Man Oh Manny

 Ps...To reduce the amout of spam comments this blog is getting, I'm turing off the comments section - but hop on over to www.manohmanny.blogspot.com to leave Manny some love.  A google or blogger account is not required. Come on over...

We are back from Ireland and have moved into our new home! We've been very busy unpacking and settling in, but I'm happy to say, we are all accounted for.  Yes, The Husband; Manny; two "fishies" and I successfully moved into our new home.  One couch and one box spring were not so successful.  It was a tiresome move with some tears (mine); cries (Manny) and plenty of cursing (everyone). 

But I'll cut to the chase, I know everyone wants to hear about Manny and how he handled the move.  He was a champ! The vet gave Manny  Acepromazine to help Manny get through the hour drive and subsequent move.  It worked!  Manny cried a little bit when we first put him the dreaded cat carrier, but once in the car he surprisingly settled in for the ride.  His calm demeanor obviously had a lot to do with the tranquilizer, but it was a relief that he didn't spend the car ride meowing in feigned agony. 

When we arrived in the new place, we put Manny in a spare bedroom that we were going to keep closed during the entire move.  We set him up with his water and food bowls; the litter box; and his beloved fish towel and blankets that we kept in his hideout (under the bed) at our old place.  He snuggled into the blankets and napped.  He was pretty much out of it for the rest of the day.  A couple of times when I checked up on him, I saw that he had wrapped all the blankets around himself.  He looked like a lil pig in the blanket. 

Towards midnight, the Acepromazine wore off and he started to meow to be let out of the room.  I was nervous about letting him out but didn't want him to spend his first night crying.  When we let him out we brought him into our room, hoping that we could confine him in there until morning.  He was completely fine with that.  I think he just wanted him Mom (and Dad).  He sniffed around our room for a bit and once he was finished jumped onto the mattress and purred away. 

The next day we let Manny explore and he had a busy schedule of sniffing boxes and inspecting the furniture.  When he wasn't sniffing around, he was busy trying to wedge himself under my dresser. It's amazing how he is able to flatten himself out and squeeze himself into the smallest of places.  It's like he unhinges all his bones and just slides right in. I am so glad he had a collar on because it allowed me to find him when he hid amidst the boxes.

We have a second floor in our new place and Manny has been completely intrigued with the stairs.  At first he just stood at the top looking at me like "you have got to be kidding me, where is the nearest elevator?".  But his curiosity got the better of himself and he gingerly walked down sideways to visit the downstairs.  Now, about three weeks later, he runs up and down the stairs like he's running a marathon.  He's back to jumping up on the couch to watch TV, although he prefers to stay upstairs for the time being.  He still goes to his hideout, and The Husband and I joke that he's busy redecorating down there.  He's been eating and purring - two signs that give me great comfort.  It basically let's me know that he's doing ok and is pretty content with his surroundings. 

I'm sure there will be more Manny adventures headed our way and we'll be back to share them with you soon.  Excuse me while I figure out what's in box no. one hundred and fifty five.

One of my long time readers, Helen, gave me a lil nudge the other day.  She politely pointed out that its been over a month (cringe) since my last post and her cats (pictured below) were desperately waiting for another post.  Okay, maybe I added the desperately part, but nonetheless the picture worked and we can all thank Helen for this post. 

This time I have a pretty valid excuse for not posting in over a month (cringe, again).  We're moving! By October.  So for the past several weeks my house has been in total disarray with boxes everywhere.   I can not be creative in such cluttered conditions!  Not buying it?  Ok, well, there are still boxes everywhere and if I'm going to do anything after I get home from a long day at work, I'm going to sit on the couch and watch tv - err...pack. Packing leaves little time for blogging about my favorite orange fur ball. 

Manny is taking the move in stride.  I keep reminding him that he will be moving and needs to start packing his things.  He stares blankly at me when I tell him that.  Actually, so does The Husband now that I think about it. Since we started putting our possessions in cardboard boxes and shoving everything into the dinning room Manny has turned into the Move Inspector.  Every morning I find him sniffing things and walking around the room just checking things out (how he found space to walk around in is beyond me).  In fact he's sitting under the table as I write this under the same chair we find him every morning.  The Husband thinks that Manny is watching over our stuff.  I think Manny, not literate in calendar, is just making sure he is not going to be left behind come move day. As if that would happen.  If I could put him in a box marked fragile now I would, but I'm pretty sure he would hate that.

So now besides packing (I hate packing) The Husband and I are in discussions over the best way to move Manny.  The vet suggested valium.  For Manny, that is.   We also need to figure out a way to move that Godforsaken fish tank.  The vet suggested valium. For me, not the fish.  With all that to think about, I'm surprised I just don't sit on the couch and watch the Family Guy after work -- oh wait, I do. 

With that said, I'm excited to be moving.  My faster commute to work will be a dream; and I'm ready for a new adventure of sorts.  Now if only I could snap my fingers and everything would be done for me, I'd be golden.

P.S. I leave for Ireland today. Yup, I'm a glutton. Good bye disarray, hellooo Emerald Isle.

Eddie, Esme and Simone, left to right in the photo. Helen writes, "Eddie gets called Eddie Spaghetti, and Simone is Simonee Spumoni - we haven't come up with an Italian connection for Esme".  Mannicotti Biscotti loves the Italian nicknames, btw.