Lost Hubby

I lost my Dear Hubby.  I can not find him anywhere.  I looked high and low.  I looked in and out.  But alas, no sweet man to entertain me.  I am sad.

Actually I do know where he is at.  I have lost him to his favorite hobby.  No not watching sports (thank God!).  And he is not hanging with the guys.  You will not find him out hunting, fixing cars or being a lawn gnome.  Instead Dear Hubby is a puzzle fanatic. 

He is in a book of Sudoku or working on the N Y Times cross word.  I lose him to word jumbles and logic puzzles.  So it is no surprise that he latched onto my newest book to come in the mail.  He grabbed 10-Minute Bananagrams before I was able to get my hands on it.  I am suppose to give a review of it.  How it works, if it is hard or easy.....entertaining?  But I can not get it from him.  He has his left arm in a sling since his last heart surgery (to keep him from using it while he heals) and he has hidden the Bananagrams there.  Honestly...he rolls it up with a pen and sticks it in there to carry it around.

So....I can say that for a puzzle nut it must be good.  Dear Hubby works on it during free time at work.  He has it out in the waiting room of the Doctors office.  His bedside lamp is on while he scribbles away.  It must be fun.  It must be challenging.  It must be.....taken from him.....Moooohaaahaaaa!

I have found a solution though.  I can get the Bananagrams game and we can then play together.  Yeah.....puzzles and me....what a combo he will have. Bananagrams is a FAST and FUN word game that requires NO pencil, paper or board.  All you need is a table.  One hand can be played in as little as 5 minutes.  Great family fun as well as being educational!  Bananagrams portability makes it perfect for travel.  Just grab the pouch and go!  Each Bananagrams pouch contains 144 ivory-like letter tiles and instructions.

DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy of this book to facilitate this review. No other compensation was provided.

A Puzzle of a Good Time-Giveaway

I love having Dear at home in the evenings now. It is so nice to be able to sit back and relax with him more.  And no I am not getting tired of having him around.  It is wonderful.  But we both still have our down time alone.  You know that part of the day.  You may be checking email and he is balancing his check book.  Or your folding that last load of laundry while he is reading the paper.  Well we have been finding ourselves curled up on opposite ends of the couch (playing footsie) while each of us have our puzzle books. 

His are those logic puzzles.  Oh they baffle me but he loves them.  I recently received a new one Puzzle Baron's Logic Puzzles.  There are 200 puzzles in this one so maybe it will keep him for a little while.  Unlike other logic puzzle books, every puzzle includes statistics-such as the average completion time, the record completion time, and the percentage of people to complete the puzzle-to bring out the competitor in each puzzler and better inform them on how easy or dif­ficult each puzzle is.   Dear can sit and figure these out while I look like a monkey doing math problems.  I think I am missing a gene that helps put these in order.  But I am quite logical.  Actually I love to download them and print them out to send to my brother.  Dear grabbed up this newest logic puzzle book like it was the holy grail.  Dashed off and put it in his lunch box.  He carries puzzle books with him to work everyday for his down time filler.   Now I can do Sudoku and Granny M loves the  Word Finds.  But another of my favorites are Mazes. 

I curl up on the other end of the couch with my maze books.  I have a new one that is so much fun.  It is Mummy Mazes: A Monumental Book.  And that is so true.  These mazes are two pages in size and I use a TV tray to set the book on to work them out.   Mummy Mazes is designed to open up to 28 poster-size pages.  Once all the mazes are completed, there’s a hieroglyphic puzzle to solve at the end—and then the whole doubles as a coloring book.  I also like that I can learn more about that time period too.  Interesting lil facts and trivia.  Then  I can try to stump Dear on trivia facts.  But this can keep me going for a good time.  I feel this is a great way for both of us to keep our mind sharp too.  As we age we need to remember to exercise our mind to.  This has been said to really help to fight off dementia. 

I am lucky enough to have two more of these puzzle books to giveaway.  Would you like to win one of them?  Well it is always easy to do.  Just leave a comment on how you keep working your brain.  What is your favorite game or brain teaser?  Make sure you leave your email in the comment too.  Extra entry if you follow me on Google Friend Connect too!

I wish to thank the publishers for sending me both of these books.  There are greatly appreciated.  And I would highly recommend them for your gifts this holiday season.  I know that these are great ways to sharpen your brain, but also your kiddos too!

Can You Solve the Cube?

Twist, turn, twirl.....oh my gosh!
I can not do this!
Pant, huff, puff..........again, twist, turn, twirl!
I give up.

No this is not the way I sound with my latest exercise program.

Image by Toni Blay via Flickr

It is me trying to make a Rubik cube work.
Yeah, you remember the colors are all suppose to be the same on each side.

Well, growing up my bother could work magic with the Rubik cube. But I could only pull the lil stickers off and reattach them in a somewhat skewed fashion.
But now I can finally one up my brother!

Yeah, I have a secret weapon and plan on pulling out all the stops at the holidays.
He will see his lil sis can do the mind bending Rubik cube.

How?
TA-DA!

Image via Wikipedia

I have the solution guide and the CD.
Pop over to you can do the cube and learn for yourself.
Leaning how to do this elusive cube has made me feel so much better about myself already.
And I did not know it also is a math tool. Figures that is why I have issues.
You can download the solution guide for free on the solution kit page.
But on top of that there are links for math teachers (home schoolers can use this too!) and for youth groups. Many youth groups are using the cube to help foster life lessons in following directions, problem-solving, negotiation and teamwork. Having members teach others how to solve the cube. The Rubik's cube also teaches math concepts. And parents we too can use this lil ol cube to bond with our children. Who do you think can solve it faster? Only you know the solution....or do you?

For fun watch Will Smith solve the cube in 2 minutes! Amazing to me.