A Time For Everything

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Who doesn't like a puzzle?

Well, I'm sure there are people who don't, but I'm not one of them. On the other hand, I don't like every kind of puzzle. I mainly prefer puzzles of the jigsaw variety.

Anyway, Sunday the 29th is National Puzzle Day. According to the article, all kinds of puzzles qualify. Word puzzles, number puzzles, picture puzzles.

For a while, I was using the $1.00 puzzles from Dollar Tree as a reward for getting a certain percentage of my chores on my chore chart done. That worked well for a while, but then I quit needing that incentive. Right now, just seeing the columns and rows of boxes filled in with stickers is enough...

As a result, I have a small stockpile of puzzles: a couple of larger, 1000+ piece puzzles and a half dozen of the smaller Dollar Tree puzzles. Since puzzles are good for the brain as well as for hand/eye coordination and are supposed to be relaxing, I've dug one out and kept it handy.

Here are a couple I put together. They fit the theme of my office kitchen so I sealed 'em up and hung them on the white expanse of hallway leading to the bathroom.

Of course, I've been busy trying to get everything on the chore charts and in the housekeeping planners done, I haven't spent much time relaxing, doing puzzles or anything else.

*sigh*

But it's hard to relax when you have all these things you need to get done. Once January officially ticks over into February, and I get all the annual owning-your-own-business tasks that happen at the start of each new year off my plate, then I'll try to play a little more.

Do you like puzzles? What's your preference? Please share in the comments below.

Do a puzzle of some sort and have a great weekend.

I recently shared that one of my rewards for accomplishing my daily tasks for 4 days out of 7 was an inexpensive jigsaw puzzle from the local Dollar Tree.

And guess what--there's a day to celebrate doing puzzles and it's today, January 29. :0)

Here are three of the four puzzles I've done so far:

My reason for choosing puzzles was two-fold. One, as I mentioned, is that they're inexpensive (these ones from the Dollar Tree, anyway) and I enjoy them. Two, they're great for the brain. I'm getting older, but I'm trying to keep my brain sharp and even improve some of my brain functions.

According to various websites I visited, doing jigsaws uses both sides of the brain. So not only does it exercise creativity, emotions, and intuitive thinking, but it flexes the logical, objective, and methodical side as well.

In addition, it helps with spatial reasoning, hones attention to detail, improves memory, and improves problem solving abilities.

Not only all of that, but it's relaxing which put you in a better mood and reduces stress, which in turn allows you to be more productive and get along better with others.

Other puzzles work too, like crosswords and Sudoko, but I'm not so good at those so I'll still with jigsaw puzzles.

Are you a jigsaw puzzle enthusiast??

Have a great weekend!