Got it!!
I ordered it on the 17th through Ed Store and got it yesterday. It's so sweet! They had changed my shipping date from 9.25 to 10.3 but when I called them they said that Apple would probably send it sooner, and it went out on the 26th. I went with the 12" combo drive stock, b/c I figured that any customizations would kill my ship time. I'll pick up an AE card and RAM from mac-warehouse, and an extra battery if needs dictate. I also went with the 2-day shipping, and it shipped fedex. Also, I called about the Apple Education Bundle offer and they told me that as long as it was purchased by the 27th, I would have 30 days from the ship date to complete the rebate. So, my printer shipped UPS right away from Cali, the iPod shipped Airborne the next day from Asia, and the 12" shipped like I said, and they only charged me $22. All in all it's been a pleasant experience, and I'm really looking forward to loading Protools, and the Adobe Creative Suite and seeing how well this little baby runs! By the way, My Dell 5100 laptop that my lab owns and I use looks like a Univac in comparison. Viva les Macs!!😀