Asia is booked!

I had been fretting about asking my boss to take two weeks off in January for the Asia trip.  I’ve only been with the Agency for a year at the end of this month, so I didn’t know how it would look if I asked to take off for two solid weeks.  I was expecting him to talk about workload, making sure things were complete before I go, etc…if he even said yes at all!  Well, here’s how the conversation went:

Me:  I have a question for you…what is the policy for taking extended vacations?
Boss:  How long of an extended vacation?
Me:  Two weeks.
Boss:  That’s fine, no problem.

….end of conversation.  Well, I told him when I’d be taking off when we were just chatting, and what it was for, but that had no impact on his decision.  at.all.  I was expecting to have to sell him that this was a great school opportunity and it would be awesome if I could take off to go…nope, he didn’t care.  As much as I don’t enjoy sitting at a computer all day for my job, the benefits of the job outweigh the negatives here, that’s for sure!  When I was consulting, there was NO WAY I would have been able to take off and do this trip…wait, back up….there’s no way I would even be in grad school.  So, I just have to say, thank you State job for allowing me the time to do what I want with my life! :)

So, I booked my flight yesterday (I found it on expedia.com for $150 less than the travel agent’s price!!!!), and now I just have to renew my passport when I get back from Mexico next week.  So. Excited.  Mexico for Shannon and Joel’s wedding next weekend, then Asia on Jan 1.  Having parents and a boyfriend that support me in spending the money and jetting off to some places that might not be the safest (ie. crime, cobras, and vipers…), really is amazing!  Life is fabulous!!!!

*Hugs*