I thought about this puzzle and its arrival most of last night and the anticipation is killing me. I keep listening for the sound of the UPS guy to come around the corner so I can go out and attack him as soon as he steps out of the truck. (No puncture wounds, I promise!) I’m curious to see in person how big and heavy it is…a 28-pound jigsaw box has got to be pretty impressive.

Today I pulled out and opened my “Roll-O-Puzz” mat that I purchased about six months ago in anticipation of getting this puzzle at some point. It accomodates up to 6,000 pieces and is just barely big enough, dimension wise, to hold one section. These puzzle mats are the greatest invention since sliced bread to the puzzling world. It’s so convenient to be able to work on a puzzle for a few hours or days then have the ability to roll it right up around the cardboard tube, and put it away when you need your dining room table back.  In the past this was always a problem for me when it came to completing puzzles because I would start it on the table, but inevitably I would need the table again before I was finished with the puzzle. Since I had no way to move it without ruining all my progress up to that point, I would end up having to take the puzzle apart.  At that point it became too much of a hassle to start the puzzle all over again so I would rarely ever finish one.  So a big thank you shout out to whomever invented the puzzle mat.  You rock!