Practice

M. and I had a taste of the empty nest this past week, and this is what it was like:

1. Tuesday: salad for dinner, and no one wept, argued, or fell off the dining room bench in despair.
2. Wednesday: dinner at India Castle, ditto Tuesday, plus no one sulked because we didn't eat at Noodles or a place with baseball on the bar TV. Also, because we were so happy and relaxed, or because we were new, or because we did not have two complaining leprechauns with us, we got complimentary dessert AND complimentary brandy. I've never even HEARD of complimentary brandy, outside of circumstances involving waiter-caused dry cleaning bills.
3. Cheese and bread for dinner, plus we got to watch Parks & Rec and I could hear all the jokes.

I also got to work in the garden until dark two days and went for a run on another. Also, while I did not waste time cleaning, what little straightening I did stayed that way, in its straightened state, for multiple days. Weird. I didn't know that could happen.

I also got a little weepy by Thursday anytime I read a story involving a parent and a child. Not even sad stories. Just any stories. I started crying as I drove home from work listening to Blood, Bones and Butter (mm mm good) and she talked about her work in a kids' camp in the Adirondacks. Crying! Honestly.

But the good news is the leprechauns come home from South Dakota today, and I am sure within three minutes I will be longing for these past three days with an intensity that will make my teeth hurt.