ALL ABOARD!

I hit the buzzer when the small alarm clock on the end table next to my bed went off. I knew I had to get up and get ready for work. Normally I would wait until the big alarm clock on the dresser located the other side of the bedroom to go off. That would be another half an hour of sleep. Placing the alarm clock on the dresser was my husband's idea because it forces us to get up to shut off the buzzer.

My workplace is very small, only five employees including me. Starting today, the receptionist, TC is taking her week-long vacation with her family visiting relatives in England. I have to help answering the phones whenever TC is out. I dislike this task and have unsuccessfully convinced my boss to upgrade to automated phone system. He prefers a receptionist or a real person to the impersonal system with the main menu and a list of employees' extensions. The reason I dislike having to answer the phone because I find that most of callers are lack of telephone etiquette. Most of the time I have to ask "May I ask whom I am speaking to?" because the callers failed to properly identify themselves. Some people are rightdown rude as if it was my fault that whoever they called did not return their calls or became upset at me when I told them that the boss was on the other line. Of course, I still have to take care of my regular workload.

Also this week, my brother, VL and his son JL together with his wife and her family are leaving today for a two-week vacation to China. This is the second trip for VL and the first oversea trip to a non-Western country for JL. My sister-in-law is of Chinese national and the trip is more like a family reunion visiting relatives in her home village. VL commented that he did not look forward to the long flight (approximately 16+ hours) from New York to Hong Kong and the long rides by bus into China and to get to the remote village. I feel bad that VL won't have any time for activities that would be interesting to him. The trip is more like an obligation than a vacation.

My husband and I have talked about a trip to Viet Nam, my birthplace and to China to see the Great Wall and the Emperor's Tomb where an army of life-size terra-cotta clay figures were constructed. I am glad that my parents were able to visit Viet Nam in 1998 before my Dad passed away in 2001. My Mom has talked about going back before she becomes too old and too weak for the long flight. Lately, I have thought a lot about how emotional it would be when I finally go back to Viet Nam, my first trip since we left the country in 1979. I was a teenager when I left and would be going back as a middle-age woman.

This weekend my husband and I will be going to see the Nashville Predators taking on the Dallas Stars. We will be staying at a hotel across from the arena and downtown Nashville. We visited Nashville in 1991 when my husband had a job interview with a company in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He did not take the job. After we moved to St. Louis, we spent a weekend in Nashville in 1996 and saw the first performance of Brad Paisley at the Grand Ole Opry who currently is one of the well-known stars in country music.

With my brother in China, my co-worker in England and I am taking a weekend trip, I thought of a saying my father used to say, "Cai nha co chan, no cung di" - If the house grew feet, it would be taking off to some place. The world is big and there are many interesting places to visit - all aboard!