Good evening, friends! I appreciate you taking the time to read my first Thursday Rundown of October. I don’t want to waste too much of your time tonight so let’s get started with this evening’s five topics…

House Blessing – A couple weeks ago we had a very special visitor to our home. Fr. Jeff Lewis, pastor of St. Mary Catholic Church (Spokane Valley) and our family priest, paid us a visit. At our request, he came to bless our house. After an opening prayer, he went to each room in the house sprinkling it with holy water and applying sacramental oils. The house blessing is a way to protect our home from both internal and external forces while inviting the Holy Spirit into our residence to promote sacred family life. Thank you, Fr. Jeff!

Fr. Jeff Lewis with us at our house blessing.

Fun in the Fall Sun – It wouldn’t have been possible to dial up a better Autumn day than what we had last Saturday. The distinctive smell of fall was in the air but the abundant sunshine made for a warm day in the 70s. We took advantage of the pleasant conditions by taking Sloan and Beau to a Whitworth football game. Sloan played the whole time in the complimentary jump castle while Beau roamed around on the stadium’s grassy hill. Sid soaked in the sun and I enjoyed myself some Division III football. The Pirates came away with the win and we all went down on the field afterwards.

Sloan and Beau had a great time at the Whitworth football game and capped it off by going on the field after it was over.

Favorite Emoticons – On this date seven years ago, I wrote about the top five face emoticons I use the most during texting. The list has shifted a little bit over the years as my honorable mention emoticon is now easily in my top five. Exactly a year later, I would write about my favorite non-face emojis. Although it was kind of fun writing those posts, I really enjoyed what I wrote a day after my first emoji post on October 8, 2014. In that post I wrote about the coolest work tradition that ever existed. Back when I worked at Coastal Carolina University, there was a period of a few years when our graphics team would make elaborate, themed cards for UCOMM staffers on their birthdays. Come on, scope out the post to see some of their work.

I am a real big fan of emoticon faces.

Weird Sight – I came across this article about some guy who dressed up as Michael Myers from “Halloween” and went to the beach to roam the shore. The guy said it was a joke but the cops didn’t think it was funny because they arrested him. Part of the reason may have been that he was carrying a knife (although it turned out to be fake). I sympathize with the guy to an extent because there was a period in my life when I would dress in costume and show up in random places. Granted, I didn’t dress up as a disfigured serial killer. With the scary clown phenomenon from several years back, people are probably a little more sensitive to these types of things.

“Michael Myers” getting arrested by police.

Frosty Cereal – I am going to do everything I can to get my hands on a box of Wendy’s Frosty cereal this December. This is no joke…this will be an actual cereal in a couple of months. Although it looks like a cross between Coco Puffs and S’Mores cereal, Wendy’s wouldn’t team with Kellogg’s if the product wasn’t decent. The part I love the most is that a coupon for a free Frosty (with a Wendy’s app purchase) can be found inside each box.

If I can find it, I will buy it.

——————–

That should do it for tonight. I am more excited than usual this evening because an especially fun weekend is almost here. I am signing off for now but I will be publishing a special blog post tomorrow. Don’t Blink