New Year, Old Roomie

     I am WAY overdue for a blog post I know. December has been a bit chaotic, and we have yet to find the time or money to set up internet in the new apartment. Also, my cell phone has been on the fritz recently which makes taking photos for new posts rather difficult. I think I finally solved the phone issue today, and hopefully we will be connected to the interweb in the very near future, allowing me once again to blog regularly.

     My "fans" (and by fans I mean my mother) apparently have been missing my entries, because I have recently received a request for a new post via my Facebook page. As luck would have it, Andy and I have been staying down in Manhattan for a couple days this weekend in an apartment with wifi, so naturally I brought my laptop along to take advantage of free internet and to fulfill the blog related demand.

     Despite the fact that I haven't been able to blog about it, December was a busy and exciting month. I'll try to break down some of the highlights for you:

1. Andy and I moved to the Bronx! I will share more on this later. I plan on dedicating an entire post to the new apartment, complete with pictures.

2. We also, courtesy of our amazing new neighbors, got to sing in the chorus of Bronx Opera's performance of Messiah. I adore Handel, so I was thrilled to get another chance to participate in his masterpiece. Nothing puts me in the holiday mood like Messiah.

3. Midwest Christmas Road Trip Extravaganza! It was a long drive back to our homeland, but it was so wonderful to be able to make it home for the holidays, even if it was only for a brief time. The week was the perfect blend of new introductions (meeting Andy's family) and reuniting with my own family.

     Now that I've caught you up on how I ended 2013, it's time to look forward to 2014. I've decided to start my new year of blogging as a true cat lady, so prepare yourself.

     Another bonus of driving to Minnesota and Iowa was the opportunity to haul more belongings back with us. I was particularly thrilled because I got to bring my favorite old roomie back with us to the Bronx (with Andy's approval of course).

     That's right! Sirius Black the black cat is back! I was so bummed that I couldn't bring him with me when I first moved out to New York, and I don't think he was very pleased about having to live with the bully calico cat at my parent's house. I am spoiled, however, and have an amazing boyfriend who was willing to welcome the fat cat into our new home, so when we loaded up the car for our trip home, my main concern was, "Is there still room for Sirius? Save a spot for him!"

Fatty in his element.

     Sirius was not happy about the road trip part of our reunion. He's a big scaredy cat, so he spent most of the 20 hour ride cowering in his travel box. When I did manage to lure him out of his shelter, he either curled up on the floor by the passenger seat or sat in my lap and buried his head in my arms like an ostrich. Let's just say by the time we got to the Bronx he was relieved to be anywhere but in a car.

     So far Sirius seems to love the new apartment. It is huge compared to my old place in Duluth, and there are numerous window ledges for him to plop down on and watch the streets below. He's pretty simple to please.

          The fat cat is adapting to his new role as a city cat pretty well. I don't think he's ready to go for walks in Central Park or anything yet (Andy has set this as a goal), but he has become less jumpy about sirens and noise from our neighbors over the past week or so. It's progress at least.

     We did bring Sirius down to Manhattan with us for the weekend, and he most assuredly did NOT like travelling on the subway or being out in the cold. He's been a pampered indoor cat his entire life, so I think the chilly air and the rattling subway car was a bit traumatic for him. He was a quivering, sulking lump in his carrier the whole time. We'll see if he copes any better on the ride home today...

     If you're still reading at this point, I'm impressed. I mean...I've been rambling about my cat this whole time. Yikes. One last amusing anecdote concerning the cat before I finish, and then I promise not to dedicate another blog entry to my cat for at least a couple months. (My Instagram, however, is another story.)

     Sirius is totally going to be spoiled having Andy around. There are already grand plans for cat friendly shelving so that he can climb up to the top of the entertainment center and survey the land. Andy also constructed a large kitty fort out of cardboard boxes for Fatty last weekend.

    I mean, look at that thing! It's huge! Of course, in true cat fashion, no matter how much Andy tries to get him interested in the fort, Sirius will have nothing to do with it. We've tried luring him in with catnip and by placing his scratch pad inside, but he stubbornly ignores it. Perhaps he is using it when we are gone during the day just to spite us... He did actually jump inside the structure of his own accord on one occasion to use the scratcher. Andy's face lit up with such glee only to immediately become crestfallen because the cat changed his mind almost as soon as he set foot inside. Cat's are fickle creatures.

     Alright, I promise I'm done blithering on about my cat! I'll try to make my next post more interesting and informative. Until then, I'll leave you with one last photo of the fat cat.

Stop photographing me, Meghan. This is so embarrassing.