I need a vacation

I need a vacation. Luckily, I am going to the US on the 22nd. I finally got my tickets too... at least I hope I did. The travel agency I am using issued me an e-ticket for my domestic flights (round-trip from ChengDu to Beijing) and something that resembles an invoice for the international flight (round-trip from Beijing to Washington). They said it is just like an e-ticket. I hope the people working at the check-in counter in Beijing think so.

I'm looking forward to going back to the States too. I do not have a lot planned... an early Thanksgiving with the family, a day at the Maryland Renaissance Festival, a little shopping, etc... Basically it's a chance to visit family and friends, purge the pollutants from my body, and recharge my batteries.

My new project has been keeping me very busy at work, but I heard it will slow down some in January. I hope so. I've been so busy I have not had any time to explore much of ChengDu yet. There are about a dozen or so places I would really like to see and half of them are in the city, or very close by, so I am hoping to see some of them before the end of the year. Some are outside of the city, so I will probably have to wait until next year to see them.

Some of the people at the office here in ChengDu have setup a Singles Party, but it is on the evening of the 22nd so I'll be missing that. Drats. I wonder if I could talk them into changing the date for that.