Yay new cat! The growling will pass in time.
Boo no snow in Tahoe! I hope sledding is fun.
Yay 5th page of 5-page essay! Nora, when you're done with your motivation, could you loan it to me? Mine skipped the country and is sunbathing in St. Thomas.
Re: gardens. I had lovely ones in CT, which I believe have gone to hell since the DexH isn't much of a gardener. This makes me sad. Considering that we have only just today gotten around to watering the lawn here, however, it's probably best that I'm not attempting any real gardening. (I did have one moment of gardener's bliss recently, though--there is a poor, half-dead hydrangea out back that was in desperate need of cutting back. I tore half of the mass of the bush out and tossed all the dead parts, and now it's budding!)