52 in 52: Do a jigsaw puzzle

The puzzle

Let me tell you, when I selected this one I had images of relaxing with a cuppa, and it would be over within an hour.

How wrong I was!

We had just gotten back from our camping trip, when I found under the bed an old puzzle that Mario had been given, but not put together. It’s a combination of the popular Top Gear character, the Stig, and a Where’s Wally puzzle (see a copy of the puzzle online here). There’s 1000 pieces, and is 79cm x 49cm.

When I first started putting it together I'd put it on a mirror that we have, but quickly realised that would be too small. I didn't want to put it on the kitchen table since it would take up room where we eat every night, and we didn't have any other suitable surfaces. The floor it was. I also didn't want to put it on the floor upstairs in the spare room, since that meant I'd be spending considerable time upstairs, being antisocial. So, the floor in the main area it was.

I didn't count on how long this puzzle was going to take, and therefore didn't account for how many times I would suffer from a numb bum. Sitting on a pillow didn't help much.

I also didn't count on my “must get it finished at all costs” streak kicking in, which meant that most of the spare time of my days was dedicated to sitting on the floor, painstakingly putting in piece after piece.

What I did count on was how much fun it was going to be. I had the cuppa (or ten) while putting this together over the course of three days, and I did have several numb bums and sore lower back. But I really enjoyed the time of just switching my brain off, and working on the puzzle. Given I've also started a diet this week, I especially enjoyed taking the focus off whether I was hungry or not.

7 days into the new year and first one finished! It'd be nice if I could keep this rate up!

View the full list of 52 in 52 items here.

 

Let me know your thoughts!