Today marks the half way point for Drew's month-long furlough. The past two weeks have taught me that if I ever feel lonely or that I don't have enough friends all I need to do is send Drew away. Since he has been gone I've gotten more phone calls, e-mails, facebook messages, and invitations to hang out than I have in the past year (okay, maybe slight exagerration). I am so thankful to all my friends, near and far, who have reached out to me to make sure I am taken care of and properly entertained. Last weekend Sean invited me to come down to Colorado Springs to help him pick out paint colors for the room he's renovating- Drew must have told him I'm addicted to HGTV. This weekend Brett, Mindy, and Megan came up Friday night for a girls' night, and Brett ended up staying the whole weekend. Today I went to our new friends' house in Pinewood Springs which is half way between Lyons and Estes Park. Drew and I met them at Oskar Blues (a brew-pub in Lyons) a few weeks ago. We were sitting at the bar, started chatting, and ended up exchanging numbers. Drew left for his EMT training soon after and made me promise to call them (we're still desperate for nearby friends). Eventhough I try to be an outgoing person it was not easy to call someone that we randomly met at a bar/restaurant. I started to feel like a single guy trying to pick up girls. I thought " should I call them right away or should I wait a few days?" "Did they really want to hang out or were they just being nice?" When I finally did call I was so relieved to get their voicemail because then if they didn't want to hang out they could just ignore my message rather than having an awkward phone conversation. Poor boys- I had no idea how difficult it is to pick up girls. Now I can completely commiserate. Anyway they ended up calling me back and invited me over to watch the super bowl. The drive to their house was so beautiful. I don't get to do very much mountain driving because Drew usually drives, but it was so much fun. It felt like Mario Kart winding through the mountains, watching out for Elk, and down-shifting instead of breaking. We had gotten about 3 inches of snow last night and had beautiful blue, sunny skies all day. Between the weather, the music (Avett Brothers), and Mario Kart, it was one of the most fun drives I've ever done by myself. So even though I miss Drew like crazy, I've done pretty well the past couple weeks. Thanks to everyone who's checked in one me!
P.S. Drew's been doing really well too. Between the classroom, an ER rotation, outdoor "scenarios" and practicing procedures on other classmates, he's been learning a lot and having a great time. More stories from him to come...
Drew's fun fact: On average, 100 people choke to death on ballpoint pens every year.
My better half is home and we celebrated by going snowshoeing in Rocky Mountain National Park yesterday. Needless to say, I am very happy. I was planning on forcing him to write a blog about his trip when he got home, but he's glued to his books studying for the boards. He takes the test at 8:00 am on Wednesday morning. So until he passes the test and has some free time to write, here's a picture that I think sums up his experience:
