My very cool brother and sister-in-law got me a 1,000 piece puzzle for Christmas. The last few days of my life have consisted largely of putting this thing together. It's got a pretty lighthouse, and cliffs, and some trees, and then lots of water and sky. The water and sky of course have been saved for last, as they have much less variation. This afternoon, however, much progress has been made. One of my roommates, Katie, has a couple of friends over to spend the night. The four of us have spent the last two and a half hours sitting at the card table, piecing it together. They're still out there working on it, in fact, but I needed a break. We had some good conversation and learned some really practical lessons as we worked on it. Some of the highlights:
--"C'mon little piece, aren't you ready to stop being an individual and become part of the Whole?"
--"In puzzles, as well as life, the weird shaped ones often become the most helpful in finding that perfect fit; we can be thankful for the freaks."
--"Maybe you need to stop looking for the perfect piece, and spend more time making sure you become the perfect piece."

There's just some sky left!