This is WHY I am a great match for Charles...

Charles had a job interview in Sierra Vista AZ where Kare and Curtis live.  I decided to go with him.  Our flight was scheduled to leave at 8:02 PM.  This was our schedule working backwards, so we'd know what time to leave our house.

8:02- Take off
7:02- Be there to check-in an hour early
6:32- Find parking, walk to a shuttle stop, wait for shuttle, ride shuttle to a million stops, wait for shuttle to take us to the right terminal
5:55- Drive from Mom and Dad's to the airport
5:30- Drop off kids and get them settled.
5:15- Leave home to drive kids to Mom and Dad's.

Can you tell where this blog post is going?  Well get ready...

So. I was excited to have a quick Friday - Monday getaway with Charles. Or, I knew I SHOULD be excited.  But for some reason I was in this weird funk.

I wasn't in the mood to do anything.  I didn't want to clean my house the way I usually do before a trip.  I didn't want to pack our stuff.  I didn't want to pack the stuff for the kids.  I didn't want to plan what we'd do when we were there.  I didn't want to find a good book to take along.  I just didn't want to do anything.

So I just did the essentials.  I packed.  The house was a mess, and I didn't care.  I made no plans, and I didn't care.  I was going to have the perfect chance to sit and read a book on the flight, but I didn't care.  It was just such an empty feeling.

But even though I was feeling this way, my head was telling me to snap out of out of it and wake up!  So I said a little prayer, asking for help for me to stop being lame and get excited and not miss out on the joy of this rare opportunity.

4:30
So, Charles got home from work, looked around at the mess that was our home and I just shrugged and said, "We're packed. Let's go." We didn't need to leave for another 45 minutes, but I just felt done being in my house.  Charles got ready and then we left.

4:55
We left our house and drove the kids to my Mom and Dad's.  After getting them all settled in, and car seats moved and then visiting for a while, I just felt done again.  I was ready to leave, but still not feeling happy or excited.

5:25
We left my mom and dad's and started our drive to the airport.  I knew we were early, and kept thinking how about how bored I was going to be just sitting there at our gate waiting to get on the plane.  And then I thought about how bored I was going to be waiting for it to take off. It would probably be delayed... such was always my luck.  Man, I really had a bad attitude!

5:40
Since I knew we were going to have to sit and do nothing at the airport, I suggested we stop and get dinner now, instead of at the airport. Plus it would be cheaper.  So we stopped at McDonalds.  I thought we would go in and eat, and just sit and talk.  But Charles thought we should just go through the drive-thru and keep on driving.  I couldn't help but think, So typical!  Always wanting to be way too early, never wanting to relax and just take his time on something!

6:05
We pulled into the airport long-term parking lot and started our search for a spot.  Charles has been on a ton of business trips this past year and so he knows the parking lot well.  He mentioned that it must be busier than usual because the cars were extended further out in the lot than he had ever seen it. It took us about 5 minutes just to find a spot.

6:10
I gave a heavy sigh, bored already, not looking forward to sitting on my butt doing nothing.  Charles looked at me and said, "Shall we?" I said, "Sure," and reached around my seat for my purse.  I kept reaching... and reaching...
"Oh NO!  My Purse! It's at Mom and Dad's!"  (It takes about 35 minutes with no traffic to get from the airport to my parents' house.)  Charles just looked at me and said, "Are you kidding me?! Do you really not want me to interview for this job?"  I looked at the clock and said, "Go! We can make it!"

So he turned the car around, and I called my dad to see if he could meet us halfway and bring my purse.
"Hello?"
"Dad! I need you to do me a HUGE favor.  We're at the airport, but we're coming back.  I left my purse at your house and I need my ID to get on the plane.  Can you grab it and meet us halfway?"
"Yeah.  Hold on... (muffled voice) I'm gonna have to go ahead and cancel that cod.  I have to leave right now."
Ohhhh... I felt bad.  He was taking everyone out to dinner!
"Crissy?  You still there?  I'll call you back when I have the purse.  Any idea where it is?"
"Yeah, I think it's on the counter."
"Okay I'll call you back."

I felt terrible about forgetting my purse.  I felt bad that my dad had to leave his dinner.  I felt bad that I might make us miss our flight.  I really was looking forward to this trip, and now I might have cost us a whole 12 hours or so of our mini-trip if we didn't make it.

I expected Charles to get upset.  I expected him to say something along the lines of "Typical Crissy... never on time. blah blah blah blah blah."  Or worse, I expected the silent treatment.  But he did neither of those things.  He spoke normal to me and drove fast.

I texted Kare to let her know what was going on.  She responded... "You hate me."

My dad called back, said he had the purse and was heading down the highway.  We decided that we would get to 9000 S. at about the same time, but he would get there just before so he could swing around and have the purse ready for us to just grab from the window without even stopping.

I looked at the clock.  This could work!  This could actually work!  We might make it, after all!

6:32
I see Dad.  He has turned off the highway onto 9000 S, made a U-turn and is waiting for us to follow, make the hand-off and keep on going.  We are just about to his car when I see him get out of the car, with both hands up in the air as he shrugs and shakes his head. 

I smiled and thought, Oh Dad, always making a joke.  Pretending like he forgot it too...

We pulled up next to him, and he pulls out a purse.  Not my purse...  My mom's purse.  "I'm sorry!  I just grabbed the purse on the counter and ran out the door.  But when I got here I actually looked at it and... it's the wrong purse!"

I couldn't help it.  I busted out laughing.  What were the odds?  There was no way now for us to make it, so all you can really do is laugh.  And... it WAS funny.  Sometimes I see humor in situations before everyone else.  Mostly when I am the cause of the stress to begin with.

We tell Dad it's okay, and we take off back onto the highway to go get the purse ourselves.

6:40
We pull up to Mom and Dad's house and Charles grabs the purse while I make a phone call to Delta.

I ask if the plane is on time.  Of course it is.

I ask if it is the last flight to Tucson.  Of course it is.

I ask if he can notify our flight crew that we are coming and not to leave without us!  Of course not.

In fact, he tells me that if we are not checked-in by 40 minutes before take-off (7:22), they will begin to give our seats away.

He asks me how far away we are.

I tell him 35 minutes.

He says we might make it.

I tell him we have to park our car.

He says,  "Oh.  I can put you on a flight in the morning."

Then I ask him if he can check us in over the phone, so they know we're coming.

He tells me that if we both have a smart phone, we can do it ourselves.

Only Charles has an iPhone.  So we decided that even though our odds were terrible, we had nothing else to do, so we went for it.  I checked Charles in on his phone, and we hoped that it would be enough for them to wait as long as they could for that missing passenger. 

7:15
We arrived at the airport and somehow found parking in that first minute.  But not before the shuttle just passed our stop.  We hurried and grabbed all our luggage, and waited for the next shuttle.  It only took a few minutes.

7:18
We got on and rode the zigzag pattern of stops, up and down each aisle of the parking lot.  About 8 stops.  Then we were off for the terminals.  Lucky us, we were the last terminal, and the last stop.  After the 1st stop, we realized that everyone but us had gotten out.  But our driver (Pat) was just sitting there twiddling her thumbs.  So Charles got up, walked to the front and explained the situation.  Pat said we would be fine, but was also kind enough to skip the next stop and take us straight to ours at the end.

7:26
We jumped off the shuttle and I ran ahead, with my credit card in hand ready to check myself in at the nearest kiosk.  I got to the point where it says to print my boarding pass.  But then big letters starting flashing on the screen.  TOO LATE FOR BOARDING PASS. PLEASE SEE A DELTA ATTENDANT.

So I ran to the nearest attendant at the desk.  I blurted out what the screen said, and they sent me to the attendant on the far end of the counter... the opposite direction of security.  The lady there checked me in, handed me a boarding pass, and told me to RUN.  Like I needed that advice!

7:29
I put my flip flop wedges in my hand and I took off toward Security in bare feet.  Charles had all the luggage and his computer bag and was keeping up pretty well.  Security would be the real test.  If there was a short line, we might just make it.  If it was long, then we were screwed.

It was a  miracle.  No line.  Only the people already taking off their shoes and emptying their pockets.  We grabbed some bins and started going through the drill.  Taking the computer out of the bag, all our less than 3 oz. toiletries, out shoes, jewelry, phones, change, I.D.s, boarding passes etc...

Then I was randomly chosen for the search I had the air blown on me, and then got frisked by the beeper stick.  The security lady was very pleased with herself to find a gum wrapper stuck in the corner of my pocket.  Watch out! 

7:33
Once we collected our stuff back together, I kept my shoes in my hands along with my boarding pass and purse and took off running to a screen to tell us which gate.  We could make it!  We could make it!

Charles asked  me if it said the Gate number on my boarding pass.  It said E77.

Holy Crap.

The E gates were the furthest gates in the airport!  They are way down on one end.  So we ran.  And ran.

We passed the A and B gates and got to the first walking escalator and I thought, "nah, I'm faster than that!"  So I ran beside it.  By the time I got to the end of it, Charles had caught up to me, and I was sweaty and out of breath.  But we kept running.

We passed the C and D gates.  At the next walking escalator I got smart and got on it.  "Excuse me!  Pardon Me!  On your left!"  And just so you know... Those tiny strips of metal on the escalators KILL bare feet.

Just as we arrived at the E gates, Charles stopped us and said, "Wait.  Something's not right here.  These are all international flights.  This can't be the right gate."  So he went to check a screen. I didn't have a chance to look before Charles punched the air and said, "B-12!  I knew it!"

7:40
So we turned around and started running the opposite direction, back to the B gates.  Back through the escalator, back through the next escalator, turning at the B Gates.  And of course B-12 is one of the last gates in the Bs.

We're about to take an escalator down to a lower floor of B gates, when Charles decided to double check with another Delta guy.

The attendant looks on his computer and says "Tucson?  You're at E-77."

7:47
That's when Charles said, "Nope. I'm out."  Charles was red, and sweaty, and hadn't had time to tie his shoelaces after going through security, and had broken one of them.  I asked the Delta guy to call our gate and tell them we are coming.  He said to run. Why do they always state the obvious?  So said, "C'mon Charles!  We can do it!" And I took off without him.  I ran as fast as I could, without looking back.  My bare feet pounded the floor and the escalator.  I wondered what the people sitting down must have thought, seeing us run by not once, not twice, but three times.  Hmmm, maybe there is some entertainment to be had while sitting and waiting at an airport.  I ran my heart out.  And I made great time.

7:52
I made it to the E gates, back where we had turned around, and then I had to find 77.  THE LAST GATE.  When I got to the desk, I noticed there were 2 people in line.  I thought, "Sweet!  There's still people boarding!"

So I look around for Charles, he's not here yet.  I let a few people pass me... he's not here yet.  So then I think I should at least let them know we are here.

I give the lady my pass and she says, "You're going to Tucson?!"  I'm a little surprised because she had JUST let like 5 other people board.  I say "yes..." and she says, "Is everyone here?  And I don't mean in the airport, I mean HERE HERE?!"  I looked back just as Charles was rounding the corner and making his way down the hall.  I told her yes, and she gave me a very wary look.

Then she got on her phone and said, "I'm sending 2 more." I don't know what the big deal was, until she opened the door... not to small walkway that connected to a plane.  It was a very very long hallway that had 24 doors, each leading to a plane.  Our plane was all the way at the end of that hallway... Door number 24.

7:57
We made it to our door, and walked out to our plane.  We had to check our luggage with an attendant, and then climb the ramp to board our plane.

7:58
We found our seats.  There was a lady in Charles' seat when we got there, who was hoping to have a little extra space to spread out.  Sorry Charlie!  Back to your own seat!

We sat down and started to concentrate on our breathing. We did it!  Holy crap, we did it!

I turned to Charles and said, "With 4 minutes to spare."

Our faces were deep red, we were dripping in sweat and we both smelled of terrible B.O.  I was so amazed, and excited and giddy.  I couldn't believe it.  I wanted to grab my camera to document that moment, but Charles was not quite ready to celebrate.  My picture would have been me with a huge smile and 2 thumbs up.  Charles' picture would have been... not so smiley... and his finger choice might not have been the thumbs.  So I gave him a few minutes.  Instead, I texted my Dad and Kare to give them the miraculous news.  I had to make it quick because we were supposed to have already turned our cell phones off.  And it was a good thing we weren't flying over any oceans because we had missed that little safety spiel too.  We took off right on time and landed on time.

So the moral of the story is...

God has a sense of humor.  I wanted to get out of my funk and feel excited, and my prayer was answered.  You have no idea the pure joy I felt when we made that hopeless flight.  That picture above, is me flying on Cloud 9.  Absolutely ecstatic.

But just to help Charles out with his own sense of humor at that point, I let him know that this was all part of my plan.  A plan to let him get out to feel alive.  To not be so responsible and predictable. To not be half an hour early ALL the time.  To take a risk, and to not always know what the outcome will be.  To make his airport experience a little less mundane.  To add some thrill and excitement to his life.  I did it for Alli when she and I flew to Tucson last year, and I knew I should do it for him too.  It's just the kind of person I am.  And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why we make a great pair.  It's all about balance.  The End.