18 hours and 30 minutes

...that is until my plane takes off from RIC! I can't believe it's finally here. After those 18 hours and 30 minutes have passed, my flight will be soaring off the runway, on its way to Hawaii. It doesn't even seem real that I'm about to see my husband for the first time since September 8th. My stomach is doing flips just thinking about it. Even though I've flown to Hawaii and back once before, flying is always a crazy experience. It never is the same twice...different planes, different passengers, different airports, etc. I think what I'm most nervous about it my shirt getting wrinkled, my hair getting flat, and my make-up wearing off in the 18 hours it takes to get there. I just want to look perfect! I'm wearing a dark gray tank top that has silk sleeves with a cut-out in the back (my favorite), skinny jeans, and black t-strap sandals. Simple, comfortable, but still stylish. I had to find a balance between Virginia weather and Hawaii weather, that way when I'm in Virginia at 5 AM and it's still under 50 degrees, I can still be comfortable then and when I get to Hawaii with 80 degrees temps. I'm taking the giant suitcase as checked-in, then a carry on weekender bag and my purse. I have forgotten all of the TSA requirements seeing as the last time I flew there was December 2010, so I'll have to look all those up tonight. I know about the 3.4 liquid oz. thing with the carry on, but I forget all the rest. I will be so upset if they make me throw away my eyebrow scissors because they're a weapon! I'm so excited to get there and see our home. He's been living there for about a week now, but he hasn't put up all the decorations, etc. so it's not quite complete yet. It takes a wife :) And almost as much as I miss my husband, I miss my car! I'm just so ready to feel that relief, relief in knowing that he'll never deploy again, that we never have to go months at a time without seeing each other again, that we can just be normal. I'll be there for two weeks, then I come back here to finish my last two weeks of student teaching. Then, I finally take my one way ticket out there :) Oddly enough, I'm sad about leaving my students. One girl this morning told me I was "the prettiest white girl" she had ever seen. Umm...thanks? You just have to love them. Even if they're smoking weed in the bathroom, texting in class, not doing work...they provide an extreme amount of entertainment every day. I'm really furious with one student right now. He never, and I mean never, comes to class, and when he does, he just sits there. There's no way in the world he's going to graduate in a few months with the F that he has in the gradebook right now. And today, he got suspended for truancy, so he sat here and did nothing all class because he said "it wouldn't matter." I tried to make him realize that today's activity was a grade and so he could at least improve his F by a few points; he didn't care. Then, when I was returning graded work, as soon as I laid his down on his desk, he balled it up--right in front of me--and threw it in the trash. I guess I should be angry, but really I'm sad. It really hurts as an educator to know that some kids just really don't care, and it's sad to think about where they're going to end up after this school year when they don't graduate. Either back in 12th grade, or--most likely--the streets. But sometimes, there really is only so much you can do. I have a few students who are much like this, although most of them have kicked it into high gear now and are like the perfect students, in hopes that they can turn their F's into C's in two months. The chances are slim, but if they're putting in the effort, I'm willing to work with them. Better late than never. Anyways, just an update on today--the most exciting day evvveerr. I've already decided that tomorrow, when we finally see each other and hug and kiss, it will be even better than our wedding day. Well, my students are about to come back from their lunch, so I must go. Adios!