Finishing this puzzle ended up being a much bigger task than it needed to be.In October, Brian got his own place (he was living in his friend's mom's basement before this.) And soon after, he got a big TV. I'm sure most of my male readers would want to know exactly what kind of TV, but I couldn't even begin to tell you. It's flat and it takes up half of his apartment. But it was enormous and cool enough to trump my "small" TV (which Brian gave me a while ago, and is still WAY bigger than any TV my family or I have ever owned.) Long story short, Brian wanted us to spend a lot more time at his place so he could play with his new "toy." And Brian and I spend about 99% of our time together (that's probably a given if you know us), so we split our time between our apartments.
And then we got Rosie. And it was all downhill from there. I'll show you a picture of her and you'll understand why.Since my roommate's boyfriend/fiance/husband (it's changed over the course of the time we've lived in our apartment) is very allergic to cats, she could only stay at Brian's place. And since we both love our little kitten more than most things in life, we have spent about 99% of our waking hours at his place. Honestly, I wasn't too happy about it. I love my apartment-- it is one of the nicest places I have ever lived. And his is... well... not as nice. But between the TV and the kitten, it was the preferred place to be.
Anyway, finishing a puzzle became a much bigger problem. There was absolutely no way I could work on it at Brian's. Rosie would have happily tossed every individual piece around the apartment while we were at work. And there was really no way to keep it in a closed room or cover it or put it out of reach in his little studio apartment. Honestly, I could have progressively worked on it over the course of the year at my apartment, but I didn't like the idea of leaving it there for an extended period of time, because I was afraid a piece might accidentally be lost when Brad and Kelly were using the apartment and I wasn't there. My best bet was trying to convince Brian to spend about a week straight at my apartment to work on it.
He was so unwilling to do this that I literally had to schedule the week more than a month in advance. And when the week came, he grumbled about how he missed his TV and cat, and hated my stupid bucket list. Good grief. I should have just bought a big TV for my apartment a long time ago.
Anyway, I picked the week Brad and Kelly were going on their honeymoon, since I knew no one would be there and there would be almost no chance it would be ruined when I wasn't there. But Kelly was planning to move out the following weekend, so I had to get it done in a week. I figured that was plenty of time to get a puzzle done.
I should also tell you, I bought the puzzle about a year ago. Before Brian had an apartment and a TV and a cat. It's a beautiful picture of Times Square and I thought it would be something I could frame and hang up when I was done. I remembered it was big, but my friends and I have worked on big puzzles before, so I thought a week would be a sufficient amount of time to finish it. I completely forgot, however, just HOW big it was. So when I went to my apartment Monday afternoon after work, worked out, and then sat down to work on the puzzle, I was very nervous to find out it was 2000 pieces. The biggest puzzle I had ever worked on before this had 1000 pieces. And I was even more nervous when I finished the outline of the puzzle and found out it was as big as my table. No joke.
Monday I worked out. Tuesday I went to yoga. But after that, I literally had to cancel all plans, come immediately home from work and work on it until I couldn't keep my eyes open. Brian didn't want to have anything to do with it, so he worked on his band music in the living room. He DID help at the very end, however, to make sure I got it done in time. Don't worry, he's the best boyfriend ever. He was just bitter he couldn't spend more time with his cat. :) Fortunately, Alyssa spent 3 out of the 5 days helping me, so I didn't have to work on it completely alone. Without her I could not have possibly finished it in time. Ryan also came over one day and contributed a piece to the puzzle. I told him I would give him credit for it in my blog.
Friday night came and I knew there was no way I would finish it by myself unless I pulled an all-nighter. It LOOKED like it was almost done, but I had saved most of the hard pieces for last. So I ended up throwing a small puzzle party! Amy, Justin and Alyssa came over, and we all drank wine and ate spaghetti while we tried to finish the monstrous puzzle. Amy literally came over, looked at the size of the puzzle, and gave up before she had even started. :) But she was there for moral support and helped us with the last few pieces. Alyssa, Justin and I feverishly worked on it for hours, though. And finally, at 1:30 in the morning, we finished it! It was the best feeling, because it really is a beautiful puzzle! And it was definitely a big accomplishment. I can't wait to hang it on my wall!
Will I ever try to do something like this again? Right now, my answer is absolutely not. It was like having a part time job. But, knowing myself, I probably will. I love having a project, even if it means a little bit of stress. Hopefully it will be something a little more meaningful next time... :) But at least I have a pretty new decoration for my apartment! And, of course, a good memory of time spent with my friends.
The following is a progression from Day 2-Day 5.
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