11 days to go

The idea of getting a service dog is becoming more concrete as we get closer to the day we leave. I'm frantically making lists of things to do before we go and what we should pack. I still haven't decided what to do with our 3 bettas. Should we board them? Is that even possible? Should I leave them with one of those vacation feeders and assume they'll be okay? I still haven't decided.

I'm trying to figure out how to arrange for all of our medications to last through the two weeks. There are a few that will run out before we return, but who knows if the insurance company will let us get refills early. That's going to be a fun phone call, I'm sure.

I still haven't decided where to put the dog cage. The only real option is in the dining room, but it will be a very tight squeeze. Essentially, it will block access to one side of the table. However, I don't want to put it in my daughter's bedroom. Blech.

Another thing I just realized. We'll be flying out of an airport that is about an hour's drive (depending on traffic) from our house. Do I spend $60 for each of us to use a shuttle or do I try and park in the economy lot? Will my car be safe in the lot for two weeks? Granted, I don't drive a nice car and I'm fairly confident that Buicks are not high on the 'cars to steal' list. Maybe I'll take off the gas cap and the radiator cap and call it good. My car won't run with either one of them not properly tightened, so that seems like a good way to insure the car won't go far.

It's all of these practical details that I failed to think about when we started the countdown to our camp. The good news is that my daughter's school decided to play nice and they will give us the two weeks of school work in advance so she's not behind when she returns. That means I get to try homeschooling my child for a few weeks. Spring Break is next week, so she'll be away from school for three weeks total. I'm going to try and keep her on a school schedule as much as possible so it won't be such a shock to the system when she returns. Trying to get a preteen up in the mornings is always a challenge, so there is no guarantee of success.

Another piece of good news: I told our apartment managers that we will be gone the last two weeks of March (so they don't think we're dead) and we'll be returning with a service dog. I was all prepared to fight and remind them of the ADA laws. Instead the woman told me congratulations on getting the dog and that there is no deposit or 'pet rent' because it is a service dog. How nice is it not to have to fight!!!

Only 11 days, only 11 days......