I was just offered a quid pro quo. Jackie just came marching down the hall to my room, crowing loudly over the dead toy in her mouth. She jumped up on the bed with Weasel dangling from her jaws, which is unusual. She brings toys up to the bed frequently, but usually when I'm asleep and can't witness it. Most of the time she drops whatever it is when I ask her "Did you kill something?" This time, she had a purpose. She left it on the side of the bed, and then sat facing me, continuing to have a conversation. Then she looked over her shoulder meaningfully, and turned back to keep talking. Not long before she brought an offering, I had seen her studying the side of the Cricketarium, staring at the spot where the two lizards spend most of their time snuggling with each other. This cat actually left my room, went to grab her most favorite toy, and brought it in an attempt to trade for a chance to murder some wriggly lizards. I didn't go along with the trade. But I am incredibly impressed that she made the calculation and offered the most valuable thing she owns as barter.
After minimizing my work efforts for months while I dealt with health issues, I have gotten seriously back to work in the last week. I have clients who are looking for something in old town, and old town only. Ever since they told me their very specific geographical limitations, I have had a horrible time finding anything on the market in their target area. Finally, we thought we were going to go see a house yesterday, but before we could get the showing scheduled, there were multiple offers on the house. So we bailed on that and just met for coffee. While we sat and chatted, we changed their parameters just a tad, and found two places worth seeing. We saw both of them this afternoon. Boy they were dramatically different homes for being half a block apart. One was a hundred year old bungalow, and it was so beautiful, warts and all. The woodwork inside made me sigh with envy. I even liked the creaks in the floor. But as lovely as it was, it still needed a kitchen remodel and a second bath added on. (Had a neat sword and helm just sitting in the dining room, though.) The other was a completely rebuilt townhouse, beautifully modern inside. It was big, open, and very compelling. But it was also three stories, and this couple was sort of done with stairs. Neither home was perfect, but I'm not upset about that. I'm just glad to have gotten to the showing stage with these folks. The process will be fun with them, and I'm okay if it takes a while. I want them not to settle for something less than exactly what they want. Let's find perfect together.
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