Extensive library of movies + proximity to Little Pie Company (pictured are sour cream & walnut apple pie and banana cream pie) = reasons why housesitting for my parents is worth dealing with the menagerie.

Well, kind of. We woke up to discover that Westley scaled the potted tree in the living room while we were sleeping and literally took it to the ground. And since every animal has a different diet (Simon, for example, is a wee bit zaftig and eats “special” food), mealtime is all-hands-on-deck: Lucy has to be physically restrained from gulping down the cats’ dinners, and Simon, Westley and Roxie have to be sort of manually directed towards their designated bowls. And over it all, Dylan the parrot creates a lovely soundtrack of smoke-alarm imitations (really).

But like I said, there’s movies and pie, so it all evens out.