It’s hard to believe it’s already the middle of April, time passes quickly and I try to remember always to be grateful every day no matter what is happening or how my body feels. Even when I am physically hurting due to lots of operations and the after effects, I have so much to be grateful for. So many people I know have a lot more challenges, not only physically, but with life happenings.
The end of February I went on a 7 day cruise to the Dominican Republic, St. Thomas/St. John, and St. Maarten. It was a new cruise ship that was put into service in November 2025 and it was beautiful. I learned some new crafts on the ship which was fun and I got to try lots of different foods and meet many new people. The cruise ship employees all workt very hard and for long hours while being away from their families for months at a time. I will try to remember to add more info at a later date. In the Dominican Republic I took a shore excursion and got to see parts of the country as we drove to a botanical National Park.
At home, I am still cooking and baking and trying new foods. I have been watching lots of YouTube videos on paper quilling and I’m making cards and 3D figures and having fun being creative. I bought lots of LEGO sets of all different themes of sets I think will be fun to look at and interesting to build. I have been taking sets apart that I did a few months ago to make room for the new ones. It’s a lot easier to assemble than to take apart. A tip a LEGO employee gave me that he does is when taking the set apart, start at the end of the book and bag the pieces like in the instruction book, rather than putting all the pieces in one baggie. This way when I give the set away, or want to do it some time in the future, the assembly can be done with the instruction booklet easily. Instead of having to go through hundreds of pieces for the entire set, it will be smaller batches by each bag. So that’s what I am doing. It takes lots more time to do it this way but in the long run it will be easier for me or someone else.
There are so many wonderful sets to buy and new sets are coming out every month and when there is a gift with purchase they say is free, it’s not really free it’s us spending maybe more than we would to get the gift at the level set for that item. But it is nice to get a special gift for sets I would have bought anyway. Bricklink is owned by LEGO and they have sets designed by users like me, not the LEGO design team, and they are really interesting. It’s different than buying from LEGO. Bricklink designer sets get voted on and when there are a specific number of votes and 5 sets are selected they are put up for sale. It’s a crowd source type thing and after ordering the sets they are put into production and we are not charged until they are shipped which will be several months later. Bricklink has older and retired sets, pieces, etc. and is a great resource. I like looking at the sets people like me build and post to get ideas.
I am doing several Ninjago sets and the one I am doing now is the Four Weapons Blacksmith Shop which is really fun and it’s interesting how the pieces are connected. There are videos of the designer of several Ninjago sets including the 15 year anniversary set I bought with 4851 pieces. I watched the video and learned some hidden secrets and the thoughts behind the build and he also designed the blacksmith shop. I don’t watch TV or movies so I just buy and build what I like but I have to not get everything I like it gets expensive and I have limited space where I live. I figured I will do many of the sets, then take them apart and give them away where I think someone would enjoy them.
That’s about it for now. I am trying to make time between crafts, and resting my body which is necessary as it’s being more challenging with pain, tiredness, etc. I am trying to walk most days and instead of driving to the recreation center for the classes I am taking not very often but when they are offered every few months, I am walking there which is about half mile each way, and I do the same to the grocery store which is about the same distance. The rec center is offering for 3 weeks Tai Chi so that has been good, and I did a fall prevention/balance class for a few weeks so I am more aware to be careful so I don’t fall and can get up if I do.
That’s about it for now. Thanks for reading my story. I will try to write more soon.
