Last Hurrah

Big work trip coming up: 3+ weeks in Asia! Trouble is, I found out about the trip last week and my Chinese work visa hasn't come through just yet. Actually, that turns out to be a good guy because it has helped me postpone my trip by a few days (they wanted me to leave tomorrow, the 16th). Once my paper work is complete, we'll finalize my itinerary and i'll be off to the other side of the globe as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, had a lovely weekend states-side and headed to H-town. Quick summary of the whirlwind 24 hour celebrations:

• Cassie's 30th Birthday and Surprise(!) Engagement Party ...got to know that I'm HUGE a fan of the surprise engagement party, having attended my first SEP (if you will...) at my own engagement announcement =) Saw tons of old friends- fantastic evening
• Got to stay with the lovely Sara T & Boyd - whose house would classify as 4 stars if you could rate it... in fact, I wouldn't have minded to extend our stay by several days... but alas, a few more fresh baked cookies, another cup of coffee, an hour of 'bejeweled' (a method of time-loss and meditation fueled by play station) and we were on our way, leaving their beautiful home behind.
• Spent the afternoon with EmCon and precious little Georgia and her (not-so-little) baby brother Deacon (said by G as "Deaccoli"...she learned his name the same day as the word 'broccoli' ...let me just say: so damn cute.) Deacon *might* be the happiest baby ever. Remind me to tell the "rice and beans" story at some point. I might wet my pants laughing trying to type it up right now...

Wahoo! Home by dinner. Ran a bunch of errands today and going to start packing for my multi-latitude, multi-country work trip (where I insist to do some sight-seeing). Read the multi-country part as: 'several inter-asia flights' meaning: better not pack too much or you'll regret it because (1)not sure of my trust level of these airlines track record on lost checked luggage (2)i'll be lugging my bags all over the bloody continent. Packing challenge? Um, yes. Slightly. More where that comes from soon...

Anyway - how fortunate to get to see all those fun faces before heading to another continent for several weeks.