I love moving into a new apartment. The walls are empty, the paint is fresh, the carpet is clean…so many possibilities!

Since Leo and I moved up to the DC area, we have had three apartments. In the first one, Wally the bunny had full access for about a month after we got here. He inspected every inch of that place. Even after Willow joined him, she was terrified of him (the only thing I think that cat has ever feared), so he could pretty much go abut his business undisturbed. That apartment had a balcony, on which one memorable occasion Willow gave Leo and I a heart attack. We got home one night to find that she had somehow gotten the screen door open and she was out on the ledge, pawing at a pigeon just out of her reach.
We lived ten stories up.
Luckily, Leo was able to grab her before she tested her own feline aerodynamics.

We spent two years in our next place. There was no balcony, but the elevator left something to be desired.
We lived eight stories up.
Thor and I once got caught in the elevator with eight firefighters who were there to fix the OTHER elevator. As the car stalled between the fourth and fifth floors, everyone was silent. After three minutes or so, one of the firefighters asked, “ok, so…who do we call now?”.
Also, trudging up eight flights of stairs with a shih tzu = no bueno. Since they are prone to overheat, I had to be very careful…

This new place, however, brought something new.
As soon as Darla saw the empty living room, the Zoomies went to def con 5!

We are, once again on the top floor (though thankfully, we are only four stories up this time).

I truly hope our downstairs neighbors are tolerant folk…if not, I see a lot of forgiveness baking in my future….