My son, stepson actually, Adam Nichols has moved off to the big city, found a job (Hooray!) started a graduate degree program, bought a house and is about to find a wife.

All of that didn't necessarily take place in the order I mentioned, but it has either happened or is going to happen.

Having graduated from SEMO a couple of years ago with a degree in the less than 100 percent useful field of "political science" Adam made his way to St. Louis. I reminded him in college that political science was not really a science and that meant that job prospects wouldn't be waiting behind every door he opened. My advice was not solicited at that time either.

After a couple of months pounding the streets he landed a job with Junior Achievement in the Gateway City as a operations manager. He started a master's program -- not in political science and my advice was actually heeded when he made this decision.

As far as finding a wife, that actually preceded completion of his undergraduate degree.

Adam met a gal from St. Charles with the same last name as a famous singer, turned politician whose ex-wife is still a pretty big star in her own right. Just in case I had any ideas about getting free concert tickets or something of that sort, she let me know Sonny and Cher were from the other strand of Bonos. That's okay though, because I don't like ketchup much and Uncle Bunky Hunt (famous for his quote, "A billion dollars isn't what it used to be.") still won't return my calls.

These two decided to tie the knot back last fall. When Adam called to tell us he was going to propose he had it all planned out. He was going to take Andrea out on a paddleboat in a lake and give her the ring. I suggested he might not want to do that.

For one, she might get excited, throw her hands up in the air and knock the ring overboard. Or, she might get mad, tell him there was no way she was going to marry him and knock the ring out of his hand into the lake.

He ended up giving her the ring on the lake in a paddleboat and the ring stayed dry.

The wedding date was set for next spring. Of course, it's already been changed once but since they didn't solicit my opinion on that either, there's not much I can say.

The two of them have bought a house.

Fortunately, his soon-to-be in-laws were a big help in making sure the boy didn't end up in a shotgun house. Truth be told they were probably more concerned about their baby girl and Adam's parents fully understand.

Adam is living there and working on getting it ready for his bride. Okay, his father-in-law-to-be is working on getting the house ready for his daughter.

The house is near Andrea's parents. I'm sure that sounded like at good idea at the time but before this is over that thinking may change.

The couple is pretty deep into the wedding plans now. My role primarily consists of doing what I'm told when I'm told. That's not all bad, but I've tried to make a few suggestions.

They have already moved the date once. Originally set for March 29, 2008 it got moved back a week. Adam remembered to tell his mother about the date change after she heard it from someone other than her bouncing baby boy. It would have been interesting for Adam had she shown up on March 29.

I have suggested they hold the ceremony in the evening. There are a lot of good golf courses in St. Louis, many I have never gotten to play. That advice was not heeded. It looks like now the only way I'll get to play is with an early tee time.

Parents of the groom are responsible for hosting the rehearsal dinner. I have also tried to have a little input on that.

Just checking the prices in St. Louis, I am convinced it would be possible to get that bunch fed using local folks a whole lot cheaper and that includes taking everything up there.

The main course would be pork steaks from one of our local barbecuers, Strawberry, Porky's, Bill's (Governor Blunt's all time favorite) to whip up some pork steaks and BBQ sandwiches with all the trimmings. We would add a little touch of Delta Bee Honey to go along with the biscuits on the side.

We would start off the meal with a little fruit featuring strawberries from Octa Berry Farm. After eating the best barbecue in the state the crowd probably wouldn't even want dessert. However, for those who save a little room we would throw in Sweet Em's Caramels and toffee from Laurie Gibbons or Linda Williams.

I still haven't had much success in convincing them that Branson would be a wonderful place to spend a honeymoon yet either. However, now that they are experiencing the joy of being homeowners a smaller honeymoon and money in the pocket is starting to sound a little more appealing. However, I don't think they've bought any tickets to The Baldknobbers show either.

I keep offering my two-cents worth and keep getting change back.

Bud Hunt is the publisher of the Daily Dunklin Democrat.