Good evening, everyone! Sorry for not writing much this week. However, there is no need to apologize to those who tell me they come to my blog just for the Thursday Rundowns. Well, that is where we are at again tonight…Five. Random. Topics.

Almost Home – Today marks two months since my family landed in Spokane to join me on this new life journey. The milestone will be followed by another one when we officially move into our new house this weekend. I will have more to say about this down the road but we are excited to finally move into a place of our own again. However, it will be bittersweet leaving my parents’ house. It is tough to adequately describe how welcoming and kind my mom and dad have been throughout these past several weeks. So while we are sad to leave their warm confines, we take solace in the fact that we will now be only 30 minutes away from them.

We will be moving into the left side of this brand new duplex.

Birthday Party – We celebrated my dad’s 63rd birthday on yet another gorgeous summer evening. We had a cookout on the back deck and topped it off with my favorite dessert that Sidney makes…candy bar cake! If you ever want to make something special for a loved one’s birthday, contact my wife and get her recipe for candy bark cake, you won’t regret it.

Riverfront Park – Spokane held the World’s Fair in 1974 and the green space that the event took place on is now known as Riverfront Park. After taking Sloan to the park during a visit to Spokane three years ago, we took her back this past weekend. She had a lot of fun playing on the giant red wagon, walking along the water, and feeding the garbage goat. Beau had a nice time too as he lounged with Sid in the shade.

TikTok Sensations – What happens when you have a couple toddlers and a 5-year-old perform a TikTok dance? Perhaps the cutest thing ever. Sloan and her cousins, Mikayla and Johnny, took a stab at one of the more popular dances on the platform. While Mikayla nailed it, the other two might need a little more practice. Seriously, watch it.

Tough Times for Bowling – They say that because of COVID-19, many bowling alleys (just like other businesses) might not survive. It would be a tough pill to swallow for both diehard leaguers and casual bowlers to lose their neighborhood alley. Does it stress me out? No. Two years ago on this date, I wrote about my feelings regarding the sport and the bowling experiences I enjoy most. To be honest, I choose to do other activities before play 10 frames.

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Thank you all for reading my latest post. Let’s not forget to pray for those working ferociously to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus. Don’t Blink.

In the two months that Sloan has called the state of Washington home, she has started to become regionalized. One indication of this is how she addresses Sidney and I. Over the past several weeks she has phased out calling us “mommy” and “daddy.” Now, more often than not, she calls us “mom” and “dad.”

It is a little weird, I guess. While “mommy” and “daddy” are Southern monikers that are used by people from that region to refer to their parents over a whole lifetime, toddlers across the country also use them for a few years of their lives before graduating to more formal terms. Because Sloan had both going for her––Southern roots and being the ripe age of 3––I thought “mommy” and “daddy” might stick with her for a little longer. I was wrong.

Sloan is now calling us “mom” and “dad.’

In a way though, it shouldn’t come as a surprise. I address my parents as “mom” and “dad” and Sloan observes this multiple times each day. She also hears her aunt and uncle do the same thing. Sidney hates that Sloan has adopted these terms. She much rather her daughter call her “mommy.” Although there is something definitely endearing about a little girl calling her parents “mommy” and “daddy,” at least she is addressing us by appropriate, acceptable terms.

Well, perhaps I shouldn’t go that far.

While she isn’t calling us Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, she doesn’t exactly always address us by a mother or father derivative. She is very much aware of our first names and takes delight at the annoyance in our faces when she calls us “Sidney” or “Brent.”

So, when I came across today’s Life’s Little Instruction, I couldn’t help but smile. I think the instruction was written in the first place because the author knew how cringe-worthy it sounds when a parent is called their first name by a young child. That’s why I like this calendar series so much, the people making it can relate!

This was today’s Life’s Little Instruction. It reminded me of Sloan!

From Sloan’s perspective, I think there are a couple reasons why she usually follows calling me “Brent” with a mischievous snicker. First, as I mentioned above, I think she savors the reaction it elicits out of me. Also, I believe she feels clever when she says it, almost like she has figured something out.

I guess I shouldn’t take what she calls me too personally. As long as I am relevant enough that she is addressing me in the first place, I should be content. Don’t Blink.

It is not often that a Thursday Rundown falls on the front end of a three-day weekend so this post must be special! So before you put on your red, white, and blue why don’t you read tonight’s five topics?…

Moving Things – This past weekend we emptied our storage unit we had in Pullman, put our belongings in a 26-foot moving truck, and transported it all to our new house in the Spokane Valley. After much deliberation, we decided to stay in the Spokane area. Once the WSU campus opens up again I will be making the daily commute to Pullman but we think it will be worth it. Although we moved our belongings into our new home, we won’t be able to actually live in it for a couple weeks as it is still getting finished. More to come soon.

My brother, dad, and brother-in-law filling our 26-foot moving truck this past Saturday.

Chicken Bog in Spokane – Five years ago, Sidney traveled to Spokane and wowed my family when she made chicken bog, the king of all Southern dishes. Well, she did it again earlier this week. Sid once again delighted my parents by making a big old pot of “bog” that tasted delicious and reminded me of South Carolina.

Sidney made this pot of chicken bog for dinner earlier this week.

State Countdown – I was recently reminded by Timehop of this very unscientific countdown of the 50 states that was written in 2015. I am proud that my state, Washington, was ranked #8. I guess spearmint oil production is good for something, right? Unfortunately, the other states I have lived in didn’t fare as well. If you are looking for a good laugh, give it a read.

This countdown is pretty good!

Night – On this date four years ago, Holocaust survivor and author Elie Wiesel died. I remembered hearing the news and taking a couple moments to reflect. Wiesel wrote “Night,” a chilling account based on his experiences at Auschwitz and Buchenwald. During my junior year of high school we read the book in my humanities class. To conclude the unit, our teacher had several of us write letters to him about the impact the book had on us. It was a surreal day later in the school year when we received a letter back from Mr. Wiesel himself thanking us for reading the book and encouraging us to do what is right. “Night” should be mandatory reading for us all.

One of my best high school moments was receiving a letter from Elie Wiesel.

Fourth of July Garb – Let’s end the Thursday Rundown with some Fourth of July tomfoolery. As one who has always been up for dressing up, here are some of my favorite Independence Day outfits from years past. God bless America.

Some Fourth of July fun.

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It is my hope that you can have an enjoyable holiday weekend. I know for many it is tough to do in this current climate but I hope some patriotic joy comes your way. Don’t Blink.

Recently, I have written blog posts at the end/start of the past few months chronicling the many challenges faced in what has been an unprecedented year. With today July 1, I couldn’t help but continue the pattern, especially with what I wrote a year ago.

You see, I hold July 1 in high regard for many reasons, the biggest being that it is the start of the second half of the year. Even in normal years, I remind others that it doesn’t matter how big of a flop the first six months were––the next six can be transformative with effort and optimism.

Although I am going into the second half of 2020 with a positive mindset, I am not naïve. The second chapter of this year is going to be hard for many.

I think we need to put a renewed emphasis on taking everything one day at a time. I understand that a lot of people just want to get this year over with but who is to say that a switch will be flipped at midnight on December 31? We are stuck with 2020 for the long haul and might as well seize each day left in it and control the things that are still in our power (i.e. attitude).

The cynic in all of us might think how can the second half of 2020 be worse than the first? Sadly, I don’t want to give the next six months any added motivation to disappoint. Again, as I alluded to above, from a pandemic-sense, we need to prepare ourselves for more rough times.

But where the virus can overtake our immune systems, it can’t overtake our brains and our hearts. No matter how grim things get, we have to ask God for the serenity to accept the things we cannot change and the courage to change the things we can. As we begin the second half of the 2020 journey, we must remain strong. Don’t Blink.