I started January out ON FIRE. I was working out every day, writing a lot, my house was clean. I was rocking out the whole adult life thing. 

On January 9, all that changed.

We got a dog.

We’ve been considering adopting a dog for a while but I wanted to get the right dog. I obsessively checked Petfinder looking for THE ONE. Finally, I found a listing for a Shih Tzu who had just arrived at the animal shelter in the next town over. I submitted an application and made an appointment to visit that evening. 

I cautioned the kids not to get too excited. We were just going to look at him. That didn’t stop us from coming up with a name for him or plotting out who would do which dog-related chores. Audrey proposed the name Augustus Waters because that is the name of her favorite book character (from John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars) and I wanted an actual name for our dog- no Fluffy or Fido. 

When we arrived at the shelter, they brought this little fellow out to meet us.

It was love at first sight. I knew we had found the right dog. He was absolutely perfect. After a quick bit of walking around outside and cuddling, we finalized the adoption and took him home. 

Gus, as we settled on calling him, has taken quite well to living the good life at the Gilbert home. He has mastered demanding a belly rub and he’s learned who can be manipulated into sharing food (me). He entertains us nightly with his wild-eyed toy romps. I can’t seem to find time to work out or write or do any of my adulting chores now that he lives with us. His belly really needs to be rubbed on a pretty much constant basis. 

Just look at this face. How can I resist it?