Connie, growing up we had a cat in 240 square feet. At one point, my father decided that she needed a harness to be out in the yard. She was miserable out there.

I bet Instacart would deliver cupcakes.

I had never heard of Instacart until today when a woman I'm trying to hire said that she drove for them. It may not be a good thing that I know this. When Kozmo was around, I may have done some serious damage to my credit card having Farscape dvds delivered.

Anne, it's good the hear that there is cautiously good news for your neighbor.

Anne, glad your neighbor is doing better. That's scary.

Instacart is not available in my area. Probably just as well.

I ate dinner tonight! Woot! I'm pretty sure I had food poisoning because I stopped puking yesterday morning and then was just exhausted for the rest of the day. I probably napped for 10 hours off and on all day but was still able to fall asleep and sleep all night. Even though I let the kittens stay upstairs (since Bob is away and CB was overnight at her dogsitter's and I was afraid I'd be lonely).

Would a single cat be happy in a less-than-700 square foot apartment if it never went outside?

Sounds like a good opportunity to adopt an older cat who is used to being on their own.

Roughest part was the Nightly Homework Buckin' Bronc Ride.

The greatest thing that ever happened in my parenthood of Emmett? Him going to an aftercare program with an hour of dedicated homework-doing with people there to help him do it so I DID NOT HAVE TO DEAL WITH THAT SHIT.

Which (awesomely) taught Emmett to do his homework right away and get it done with, a trait he kept all through high school.

I get "NO, IT ISN'T!! I DID IT RIGHT! HOW COULD IT BE WRONG, I DID IT RIGHT?! AAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!" and she stomps off to her room.

uh...that reminds me I need to go apologize to my dad. a lot.

My poor mother. She tried to help me with my math homework, but she couldn't fathom the New Math or whatever the heck it was in the early 70s, and - because she was really good at math - ended up feeling bad not only because she couldn't explain to me what was wanted, but couldn't understand it herself.

I wasn't a fit-thrower. I was a Dramatic Crier. Wails and whimpers would be added as necessary. I felt that if someone couldn't comprehend the depth of my pain from my tears, they didn't really care that I was in pain at all. WOE

Connie, my take on your cat question is, it is more important that your cat be comfortable as an only cat who will have a fair bit of alone time rather than the amount of space. There are some cats who really want to be more social than a single adult human with a full-time job can satisfy, and some who would be very happy with that. The key to keeping an indoor cat happy and healthy is environmental enrichment. Jackson Galaxy calls this "Catification" - co-wrote a book by that title, you might be able to get it from the library. There are a ton of ways to keep a cat entertained in modest-sized spaces. A good bird-watching window helps. There are more toys than you could shake a stick at - though come to think of it, sticks to shake can be part of the toy scheme... Cat towers, cat shelves, etc etc.

Your apartment was a whole 196 square feet?

Yes! That includes the foyer where I kept my refrigerator on a moving dolly.

It sounds like everyone has had a rough sort of day so, hugs to all that need them in honor of the msbelle-iriffic National Hug Day.

I had Girl Scouts today. I cancelled last week because could not deal. The big problem is that in my previous job, I could leave early on Wednesday which is our meeting day and run errands. New job? NSM.

Anyhow, my feet hurt and I feel done.

I remember that apartment! That apartment is where I met NYistas!

Late to the conversation, but I am named for the second first lady of the United States (hopefully enough to identify me to anyone on FB). And, in my favorite fact about myself to share: I am basically ungoogleable because I share a name with a participant in the Salem Witch Trials, and, more recently, a character in Hannibal. I believe that I would answer to "Debet" in real life, but I don't really know.