Cutting it close

There are two kinds of people that fly: one kind likes to get to the airport at least an hour before a flight, and others like to get there in time to get through the lines but not have to wait around at the gate. I am one of the latter kind. If I have to sit down after I have gone through the security and check-in, I feel like I am wasting my time. I could have stayed at home longer and slept in a few more minutes. I spend enough time at airports waiting in lines or waiting to get on or off a plane or waiting for my luggage to want to go to the airport too early to...wait at the gate. Fortunately we live only ten minutes from the airport, so if I am running late, I am not too far away.

Scott is one of those people who likes to get to the airport "in plenty of time", meaning to me too early. He inevitably waits around at the gate reading a paper and sipping a Stealbucks latte waiting for his number to be called so he can stand in line to board. One time he was getting frustrated with me at home when we had a flight to catch, so he took a cab to the airport a half an hour before I caught my own cab. We would not survive as a couple on Amazing Race!

Today was a day Mikayla and I tested it almost too closely. I took her to the airport to catch a flight to Ohio to visit friends for a few days. When we pulled out of the garage at 5:30 a.m. Mikayla told me that her flight leaves at 6:20. I thought it left later than that. I drove as fast as I could and pulled up to curbside check in. It was 5:40. The plane was boarding at 5:50. She checked her bag and ran. Ten minutes later she called me to say she made it to the gate. She was lucky the security line was not too long.

I admit that cutting it that close was stressful. Somehow I miscalculated the time we needed to leave. We did get several much needed extra minutes of sleep, though!