Good evening to everyone. I hope the week has gone well and that you are all excited for my latest Thursday Rundown. Here we go!

Eating Steak – Remember last week how I shared with you that Sidney and I received a whole bunch of gift cards for Christmas? Well, now I feel obligated to let you know when and how we used them. Great idea for content, right? Last Friday we went to Outback for dinner. I stayed traditional and got a ribeye steak with mashed potatoes. Sid decided to go with a chicken sandwich. Because we were using house money and because we had worked hard that week, we decided to splurge and get a blooming onion. Thank you to Courtney, my sister-in-law, for giving us the Outback gift card.

On Friday night, we redeemed the Outback gift card that my sister-in-law gave us for Christmas.

Elevated to Monsignor – From time to time I mention Fr. James LeBlanc, the priest who married Sidney and me. During the summer, Fr. LeBlanc hit a milestone when he celebrated his 20th anniversary of ordination. Recently, news broke about an even bigger achievement in his priestly career. Bishop Robert Guglielmone of the Diocese of Charleston recently announced that Pope Francis had bestowed the title of Reverend Monsignor on LeBlanc. For those a little fuzzy on the Catholic hierarchy, this is a major honor. Congratulations to Monsignor LeBlanc! The two of us are proud of you and honored that you married us.

Father James LeBlanc is now Monsignor LeBlanc. Congratulations!

Proud Time for South Carolina – As I predicted, Clemson won the College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday night. This achievement was special for our state in many ways, including the fact that South Carolina is now home to the reigning NCAA baseball champions and reigning NCAA football champions. A lot of people on social media made sure to celebrate this show of dominance. Personally, I like to point out that I had the privilege of watching both national champion teams play in person during their respective incredible seasons.

Our audience had a great amount of pride for what the state of South Carolina has been able to do.

The Graduate – This week I watched an all-time classic movie, “The Graduate.” I don’t usually watch films that are over 50 years old but because it was on Netflix I gave it a try. It was kind of interesting to see that some themes that are scrutinized and fantasized about in our modern era were also prevalent half a century ago as well. Watching “The Graduate” also made me realize that good filmmaking has been around for a long time. Have you seen it before? I recommend it.

I enjoyed watching “The Graduate.” Tremendous performance by Dustin Hoffman.

Another Comic Hitting Home – In the past, I have written about how spam e-mail has gotten so bad that it no longer irritates me. Rather, it just makes me laugh. The broken English, get-rich-quick electronic mail I receive on a regular basis never ceases to amaze me. I couldn’t help but chuckle at today’s installment of the Pearls Before Swine comic strip.

This Pearls Before Swine comic strip made me laugh.

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I have the privilege of attending a Martin Luther King Jr. event this evening so I got to get going. I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend and I will touch base soon. Don’t Blink.