our kittens have been chasing each other all around the dining room tonight--one on top of the table and one below. Now the Professor is chasing herself? upstairs and Magellan is just going up to investigate. Cat Times!

Oh sorry, the recipe for my salad is kinda in my head, so amounts are very rough.

Lentil-Quinoa salad

1-2 cu cooked lentils
1-2 cu cooked quinoa
2 cu chopped arugula
1 cu chopped mint (optional)
feta cheese
olive oil
lemon
salt
pepper

optional/recommended
olives
avocado
fennel
tomato

Toss lentils and quinoa with olive oil and salt. I often do this while they are still warm then let it sit while I chop up the rest of the ingredients. Roughly chop arugula and mint and add them. Ditto with the fennel, avo, and/or tomatoes. Add crumbled feta ( or swap for olives if you want to keep it vegan) and squeeze the juice of one lemon and toss. Add salt and pepper to taste.

I do a similar salad with quinoa, black beans, peppers, cilantro, feta, and avocado...

Connie, if you find an apartment you otherwise like that does not allow pets, you might explain to the landlord that you don't intend to own pets immediately, but are seriously considering cats in your future. Then ask if you can write an exception to the rule in your lease. Often apartment managers will do this if they like the idea of you as a tenant. And if they they don't, well then you can decide. I remember when I was a kid, my :parents moved to New Jersey for a job, and the apartment had a "no pickup trucks" rule. So my Dad wrote an exception into the lease, initialed it, and had the manager counter-initial. No guarantees that this will always work, but it costs nothing to ask. And even in a tight market where managers have no trouble getting renters, they like to close deals. The fact that you ask for an exception up front tells them you are not planning to just sneak a cat it, which is going to be a plus. If they agree, since cats often do damage rugs and curtains and such, they may specify that if you do move a cat in, you will need to notify them and pay an additional damage deposit.

There were clearly plows! But why I'm up at 6 am without an alarm is a mystery.

And we have thundersnow.

Cool. Or not. But from where I'm sitting thundersnow sounds quite awesome.

Very blue bright flashes, muted thunder. Easy to mistake for a transformer blowing, but for the rumble seconds later.(very glad not a transformer.)

18" blown on the back deck, easy. But it tends to be higher.

Thundersnow? Somewhere Jim Cantore (the Weather Channel guy) is doing a happy dance.

Thanks, Burrell! That sounds good.