Carefree & Coffee

Everyone say hi to Tina & Corey, and please know that this is 100% of my life at home. I couldn’t imagine not having my snuggly pups but OH MY GOSH do they give new meaning to the word needy.

When I started getting my office set up for these pics those two knew it was their time to shine. Although to be fair that rug truly is one of their favorite beds, and Tina is allowed up on the futon, so can’t really blame them for being in the way…..it was really me in their way🤷

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The other title of this post really could be ‘All The Different Way I Procrastinate, & How I Justify It’. I’ve always always always been a puzzle person. For as long as I can remember plane rides have been spent doing crosswords & sudoku. Pretty sure my mom does crosswords before bed every night. so. at least I know where I get it from.

But eventually you run out of books. Especially if you’re like me and have weird super specific requirements for said books. Like, has to be spiral bound, and on the right kind of paper.
Anyways that just means it’s time to branch out! Luckily there are all kinds of ‘adult activity books’ now!

It’s not just about procrastinating and entertainment though. With Alzheimer’s running in my family we try to keep up with a lot of the current research and recommendations. One of the biggest things we always hear is just–do things that keep your brain working. So if spending 10-15 minutes a day doing some puzzles or therapeutic coloring is going to help me keep my brain fresh, I’m all over that!!

I’ve pulled from my previous & current collection of books to round-up 6 of the different ways I keep my brain sharp.(and definitely don’t use to put off work😬)

Sudoku

This is my first true love, my tried & true puzzle. Don’t let the numbers scare you off!! There’s no math involved😉 My favorite thing about sudoku is that there is only one answer and it can be worked until you get there. Unlike other things that are more personal preference or knowledge based, when I sit down with my sudoku book I know that there’s a correct answer I need to solve.

My FAVORITE line of books are the spiral bound by Will Shortz. There’s SO many to choose from including cool ‘holiday’ themed ones, and I’ve gone through every. single. one.

Crosswords

This is def the most popular kind of puzzle book, but I have a love/hate relationship with it. When you don’t know the answer to one of the ‘clue’ there’s nothing you can do. Like, yeah you can try to look it up but that doesn’t change the fact you couldn’t solve it. I really appreciate the ability to work my way into a solution. But I’ve found some good lines of books and if I stick to the easy version I can usually get through it😂

Extreme Dot-To-Dot

I LOVED dot-to-dot when I was little! Who didn’t?! And then a couple of years ago I was introduced to extreme dot-to-dot and I was ALL IN. There so hard and so fun and the final product is so cool! I prefer sticking to books that have designs I’m familiar with (like U.S. landmarks!) but there’s a bunch and they get sooo intricate. It’s awesome.

Word Searches

These are just another childhood classic beefed up so we can pretend to be adults while we’re doing them. Word searches always make me miss school in the sense that this was always the easiest homework assignment you were ever going to get, and learn absolutely nothing. Fun though!

Jumbles

Jumbles make me so mad because they’re just so hard. I know some people can just look and magically see everything but I’ve been working on the same book for like a decade and staring at the same page for years. Basically this is me recommending my favorite method of torture. Can’t stop, won’t stop though. If anything the spite will keep me & my brain alive forever.

Coloring Books

Yay! I love that this is a thing now because when I was like high school age, I loved it and my poor mom spent WEEKS desperately trying to find new books for me. Now they’re on like every corner and every page of Amazon in every category you can think of. Artistic? Here’s a Thomas Kinkade Disney book #gorgeous. Need some motivation? You’re covered. Want to passive aggressively color some swear words? I actually own that one…so color your petty little heart out! I’ve got you. Don’t forget the tools though. I use my Staedtler pens in real life and they’re easily the BEST colored pens. Colored pencils are awesome too and this Artlicious set is super good quality.

~Alison

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