I am out west on vacation sitting in my parents’ living room admiring the Christmas tree. Life is good. These pleasant conditions have me jollier than ever to write a Thursday Rundown blog post. So as I take a sip of my hot chocolate, let’s get started.

Holiday Tradition – Speaking of hot chocolate, I have to tell you about a special Christmas tradition my parents started. Always on a snowy night before Christmas, my mom would make a huge batch of hot coco and evenly distribute it into five mugs. Us kids would then take our respective cup and add marshmallows, marshmallow cream, and/or whipped cream to the top of it. We would then all invade the living room, turning off all the lights in the house. We would turn the Christmas tree lights on and play a Christmas CD. Called “holiday cheer” by my parents, this was a special evening we all looked forward to. Last weekend, Sidney and I held our own version of it. Sid found a delicious hot chocolate recipe on the internet and we sat in front of her beautiful tree while goofily singing along with carols we chose off of YouTube.

This was my delicious cup of hot chocolate I enjoyed at Sid’s this past Saturday.

Weather Extremes – Right before I left Myrtle Beach yesterday, it was 75 degrees and sunny. When I walked out of the Spokane Airport last night, it was 16 degrees and snowy. Usually a weather change as drastic as that has the potential to make me sick. Luckily, I feel like a million bucks right now. Chalk it up to my parents’ lovely fireplace.

Two days. Two extremes.

Alaska Airlines – In order for me to give special recognition to a company in my Thursday Rundown, something must have really stood out. With that said, I would like to thank Alaska Airlines for a terrific experience yesterday. It was the first time I used the airline exclusively to fly across the country and everything from the check in process to the actual flights to the social media interactions left me nothing but impressed. In the past I have used competitors and found myself subjected to rude employees, delays, and cramped/uncomfortable conditions. The customer service and professionalism I received from Alaska will undoubtedly lead me to flying with them again.

Brooks Stadium Expansion – As part of Coastal Carolina University’s upcoming move to join the FBS ranks in the Sun Belt Conference, Brooks Stadium will need to be expanded. Late last week, we released the renderings of what the renovated venue will look like. I must say it looks pretty cool! The stadium will grow from a capacity of 9,000 to 21,000. If you look at the sketches below, the original seats are designated in a light color. The seats that will be added are denoted with a darker color. This is going to be one major transformation!

These are the renderings of the expansion to Brooks Stadium.

I Love My Parents’ Cat, But… – I think Muffin, my parents’ cat, really wanted to make this blog post. I had finished about 75% of this Thursday Rundown (I had just completed my Alaska Airlines section) when she jumped up on my keyboard and ran across pretty much every key. I activated the undo command but I couldn’t recover my work. I had to start all over. A couple minutes ago my friend Chris showed me a way that I could have restored it all but by that time I had already rewritten everything. It is okay Muffin, you are still my favorite cat!!

I never even got a little mad after Muffin walked over my blog post. In fact, we took this selfie immediately afterwards.

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Well, it doesn’t happen very often that I finish a blog post before the lunch hour is over. It sure is nice to be on vacation! Have a great rest of your Thursday everyone and happy holidays! Don’t Blink.