Long Time Gone

After talking with several friends on the phone over the past couple of days, I realized that right now is the longest I have ever been away from Kansas before in my life! I think the time before that was the three weeks in 2006 I spent at KU field camp in Canon City, CO. I have never studied abroad or taken any trips that I can remember that were longer than 3 weeks! I never even so much as lived in Kansas City, MO! It's kind of a shocking revelation. I don't feel that far away though. Just an hour plane ride or a rather long but do-able drive and I can be back!
Other than that, the major story right now is the landscaping that is happening in our back yard. Our landlord is having a rock pathway put in from our side gate to the deck because the grass was dying there. (It's dying everywhere else too!) But this will just mean less watering. YAY! Well anyway, there is a plie of sand in our driveway, so we can't use one side of the garage or park on that side of the driveway, so Matt has been graciously parking in the street, allowing me to keep my car in the garage. Apparently, he got in trouble with the mail lady today for blocking the mailbox! Where else is the poor guy supposed to park if not on the street in front of our house? There are mailboxes everywhere.
Bill and Barbara left this morning for their trip back to KC. I hope that they made it home okay and also that they had a fun time out here. I have to admit that I felt bad for not having more suggestions of things for them to do while Matt and I worked. We just really don't know the area that well yet since the main things we've been doing on the weekends are rafting and camping. We did have a good time spending time with them though! I guess we are going to have to do some more exploring of the city and outlying little mountain towns before their next visit.
I am also getting a taste of what it's going to be like when Matt starts on the night shift at the hospital. He is doing nights this week and then he's back on days for a while. I think I'll end up working later and walking the dog a lot more! Pongo and I are going to be keeping each other in good company in the evenings pretty soon! I'm glad to have him, even if he gets spooked sometimes and starts howling all of the sudden, scaring me to death! He is enjoying only having to spend a few hours a day in his crate. He is calming down quite a bit and I hope we will soon be able to keep him out all of the time!
Today is cloudy and overcast, my favorite! They say Denver is sunny 300 of 360 days per year. BOOOO! I do love the random afternoon thunderstorms that sometimes pop up when I leave work! The Denver weather changes almost as fast as Kansas weather, even though most days start out sunny. BUT, when it does rain, i get a combination of two of my favoirte smells: rain and fresh pine. It's amazing!