Five Good Things About 2010

It’s December 27th and to finish out the year, I thought it would be fun to have this week be a “Five Things” week where each day I do a short list with different topics each day.  Obviously, you can read the title for the topic du jour, so let’s get started.

5) CONvergence

Ah, CONvergence.  Where have you been all my life?  How did I not know the entire time I lived in the Cities that this hotbed of geeky goodness was right under my nose.  Seriously, I worked a mere two blocks from the convention center where it’s held and I never noticed it?  I was informed of it by our good friends, the Lynsens, who attend it every year.  It took us moving out to the east coast, meeting good friends through an entirely chance meeting (lucky!) and then those friends being former Minnesotans who just happen to go to this wonderful convention.  Regardless, it was a lot of fun, I met some really cool people and I’m looking forward to 2011.

4) Return to Form

Most people who know me are aware that I try to do NaNoWriMo every year.  However, the last three years of my attempts were underwhelming and I fell short of the goal in those years.  This year I made it a goal to cross the finish line once again, to prove to myself that I could definitely put down 50,000 words of utter crap on a page in some sort of order that might make sense to someone.  It wasn’t pretty, but I did finish in the last day.  It was a minor victory in actual words and story, but it did wonders for my self-confidence.

3) Return to Hockey

I got to play with some of my former teammates when we moved back.  I can’t say I’m a great player at all, but I love playing and I really love playing with my team.  It’s a good group of guys and we have a lot fun together both on and off the ice.  It’s hard to describe how I feel about playing hockey because it’s intangible.  One would wonder why I play seeing that I’m not terribly good, I have to drive an hour each way to play, I usually am pretty sore the next day as well as groggy from getting home at some late hour.  But I love it.  And I’m glad I’m playing with a team who’s fun to be around.

2) The House

Getting the right one took awhile, the process was a pain in the ass, and now that we’re here I’m finding all the little things you discover about your house that can annoy the shit out of you, but it’s ours.  Truth is, I love the house we bought this year.  I could not ask for a better neighborhood or neighbors.  We like the town we’re in, and for all of the faults of our house, they are correctable.  What we do have is a warm, inviting older home which we are hopefully going to enjoy for many, many years.  Not to mention that we don’t need to move again for quite some time.

1) Audrey

Audrey with Duckie Onsie

Was there any question?  Melanie and I were absolutely blessed with this wonderful little girl.  I’m sure any parent will say it’s a challenge to raise a child, but she’s been amazing.  Sure there are tough times, but they’re worth it.

All right!  Tomorrow, new Five Things topic.  Should be fun.