A friend asked if Teen Spirit would like to make some money feeding cats over the weekend, while she and her family went on vacation over the Columbus Day Holiday.

I told her that I wasn’t sure about Teen Spirit’s plans but I knew OSFO would LOVE to do some cat sitting.

She loves taking care of pets. And this would not be the first time that she’s been enlisted to take care of cats, guinea pigs, birds, and turtles.

Of course, as OSFO is only nine, I knew I’d be going along, too. So these pet sitting jobs are kind of a mother/daughter affair. And they’re always a bit of an adventure for both of us.

Saturday morning; We have to go feed the cats. We have to feed the cats. OSFO loves using keys to open doors so that was big fun, too. Once in, we had to figure out how to unlock the gate on the second floor landing ("DO NOT LET THE CATS GO DOWNSTAIRS, THEY’LL WREAK HAVOC," my friend warned).

Putting food in the bowl was a cinch as was refilling the water bowl. Dealing with the poop in the litter box was a bit more, shall we say, complicated. But OSFO was game and made sure to wash her hands thoroughly afterward.

OSFO asked if my friend was an artist and I said yes. "I thought so because there are so many paintings." Indeed, it is a very artistic house with interesting mid-century furniture, Japanese lamps, perfectly placed paintings, cool vintage objects, a unique color palette, interesting books. Okay I checked out their CD collection, too and it was an eclectic blend heavy on the Bob Dylan and the Glenn Gould: but that was just a quick look).

The house looks completely effortless and simple. Not showy, not "designed." It’s just a very comfortable, aesthetic place to be.

We did however have trouble finding the cats. I believe there are two of them but we only found one sitting on top of an unmade bed on the third floor. OSFO pet the cat a bit but she seems like a very private cat, a majestic cat, a cat that VANTS TO BE A ALONE.

She couldn’t be bothered with a couple of cat sitters.

The other cat — we never saw. Maybe we’ll find the other one tomorrow.