It all got started innocently enough in a grocery store isle.  No this is not quite a love story.  It's more like an obsession.I'm talking puzzles here.  And the more pieces the better!  Above, you'll see the latest one I'm working on.  It's a lovely scene of a cabin by a lovely lake, chosen by my daughter in the grocery store recently.  Is there anything grocery stores won't try to sell you?  Obviously, they are targeting suckers like me who are crazy enough to bring their kids along to the store (once in a while).  Kids get you to buy things you would never normally buy so it is certainly dangerous to your wallet to bring them along, but as we all know, occasionally it's necessary.

So that's how my obsession with puzzles began: my daughter begged for me to buy (her) one.  It was a 1000 piece puzzle of horses on a farm.  Most of that darn puzzle was slight variations of the same color.  Needless to say, it sucked me in like nobody's business from day one.  I HAD to conquer that puzzle since it was such a challenge.

Here's where I'm at.  Last night, I actually had to tell my husband to remind me, as I was poring over the current puzzle of the lake, to tell me to stop after a certain amount of time because I become so wrapped up in it that I completely lose track of time.

I'd like to say that puzzling (my definition of doing puzzles) is relaxing but since I do it for too long, my neck and back get all kinked up and I typically end up with a headache from concentrating on puzzle pieces so hard.  Still, it's enjoyable and I just can't seem to stop myself from going over to that card table after dinner.

I guess the moral of the story is everything in moderation, even puzzles.  Next time I sit down to that table, I'll be bringing a timer with me.

With all that said, I thought you might be interested to find out what America's Top 10 hobbies are according to dailypress.com.

America's Top 10 Hobbies

1. Fishing (too boring and I don't like hurting fish for sport)
2. Sewing (I try to avoid this one)
3. Music (oh yeah baby!)
4. Bird Watching (Ok, I get that as a nature lover but why narrow it down to birds?)
5. Restoring Cars (I bet this is a hobby that gets expensive)
6. Woodworking (Been there, done that, no time or space to indulge)
7. Metal Detecting (who wants to dig? Puh-leeeeze)
8. Hunting (I'm too soft on animals now for that)
9. Collecting (I like getting rid of things too much, plus you end up with a collection that nobody wants)
10. Model building (people still do that?)

 

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