I have accumulated a big pile of stuff on my bed. All right--that's not quite true. I have a big pile of medicine and a pile of trinkets--proclaiming Minnesota on them--to give to people. I figure that between my Cipro and my Minnesota Twins snowman Christmas tree ornament I am basically set to go. Which is a good thing, because I am on my way to the airport at 4:00 am on Monday morning.

The really important news, however, is that the Twins took over the wildcard lead yesterday!

They beat Chicago for the 6th time in 7 games and it was wonderful. And speaking of other wonderful things, Alice had a great visit to Minnesota. We went tubing, walking, and to the mall where we got a slightly fuzzy picture of us with a shark. I am a very lucky guy. Now, I suppose, it's off to China with me. Which is sort of weird, because it feels like I am falling into the middle of a history book--welcome to the Middle Kingdom!

欢迎中国！