It's all relative

I am currently sitting in my hotel lobby in Phoenix. I just got back from a delicious dinner with a friend of mine. When you pick up a conversation after not seeing each other for two and half years, it makes you really consider that time. A lot has changed while simultaneously a lot has stayed the same.

I forget how much I love the Southwest. It is warm here! I wore far too many clothes (packing for the 40 degree highs I saw forecasted for the Grand Canyon). The high was 67 today and I felt I could run around in my skivvies because of the warmth (no, I didn't actually strip down to my skivvies...). My local friend made the comment that this weather was unusually cool and I replied that it was 34 degrees this morning when I left Tennessee. It is all relative.

Tomorrow I will meet the bus that will take me and my fellow classmates to the Albright Traning Center at the Grand Canyon for my National Park Service Fundamentals II class. I am about to sit through two weeks of NPS indoctrination and I can't hardly wait (yes, I know. I eat this stuff up). In the meantime, I am enjoying my quiet evening to myself. Maybe I will retire early tonight so I can get up early enough to enjoy a Southwestern sunrise in the morning. And add "so I can move back West" to my list of reasons to hurry up and finish my thesis. Ha. I said I didn't plan on thinking about my thesis for the next two weeks, but that was clearly a lie.

P.S. I completely forgot my NPS passport book and travel journal! I am so mad at myself!! Those are almost more important than packing clean underwear. Now I will have to create a temporary travel journal with a notebook and stamp a loose piece of paper or maybe some postcards. But arrrghharrrghghghgrrrrr! I also broke my suitcase while packing this morning, but didn't have the time to find an alternative suitcase or fix the damage. So I can only half-open my bag. And I only just solved the feeding-my-cats-issue this morning as my roommate dropped me off at the airport curb and asked if anyone was feeding the cats while I was gone. I love her. I have high hopes that one day I will actually have my together together.