Take Off!

On Saturday, January 16th I woke up at 6am (half an hour before my alarm went off). I then proceeded to frantically make sure I was completely packed, I had everything, and that my checked bags were under 50lbs. My mom also woke and, being the sweetheart that she is, set out a bagel, cream cheese, and deliciously smoked salmon. Finally, I felt that I was as ready as I was going to get. I sat down to this wonderful breakfast and ate half a bagel with all the toppings. I could barely eat because my stomach was all tight and full of butterflies. I had been extremely nervous for the last 24hrs and that morning was no exception. My dad woke up and I gave him a big hug as I went to the car. My mom got in and she drove me out to the Medford Airport.

At the airport I was very nervous about the bags. I just wanted to see them checked through. The black roller ended up being 1.5lbs over, so I took my notebooks out and put them in the black duffel. Now the black roller was 2lbs under! And my black duffel was pretty heavy for a carry on. It was lucky for me that they didn’t check the weight of my carry on.

As the bags got checked I felt a wave of relief, but I was still very, very nervous. Those of you who have not seen me very nervous, excited, and tired, should be warned that I can get snappy. On the way over toward security, where I was going to hug my mom and say good-bye, I realized that a pocket in my backpack was open and did not have my external hard drive in it. I freaked out a bit, and went through almost my whole backpack. My mom had something to tell me, but I was just freaking out. Then I just sank a little and realized I had left it at home. Finally I could hear my mom, who calmly asked what it was that I forgot. She said that, if she found it at home, she could mail it to me. I was very relieved, and sorry I had snapped at my mom while freaking out.

I got up and gave my mom a big hug. I thanked her for this semester at sea trip, and we said goodbye. I went through security and boarded the plane for San Diego.