I am currently sitting on the plane (yay! on board wi-fi) on my way to Dallas for my first stop. Months of prep work, meltdowns, packing and planning and I left San Jose this morning at 6:20 am. I would like to think that I am a seasoned traveller and that I normally have my shit together. But I will confess – this morning I lacked all of my usual calm, grace and poise (or what little of it I have.)

Kudos to Dad for the curb-side drop off idea. We got to the airport this morning and it was already a zoo. Lots of people lined up at the curb so we pulled the bags out and got in line as fast as possible. Turns out this was a good idea as things were moving slowly at the check in counter and I only had to wait for one person. I checked in my two bags (both of which came in heavy. oops. but I only got charged for one ;D ) and got in the very long security line. By the time I cleared security with my two VERY large carry-ons and two laptops, I had enough time to buy a bottle of water and book it to the gate.

This is where the lack of poise really showed up. My plane was already boarding and I was one of the last people on. But the ladies (one very nice and one…not so much) objected to the backpack and I got what I wanted – which was to gate check my bag and not have to pay for it. 😀 But this also meant frantically digging through the bag to pull out my jewelry – and due to poor planning on my part – a few other essentials like an extra pair of underwear. Which of course means that as I open my bag on the airport floor – my underwear goes flying and I promptly embarrassed the older gentleman standing next to me.

After a minute more of digging – and a frantic search for the passport that was right in front of me – I FINALLY got on the plane. Day pack and overnight bag in tow. Of course at this point my overnight bag is overflowing and I am holding it my arms like a baby so that things don’t go flying again. I managed to shove a few more things in my day pack and squeeze the overnight bag at my feet. But I have the dreadful feeling something got left along the way. Oh well. C’est la vie. Right?

Here’s to hoping that all three of my bags make it through both of my connections and the carrier change to Paris. Where I promptly get to clear customs and start the whole lovely process of checking in all over again. Yay?

Keep your fingers, toes, arms and legs crossed that everything makes it in one piece. Now I gotta go find that flight attendant. Is it too early for a drink?