Another Airport, Another LONG Wait

Flight delays, re-routes, and cancellations are a constant in my life. Understanding how airports work, when flights will or will not be delayed, peak travel times for business and personal travel, and common airport ettiquette are essential to successfully navigating this world of mass trasportation. I'm always trying to optimize my time so that I spend as little time as possible in an airport and airplane. I am strategic about my seat choice, have a defined MO for boarding adn departing planes (not to mention packing and security), and understand how to work around/with airline rules.

All of this is useless if you sleep late and miss your flight... which I did this morning. So my current wait is my own fault, which is a bit more frustrating. I had a 6 AM flight, which means I'd have had to wake up at 4:00 AM, left my house by 4:45 AM and arrived at the airport by 5:15-5:30 AM. My phone alarm did not go off (which is odd, need to figure out what is wrong with it) and I woke up at 6:30. Then I realized that I had left my purse at work... overnight. So, I had to drive 30 mins to get to my office, grabbed my purse, and then drove 20 mins to arrive at the airport at 8:00 AM. Of course, then I had to ride the little bus from the car park to the terminal. So in the end, I was at the airline counter around 8:20. That is 3 hours behind schedule. And then to make matters worse, the earliest flight to Boston on American leaves at 11:30 AM. Well, I got my new ticket and realized I had left my work badge in my car... so off I went, back to my car to grab my badge, and then back to the terminal. Somehow this flight will be impossible for even me to miss. Though I'm sure I can figure something out to make that happen.

I'm so sleepy... and have a cold. Last night I went to this ballroom dancing class and felt really bad b/c I didn't want someone holding my infected hands. Alas, what else could I do? It is so much fun to go to that class. I normally am fairly adept at learning dances and what not, but I really suck at this whole ballroom thing. I think there is an element of preciseness that I can't get my 'free-style', rule free experience to accept. You have to hold your frame a certain way, no slumping allowed, and your head has to angle and hold at a certain degree to look graceful. All in all, it's beautiful to watch... but quite a bit of hard work. I have a new respect for those who participate in "Dancing with the Stars". I can't imagine perfecting those routines in 1 week.