License to Cry

That final goodbye when you send your kid off to college is pretty tough. The hugs. The tears. For Mom anyway. So why not do it twice in one week and really put my heart through the wringer?

Even though Carter left last week, he couldn't quite fit everything in the Honda Civic that he needed for "the house." Naturally, when Dad volunteers to take it down to Platteville this weekend, he isn't going alone. Mom insists on going with.

So I can say goodbye again!

We didn't have too much to fit in the CRV after all. A dresser of sorts and a few odds and ends. We hit the road at 8:30 a.m. so we wouldn't arrive "too early." As in before noon. We unloaded and got to see the progress on Carter's room and his decorating touch to the rest of the house. I gotta admit, his license plate collection looks pretty cool in a college house! And the pin holes aren't going in OUR wall anymore!

His room is already set up like a cool sound and light show. We don't want to know who's gonna see that besides us parents on tour.

I was especially pleased he made wise use of his time this week and picked up his textbooks already! Looks like junior year will be loads of fun, doesn't it?

We went to lunch and said our goodbyes again. For real this time. When you hand over the tuition check for him to drop off next week, then it's official. So more tears, of course. I tell people it gets easier. And maybe the second year it did. But now, it's like, wow, he's a junior. He'll be done with college before you know it and on his own. And who knows where? Sob, sniff...

To ease the pain of separation, hubby and I made sure our golf clubs fit in the vehicle with Carter's stuff. We figured we'd play 18 holes somewhere on the way home. They had so much rain and flooding down that way this week, though, so we thought it might be better to aim for closer to home. Well, after stopping at two courses that were too busy, we ended up as close to home as we could get!

The Ridges. Five minutes away. Ha.

There's Jim teeing off in the background. No, I'm not smiling. Of course we're not having fun! We were so distraught when we got done golfing, we went out to eat at Sportsmen's Pub & Grill down the road before we could face our empty nest. It was torture. But I think we'll get through it.

We're tired. Our bellies are full. And we still have two more days left of our weekend. We've got this.