Tag: Georgia

The Elite And Puzzling Club

On By SuzIn As blogged by Suz33 Comments

When we were in GA for July fourth festivities, there was a puzzle I’d started on the dining room table; my goal was to finish OR move it before our guests arrived as I needed to feed 10 people on that very table. I had the forethought of having Coach make for me OR purchasing a large tray that I could put my puzzles on that could easily be picked up and moved out of sight and out of harms way when you have a slew of peeps in your presence.

I skipped asking him about it and found what I needed online. Don’t you love that? I didn’t know these items existed, but I knew I needed one. There were many many choices of puzzle trays, bags, rolling-up-thingys.

I made my choice and anticipated it’s arrival. It was kind of pricey, but I thought I would use this over and over and get my $ worth.

As I was opening up the large box with the puzzle tray/bag/organizer the Coach looked at me with a puzzled face. What’s that?

I gave a simple answer: There is a lot to this, but basically it’s for me to keep my puzzle stuff organized and I can move the puzzle without making a mess of it.

Coach: Oh, and you can to take it to the Puzzle Club

Now it’s Suz’s turn to look puzzled: What? What is a puzzle club?

Isn’t that where you take your puzzle and all your friends also bring their puzzle and you just work on your own puzzles, but together?

I busted out laughing. NO, NO, I’m not going to join a puzzle club.

It dawned on me later that he might have been thinking of the years that I did scrapbooking and I actually DID pack up all my scrapbook paraphernalia and join a group of friends to work on our scrapbooks together. Still, the thought of a puzzle club was hilarious.

We’re The Pink Ladies But With Less Nicotine Or Chances Of An Accidental Pregnancy

Cut to our friends arrival. I’d moved my partially finished puzzle on its new tray to the porch and they were like Moths to a Flame.

We found ourselves around the puzzle while having our morning coffee; catching up, talking about family, life, laughing, etc…

I told them about Coach’s Puzzle Club Statement and they all giggled and agreed that it really IS a good idea. We are all so snarky. Why not have a Puzzle Club? I could be the President of the North Georgia Chapter. *Me imagining how I would reign over my devotees*

We again found ourselves around the puzzle while having wine in the evenings, waiting for the guys grill some dinner. Talking about life, talking crap, laughing, etc…

Behold Suz: The Puzzle Club President on her way to a meeting. {talk about some baggage}

Of course, when people were behaving badly, I would announce that They Were OUT Of The Club! Hey, I run a tight ship Club. It was a running joke for the entire long weekend.

When the first puzzle was finally completed, everyone was pleased with their progress and input. Of course, they said they didn’t want to see another puzzle for a long time, but I knew better.

I pulled out a Map of the United States puzzle, they groaned and walked to it like an addict needing a fix. If they were a moth to a flame with the first one, this time they were Flies To dog shit Manure. They couldn’t help themselves.

This time our friend Steve decided to join in the club. None of the men had even given our puzzle a second look until now; I had no idea Steve was a geography fan.

I was thinking I might have enact a 12 step program for some of them or just send them home. Thankfully, It was time for them to go home anyway, so they got a pass after the U.S puzzle had a good portion started.

Hours after they departed, my Aunt and Uncle arrived as they were doing some work on their new home in our ‘hood. Look who also couldn’t ignore a puzzle? Damn, it’s in my genes.

A few days later AT and UJ also left and Suz had some one-on-one time with the U.S puzzle.

Can you imagine my disappointment when I realized we were missing TWO pieces?

I texted our group asking who sabotaged this puzzle? No one fessed up. I’m thinking it was one of our friends who were NOT invited into the club; perhaps one of the Thunderbirds minus Steve. You know how jealousy affects some people.

I have fond memories of visiting my grandparents at their home in Miami and they always had a puzzle in progress on a table in their Florida room. You know, that was just what old people did. Guess who is OLD now? I didn’t realize I enjoyed puzzles until the pandemic. They are very relaxing and remove me away from my laptop/phone for a bit; I call it puzzle therapy.

This will be my last post for a while as I’m putting my energy towards writing my Manifesto for the Club.

Puzzles: Do you love ’em or hate ’em?

Signed, your favorite nerdy Puzzle Club President.

XOXO

Deer, Hummers & Dolphins; Making My Heart Giddy

On By SuzIn As blogged by Suz28 Comments

We have cameras placed around our GA house; not necessarily for security as it is a very safe place and we have awesome neighbors. But, we really enjoy seeing the wildlife. We’ve still not seen a bear in our yard, but I know it will happen one day.

We caught these two young handsome bucks on the rear camera a few weeks ago. You can see that one of them looks at the camera and the huge deck/patio area: He was thinking: YOU PEOPLE ARE CRAZY.

This weekend our ‘across the street’ neighbor sent some pics of these two; not sure if they’re the same ones or not.

Then the other day I got a notification of ‘activity’ on the same camera.

How freaking cute is he-she-it?

This weekend we finally made our way over to our little rental condo; we’ve not spent any time there since late January and we needed it. As soon as I unlock the door, I completely decompress. Our friends Don and Kelly came for the weekend and the boys had an entire day of fishing which is good for their souls. And even better for ours as we do whatever we want; which included floating in the pool, working on a puzzle, enjoying our favorite wine, shopping and having lunch at an open air local plaza, laughing and of course STALKING the dolphins.

Sunday morning their were two adults and one juvenile dolphin that were around our dock area for over an hour; feeding, playing and taunting me with their cuteness. Finally, I could not take it any longer and I ordered asked the guys to get my paddle board down from the rack, I threw on my bathing suit and joined the dolphins for about 45 minutes.

They are much too fast for me though, they were darting in and around the whole area and I couldn’t keep up. They each had a large fish in their mouth that they would occasionally drop and then retrieve. The fish were demolished and I couldn’t figure out if they were ‘playing’ with the dead fish or just slowly eating it. I asked for confirmation and they just said Ahh, Ahhh.

They are cute, but redundant.

It was exhilarating for me. When I was tired and hot (heat index of 105) from all the dolphin fun I had to cool off in the pool. LIFE IS HARD.

Have any of my friends had any encounters with nature lately?

XOXO

The End Of The Questions {Part four}

On By SuzIn As blogged by Suz21 Comments

I’m at the end of your interrogation questions. This really was fun and I would advise for you to also pose an open question and answer if you feel so obliged. NOT one person asked an inappropriate question which does make me wonder: are we even friends?

My friend Dawn sent this to me the other day and said I really needed to have it; it had my name all over it.

Not sure if any of you remember but in one of my posts several years ago I quoted my youngest child when she said to me: “Are you ever appropriate?”

To know me is to love me.

Anyhoo, I have two unanswered questions:

Mark (Swinged Cat) asked: What is the best concert you ever attended? Why? And is there one artist or band, living or dead, you wish you could (or could have) seen?

This is such an awesome question; Mark and I are both big fans of live music. Well, if I had to pick ONE concert that was the best, it would have to be that one I saw on a blind date with a certain someone in August of 1985. That was a LIFE Changing concert to say the least. But I honestly didn’t remember the music as much as my date. We’ve seen some amazing artists in various places all of the country, but one that stands out as Super is when the Coach surprised me (and several friends) by booking a trip to NYC for my 40th birthday and while there we had VIP tickets to Farm Aid. Ya’ll know I’m obsessed with Dave Matthews, right? We’ve seen him at least 20 times, but this time there was also John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson, The Counting Crows, Neil Young, Mere Haggard, The Allman Brothers, Montgomery Gentry and many more. It was an all day affair with some of my dearest friends. *sigh* to be Forty again.

One person I would have LOVED to have seen in concert is Prince. I was always a big fan; he was an amazing artist.

Ernie screamed asked: DO AUNT AND UNCLE HAVE CHILDREN? IF NOT, DO YOU HAVE OTHER COUSINS? IF YOU DO, DO YOU SEE THEM MUCH?

I can HEAR YOU! Kidding. I really can’t, this damn tinnitus….

AT and UJ have two sons; Patrick and Christopher. {Aunt Trisha is one of my Mom’s younger sisters} I believe Patrick reads my blog, or at least he tells me he reads my blog.

I have seven cousins in total between both sides, some of them live within a few hours of us, but I rarely see them which makes me sad. My paternal Grandma told me that when she was gone I would have to be the Matriarch and keep everyone in touch, but damn, it’s been hard with these guys; I finally threw in the towel after so many failed attempts.

But, I do see Patrick as he lives in GA; we always get together for Thanksgiving and sometimes we would see each other during the summer in either FL or GA. But, now that we have a place in GA we will see him more. He just came up and spent a week with Coach in I back in May in GA.

UJ, AT and Patrick at our house a few Thanksgiving’s ago. Patrick is a fan of any holiday that is ‘food centered’, so I know we don’t need a DNA test to prove we’re blood related.

Since Patrick is the only one I see and he *reads* my blog, he is my absolute favorite cousin.

So that’s all I know about that.

*Suz takes a bow and thanks the audience for their applause*

What artist you like to see alive or dead? I mean, I don’t want to see a DEAD artist, you know what I mean.

XOXO