Frazzled, Thanksgiving Traveling

Did laundry.

Packed pink Kipling bag with four days worth of clothes and other necessities.

Read this New York Times article.

Immediately changed mind about checking small-enough-to-be-a-carry-on bag in at airport.

(What if my bag went missing and I LOST my $40 Maroon 5 t-shirt? Or my new tags-still-attached pea coat? Or my pricey new tinted moisturizer? Or worse, my unavailable-in-stores Petal Pink Kipling bag??)

Repacked bag with carry-on restrictions in mind.

Struggled lifting heavy bag out of way so roommate would not trip.

Realized lugging heavy bag in addition to heavy backpack full of books and laptop would not work in crowded airport and on completely full Southwest flight.

Repacked with goal of lightening load.

Failed.

Abandoned half-packed bag with contents spewed all over floor.

Shopped on internet with money I did not have.

Consumed lots and lots of caffeine.

(And chocolate.)

Changed mind and decided to check bag.

Repacked.

Did more internet "window-shopping".

Watched half a season of Scrubs.

Said good-bye to roommate.

Consumed more caffeine.

Shot anxious glances at still-not-completely-packed bag sitting on floor.

Changed mind again - bag will be carry-on.

Repacked.

Read some more articles in New York Times.

Watched more Scrubs.

Consumed more caffeine.

Looked at clock - almost 4 am?!?.

Set alarm to 8:00 am.

Attempted to sleep.

Turned off alarm at 8:02 am.

Woke up at 8:33 am.

Swore and almost fell out of loft bed.

Brushed teeth and showered in a rush.

Realized needed to bring face wash - bottle was larger than three ounces.

Made up mind to CHECK THE DAMN BAG IN at airport.

Looked at clock - 9:58 am.

Swore.

Repacked in a hurry.

Toppled over while standing on chair to reach something.

Swore.

Landed on right elbow and almost hit back of head against roommate's desk.

Got legs tangled under chair.

Fell over again.

Swore again.

Looked at clock - 10:12 am.

"FUCK FUCK FUCK!!"

Struggled to close zipper on bag because hair straightener made bag too bulky.

Succeeded.

Grabbed pink bag, green and yellow alligator tote bag, and backpack.

Ran out of door.

Realized forgot to bring Love Actually DVD promised to friend.

"FUCK."

Dropped bags and ran back into room.

Tripped on an imaginary speed bump.

"FUCK FUCK FUCK."

Grabbed DVD.

Looked at clock - 10:23 am.

"FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!!!"

Ran as quickly as possible to Peterson Hall.

Saw door of airport shuttle close as running up hill.

"FUCK."

Ran faster.

Saw that shuttle number two still had door open.

Boarded completely full shuttle.

Panted and sweated a lot.

Got to San Diego airport.

Checked in bag.

Stood in line at Starbucks for ten minutes before realizing beverages not allowed past security check point.

Swore.

Reached into pocket of backpack to retrieve boarding pass.

Realized it was missing.

Freaked out.

Dropped everything.

Emptied bags in frantic search in the middle of check-in area.

Couldn't find boarding pass.

Freaked out.

Calmed down enough to think straight.

Realized reprinting boarding pass was simple.

Felt like dumbass.

Reprinted boarding pass.

Got through security without a hitch.

Paid $9 for a latte and a bottle of water.

Sat on floor of gate area sipping latte and feeling better.

Pounced on first open seat.

Almost cried when passerby knocked over my latte.

(Only about three drops of coffee were lost.)

Struggled with the sports cap of water bottle.

Spilled water on everything in tote bag.

Swore.

Holding in a grande-latte induced full bladder for forty-five minutes because did not want to lose seat.

Ran to closest bathroom - five gates away.

Waited in very long line.

Felt better.

Pounced on another open seat.

Chatted with nice lady sitting next to me about art.

Lent her my favorite orange highlighter.

Continued reading long article on Impressionism for class.

Reveled in complete horror when looked up and saw empty seat where nice lady had sat - SHE STOLE MY FAVORITE HIGHLIGHTER.

Saw her get on flight to Oakland at next gate - HOLDING MY HIGHLIGHTER IN HER HAND.

Tried not to let crazy out because cute guy was sitting next to me.

Finished reading article, still fuming about highlighter.

Got confused by Southwest's new boarding procedure.

Settled into good window seat near front of plane.

Finished Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience" on plane, lamenting discontinuity in highlighter colors on pages because THE OAKLAND ART LADY STOLE MY FAVORITE ORANGE HIGHLIGHTER, OMFG!

Tried to take nap and forget about highlighter.

Arrived at SFO twenty-five minutes early.

Let out huge sigh of relief when pink bag fall out into the baggage carousal.

Went to Stonestown to exchange pea coat because of a loose button.

Came home and realized new coat AE guy gave me HAD A MISSING BUTTON NEAR THE COLLAR.

"FUCK FUCK FUCK!"

Watched When Harry Met Sally... three times and half of Breakfast at Tiffany's.

***

Am extremley thankful for making it through day in one piece.

(Mostly.)