Did I MenTioN thAt We hAve A DishWasHeR?

Our new apartment is really nice, and for that reason, it continues to feel like I'm on vacation.

I mean, we have a dishwasher.

And the maintenance guy came by twice in the past week with a list of things the landlord asked him to fix, like apparently the tub needed caulking (I couldn't tell), and the vent in the bathroom ceiling (15 feet up!) needed to be cleaned out (I wouldn't have guessed), and one of the kitchen cabinet doors was slightly misaligned (I never ever would have noticed that).

These are really strange living conditions for me. I haven't lived like this since I lived with my parents.

The worst apartment I ever lived in (Remington in Baltimore, if you couldn't guess) had a stink to it like nothing I'd ever smelled before. (Or more accurately, it was very much like something I'd smelled before but never expected that smell to be emanating from the walls. I would tell you what the smell reminded me of, but you'd never be able to look me in the eye again knowing that I continued living there). I was sure it was the guy across the hall, but when he moved out, the smell remained as strong as ever and he complained to a mutual friend about the building smell. In retrospect, I think the building was rotting from the inside out. Everything was so old and broken and flimsy and rotting, that once when I opened the front door, it fell right off its hinges. A few weeks later, the same thing happened to the back door. And one time when it rained really hard, it rained right through the roof into my bedroom. Those were the days of a one-bedroom apartment for $450 a month.

But now we are living in a posh neighborhood in an apartment with a regular handyman.

In the interest of keeping this place relatively clean, I am wondering if anyone has any advice about how to manage two cats. Our cats have been at my parents' house for the past month and a half, but they are being returned to us this weekend (today!). As much as I am looking forward to having them back here, I'm a little terrified of the cleaning that we are going to have to resume. Besides the fur which literally flies everywhere, I'm wondering how we can control the litter that inevitably seems to get tracked all over the place. I am not sure why, but the cats have a habit of bounding out of the litter box as if they've been shot from a cannon, then doing a Road Runner scramble as they try to find some footing on the wood floors, and then racing around the apartment scattering litter everywhere they go. Sweeping helps, obviously. But any suggestions for how to control the spread of litter and fur would be very, very much appreciated.

Update: Ianqui has taken on my cause and posted my bit about looking for advice with keeping cat litter to a minimum around the house. Check out the comments if you're interested in finding out what they have to say! (Thanks so much Ianqui!)

Update 2: A big thanks to everyone (in my comments here and in Ianqui's comments for the really helpful tips about controlling the spread of kitty litter.

First of all, I love the contraption that Terminaldegree described: "So now he jumps out of the covered litterbox into an apple crate. It has a rug on the bottom to trap litter. Then he jumps out of the crate. It looks dumb, but I don't have to vacuum as much now." Something like this might be my first plan of action.

But it also sounds like I need to check out Yesterday's News. It sounds like the greatest invention ever. I'll have to find the local Petsmart or Petco...