never too early

"Are you up?"

Nothing about me says I'm up.  

I'm lying in bed.
Eyes closed.
Covers up to my neck.
Lights off.
Ice cold room, my favorite sleeping environment.

My mom ignores the obvious signs of sleeping.

"No. I'm not up. What time is it?"

"7:15."

"I'm getting up at 7:30."

My mom continues. "I want to do a wash before you leave?  Are these all your whites?" She points to a pile of clothes in a corner of the room.

"Yes, but I'm going to add a few things. I'll do it when I get up."

I told my mom before going to sleep last night that I would do a final wash in the morning.  I also reluctantly agreed to leaving at 11:30 for my 1:38 pm flight out of Hyannis. It takes an hour, tops, to drive from North Falmouth to Hyannis. Google Maps clocks the ride at 37 minutes, 21.1 miles. So even taking into consideration traffic and check-in (the airport is tiny), leaving over two hours early provides enough time for any possible unforeseen event.

I close my eyes again, and fifteen minutes later my mom is back.

"Do you want me to do your laundry now?"

"NO. I'LL DO IT WHEN I GET UP."

I look at my watch. Now it's 7:15. 

I can't fall back to sleep.  I get up, shower, and bring down my laundry.

I also have time to go to the Daily Brew for one last coffee.  Play gin with my mom. Finish the laundry. Pack. Do some emails. And make some calls. 

We leave a few minutes early to stop for some frozen yogurt along the way.

And then we hit  traffic. An accident, we think. We're delayed an extra 15 minutes.  But still make it to the airport an hour early.

And then, quite shockingly, the 1:38 plane takes off early. I am actually airborne by 1:30.

Between the backed up traffic on 28 and the early departure, next year we'll be leaving at daybreak.