In a whirlwind weekend of studying, packing boxes and trying to unload furniture on some locals, Brian and I finally checked out of Glendale late on Friday Dec 12. We left with a VERY full Corrolla, including a little dog named Tash curled up on the passenger's lap. She lived with the teenage boys who had the apartment beneath us, and they neglected and abused her. At some point animal control got involved, and we both had soft spots for her so we rescued her.
We drove through Jerome and spent the night with Jack and Lisa, and the four of us got up and hit the road at 7am. They headed to California, and we headed to Denver. We pulled into the driveway at 10pm and the snow started at 10:30 - and continued for about a day!
It was great to see Bosco again - he was surprised to see us, and even more surprised to have a little playmate! Brian had to work for a few days, and I crashed. I had no idea how deep the exhaustion ran, but it took at least a week of doing absolutely nothing besides sleeping and eating before I felt human again.
The next week was full of friends and family and adjustments. Bosco and Tasha got along fairly well, even though she HATES snow and tends to antagonize him with his own toys. For Christmas I got a fantastic piece of luggage that is essentially a hiking backpack with wheels, a sister-in-law, and a new camera that should make it easy to post video clips from Europe. It was quite a week. We had a quiet New Year's and a few ski days, and all of a sudden it was time to sart packing to head back to school.
Being home was very refreshing, and definitely made me question whether or not this grad school experience is worth the sacrifices. With as much time as we have spent growing into our own routines and habits, it was very comfortable to be back in the same house, and be together. I decided that if I can, I would like to find an internship in the Boulder area for the summer, and will look forward to my next return.
