Arrggh! They Did It Again Inviting Chairs by Patty

     I thought they had forgotten. I know I had. The two weeks before Christmas were so busy. Our son, Tim, and his wife, Mi-Kyoung, and their two girls, Olivia, 9, and Seoha, 5, had arrived on Tuesday. It had been a crazy last few days before Christmas, with meals being shared between the three homes including our son, David, and our daughter, Jennifer, and their collective eight children. So a cousin “reunion” made things a madhouse no matter where we were.      
     David’s wife, Keron, had just undergone surgery the first of that week and caused us all concern. We ate most meals with them because their church and friends were so generous with food there was more than enough for the crowd. She wanted to be a part of the festivities as she lay in the recliner recuperating. So our minds were preoccupied with her recovery and plans for the future treatments.      
     Christmas morning came and we slept late. The kids were so tired that Olivia and Seoha did not greet the dawn, even on this special day. We opened presents focusing on the presents that magically arrived from Amazon in the nick of time and others found at the last minute. All was going so well. Then, Olivia, normally so precious, with a devious look on her face, handed me the box. As soon as I saw it I knew. I had to only pretend to be horrified at it. I opened it in the presence of those who were already beginning to laugh.       
     There it was. The jigsaw puzzle. This time a picture of colorful hot air balloons in the clear sky. Big and small, overlapping, was the picture of a 1500 piece puzzle.       
     They had done it again. They just couldn’t resist. I knew what this meant. I would delay it as long as I could, until Patty would open it on the table, challenging me, taunting me. I knew that I would give in and all protests and threats to quit would be smothered by my obsession with finishing it. I was had.