We Run it Down Again

Posted on March 31, 2016 by brent

Good evening to all my valued readers. I hope you all enjoyed a great month. How about we send out March with a Thursday Rundown?

Fair Warning – As just mentioned, March is about to end. That means that tomorrow is April 1. Forgive me for making a PSA out of this blog post, but be on guard to not fall for any April Fools’ jokes tomorrow. Especially be vigilant for dumb gags on social media. Make it a point to anticipate all of the pregnancy and moving across the country stories now so you don’t get burned tomorrow.

Love You Forever – As with millions of other families, the “Love You Forever” book has a special place in the hearts of the Resers. My mom would always read the book to us and softly cry. Today my sister sent me this link to a blog post about the book. It was an interesting read and I have two quick comments regarding it. First off, I never even knew that the “helicopter mom” reputation existed for the book until this afternoon. To be honest, even as a critical thinker, I have a tough time understanding that theory. Secondly, it was neat to hear the author sing the song. I was hoping it would sound like how my mom sings it but it was waaaaaaaay different. Thinking about “Love You Forever” was a nice walk down Memory Lane.

Talk about one special book.

London Has Fallen – On Easter Sunday, Sidney and I went with her parents to the movies. We decided on “London Has Fallen.” If you ever read reviews, you might know that critics despised this film. They absolutely trashed it. However, I enjoyed it. In fact, I would say it was the best movie I have seen in the theaters for at least a couple months. It was action-packed from start to finish and I got a real kick out of Gerard Butler. Also, how bad can a movie be if Morgan Freeman is in it? I 100% recommend “London Has Fallen.”

My ticket to “London Has Fallen.” I enjoyed the film.

The Start of the Carty Crusade – On this date in 2015, I wrote my first blog post on Sean Carty. Targeted by a group of parents, he was stripped of his football head coaching duties at Mead High School. However, the truth would come to light. With Carty fighting, I kept writing. Because of Sean’s strong will and the backing of the community, he was fully re-instated as head coach a couple months later. With so many people working hard to make sure the right thing happened, I wanted to assist too. I tried to contribute in my small way by telling the story through this blog.

Me standing with Sean Carty a couple years ago in MIssoula.

Wedding Update #26 – A couple items to report on for this update. First, Sidney went to Charleston yesterday to get her bridal portraits done. At her parents’ house there is a large framed photo of Sid’s oldest sister in her wedding gown. Pretty soon there will be one of Sidney too. Secondly, as a wedding gift my parents are paying for Sidney and I to spend our wedding night in a Myrtle Beach hotel of our choice. After some research and after determining which venues actually have vacancy (Myrtle Beach is a tourist destination after all), we have narrowed it down to two choices. A decision is expected by the end of the night.

Our latest countdown until our big day. In less than six hours we will be at the 70-day mark.

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I look forward to seeing you all in April. Have a great weekend and don’t make a fool out of yourself tomorrow. Don’t Blink.

My Favorite Meats to Eat at the Holidays

Posted on March 30, 2016 by brent

You can’t ever really be sure of anything in life, but I do know this: I will never become a vegetarian. I am a big meat eater and I couldn’t see myself going very long without a juicy steak. Because of my allegiance to meat, I have strong opinions about the top three protein-rich options served at holiday meals. For tonight’s blog post, I want to briefly explain the characteristics I enjoy in the big three holiday regulars…beef, turkey, and ham.

Beef – I grew up eating prime rib on either Christmas or New Year’s Day. There isn’t a holiday dinner I get more excited for than when prime rib is being served. I salivate at the thought of both the meat portion and the fat portion. Having the au jus for dunking puts the cherry on top. To me, nothing is more prestigious than prime rib. When I think of it, I think black ties and special occasions. It is fair to say that the taste and elegance of prime rib makes it my favorite meat dish.

Holding our family’s prime rib from a Christmas a few years back. The way to my heart.

Turkey – I am a turkey fan mostly because of the tradition that surrounds it. I love everything about Thanksgiving and the bird plays a big part of that. You can’t have Thanksgiving without the turkey so that automatically makes me partial to it. However, that is not to completely overshadow the fact that I do enjoy the taste/texture of turkey! I could probably eat it every day. I like nothing more than to put turkey and mashed potatoes together on a fork and eat in one bite. After enjoying the Thanksgiving meal in the middle of the day, there is nothing better than going back later in the night for a turkey sandwich. However, I would say that turkey grades out the lowest on my personal scale of favorite holiday meats.

Carving a turkey at a Thanksgiving a couple years back. Nothing beats the tradition of turkey.

Ham – Every Easter I look forward to feasting on ham. To me, it is the perfect meat for the holiday. Easter isn’t as commercialized or formal as Thanksgiving or Christmas and a ham topped with beautiful pineapple slices seems to fit that lower key type of profile. Ham is always a refreshing option just because it isn’t as filling/heavy as prime rib or turkey. You aren’t dunking it in something or pouring gravy over it. Rather, you are just enjoying the actual taste of the meat complimented by pineapple and maybe a touch of brown sugar.

However, what I like most about ham is its staying power! Want me to tell you what is better than eating ham on Easter Sunday? Eating it on a nightly basis the whole week after! No meat is a better leftover option than ham. When you have some in the refrigerator, there is no shame at all in simply opening the door and taking out a piece to snack on. Prime rib is never the same after the actual meal and turkey tastes decent for a couple days but ham is different. It actually seems to get better as time passes. Snacking, making sandwiches, and preparing soups are all great ways to enjoy leftover ham.

An Easter meal at the Reser household in 2012. I like ham…especially leftover ham.

Ranking of My Favorite Holiday Meats:
1. Beef (Prime Rib)
2. Ham
3. Turkey

This is me holding our wrapped prime rib right before purchasing it at a Spokane deli called Sonnenberg’s in December of 2013.

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Do you have any leftover ham from this past Sunday? If so, I am sure you are making a trip to the fridge right now. Enjoy! Don’t Blink.

Adult Piñatas

Posted on March 29, 2016 by brent

A decent idea I had turned into an even better one by my fiancé. Let me start from the beginning…

Yet another quirk of mine (they are endless) is that I stage an elaborate photo of myself for each major holiday. I dress up, buy props, snap an image, compose a sappy message, and send it out to my contact list. Last Friday I was at Walmart looking at items for my Easter message. I went down an aisle and immediately I could sense something staring at me. I snapped my head and immediately locked eyes with a large Easter Bunny piñata.

I was on the fence of whether I wanted to buy the thing strictly for my Easter message. Sure it would look really cool (and pretty creepy) but was it worth the $20? Suddenly I realized something…

I could purchase the bunny piñata and use it for my photo on Saturday (I usually have the photo shoot for my holiday image the day before) and then stuff it with candy for Sidney’s niece and nephew on Sunday! What an idea! Slightly embarrassed I grabbed the large piñata, hauled it to the checkout line, and carried it across the parking lot to my car.

The bunny piñata I purchased up against my car.

The next day I set up my photo shoot and Photographer Sidney grabbed my iPhone to take the images. With the silly portion of the bunny’s duties over, it was time to focus on what it was really meant for. Sidney and I went to the grocery store and she spent as much money on candy as I did for the piñata. We took the bunny and goods to Sidney’s parents’ house to stuff it.

As Sidney dropped candy into its back, the best idea of the weekend popped into her head.

“I don’t know if this has been thought of before,” Sidney started out, “but how cool would it be if they made adult piñatas?”

She went on to elaborate about her epiphany. Sid explained that an adult piñata could be stuffed with mini liquor bottles, low value gift cards, and cash. Why stop there, though? I also envision items such as flash drives, 5-Hour Energies, cell phone chargers, and Orbit gum.

Don’t mistake me for the piñata! I am actually just wearing bunny glasses.

The next day at the family Easter celebration, Sidney pitched her idea to her siblings, parents, and extended family. I would say the interest was low. However, that doesn’t mean one of my readers might not be fired up about it. Of course there is much more to be discussed. We didn’t even scratch the surface of what these piñatas would be shaped as or how the rules would be structured when it came to adults smacking the living heck out of it.

Sidney’s niece and nephew liked the piñata well enough. Without question they were much more excited about the two $1 bills I slipped into it rather than the enormous amount of candy that made the thing weigh ten pounds. Aside from Sidney getting accidentally pelted with the bat, I would say it was a success.

Russell and Harrison wait for the piñata to swing back their way before pelting it again.

So while the bunny piñata might be gone, Sidney’s idea remains. What do you think? Would it catch on? Don’t Blink.

Why I Enjoy YouTube

Posted on March 28, 2016 by brent

If I am wasting time with a smart device in my hand, I am either looking up Instagram hashtags or jumping from one Wikipedia article to another. However, while I don’t spend as much time on it as I do Instagram or Wikipedia, I do frequently surf YouTube. This morning a reader wrote into the local newspaper and stated he thought YouTube was making people dumber.

Do I think his point holds water? Well, I guess it depends on what you are watching, right? I doubt spending your hours viewing old WWF wrestling matches from the 1980’s will make you smarter. But dumber? I don’t really know.

What I do know is that I use YouTube to view three types of specific videos. Tonight I would like to share those with you.

Vacation Destination Review Videos – I know many people have made livings and established themselves as YouTube stars by reviewing products and food on YouTube. It is a really big deal. However, I don’t watch the teenager giving a testimonial about the latest hoverboard or the random dude offering his opinion on the Burger King hot dog. I don’t care about those reviews. However, I can’t thank enough the people who take time to review vacation destinations and hotels.

Although I go first to Instagram and Yelp/Trip Advisor when booking a hotel or an experience on a vacation, I always check YouTube before making any final decisions. God bless the people who take it upon themselves to show raw in-depth video tours of the hotel they stayed at while in Mexico or Hawaii. I am thankful to these detail oriented folks who show everything about the resort from the main lobby to the restaurant’s breakfast buffet to the toilet in the room. These amateur videos are thorough and honest and really help to tell a lot of the story. I always consult with YouTube before making a decision on where I am going to stay when out of town.

Music Videos – Call me boring on this front, but I get on YouTube for the main reason why millions of others do so: to listen to and watch music videos.

YouTube is home to thousands and thousands of great playlists covering any genre or theme you could ever want. You just pick your poison and press play and you have entertainment for hours. I mean you could search for a bagpipes mix and immediately have a 72 song playlist that will last you all day.

You can also rely on YouTube to fulfill your musical curiosities. Many times I will be listening to the radio and hear a song from an artist I don’t know and immediately ask myself, “What does this person look like?!”

A quick YouTube search solves that mystery! Additionally, other times I will hear a song from an artist I am already a fan of but haven’t seen that particular music video. Again, all I have to do is hop on YouTube and I can see if my vision I had in my head for the music video was correct or not.

Old School Shows and Newscasts – Whenever you feel nostalgic or want to see what a certain actor or celebrity looked like 30 years ago, all you need to do is look to YouTube. The service is a library for pretty much every television show and movie that was ever made.

Want to relive an old Saturday morning cartoon? What about a TGIF show from your preteen days? Feel like viewing the opening credits/theme song from a children’s program you can barely remember watching as a toddler? With YouTube you can travel back in time and watch basically anything you want. I recently viewed a Rugrats holiday episode and an old sitcom I watched on Nick at Nite over two decades ago.

I also enjoy watching old newscasts. All you really have to do is type in the name of the station and you can get a pretty entertaining synopsis of the history of the particular area while also enjoying some pretty hilarious “throwback” shots of the anchors and reporters you might still be watching to this day. I know when I look up Spokane stations such as KXLY and KHQ I can’t help but smile.

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YouTube might not be my go-to time waster but it is a pretty solid third or fourth option. What do you use YouTube for the most? I am curious to know. Don’t Blink.

A Thursday Rundown from the Speaking Circuit

Posted on March 24, 2016 by brent

Hope everyone is enjoying a nice Holy Thursday. Speaking of Thursday, it is time for my latest Thursday Rundown blog post…

Speaking at an Elementary School Career Day – I spent the morning serving as a guest speaker at the Palmetto Bays Career Day. I had the privilege of presenting to various classes of second, third, and fourth graders. I had never talked about my job with such a young group of students before so I spent some time stressing over how I would deliver my message. As is usually the case when I enter a classroom, I had a great time. I brought a couple Coastal students with me to chat with the students about the importance of college and they were a bigger hit than I was! It was a fantastic morning.

A photo of me speaking to Palmetto Bays second graders today.

Speaking to a College Class – Talk about a major contrast! After speaking to kids in the second grade who knew little about social media, I hustled back to campus and talked to college students enrolled in a social media class! I was invited by Dr. Mark Flynn to discuss social media ethics with his social media in health contexts class. I spoke for an hour and answered some great questions asked by the students. It was a strange adjustment going from an elementary audience to a university audience but after the first couple minutes it was smooth sailing.

Publix – In the southeast there is a very popular grocery store chain called Publix. It is one of those places that takes freshness, amenities, and item selection to a whole different level. A store recently opened up in the Myrtle Beach area and I had to check it out. Sidney and I walked around our area’s new Publix this past weekend and I must say I was impressed. Although multiple items made my mouth water, nothing called my name more than the peanut butter pie ice cream I spotted. I love peanut butter, I love pie, and I love ice cream…how amazing must peanut butter pie ice cream be?! Soon enough I will know!

I took this photo of the peanut butter pie ice cream when we visited Publix this past Saturday.

Television Dilemma – In last week’s Thursday Rundown I mentioned that I have two new favorite television shows, “Race for the White House” and “The Family.” Those who read this blog know I also have a longstanding favorite TV show, “Bar Rescue.” What are the chances that all three weekly programs would be on at the same time on the same day?! Such was the case this past Sunday when “Race for the White House” was moved to the 9 p.m. Sunday slot. Keeping in mind that the new “Bar Rescue” episode would be replayed throughout the week and knowing that Sidney and I could just watch “The Family” on Apple TV the next night, I opted to watch “Race for the White House.”

Wedding Update #25 – I detailed our meal at our rehearsal dinner venue earlier in the week, but I saved the most important wedding development for this update. This past Saturday, Sidney and I went to Zales in the mall and bought our wedding rings for each other. It was a nice outing and much, much easier on my wallet than the engagement ring experience. Sidney’s ring was in stock and we took it home but mine is being ordered.

A photo of Sidney’s wedding ring up top and then on the bottom is a photo of Sidney and the Zales associate.

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I wish you a very blessed Easter weekend. Thanks for reading my blog, I appreciate your interest and time. Don’t Blink.

A Question About Tipping

Posted on March 23, 2016 by brent

Despite never working a day in the restaurant business, I am very appreciative and intrigued by the serving profession. Besides the candid look at human nature they receive each shift, I feel waiters and waitresses have a thankless job. I love to hear the stories but I hate to hear about the hardships.

Although I feel I am on the conservative side when it comes to spending my money in general, people tell me I am a good tipper. Chalk that tendency up to the respect I have for the service industry. But when I receive this comment it is usually just regarding the percentage I tack on, not necessarily the way I leave it. With that said, I would like to ask restaurant people and non-restaurant people alike a basic question:

When you leave a tip, should you make it a flat dollar amount or should you leave it in a way that will result in flat dollar amount for the entire bill?

Let me quickly explain. When I tip (90% of the time I am using a debit card), I leave a round amount such as $10 or $15. Other restaurant customers will leave an amount that will round out the total bill, such as leaving a $9.14 tip that will adjust a pre-gratuity meal of $30.86 to $40. Or, for the sake of clarity, leaving a $4.22 tip on a pre-gratuity meal bill of $15.78, thus rounding it to $20.

This is my thinking: It must be much easier for a server to add a flat tip amount to his/her earnings at the end of the night. Isn’t it simpler in life to add up amounts of $8, $14, $17, etc. as opposed to $7.89, $11.13, $15.83, etc.? I have thought this way for the past 10 years. But lately I have started to think that my brain might be back in the 1960s.

Fueling my action of always giving a round gratuity amount was the vision in my head of servers crunching the numbers on their tips from card transactions and adding it to the cash tips they received. After going through the headache of adding up a bunch of random amounts, they leave for the evening with a dollar amount plus 67 cents in change. Who wants a couple quarters, a dime, a nickel, and two pennies? If everyone tipped like me, he/she would be taking home 33 cents more and thus hauling out just paper instead of some annoying metal mixed in!

But then I realized that maybe the process doesn’t really work that way. Are tips recorded electronically and then just applied to a paycheck? Do servers really not even have to deal with non-round dollar amounts? Are they saved from taking home pennies at the end of the night?

I want to get this down straight for the sake of servers because one thing is sure for someone like me: it doesn’t matter either way.

As someone who almost always pays with my card, it doesn’t matter if I leave a $9 tip or a $8.67 tip. It isn’t the end of the world if my bank transaction for my dinner at the Olive Garden was $50.89 as opposed to $51. I am not worried about my transactions looking messy, and, although I try to do my best to save money, I am not sweating over a couple coins at lunch.

So let me have it, everyone. Besides the basic requirement that the tip itself is actually a good one, would you prefer it to be a round amount or an amount that raises the total bill of the meal to a round amount? Check please! Don’t Blink.

The Best Foodie Twitter Account

Posted on March 22, 2016 by brent

My current favorite Twitter account definitely deserves a follow from you. Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to do with sports, social media, or Donald Trump. Rather, its focus is squarely on something we all love.

Food.

Excuse the questionable name of the account, but I think everyone who has a Twitter account should follow @ItsFoodPorn. If you enjoy fun, ridiculous, and delicious images of food there isn’t anything better in the social media space than FoodPorn*.

The FoodPorn Twitter account specializes in tweeting out photos of pizza, ice cream, cookies, cakes, fast food meals, pastas, pastries, and comfort food. You will never find a vegetable or organic item on @ItsFoodPorn. Everything is served over the top and with a side of nostalgia.

This is what a basic tweet looks like from @ItsFoodPorn

Just three very quick reasons on why this account is so good.

1. Tempting Selections – You will never have any trouble finding something you like. In the past week I have retweeted chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches, stuffed pepperoni bites, chocolate and peanut butter brownies, sweet and sour chicken, funnel cake, black bottom banana peanut butter cup blondies, Oreo ice cream cake, Butterfinger peanut butter pie, mac and grilled cheese (two pieces of grilled bread with macaroni and cheese in the middle), and Reeses s’mores.

Some of the dishes from @ItsFoodPorn that I have retweeted in the past week….grilled mac and cheese sandwiches, chocolate and peanut butter brownies, Oreo ice cream cake, and black bottom banana peanut butter cup blondies.

2. Constant Content – Some people have given me the nickname of Content King but I think whoever is behind the FoodPorn account is the real MVP. Tweets flow from @ItsFoodPorn at a ridiculous rate. Just looking through the past hour I have counted over 20 tweets. If you are like me and look at the account about four times a day you never have to worry about encountering content you have already looked at. Sometimes before going to sleep I will relax in bed and watch as new dishes are rapidly tweeted out. Talk about sweet dreams!

3. Great Ideas – Although I don’t cook, I have found several great ideas from FoodPorn for Sidney to cook. Where else would I have discovered Lucky Charms cookie sandwiches, pizza cake, or spicy bacon wrapped meatballs?

Oh how I would love for Sidney to cook bacon wrapped meatballs, Lucky Charm cookie sandwiches, and pizza cake!

I don’t know if you all understand how much I love this account. My passion for FoodPorn caused me to be rebuked by my brother in front of our whole group message. Routinely I will tag Glen and Sidney in my @ItsFoodPorn retweets. I guess I did it one time too many:

Glen was starting to get a little tired of me including him in all my @ItsFoodPorn retweets.

Although this post is an unquestionable affirmation of the awesomeness of @ItsFoodPorn, I must bring up one tiny quirk. While 95% of the time the account showcases mouth-watering dishes, every now and then it will tweet out something not as appetizing. If you are a diehard follower of FoodPorn you will occasionally see some very generic photos (along with generic captions) of items such as pizza, fries, and macaroni and cheese. It doesn’t take a foodie to come to the conclusion that some of the images look as if they came out of the 1980s.

Sometimes, however, the food tweeted out looks very average and…old.

But come on, no Twitter account is perfect. I highly recommend that you follow @ItsFoodPorn. For those of us who want an occasional break on our Twitter timelines from news networks, subtweets, and score updates, there is nothing better than FoodPorn. Don’t Blink.

* FoodPorn is the Twitter display name of the account. The Twitter handle is @ItsFoodPorn.

An Excellent Rehearsal Dinner Preview

Posted on March 21, 2016 by brent

I could have kept this story for Wedding Update #25 on this week’s Thursday Rundown but I decided otherwise. Instead of relegating it to the bottom portion of my end-of-the-week blog post, I wanted to shed some extra light on it tonight.

I mentioned on this blog once or twice that it took Sidney and I much time and research to finally identify a venue for our rehearsal dinner. After doing our due diligence, we selected Thoroughbreds Chophouse and Seafood Grille, a well-respected restaurant on Kings Highway in Myrtle Beach.

I corresponded with the general manager back and forth as we set the date, menu, and party size. With most of the logistics completed, we only needed to decide on one final arrangement: Where at in the restaurant we would actually have the dinner.

At Thoroughbreds they have multiple private rooms available for occasions such as rehearsal dinners. On Saturday night, Sidney and I went to the restaurant to scope out our options. Mind you, showing up at a popular restaurant’s lobby on its busiest evening of the week for a tour isn’t the most courteous thing to do, but the staff didn’t act like they minded at all. The receptionist greeted us and called management right away to help us.

A minute after the call I was shaking hands with David Amend, the general manager of Thoroughbreds, the same guy I had chatted on the phone and engaged in e-mail correspondence with over the past couple months. He was always so unbelievably nice over the phone/e-mail that it was great to finally meet him in person.

David took us through the restaurant and showed us the three private rooms available for our special dinner. Along the way he assured us that his staff would make the evening perfect and do whatever they could to accommodate our needs.

This was one of the rooms we had the option of choosing for our rehearsal dinner at Throughbreds.

“I don’t care if you want us to configure these tables into a big heart, we will get it done,” David explained as he gestured at the different tables laid out in one of the rooms.

Although all the rooms would have sufficed, we decided on the ultra-private option located upstairs. There was just something about the pageantry and seclusion of the space that made Sidney and I both instantly agree on it.

We ended up selection this room that is located upstairs at Thoroughbreds.

With the business part of the evening out of the way, Sidney and I were actually going to enjoy our first ever dinner at Throughbreds. Before we met with David, we had made a reservation with the receptionist. But don’t think we were going to wait in the lobby! David escorted us right to the bar and graciously took our own drink order. We sat back and sipped on our drinks while chatting with the pleasant bartender. About 15 minutes later David was back to seat us for dinner. We attempted to close our bill at the bar but the bartender said the drinks were on David.

We were seated in the intimate and comfortable dining room. From the moment we sat down, it was a special dinner. Our server treated us like gold as she tended to our every need. Sidney ordered the chicken Dijon and I selected the 12 oz cut of prime rib. Everything from the salad to the bread to the meat was fantastic. We ordered additional drinks and truly enjoyed a romantic meal.

Beautiful Sidney with her dinner at Thoroughbreds.

After our plates were cleared and the decision made to pass on dessert, our server came by to drop off what I thought would be the bill. However, the only thing she dropped off were two after dinner mints.

Knowing what had just occurred, we tried to be as polite and respectful as possible.

“Excuse me ma’am, aren’t you going to drop off the check?” I softly said.

“David has this one,” she confidently said.

My prime rib dinner I enjoyed at Throughbreds.

We humbly thanked our server and ordered a dessert to-go so we could at least take care of her (I didn’t have cash to leave a gratuity so I needed to make a transaction). We walked out of the doors of the restaurant blown away by our experience.

It is so comforting to know that we have made a great decision regarding our rehearsal dinner plans. We can’t wait to have our families celebrate with us at Throughbred’s in June. To David and his staff…THANK YOU. Don’t Blink.

The Memes of Teaching

Posted on March 20, 2016 by brent

Note: This evening, Sidney takes over Don’t Blink. After Brent treated us to the memes of his profession, Sidney is excited to showcase the memes of her profession.

I am a sucker for a good meme. Better yet, I am a HUGE sucker for a good TEACHER-meme. Sometimes I will happen upon a satirically captioned photograph that perfectly illustrates the day-to-day blunders of a classroom teacher. And, no doubt, when I see one, I immediately screen-capture the photo and text blast it to all of my teacher friends. So today I want to share with you my five all-time favorite teacher memes!

5. Kids and Center Work
When kids are supposed to be working independently on their work in centers, you’ll always have a few that don’t comply. Here’s what we teachers look like when we catch them off task.

4. Indoor Recess = Unruly Children
Children have lots of energy. Unfortunately, the area inside the four walls of a classroom does not lend itself to expelling this energy. So when recess is brought indoors, instead of expelling their own energy, they slowly suck the energy from the teacher.

3. I’m gonna let you finish and all….but first….
What Kanye did to Taylor will go down in history…but let’s be real….we teachers have been doing this for YEARS!!

2. Phone Calls In The Classroom
There are spans of time when my classroom phone won’t ring for weeks. But you know how they say “when it rains, it pours”? My classroom phone is no different. With the third call, you can guarantee a dramatic sigh and eye roll.

1. You is a teacher
My all time favorite meme speaks for itself. If you’re an educator you can bet your-bottom-dollar that you’ll spend most of your days broke and tired.

So there you have it! My five most favorite teacher memes! I hope you enjoyed them, and that they elicited even the smallest of smiles. And if you didn’t find them funny, then here are a few honorable mentions.

Thanks for reading. And as always….DON’T BLINK

March Madness Rundown

Posted on March 17, 2016 by brent

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! As I paid homage to the holiday yesterday, tonight’s blog post will be all about the Thursday Rundown. Let’s get started…

Favorite TV Shows – I am turning more and more into a TV guy. I am currently watching two shows. The first one is a program that I am watching with Sidney called “The Family.” This series focuses on a prominent family that has a son abducted at a political rally for the mom. Ten years later, the son resurfaces. Only, is it really him? The ABC series has several other interesting mini plots interwoven into it. It is worth a watch.

CNN recently debuted a series titled “Race for the White House.” Each episode chronicles a presidential election. The first one covered Kennedy-Nixon and the one this past Sunday took a look at Lincoln-Douglas. The show does a great job of explaining the personalities and tactics of both candidates. If you are intrigued with the 2016 presidential showdown, watch “Race for the White House” and enjoy both the differences and similarities.

Funny Perspective – I thought this Pickles comic strip that ran earlier in the week put age into an interesting perspective. When we get down on how old we are I think it is important to think like the grandpa character. No matter what, today (I am talking March 17, 2016), is the youngest we will ever be again. Better make the most out of it!

This Pickles strip ran on Monday. Grandpa definitely has a point!

Our Own Geofilter – For a work project I was researching geofilters and I discovered that just very recently Snapchat added a program called On-Demand Geofilters. Instead of going through the long process of submitting and waiting for Snapchat to approve/activate your community geofilter, users can now get almost instant gratification…for a price of course.

Wanting to test out On-Demand Geofilters on a personal level before I ever did it for Coastal, I hastily made one for Sidney and I on Tuesday night. I had it activated for a single hour and made sure the geo-fence only went around the block that Sidney lives on. I arrived at her house last night and told her to check the geofilter offerings available to her. When our personal one popped up she was very surprised and of course asked how did you do that? We had a fun 60 minutes using it as much as possible. It was definitely $5 well spent.

I slapped this Geofilter together on Tuesday night and it was live on Wednesday night (we love Curious George).

Vanilla Brown Sugar Hand Soap – One of my sillier blog posts I wrote was about my proposed idea for exotic hand soap scents. While vanilla brown sugar isn’t necessarily an exotic scent, it certainly is more interesting than some of what lines the shelves these days. So when I saw this option I didn’t hesitate in giving it a try. Sadly enough, I didn’t really smell a hint of brown sugar or vanilla in the soap. To me, it just smells like cinnamon. Yep, I was a little disappointed.

The vanilla brown sugar hand soap that I purchased resting on my kitchen counter.

Wedding Update #24 – These updates just keep getting more and more significant! This past Saturday, Sidney and I went to Jos A Bank and picked out the tuxes for me and my groomsmen. Even when it comes to details such as what the guys will wear, I still claim complete ignorance. Luckily I had Sid there to run the show and pick out what would look the best. In an additional development, Sidney’s mom received our wedding stamps yesterday. I have never had my name on postage before so I definitely think they look pretty cool.

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I am off to concentrate on the NCAA Tournament games. Thankfully there is no presidential debate on tonight so my complete attention can be focused on college basketball. The contest I am looking forward to is the Gonzaga-Seton Hall game a little later this evening. As Sidney will be guest blogging on Sunday, I will get back in touch with you all on Monday. Have a great weekend. Don’t Blink.

Don't Blink

By Brent Reser

Monthly Archives: March 2016