Thursday 13: Flowers, Protest Postcards, the DMV, and Cats (Of Course)

Today’s Thursday 13 is going to be all over the place.

1.    Let’s start with a cat picture.  Mortimer is warming up to Theodore, and I was able to get some pictures of them hanging out together. 

2.    I had to go to the DMV to renew my driver’s license this week.  It took about five and a half hours.  A little over five hours of that was waiting.  The good news is that I should be able to renew online the next time, so it should be around 15 years before I have to go in person again.

3.    The DMV line and waiting room definitely seem to bring out people’s true natures.  Most people were very pleasant and kind of made friends with their waiting companions.  A few people, though, were just awful.  They complained about everything, berated the employees (who were really nice and doing their best), and complained about people taking lunch breaks.  Complaining that something takes a long time is never going to speed it up! 

4.    We had more nice weather this week, so the flowers are still blooming.  The hyacinth still looks great.

5.    More of the daffodils are blooming. 

6.    These are the ones next to the carport that were just buds last week.

7.    I don’t know what it’s called, but the bush with the tiny white flowers is starting to bloom.

8.    Here’s a close-up of the flowers.

9.    If you know what it’s called, please let me know in the comments. 

10. On Saturday, we got together with some friends at a local coffee shop to write protest postcards.

11. If you’re not familiar, they’re postcards to be mailed to the White House on the 15^th to express our displeasure with the current administration.  They’re also being sent to state representatives if applicable.  Unfortunately, ours are in lockstep with this administration.  We wrote a lot of postcards.

12. I realize that some bloggers view Blogger as a politics-free zone, and I like that idea.  However, I think there comes a time when not choosing (and declaring) a side makes you complicit.  I’m not going to turn into a political blogger, but I do want to be clear that I am not okay with what is happening in our country right now.  I don’t expect to change anyone’s mind, and I know I’m not powerful or important enough to make any real difference, but I can’t just be quiet, either.  Liz wrote a great post about feeling this way. 

13. I’ll end on a more positive note with this picture of Theodore in a basket.

 

How was your week?  

Thursday 13: Groundhogs and Flowers

1.    At least one of the groundhogs came back! 

2.    I saw one outside yesterday and put some veggies out.

3.    I’ve been putting critter mix and peanuts out for the squirrels.

4.    The groundhogs seem to enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables, so I’ll start putting those out, too.   

5.    The batteries in the camera died, and we didn’t reset the time, so the time and date are off.  From what I can tell, the groundhog(s) came back sometime this week.

6.    I am so happy they’re back!

7.    I suspect we may see some baby groundhogs at some point. 

8.    The hyacinth from last week bloomed this week. 

9.    Here’s another picture of it.

10. The daffodils next to the carport look like they’re going to bloom very soon.

11. Some other daffodils have bloomed a little more.  It was insanely cold last night and today, so I’m not sure how long they’re going to last, but it’s nice for now. 

12. Here's one more groundhog picture because they're just so cute.  

13. A Thursday 13 doesn’t seem complete without at least one cat picture, so I’ll leave you with this one of Theodore in the box he has claimed as his very own. 

How was your week?  

Thursday 13: Another One Without a Theme

1.    I think a cat picture is always a good way to start a Thursday 13, so here’s one of Caroline.

2.    One of our favorite local restaurants that flooded during Hurricane Helene reopened recently, so we went for dinner last week. 

3.    They make all of their own sauces, and everything is so good.  The food is wonderful, but the sauces are incredible.

4.    When we said it was our first time back since they reopened, they showed us where the waterline had been during the flooding.  It’s a little hard to see in the picture, so I circled it. 

5.    You can see why it took a little over four months for them to reopen!

6.    In happier weather-related news, we’ve been enjoying some warmer weather this week.  We’ve gotten almost up to seventy degrees almost every day.  It has been wonderful! 

7.    I know it probably won’t last, but I’m enjoying it for now. 

8.    So are the flowers.

9.    The daffodils are starting to come up.

10. We have a tulip just starting to come up.

11. We have a hyacinth that looks like it’s very close to blooming.

12. I’m hoping it won’t get cold enough to kill off the flowers!

13. A cat picture seems like a good ending for this Thursday 13, so here’s one of Tara.

How was your week?  

Thursday 13: Cats, Finally Some Good News, and Leftovers

This week’s Thursday 13 is another one without a theme.

1.    Mortimer and Theodore don’t typically cuddle together, but Nick got this cute picture of them hanging out together.

2.    Theodore is at that very active kitten stage where most of the pictures we get of him are blurry or when he’s sleepy.  Here’s one of him napping.

3.    We finally got some good FEMA news! 

4.    As I said last week, we were notified that we needed to submit paperwork from a company detailing the damages and the cost of repairs.  Even though we had already submitted all of that before, we submitted it again.  We heard back fairly quickly that we were approved for aid.  Finally! 

5.    The total amount ended up being just under half of what all of the repairs have/will cost.  After pretty much giving up on getting any FEMA aid, we were thrilled.  It makes sense that they can’t fully pay for everything for everyone, but getting significant aid is a huge help.

6.    Ironically, about half of the aid we received was for “immediate” needs, such as temporary housing.   I wouldn’t call February immediate for something that happened in September, but we’re still very grateful to have gotten aid. 

7.    This is what the backyard looks like right now. 

8.    Remember, once upon a time, it was kind of pretty?

9.    We’re still working on fixing the drainage problems.  Funding and weather have been the holdups.  We’ve mapped out the plan for catch basins, pipes, and dry wells.  The red yarn represents pipes and the orange plates represent catch basins/dry wells.  I know it’s kind of weird, but we don’t always picture things the same way, so something like this works to make sure we’re actually talking about the same thing.

10. We’re still waiting for a decent stretch of time when it’s not raining/snowing and the ground isn’t frozen to be able to start on the drainage work, so we don’t have a firm plan yet.  We’re tossing around the idea of hiring someone with equipment to do the digging, and then doing the pipes, gravel, and catch basin/dry well installation ourselves.  We’re hoping to find a good middle ground between saving money and being realistic about how much digging by hand we can handle.

11. Even though I love to cook, we like leftovers a lot, and it’s nice to have a break from cooking (especially during the week) without going out or getting takeout.  Monday was a perfect leftovers night.  I made tacos over the weekend, and we had leftover taco meat.  So, when I got home from work Monday afternoon, I turned the leftover taco meat into crock pot chili.  I added beans, tomato sauce, and seasoning.  Like this.

12. A few hours later, it turned into this, which was a delicious, almost zero-effort dinner.  I can’t really explain it, but it absolutely delights me when leftovers work out that well.

13. Another cat picture seems like the perfect way to end this Thursday 13, so here’s one more of Theodore.

Thursday 13: A Lot of Randomness

This week’s Thursday 13 definitely doesn’t have a theme! 

1.    Theodore is growing like crazy; he has been neutered, microchipped, and has gotten all of his kitten shots.  I think he looks more like a big cat than a kitten in this picture. 

2.    We are still dealing with applying for FEMA aid for the HVAC system.

3.    A FEMA inspector came to the house last week to look at the damage, which we thought might mean progress. 

4.    It did not.  This week, we received a letter that the FEMA inspector wasn’t able to fully assess the damage (which isn’t really surprising since FEMA inspectors apparently do not go into crawl spaces or onto roofs).  They said we’d need to have it inspected by an HVAC company and send that information for FEMA to review.

5.    We sent that information to FEMA in November!  It was a write-up from the HVAC company about the damage, how high the water was in the ductwork, and what was needed to repair it.  We’ll be resubmitting that and hoping that someone actually reads it this time.

6.    I truly think they make the process as annoying and difficult as possible in hopes that a lot of people will decide it’s more trouble than it’s worth and give up. 

7.    There are still near-constant reminders that, even with the damage we had, we were still some of the lucky ones.  A couple of weeks ago, we helped some friends whose house was destroyed during Helene move from their short-term rental into their long-term rental.  They’ve been told it will be a year and a half to two years before their house is rebuilt.

8.    I’ve been trying to crochet a little more, and I finished an ear warmer. 

    

9.    Here’s the link to the tutorial if you’re interested.  (And here’s the right-handed version.)  It was very simple to make.  I used a thinner yarn than the pattern called for, so I had to do more rows, but it was still easy to follow along with the video.

10. Being cold is a powerful motivator to crochet an ear warmer!  The heat was out at work during one of the cold snaps.  Everyone worked from home as much as possible, but some of us had to go in on one of the days when we had temperatures in the teens.  I made the ear warmer the night before that and wore more layers than I ever had before.  

11. Fortunately, the heat at work is fixed now! 

12. I think cat pictures are a great way to end this Thursday 13, so enjoy this one of Mortimer in the living room chair he has staked out as his very own.

13. And this one of Charlie.