does it pay to be early?

As per my usual, I'm settled in at the airport about 80 minutes before boarding. Connecting to wireless and catching up on email and a good blog.

yes, I'm a good hour and 40 minutes before the plane leaves the ground. I'm flying with my friend, Shelly today. I believe her ride is picking her up at this very moment. 7 am. When we were figuring out how we would get to the airport, having flown with me before, she said: "Let's ride to the airport separately. I'll stress you out." She's flown with me before. And, she's right.

I arrived at the airport at....

...wait for it...

...wait for it...

5:50 am.

It's true. And I'm a little nutz. Not a gun-wielding, prozac-popping nutz, but maybe a little OCD. Maybe. Maybe not. [is my purse with me? is my wallet in my purse? is my boarding pass still in my bag? did I bring my phone? do I have my credit cards? is my purse still with me? is my wallet in my purse? is my....]. Okay, I am.

Lee and Hope are picking his sister Sandra up from the airport around noon today. It didn't make sense to have them go to the plane parking lot twice today - esp. since it's a 45 mile drive from our country abode. I 'shuttle expressed' it from Danielle's this morning at 5:15 am. It was a nice, stress-free jaunt, to be sure.

It took an hour to check in. The handy e-ticket machine always sends me to customer service to check-in anyhow (?). [maybe the machine knows that I have the time to spare?] Security wasn't packed - but the search through our goods was long. Security-level orange, it seems. I had to ditch my bottled water [from home]. And then the journey to "gate N" was no short gig.

When all is said and done, I'm guessing it will take Shelly an hour to make it to the area of "N" as well. She'll breeze through the boarding gate with moments to spare. We flew to Minnesota (or was it Canton, OH?) together years ago. Pre-mommyhood, I was even more on the ocd side. She rolled onboard with literally, 2 minutes to spare. A smile on her face. She had the corporate card that was funding our trip and I was nearly a puddle on the floor. I think I have more-troubleshooting skills. Heck, that was 11 years ago! I have many more.... :) bring it!

I don't know what make us all tick. Or why I am completely OCD when it comes to being on time or arriving uber-early for just about anything in my life. I guess I like to allow for the possiblities. A traffic jam. Long lines at security. Not enough time to get my Starbucks' fix.

I was "fondly" remembering my October trip to Chicago. Due to ridiculous self-imposed circumstances, I arrived 40 minutes before boarding. My baggage had to be checked and didn't show up at the other end b/c I missed the deadline. I had to beg, borrow and plead my way through a 5 am rush in the security line. And I ran to board the plane. I was literally one of the last folks on the plane. I was so thankful I had carried my marathon gear with me.

I was so stressed out, it nearly did me in.

I'm finished with my coffee. I'm downing a little airborne and my allergy pill and have seemingly sat through the first round of travelers in the food court. I'm okay with that. :) I have two magazines to rifle through...Runner's World and The New Yorker. It looks like Tina Fey's Baby Envy, Hendrik Hertzberg's notes on feeling bitter and the Folksinging Detectives and a 3-day-a-week training plan are waiting for me. Time to log off, head to the bathroom and organize myself for boarding. Forty minutes and counting.

Signing off from the land of ocd and all things planned and early.

:)