No More Tears at Dinner

Here it is almost 3 weeks since I dropped off my girls at college. I cannot believe I have survived 3 weeks already. At first their absence was completely crushing. The very first night that I set the table for 3 people, I couldn't stop the tears from flowing when I sat down to eat.  3 plates. 3 Cups. 3 napkins. It was all so sad. I had tears falling down my face for pretty much the entire dinner.  The rest of the table was so empty. I am now getting used to setting our dinner table for 3.  I am grabbing 3 plates instead of 5 and 3 glasses. It only takes one trip to the dining room to bring all the glasses out. Clean up is easier too. 3 plates seem to only take seconds to load into the dishwasher.  I don't need to cook quite as much food either. The other day I made buttermilk fried chicken strips and realized I didn't need to make batch after batch after batch. I was done cooking in no time. I guess that is how it is. Slowly I am getting used to doing just one load of laundry a day. I only have to run the dishwasher once a day. I suppose that part is nice.  The usual haul of 10 gallons of milk per week is now lasting almost 10 days. My daughter's little doggie Penny is doing better too.  She was SO sad when my daughter left.  She wouldn't do anything except lay on my daughter's blanket. It broke my heart just seeing Penny so sad.  It isn't like you can tell a doggie where her bestest friend went. I had tears in my eyes every time I snuggled with Penny.  We both were missing our bestest friend.  A couple of nights ago Mr. Yesteryear Acres figured a way to get Penny back to her old peppy self.  Each night he brings her bowl full of doggie food out to the living room. He sits on the couch with her and puts her bowl of food next to him on my daughter's blanket. Then he sits with Penny the whole time she eats. Well Penny just LOVES that.  Her tail has been wagging and last night she knew it was time for "I am the Princess" dinner hour.  She started running in little circles and hopping for joy. It is the cutest thing. Penny loves the new routine and is bouncing around happily once again. I talked to both of my girls over the weekend and they seem to be settling in as well.  My younger daughter said she is feeling more at home this week. I sent her a huge care package and that seemed to help a lot.  The transition for both of us has been kind of tough - but we are managing to make it all work. I can't say that I wouldn't jump for joy and be SO happy if I got the chance to set my table for five - but there are no more tears at dinner...not even Penny tears.