Everything but the kitchen sink (but only because it won't fit in the car)

There's a rumor going around that I require four pillows at night. That rumor is true.

I've spent the week packing for our annual lake trip. I feel so fortunate to have a friend who lets us use his cabin every year. The place is full of so many happy memories for us. Of course, the memories were a little quieter before the curlie girlie came along. P and I used to sit and read for hours, interrupted only by the occasional call of a loon on the lake. Now, we're interrupted every 5-10 seconds by someone who is bored even though she was specifically instructed to bring lots of things to do. No WIFI = first-world problem.

When we go to the lake, we basically bring everything we will need for the whole trip. The town nearest to the lake has a population of 731 people and no grocery store. There is a gas station, but you don't want to buy anything there if you don't have to, mostly because they hike up the prices for dumbass tourists who left shit at home when they definitely should have brought it. One year, Gideon broke out of his crate and ate our cookies while we were out on the lake. I went into town to replace the cookies with a bag of Chips Ahoy. I think the gas station was charging something like six bucks. For a bag of Chips Ahoy!

If there's one thing I've learned as a vegan, it's that you have to think ahead a little (if you want to eat, that is). That little gas station does not have vegan staples like tofu, nutritional yeast, etc. I can just imagine walking in there and asking for any of those items. They'd be talking about me all week. "Clara! Did you hear about the lady who came in here this morning asking for raw agave and chickpea flour? What on earth?" So, anyway, I've packed a little more than usual just so I can make some recipes and whatnot while I'm at the cabin. We also picked up a new air mattress at Costco. There is a pseudo waterbed (that's somehow too hard and too soft at the same time) in the cabin but my old-lady hips don't like it. So, we graciously let our friends use it when they join us for a few days each year. What can I say, we are givers!

My heart is a bit heavy this year because my instinctual feeling is that this will be Gideon's last year at the cabin. His back end simply is not working. The other day I watched him struggle to balance himself just to poop. I have some boots for him to wear on slippery surfaces, but eventually it becomes a matter of strength (which he no longer has) and not traction. I don't know if he specifically has degenerative myelopathy, which is pretty common in Boxers, or if the weakness is just a side effect of old age, but whatever it is, it sucks. I hate to see him struggle just to walk. I am officially entering "keep an eye on quality of life" for my old man. He's the goodest good boy who ever lived.

Here's hoping we can get all of this stuff packed up . . . and somehow still leave room for the dogs.

Giddy at the lake six years ago.