One of the things that Kelly has brought into my life since showing up almost seven years ago now is animals, specifically dogs. Before Kelly came around, we had cats, but cats are pretty low key. They do their thing, and don’t really mind what you do. Every once in a while you can hang out together, and then you go your separate ways.

But we had never had dogs. In fact, I really didn’t like dogs. Dogs are gross and smelly and slobbery and way more high maintenance than cats. It was even to the point where I was pretty sure that Kelly’s love for dogs would be a problem for us long term. Well it didn’t quite work out like that, and now our family is full of dogs. We have two, Abby and Neo have two, my Mom has one, and Charley has one. Just a big old pack of dogs always running around.

The other thing about Kelly is that she likes broken dogs. So all of our dogs are rescue dogs, with Snowy being the most “rescued” of them all. She came from a puppy mill, and really didn’t know anything about being a dog or even walking. She has come a long way, but is still not the best dog in the world. We love her, but she is still pretty broken.

Anyway, on Monday we had to take them to get their teeth cleaned. Their breath was extremely foul, and their teeth covered with scales, so it was time. Dog teeth cleaning isn’t really like human teeth cleaning either. They get put under, and it is a whole big procedure. So I dropped them off on Monday and was very worried all day.

Well they made it through okay, but a little worse for the wear. Snowy had six teeth removed. And she had already had a bunch of teeth removed years ago, so she is down to working with a very few number of teeth. And Linus had four teeth removed, but he’s still doing pretty well, overall. Snowy was completely stoned when I picked her up, and really couldn’t even walk for the rest of the night. And this whole thing cost a pile of money. Let’s just say I could have a very nice new iPad instead of less dog teeth.

But at the end of the day it is worth it, because having pups around really is a lot of fun. And they can be surprising with how smart they can be, but they can also be surprising with how dumb they can be. I’m glad they are around, and I guess now I’m a dog person.

And while I’m really sad that the holidays are over, it is also nice to get back to normal, and back to a routine. I have really missed playing the piano for two hours a night. I have really missed playing Starcraft. It has been weeks since I’ve played, and that makes me really sad. I miss cooking dinner, and I miss watching Downton Abbey. So I need to remember those things when I think about how sad I am that the festivities of the holidays are over.

It also happens that the fun will be continuing for the Halley minor clan for another month or so. Next week Kelly and I go to Chicago to meet the new baby of my friend from Wash U, Matt. And of course get to see Emily and her family. The following weekend we are going to Frohna, MO, to spend some time with Kelly’s bio-mom and sister. That should be an… interesting experience. And then on January 30th, we leave for California to spend a week romping around out there.

As I’m typing this, I realize that by saying that things are getting “back to normal” for us, that really just means “continuing the craziness.” And I suppose I wouldn’t really want it any other way.

Anyway, we will return to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow, but I did want to make sure that I got my Tuesday post in. Not giving up yet!

It could be that my life is just supremely boring right now. Or I am busy. Or lazy. Or some combination of all of those.

But still, a belated birthday to Baba. I think we all had a pretty good weekend celebrating.

So like I said earlier, this was actually a really good year. This is a year where I saw Paris. PARIS! I went to Bruges, which is the single most amazing place I’ve ever been. With the possible exception of Paris. What is there to complain about in a year when things like that happen? I should reiterate how good my trip to Europe was. Despite the fact that I missed out on Amsterdam, I saw a lot, and had a really good time. I was thinking about the soccer game that I went to the other day. That was a trip that I will probably think about for the rest of my life.

And right after I got back from Europe, I got engaged. How can I complain about a year where I got engaged? And then just a few months later, I got married. MARRIED! I still can’t believe that I got married. And got married to someone who is really damn awesome. Someone so awesome that it almost makes me feel bad when I read or hear about stereotypical bad marriages and bad wives. Because I don’t have that at all. I’ve got it really, really good. And I’m pretty sure that we had the best wedding in the history of weddings. Rollerskating, cake, and deer. I don’t know what else you need.

Speaking of roller skating, I got first place in my event at Regionals. Again, it would feel wrong to write a bitchy letter when I had a year where something like that happened. And even though I totally tanked and sucked at Nationals, I still went and competed, and made a comeback at my next event by taking two second places.

Oh, and somewhere in all of that, we remodeled our bathroom and have the most kickass bathroom in the world. If you had ever been to my house and seen the old bathroom, you knew how bad it was. Well the new one is probably a million times better than that one.

But since people like the bad stuff, I guess I can throw some of that in as well. Mom and Dad still haven’t sold their house. So that means we won’t be going to Disney World anytime soon, which is a pretty selfish way of looking at it, but I know that I’m not the only one with that view of the situation. And Kelly and I found out that her house is worth significantly less than she owes on it. So we’ve had to rent it out, which has been good for money reasons, but not so good for stress reasons.

And I guess in the process of ripping out the bathroom, we destroyed the kitchen, so we’ve basically been living without a functioning kitchen for close to a year now. But you know what? That is about to get remodeled too, so it is hard to complain too long for that.

So yeah. This has been a really damn good year. I know that things are hard out there for a lot of people. I know that the world isn’t a terribly happy place. And if you follow the links I post on Facebook, you’ll see that I’m getting more and more frustrated with our government, and even our system of governing. But still, I think all of that is pretty inconsequential in light of all of the good things that I’ve had happen to me this year, and so at least for the last little bit of 2010 I’m going to choose to focus on those things, and not so much on the bad things.

It is a little weird, when I think about it. I think it is mostly weird because it feels like something SHOULD be different. Life there should have been some big revelation or something. But that hasn’t been the case. Today was just like any other Sunday, including going to skating practice in the morning.

But then I think about it a little more. “Whoa, I’m married.” I think a big part of me never really expected that to happen, and yet, here I am.

So we’ll see. Day one has been good. Hopefully the rest will be pretty good as well.

Anyway, like always, I have been neglecting this. And as cliche as it is, life has been really busy lately. It should calm down pretty soon, though. Regionals are coming up in 2 weeks, and after that I should have more free time to devote to other things. Then again, there are so many other things, that perhaps it is wishful thinking to think that after Regionals things will calm down.

The biggest thanks go to my parents, for financing such a large part of it. Kelly and I are deeply, deeply grateful.

And then I also have to thank Kelly, who in agreeing to marry me, got more of it paid for than we were originally planning on. Yay wedding gift!

Pictures will be coming shortly, although I know that they won’t do it justice. Especially since I think I forgot to take any “before” pictures. Honestly, though, I think it is best to not think about the “before” and just be happy with the “now”.