Good evening and thank you for returning to my blog. I hope everyone is getting acclimated to August and enjoying the summer days that remain. Let’s begin the latest Thursday Rundown…

Daddy and Sloan Portrait – Remember the time I wrote how my dad marked milestones in my childhood by drawing pictures of me? Well, Monday morning, right before he flew out of Myrtle Beach, he drew another masterpiece. While I watched the morning news and Sloan watched my phone, he captured the moment in signature style. I think his rendition of me looks pretty spot on while Sloan might look a little more mature than she actually is.

My dad is the artist behind this work of art.

Price Dip – Last week I mentioned that I have “a thing” for Olli’s, a store that sells funky discounted products. Because I am part of the store’s loyalty program, I receive ads via email. I almost spit my coffee out (just kidding, I don’t drink coffee) when I saw the below ad. I know personal drones have been available for several years now and that the market is a bit saturated, but $29.99?!? I went and showed our video production director the ad. David, an accomplished drone photographer, raised his eyebrow when I told him I found a drone for $30. He confirmed my suspicions that the model was probably a piece of crap and pulled up on his computer a reliable and reasonably priced drone that sells for $399. Some things are too good to be true.

I wasn’t lying…$29.99 for a drone.

Making Someone’s Day – Recently, the father of a young NASCAR fan tweeted a video of his son with a magazine. The publication was Coastal Magazine and the cover was of NASCAR driver and CCU alumnus Brandon Brown. We saw the tweet and responded to the father and son through our main Twitter account (@ccuchanticleers), asking for their address. We sent them some signed Brandon Brown items. Yesterday, they replied with an adorable video thanking us for the loot. Brandon Brown’s team then jumped in on the conversation and invited Aiden to Darlington later in the month to watch the race…VIP style! If you have time, see how everything went down by clicking here. You will love Aiden’s videos!

A screenshot from the video of Aiden opening up the signed Brandon Brown hero card I sent him.

Back to School…Kind Of – Today, Sidney returned to Palmetto Bays School for her first mandatory day back. Don’t worry, the first day of classes isn’t until Aug. 19. But still, it is an obvious sign that summer is nearing its conclusion. Even though I am obviously not off during the summer, I really enjoy it when Sidney is. Three years ago, I wrote about some of the reasons why. However, a lot has changed since then and I now mostly appreciate Sidney’s summer break because she gets to spend lots of quality time with Sloan while also enjoying some time to herself (we sent Sloan to daycare two days during the summer weeks).

Sidney spent the first half of this week setting up her classroom.

No-Brainer – There is controversy that former Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant won’t receive a national championship ring. The Tigers won the 2018 title but Bryant left the team after four games due to playing time issues. I guess I don’t understand why it is even up for discussion. I mean honestly, would he even want a ring? Many times I feel championship rings are given out to way too many people (for example, I received championship rings when I worked in the athletic department at Montana). The fact that Clemson is somewhat controlling the distribution of a valuable symbolic object is a good thing in my mind. I think a ring given to someone who played with a team for only a third of the season cheapens the value of it.

I don’t think Kelly Bryant is owed a ring.

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Let’s continue to pray for the victims and families of recent violent acts. While it might be trendy these days to discount prayer (especially in these situations), don’t ever stop. Have a restful weekend. Don’t Blink.