Numbers Schmumbers

su·do·ku \sü-ˈdō-kü\ -- noun: Japanese sūdoku, short for sūji wa dokushin ni kagiru "the numerals must remain single" (i.e., the digits can occur only once), a puzzle in which several numbers are to be filled into a 9x9 grid of squares so that every row, every column, and every 3x3 box contains the numbers 1 through 9

Recently, my darling husband has discovered the finer nuances of sudoku. This has consumed our lives from Las Vegas, to St. George, and every pit stop in between until tonight. I am proud to say that finally, Jonathan has solved his 4x4 sudoku puzzle. No more little napkins with the same puzzle written out. No more asking for scratch paper. It has been solved.

So the question remains... now what? Now that this puzzle has been solved, where do we go from here?

This puzzle, I will have you know, originated from the back of the California Pizza Kitchen's kid menu. There were only two puzzles available: the easy and the advanced. The easy puzzle was, well, easy. It was solved within seconds. At least a minute or two. The advanced has taken a little more than a full a 24-hour period. What do we do now?

I have realized that too often we get so muddled up with the puzzle, the solving of things, that we don't think about what happens next. Once things are solved we often think, "Well that's it, now what?" almost in anticipation of there being another puzzle -- or problem -- just waiting for us. Some are easy. Some are advanced. And sometimes, there won't be one at all.

Sometimes, we just need to accept that there won't be any puzzles at all. No numbers. No grids to fill out. Just nothing. And sometimes accepting that there is nothing for us to solve next is the biggest puzzle of all.