Thursday 13: My First One in 2026

1.     As usual, a cat picture seems like a good way to start this Thursday 13.  This is a picture of my sister’s cat, Flitwick, that I took when we were there for Christmas.

 

2.    Speaking of starting things, we started 2026 off by attending a party our friends Dennis and James hosted on New Year’s Day.  They have two adorable Great Danes who think they’re lap dogs.  This picture is of Magnus.

 

3.    It would be nice if there’s any truth to the idea that what you do on January 1^st sets the tone for your year.  We had a great time at the party, met a lot of nice people, spent time with adorable and sweet pets, and enjoyed some delicious food.  Continuing that theme would make it a good year! 

4.    Another fun start to the year was doing an escape room for the first time.  We went with our friends Jen and Chuck.  The one we did was Clue themed (we had to figure out who, in what room, and what the weapon was, and we had an hour to do it). 

 

5.    It was the first time Nick and I did an escape room, and it was so much fun.  I definitely want to do one again! 

6.    I’ve set my reading goals for the year on The Storygraph.  

7.    My 2026 reading goal is 52 books, which is basically a book per week.  It seems reasonable.  I didn’t quite make it last year, but I think I would have if I hadn’t worked so much overtime in December.

 

8.    I’m technically one book behind already, but I’m very close to finishing a book and an audiobook, so I’m fairly sure I’ll catch up over the weekend. 

9.    Of those 52 books, I’ve set the goal for 26 of them to be audiobooks.  We have a backlog of purchased audiobooks we haven’t listened to yet, and there are so many available through the Libby app.  Since I have so many available and can listen to them while I do other things (I listened to an audiobook while I worked in the yard on Monday), it seems crazy not to make use of them. 

 

10. I’ve also set the goal for 12 of the 52 books to be non-fiction.  I mostly read fiction, and I don’t think that will ever change, but I would like to branch out and read a little more non-fiction.  Twelve a year is basically one a month, which seems like a good goal. 

 

11. If you’re on The Storygraph and want to be friends, my super-creative username is dlzecher. 

12. We downloaded camera pictures right before we left for my sister’s for Christmas, and I came across this one of Caroline that I like.  I think it shows off how pretty her face is. 

13. One more cat picture seems like a great way to end this.  Theodore has started tucking himself into bed sometimes, and it’s absolutely adorable. 

A Cold Hour in the Yard

Once Christmas is over, I am ready for winter to be over.  After the Christmas lights and decorations are (mostly) put away, it’s just cold and gray.  The winter blues really set in.

I know spending time outside in the sunlight, even when it’s cold, really helps, but I struggle to make myself spend time outside this time of year.

I really hate to be cold.

This year, though, to make spending time outside in the cold weather a little more pleasant, I’ve decided to focus on yard/garden chores I can do in the cold weather.  It makes it seem like spring isn’t quite so far away.

It seems like there are always things to do in the yard/garden, and I want to make it as beautiful as possible.  So, getting started on things now makes sense in addition to getting me outside in the sunshine (even when it’s cold).

Last week, Nick and I did a lot of pruning/trimming and general yard pick-up.  I forgot to take any progress pictures.

This week, I decided to prune the hydrangea that had grown out of control.  This is the ideal time of year to prune hydrangeas, anyway, so it was the perfect cold-weather yard task to tackle after work today.

Here’s the before.

I told you it had grown out of control.

I also trimmed the holly bush next to the hydrangea.  It was out of control, too, and I needed space to get behind the hydrangea to get the back of it.  I’m not sure if this is the right time of year to trim the holly bush, but I don’t especially like it, so I’m not really concerned.  I eventually want to get rid of it and replace it with a camellia.

This was my first pile of branches to haul away.  I ended up hauling away six wheelbarrows of branches. 

Here’s the after.

I still need to do some more trimming, but it was getting dark, so I called it a day. 

One day closer to spring!  

Do you have any cold-weather projects you're working on? 

Twenty-Five Things to Wrap Up 2025

Since I haven’t posted in a long time, I thought a 25 Things post would be a good way to catch up and wrap up 2025.  That way, I can start fresh in 2026.

1.    Since I usually start this kind of post off with a cat picture, enjoy this one of Theodore cuddled up in a blanket.

 

2.    Back in October, I wrote that I had finished up on a project with a tight deadline, and wasn’t expecting any more tight deadlines until January.  I spoke too soon!

3.    On December 1^st, I was told about a project with a January 3^rd deadline.  Normally, this type of project would be completed over the course of six months to a year, but that wasn’t an option this time.

4.    All of us working on it have worked a ton of overtime, and we’re on track to make the deadline. 

5.    Working that much overtime in December was a little difficult since it’s a busy time of year with holiday stuff, and I had already committed to a few things I wouldn’t have if I had known this was coming. 

6.    On the plus side, all of us who worked on it are going into the new year with over 100 hours of comp time. 

7.    It can be frustrating at times that we earn comp time instead of getting paid overtime, but I keep reminding myself that the comp time will help me retire sooner.

8.    Another positive is that I get along and work really well with the other people on this project.  If you’re on the phone with a coworker at 11:30 on Friday night and then again at 7:30 Saturday morning, it helps when it’s someone you have a good working relationship with. 

9.    Everyone else found out about the project the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, but I was off that day. 

10. We hosted a big Thanksgiving at our house, with a total of 15 people.  Everyone seemed to have a great time. 

11. As usual, I forgot to take many pictures.  I took pictures of a few desserts on Wednesday night, and then forgot all about taking pictures.

 

12. Unfortunately, we skipped taking Thanksgiving dinner to the hospice house this year.  I was over the cough, but still not back to feeling 100%, and I really didn’t have the energy to make two huge Thanksgiving dinners.

13. We’ve decided to change to taking a smaller meal there more than once a year.  I’m posting that here to help hold myself accountable since it won’t be tied to a specific event, which makes it easier to forget to do.

14. Tara had a bout of pancreatitis.  She and I spent most of the day before Thanksgiving at the vet’s office. 

15. She was given medication, and we’ve made some changes to her food, and she seems to be doing much better now.

16. Even with all of the overtime I worked, we were still able to go to my sister and S-I-L’s (Gabby and Amy) for Christmas.

17. They let me be in charge of the Barbie tree again.

18. I always have so much fun decorating the Barbie tree.

19. We tried to do a Christmas photo shoot with our cats before we left, and managed to get these of Caroline and Theodore.

 

20. We also tried to do a Christmas photo shoot with some of Gabby and Amy’s cats.

21. Dobby was the most cooperative.

22. And Sota did alright.

 

23. The cats kept trying to eat the bows, so we had to put everything away, and we never got around to trying again with any of the other cats.

24. Even though we didn’t get Christmas photos of any of their other cats, I did get more cat pictures.  This is Severus.

25. And that is it.  The last couple of months of 2025 were busy, just not very exciting.

I hope you all had a great end to 2025.  I’m working on catching up with everyone’s blogs, and hope to “see” you soon.

Happy New Year! 

Thursday 13: Scarves, Shots, and Snow

1.    I’m still kind of obsessed with making V stitch scarves.

2.    I finished this one for one of the neighbors.

3.    And this one for another neighbor.

4.    Both kids used their mom’s phone to text me to thank me for the scarves, and their texts were so sweet.

5.    We had our first snow for the season on Monday and Tuesday.  The higher elevations had a lot.  We were fortunate enough not to get very much.

6.    I know for most of you this is nothing, but it’s more than I like to see in November.  It’s still technically fall! 

7.    Nick and I were both off on Tuesday for Veterans’ Day, so that was the day we scheduled Charlie and Mortimer’s shots and checkups.   They weighed in at 24 pounds (Charlie) and 22.5 pounds (Mortimer). 

8.    Charlie and Mortimer are both very good at the vet and mostly just huddled together on the exam table.

9.    We’re both finally starting to feel better, but are still extremely tired, so after Charlie and Mortimer’s appointment, we had a nice, chill day at home. 

10.  Caroline had her shots and checkup yesterday afternoon.

11.  Caroline is normally NOT good at the vet.  Since it was a work-from-home day for me, I was able to give her Gabapentin a few hours before her appointment.  It definitely helped!

12.  This was Caroline’s first vet visit where no one bled.  They were able to do a full exam and even weigh her.  She weighs 12.5 pounds. 

13.  I've already started working on another scarf that I hope to be able to show you next week.  

How has your week been? 

 

Thursday 13: Cats

I’m still dealing with a pretty bad cough from the cold/sinus thing, so I don’t have much to blog about this week.  But I realized I have a lot of cat pictures I haven’t shared, so this is basically a cat picture and cat video dump.  Enjoy!

1.  We'll start with a picture of Moritmer in the ice cream truck.

2.  Here's a video of Theodore watching a squirrel in the window feeder.

3.  Here's one of Caroline and Theodore playing.

4.  It is nearly impossible to get all of the cats to eat their own food from their own plate, so when they do, it's a photowrothy moment.

5.  Here's a video of Mortimer watching a squirrel in the window feeder.

6.  Here's where Theodore likes to hang out on my work-from-home days.

7.  Here's my sister's cat, Kreacher, on the couch I crocheted.  I think it's holding up well.  

8.  Here's a video of Charlie going "fishing."

9.  Here are the three kittens (Blanche, Sophia, and Fergus) that my sister and S-I-L rescued last year.

10.  Here's a picture of Tara, who is usually camera-shy.

11.  Here's one of Charlie in the ice cream truck.

12.  Here's one of Caroline enjoying her desk bed.  

13.  Lastly, enjoy this video of Theodore with one of the Halloween toys.