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.