Pro-Active Packing and Airline Roulette

Maybe it's the fact that I can't stand to leave the office without my to-do list made out for the next day. Maybe it's the fact that every time I go to visit my boyfriend for a weekend, I bring tons of clothes and still forget something really important, like a coat in December. Maybe it's just the fact that I'm very excited for my first week-long vacation since 2005.

But regardless, I've started packing FIVE FULL DAYS ahead of time for my trip to Texas. What? You pack two weeks ahead of time and every top goes with every bottom and you fit 70 gabillion outfits in one carry-on bag? Shut up, I don't care. This is a big step for me. I did laundry yesterday, I got my luggage together today ($50 for a huge spinner suitcase - thank you, Marshall's!) and I just started packing about an hour ago.

Have no fear, however. The same Molly you know, love and/or would love not to know is still here. I have already overpacked. At last count, I am bringing 12 dresses, 10 tops, 3 pairs of jeans, 2 skirts, and 3 bathing suits. Haven't even begun to think about shoes, basic t-shirts & tank tops, underwear, workout clothes (that darn marathon doesn't give me a vacation) or pj's/sweats. I'm already going to be bringing more than I would on a normal vacation - I am bringing 3 lenses for my new camera (my mom gave me her old ones), my computer, work stuff (I'm still going to be working from home for most of the trip - as much as I'd like to walk away and leave the blackberry off, I can't afford to take the whole 8 days off), running clothes and random art stuff. So the packing is probably going to start worrying me around, oh, Thursday.

But for now, I've got a more pressing issue. Actually GETTING to Texas. The short of it: When my boyfriend booked his ticket, he booked with a free voucher he had. He was routed through Atlanta, and since I wanted to be on his flights, we booked me on the same Atlanta-Houston and Houston-Atlanta flights. I was stupid and thought "hey, maybe I should just drive down to Atlanta and back from Charlotte. Might be cool to see the old town." Mmm-hmm. I failed to consider a) how much I hate driving, b) how many times I've driven that same rotten stretch of I-85, and c) how EARLY my flight was - it's at 8-something a.m. I looked into flights from Charlotte last week to Atlanta, and the sale was awesome - $49 each way. Unfortunately, the rent check would have bounced, so I waited. Idiot. I checked today when I got paid, and the sale was gone for the Charlotte to Atlanta flight. The ATL-CLT is still $39, but the CLT-ATL is now like $250. I gambled with the airlines, and I lost. Now I'm basically stuck with driving to Atlanta. Not horrible, but none of my options are at ALL ideal:
Option 1: Leave Charlotte at 2 am Sunday morning to get to the Atlanta airport by 6. Park the car in long-term/cheap-as-hell parking and get my flight at 8. Be cranky when I see my boyfriend because I haven't slept in 24 hours or so.
Option 2: Leave Charlotte earlier, drive to Atlanta and stay with friends. Make them get up hella early to get me to the airport by 6:30 or so on Sunday. Really, I can't do that. It's the weekend, I'm pretty sure that getting friends up that early on a Sunday is outlawed in the Geneva Convention somewhere.
Option 3: Take option 2 and pay for a hotel room at the Atlanta airport. I'd probably get paranoid that I would oversleep and miss my flight. Pay around $150 for a hotel room, which basically negates the purpose of driving to save the money on the plane fare, even if it does include a few days of free parking.

Ugh. I'm pretty much going to have to take option 1, which means that I'm going to be getting up at 2 IN THE FREAKING MORNING. On a day where I HAVE TO RUN 5 MILES IN THE AFTERNOON. Before you say it - no, I can't sleep on the plane. I haven't been able to sleep in the upright position since somewhere around the mid-80's.

Moral of the story? Don't gamble on the airlines. It NEVER works.