I learned of something new to me today: Su Do Ku.

Do you know of this? It is a puzzle. A grid of squares. Three smaller grids of nine squares make up a larger grid, so that you have nine squares in each row, column, and grid. Each square should have the numbers one through nine once and each column and row should also have one through nine, with no repeated number in any direction. The puzzle comes with a few numbers, which you use to determine what the missing numbers might be. The Washington Post has easy, medium, and hard versions varying throughout the week.

My step-mother, a mathematician by nature, savors the puzzles, working through them one at a time as she finds the time. Today, she erased the numbers off two of the puzzles (an easy and a medium one) and taught me the logic behind attacking them.

I relished the challenge and hung out at there house as I first solved the easy one and then battled my way (with assistance at the end) through the medium. I cannot imagine solving a hard version, but I am game to try.

I very much welcomed the distraction from what is swirling around my mind and my heart. I, too, am thankful for another tool to try and battle the cognitive disfunction that plagues my MS beleaguered brain cells.

Check it out!