances are only held Wednesday-Saturday, so we weren’t able to do that on Sunday. We are hoping to make it before the run ends on the 20th.
My friend Kim came over for lunch and a movie on Saturday. Here’s a pic of her little dog Darcy curled up on my lap during the movie. So cute!
Today is my work anniversary, marking 31 years at my company! I can hardly believe it has been so long!
Tree of Hope is a 300-piece puzzle from Pintoo. I redid this one last week when I had some time to kill before my friends arrived to hang out. I knew it would be a quick build, and it was.
I just love the four seasons theme and the whimsical illustration in this one. This brand is interesting because it has plastic pieces that snap together in a very satisfying way. It can be a bit hard on your fingers by the end, but it is so fun to be able to pick up the puzzle and flap it around! 😄
Stockholm is a 1000-piece puzzle from eeBoo, and the artist is Uta Krogmann. I was in the mood for an eeBoo puzzle the other day, so I pulled this one out of my stash. I love building/city puzzles, and Stockholm isn’t one you see repeated too much, so that made it even more enjoyable.
My favorite part was the buildings, of course. I love the colors and the variety in the architectural style and the windows. The boat was also a lot of fun to put together. I also really like the details like the swans with their babies and the festive bunting on the buildings.
I read Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library shortly after it came out in 2020 and absolutely loved it, so when he wrote The Midnight Train, a novel set in the same world, I jumped at the chance to read it.
I am not kidding when I say I devoured this book. It has been a while since I read a book this fast, but I did not want to put it down. In this book, we meet Wilbur, who has just died and is now experiencing his life flashing before his eyes. But the form it takes in a train that speeds through his life, stopping at important moments so he can watch them happen and understand them better.
I loved the philosophical nature of this book, as well as the twists and turns it took as Wilbur sees things he wished he had done differently. It was a powerful story, and the ending had me in total tears (which rarely happens to me).
Loving Kindness is a 300-piece puzzle from Buffalo Games, and the artist is Lisa Marie Thalhammer. I love how bright the colors are in this one. This was a super fun, easy puzzle that I got to celebrate Pride Month. It was so satisfying to pick out the colors one by one and assemble. One of the light blue pieces was damaged, but overall the quality was great.
This week has been pretty eventful. I am still in the process of switching the meds that the psychiatrist changed for me. The new one was delayed by insurance. It normally comes in a capsule, but I have trouble swallowing those, so she prescribed a tablet. They wouldn’t approve it, but they said if I have swallowing issues I could get the liquid. That seems kind of stupid to me, but I’m just hoping it doesn’t taste terrible. I have been feeling better just with the lowered dose of the original med, so that’s progress at least.
My friend Renee and her boyfriend Chris (pictured above) came over on Friday to hang out, and we had a really good time. I overdid it on the carbs and afterwards I was feeling a bit off. It felt different from when I have high blood sugar, so I checked my sugar and it was only 75! I looked it up and it sounds like it was reactive hypoglycemia, which is when your body keeps making insulin longer than is needed after a high amount of carbs. I ate some candy and checked again in 15 minutes and it was up to 130. Later on it started getting low again, so I had some more candy.
The whole incident was pretty scary, but the really interesting thing was that my cat was climbing all over me and nudging me until I woke up fully and got up to check my blood sugar. I had heard about dogs that can smell low blood sugar, but I didn’t realize that cats sometimes do that too. I am so thankful that he was persistent!
I have been puzzling a lot. My follower count on Instagram has been slowly growing, and I just hit 2000 followers, which I am happy about. I took a screenshot to commemorate it:
On Saturday, I went to the puzzling group at a local library – the one I tried out last month. There were about 7 of us there, so we split into 2 groups. Our group did two 500 piece puzzles in the time we were there.
Here are the puzzles we did at the library:
Musical Mermaids by Bonnie White, Bits and Pieces, 500 pieces
Niagara Falls by Eric Dowdle, Dowdle, 500 pieces
Sunday I am planning to go to church and then in the evening Renee is coming again so we can go to Shakespeare in the Park. This year they are doing As You Like It. I am looking forward to both outings, which is a big improvement for me. Hopefully, I will enjoy them both and not be overstimulated.
Magnolia has a bunch of sets that include 4 puzzles which are each 260 pieces. Each set features work from one artist, and I recently purchased 2 sets of Kat Fedora images. The one in the lower left, Nightfall, had been on my wishlist for a while and I actually was able to purchase it in the 1000 piece size through a private sale around the same time that I got the sets. I’m going to hold onto it to see if I feel like doing that size later on.
I loved this whole set of puzzles. I love the mix of fantasy with books; they are so magical and enchanting. The piece count was perfect for the images, and they were challenging enough that they felt very satisfying to complete. I think some of them would be very intimidating in a larger piece count, actually.
Dr. Emily Nichols is a former eco-crusader who has ended up in academia and is not sure how her life got so bland. Her best friend, Liv Bennett, is a real estate agent who is a chronic people pleaser and is not living her best life because of it. When they witness an attempted robbery at their local coffee shop, they are impressed by the bravery of a yoga mom who confronts the thief. Through this experience, they end up in a mysterious class called Fearless, Inc, where the instructor Zeus wants to help them overcome their fears.
The story of women who are stuck in some way and need to find a way to speak their truth and stand up for themselves is not new, but the way the theme is addressed in this novel is so fun and engaging that I found myself eager to pick the book up again each time. There were a lot of humorous moments along with the opportunities for growth that Emily and Liv experience along with the other members of their class.
I am a big fan of the artist Josie Lewis and have collected several of the puzzles that feature her artwork. I recently completed these two and loved them. They are both 500 pieces and from Buffalo Games.
The first one is Colorful Diamonds. This one was really enjoyable and is just so pretty with the gradient.
The second one is Geometric. This one was quite a bit harder than I thought it would be. The greens and blues were especially difficult since they appear on both the left and right sides of the image. I did have to sort by shape to finish it up. I still really enjoyed it and love the way it looks finished.
The Midnight Train by Matt Haig (The Midnight World #2) – This is billed as a magical, time-traveling love story from the world of The Midnight Library (which I loved).
What I Recently Finished
Lies and Other Love Languages by Sonali Dev
The Wedding Setup by Sonali Dev (short story)
In Your Dreams by Sarah Adams (Rome Kentucky #4)
Lift Me Up by Milly Johnson (short story)
Jigsaw by Jonathan Kellerman (Alex Delaware #41)
The Anti-Heroes by Jen Lancaster
Emma of 83rd Street by Audrey Bellezza (For the Love of Austen #1)
What I Added to my TBR
A Wind Turned Dark with Burning by Mercedes Lackey (Elemental Masters #19)
The General Hospital by Anne Buist (Menzies Mental Health #3)
The Slow Cooker Supper Club by Sue Heath
A Bookshop Summer by Stephanie Butland
Sari, Not Sari by Sonya Singh
Zoe Brennan, First Crush by Laura Lee Piper
The Next Best Fling by Gabriella Gamez (Librarians in Love #1)
Kiss Me, Maybe by Gabriella Gamez (Librarians in Love #2)
TBR Stats/Goal Updates
I currently have 177 books on my TBR. Of these, 8 are nonfiction and 169 are fiction.
I have read 31 books so far in 2026. My goal is 100, so I still a bit behind. It’s okay if I don’t meet my goal, though. My reading ebbs and flows depending on my mood and circumstances.
I have not finished any nonfiction books so far in 2026. My goal is 6.
I ended my Kindle Unlimited subscription. I read 15 books and had 1 DNF during the time I had KU.
In So Many Words 