Here are the four updates I had posted on Facebook, chronicling the puzzle saga.
August 24, 2020
Friends, I think I’ve made a huge mistake. A SIX THOUSAND PIECE mistake, to be exact.
You see, my oldest, normally off at college, has been living with us since the pandemic started. And we’ve done a bunch of puzzles together, just like when she was a little girl. Sitting side by side, day after day, snapping pieces into place, talking, and listening to music, I’ve felt so grateful to be spending this unexpected time with her.
On a whim, I decided to find us a bigger puzzle, a real challenge, and I stumbled across THIS beast. I figured if we could do a 1000 piece puzzle in a day or two, a 6000 piece puzzle would just take six times longer. But, like most mathematical attempts in my life, I was wrong. Very, very, wrong.
Let me count the things I foolishly failed to consider…
1. The sheer SIZE of it. The border fits on our dining table with barely an inch to spare. Also, you cannot physically spread 6000 pieces out on a table. This is a problem. It took DAYS just to find the ends. I practically dance a little jig each time I fit two pieces together. I am patient, but I am NOT 6000 pieces patient.
2. The fact that we have only ONE table in our house. Since this thing arrived, the five of us have been eating meals standing around our kitchen island. Fortunately, my husband, good-natured guy that he is, doesn’t seem to care WHERE he eats, as long as there is food.
3. My daughter, the only person in this house doing the puzzle with me, is going back to college in 2 weeks. Or so she thinks.
4. Also, let’s say we actually complete it. Then what? It’s too big to move anywhere. Do I serve the Thanksgiving turkey on top of it? Does it just live on the table forever, a permanent reminder of our victory? Do we…GASP…destroy it???
I don’t know how this ends folks. But if you don’t hear from me for a while, it’s probably because I got sucked into some kind of pandemic puzzle abyss…it’s been nice knowing y’all.
October 20, 2020
For those of you who are new around here, let me catch you up. In August, I LOST MY MIND COMPLETELY and bought a 6000 piece puzzle. SIX THOUSAND ITTY BITTY PIECES, currently the bane of my existence, that cover the entire dining table in our home. The ONLY dining table in our home.
Yes, that’s right folks, my entire family has been eating dinner standing up huddled around a kitchen island for over two months now. Let me tell you…my mother would NOT approve. Amazingly, these people have not complained. But seriously, this madness has to stop.
By just glancing at the puzzle, one would think, “Hey, she’s almost done!” And oh how I wish that were the case. You see, my oldest child (a.k.a. the “Puzzle Master”) was living at home for the first several weeks of this beast. For every ONE piece I put in, she put in TWENTY. Then she had the NERVE to go off to college, and I’ve been left floundering ever since.
The past few days, I’ve been at some sort of crazy puzzle stalemate. Like, I literally cannot seem to get ANY more pieces. I just sit there and stare at the thing until my eyes glaze over and I’m forced to eat another piece of Halloween candy to focus.
So I decided I needed reinforcements. I figured pure bribery with my other (puzzle-averse) younger children might work:
“Mom, can I have a grilled cheese sandwich?”
“Put in 5 puzzle pieces and I’ll make it for you.”
Guess I’m really on my own, folks. Please send some good puzzling vibes my way as Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching and I’m drawing the line at all of us eating Thanksgiving dinner standing around a tiny island. You hear that, puzzle?? I AM DRAWING THE LINE. 😄
December 16, 2020
“Wow…she’s almost done!” you might think when you look at this photo. But friends, looks can be deceiving. You see that little gray section at the bottom? Seems like it would take what, maybe about 20 minutes to finish? Umm…WRONG. You see, something I have learned in the FIVE LOOOONG MONTHS of working on this beast is that pieces fit in multiple places. Literally. I spent TWO hours staring at this section last night and could not fit a single piece in. 
Meanwhile, I’ve got bigger problems on the horizon. Namely, that I’ve been finding puzzle pieces EVERYWHERE. The other day two pieces literally fell out of my SLEEVE. I I can’t tell you how many have narrowly missed death by vacuum. My son found one in his SOCK. I found one randomly in our fruit basket, and one by the dog’s bed. My husband even found a piece while walking up our road to get our trash cans. Turns out, it actually didn’t belong to my puzzle, but STILL. This does NOT bode well for a happy ending to the puzzle saga.
The GOOD news is my puzzle guru college girl will be home for a few days next week, where she will be forced by mom guilt to sit in front of that giant slab of plywood until it’s done. I will bring her food, I will bring her treats, I will bring her a damn bucket to pee in if that’s what it takes…but that kid is NOT leaving this house until that puzzle is finished. Happy winter break, my darling! Hey, I threw up for 9 solid months while pregnant with her…she owes me. Seriously though, I refuse to bring this madness into 2021. 
Wish us luck, my friends.
January 4, 2021
Well, friends, I am happy to report that after FIVE long months of battle, the 6000 piece beast has been conquered!
All of December I struggled to get ANY pieces in, but my college daughter was coming home for Christmas and all of my hopes were pinned on her. I told her, “I am NOT bringing this thing into 2021. You gotta end this NOW.”
And end it she did. With me and my middle-aged eyes standing helplessly by, this kid effortlessly snapped those last pieces into place mere hours before Christmas dinner. I may or may not have run around the house screaming, “It’s a Christmas Miracle!! It’s a Christmas Miracle!” like a crazy person.
Or like a person that has just made her entire family eat every meal standing around the kitchen island for five months because there was a 6000 piece puzzle on the dining table.
Now it just needs to be framed so I can hang it up as a reminder to NEVER DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN. 😂
P.S. Almost forgot! ONE missing piece. I was hopeful for a minute that one of my prankster family members had stolen it as a joke, but alas, unless they are REALLY playing the long game here, it actually appears to be gone. 😭
Janene
