As of today, my son Jeremy has exactly 11 days until he takes off for boot camp.

Since he got out of school, he's been complaining of boredom. I keep telling him, he should probably enjoy it while he can, but he doesn't seem to get the whole gist of sitting back and relaxing.

"Well if you don't want to just sit around the house," I told him, "I can think of a few fun things you could be doing."

He was thinking fishing and boating and shopping for fishing equipment. I had other things on my mind.

"You could mow the lawn one last time," I told him.

He wasn't too excited about the idea.

"You could clean up your room," -- which doubles as a storage room, I suggested.

He said he didn't know what to do with all the junk he'd found in there.

"You could do laundry," I said.

He told me there wasn't enough time left to get all the laundry done.

Finally, he decided sitting around wasn't so bad after all, and went to the store and bought a new computer game.

We finally made it through graduation. I thought we never would. I had plans have having an outdoor luncheon for family and friends, but with the wind blowing 40 miles an hour we ended up having our luncheon in our 11x22 living room. About 25 people attended.

Somehow we all managed to fit.

This weekend we have his going away party. I decided this time I wasn't going to go through a week of cleaning house, so I asked my former employer if we could have it at his establishment. He was kind enough to agree.

Now all I have to do is figure out how much food to cook for an indeterminate number of people. I'll spend Friday evening and all day Saturday cooking. And with a little luck, I'll come close to preparing just the right amount of food -- enough to feed everyone that shows up, but not so much that I can feed the entire city of McCook for the next two weeks.

His brother is due to arrive from Virginia on Wednesday. Between the two kids, leftovers most likely won't be an issue. Shane will take off for home on Sunday and on Monday, Brad and I will be delivering Jeremy into the hands of the Kansas National Guard in Hayes.

Why is it that the only time you want the clock to slow down and let you enjoy the few moments you have in life, it zips by you with no regard for everything you need and want to do, like taking the time to say goodbye, and I love you, and I'm proud of who you are and what you're doing with your life.

Sometime between now and Memorial Day, I'm going to slow down, swallow the lump the size of an egg that keeps building in my throat and let both my children know just how important they are to me -- and just how proud I am of everything they've accomplished in life.