Personal countdown list ...

10 minutes before Sam finishes his nap.

1 hour, 47 minutes before Meredith makes her daily call home.

1 week, 1 day before I start taking precalculus.

3 months before my third wedding anniversary. I think. I guess I should check that.

3 months, 7 days before the next school year starts, whether or not I have a job.

108 days before the start of Texas Tech’s football season. (Had to use days here because that’s how it’s listed at DoubleTNation.com.)

4 months, 7 days before Sam’s second birthday.

7 months before we drive to Lubbock for Christmas. I haven’t been home for the holidays in four years.

11 months before the upcoming school year is over, and I’m fully certified as a teacher. Unless I’m not.

2 years, 3 months, 7 days before Sam’s fourth birthday – the age when he’ll be ready for his first father-son trip to Hico.

2 years, 7 months before I’m 40. Hmmmm... some kind of party is in order. I totally blew off birthday number 30.

42 years, 7 months before I’m 80, when I’ll probably be too old to make the trip to Mars. Here’s hoping we have that off the ground before then. Or at least the moon. I mean, sheesh, we used to talk like this stuff would happen any day now.