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Sarah is a busy bee, making mystery plans and arrangements. I love that I'm just kind of along for the ride. My biggest worry lately has been "Will I have effective shoes for the adventure?" Not a bad problem to have.
Also, it's official, I will be flying into Hong Kong, arriving Friday night, Saturday and Sunday adventures (TBD by Sarah) and then we'll make our way back to Beijing. Then a week of touristy visits, which I still need to fully list out. Sarah's friend, Wendy, will be joining for some of it, I'll be off on my own for some of it. Friday night overnight near the Great Wall with Lee. I have a feeling week 1 will be nuts and week 2 I will putter around the city, getting good and lost, which will be fun!
There's a lot of life stuff to be figured out before I go, which makes me a little nervous. New phone plan to be figured out, prepayment of bills, cleaning, preparing, meal planning for Rob, just all the little junk that adds up.
Back to work!

Hong Kong possibilities

Sarah brought up a few days ago the option of flying into HK instead of straight into Beijing, just for the chance to check out a new city. Ha, I need options, people, and plenty of 'em. (Please, if Sarah sent me into the Beijing and told me I was confined to two city blocks, I would still be ecstatic to get out of the States.)
So, I'm waiting to find out from Dad if he wants some overnight company or if I should fly straight on. Then I'll call Delta and find out how much extra the revised ticket will be. Then I'll make Sarah figure out all the travel plans once I'm in Hong Kong.
Have I mentioned that I packed already? It's not in the suitcase, but I have shirts and pants picked out, which I won't wear until I get there. Pah-thetic.

Map a little more filled in

Now I just need to remember what was what and why I was interested in each. Plenty of time to memorize and remember, though.
Here is the start:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=217019046890732741135.0004a550782c1acd7afbb&ll=39.944489,116.454048&spn=0.112392,0.308647&z=12
Leave some comments and additions, family!

T-Minus 4 Weeks

Less than 4 weeks to go and I'm starting to think through the game plan a little more in-depth. Sarah just broke the news over Skype that LEE! is going to be in Beijing while I'm in town. What a treat to visit with a friend who I haven't seen in 9 years (pathetic track record on my part, by the way). I started back through the phrase guide and quickly realized I recognize quite a bit, but don't remember it well enough to pull it out of my back pocket to communicate effectively enough. Also, I fear I will be a dumb tourist, and coming from a family of travelers, this is not an option. I will not be the "dumb one". I'm gonna plan the crap out of this trip, Google Earth everything, know where the frick I'm going and THEN relax and play it all by ear.
More word on the plans after I spend a little more time today posting things into our map. I suppose scribblings on a piece of paper isn't an effective way to put plan in place with anyone else. Oops.