tracking and homing

I came out of the house today, ready to head to work, and I saw the tiniest little kitty tracks on the front porch. There has been a small calico cat in the neighborhood recently – skittish and wild, looking for food. I know that the neighbors across the street have been feeding her, but maybe she wants to expand her territory.

It certainly did look like she was casing houses. I followed her tracks to the next house, where they have two large dogs. The kitty tracks were obliterated by Weimaraner tracks, which were in turn obliterated by several human footprints.

And there were tiny-footed, sharp-clawed little tracks off to one side – I’m pretty sure they were rat tracks. I know rats are in the neighborhood; one Sunday night, I came home late from my mother’s, and as I was unpacking my car I saw a rather large rat hop across the street and under a truck nearby. Somehow it surprises me that rats stick to sidewalks when slinking around at night. Such a straight, orderly line.

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I received my tax refund, and am still wildly excited about the new tires I’ll be purchasing for my car tomorrow! I also plan trips to Shoefly and Sephora. Small-scale trips, considering how much I could spend in those stores, if I bought everything I wanted. Maybe one pair of gorgeous shoes, maybe just a nice face primer… we’ll see how I do.

I’ve also been looking around at some household things. I’m finally getting ready to paint my room, and I’d like a new nightstand, and new curtains with actual curtain rods (not just thumbtacks).

With the go-ahead from my roommate/landlord Shon, who is moving his primary residence to Florida TODAY (sob), I’m making a change or two in the bathroom. I don’t know why I’m feeling so home-improvement focused right now, but since we’re not talking about knocking down walls or installing a second bathroom (that is definitely Shon territory), I’m just going with the flow and enjoying the small things I can do around the house right now.

And yes, Shon will be back to visit.