Friday, January 13, 2012

The World of House Sitting

You guys, I am house sitting right now. Growing up, I was not aware of this concept. This is probably because people in rural America do not "sit" other people's houses, they just tie a pit bull to the front door and go on vacation. But in suburbia, it is all the rage.

The house I am sitting is wonderful. It is comfortable and close to work and it is around the corner from a Pei Wei. I heart Pei Wei. But this house is also home to a cat. I am not a cat person. I once lived with a cat in college who was literally the spawn of satan but thankfully this cat is a bit sweeter. This cat does not crawl into the dryer and pee on my clean clothes.

Yes, that happened.

However, there is a unique tension to house sitting. You long to be comfortable but you are also keenly aware that the couch you are lying on is not your own. You use their kitchen but can't find the paper towels. You park in their garage but you don't know how far to pull in. You sleep in their house but you are unfamiliar with every creak and groan and beep in the night.

Your senses are also heightened to an alarming level. You double check turning off your curling iron. You second guess how to properly turn on the dish washer. You wonder if the cat will eat your socks if you leave them out. It can be quite exhausting. However, sometimes the stress gets the better of me. Thus far, I have managed the following:

Left the garage door open overnight.

Set off the security alarm in the house which I am sure could be heard in a five-block radius.

Wrongly assembled the kitty water fountain/drinking dish and it leaked on the kitchen floor.

Incorrectly turned on the TV/entertainment system and have no idea how to watch cable.

Found a cat hair in my peanut butter.

Now that last one just about sent me over the edge. Nothing, and I mean nothing, should ever touch my peanut butter except for my spoon. And cat hair makes me gag. Oh ugh. Totally gag.

So, all that to say is that I still have one more week at this home away from home. Please pray that I do not burn it down or kill their cat. Seriously, those are my goals. I try to keep my expectations low. And if you have any house sitting tips, I am all ears!

Happy Friday, peeps.

7 comments:

  1. I have complete confidence that the cat will thrive and the house will be stable throughout your sojourn. Does this mean you're on my side off town?

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  2. I actually house sat once for a family that had a cat, and the cat had diabetes. every morning I had to give the cat a shot, which of course he hated. My first time trying to give him a shot did not go well, the minute I stuck the shot in him the dang thing ran off, the shot still in his body, and I proceeded to chase the &*^%$ thing all over a 4000 square foot house. It took me 30 minutes to catch it and when I did all he did was bite me while I tried to take the needle out. That's the last time I house sat :-) have a great time!!

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    1. Mini Me - this is both hilarious and horrific! I am so sorry. But I am glad both you and the cat survived.

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  3. If you're around the corner from Pei Wei, you must be five minutes away from us. Call us if you need anything and stop by anytime! You know us, we'll just be hanging out. We just bought some PB at Costco last week. Two large unopened, uncontaminated jars of hair-free good ol' Skippy. Stop by if you need one.

    The WP

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    1. I would love to come hang out with you and your ginormous jars of peanut butter. You guys rock.

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