Can it be Thursday already? I am all sorts of mixed up after the long holiday weekend. After a few “short” work weeks in a row, things will get back to normal for most of this month. Here we go with tonight’s Thursday Rundown…

Fourth of July Recap – We had an excellent and patriotic Fourth of July that included a cookout, family, friends, and some other components that I might blog about in the future. But when it came to the main event, we went to Pavillion Park in Liberty Lake for our fireworks fix. After the kids had fun on the playground, we gathered in a grassy spot and watched as two coordinated shows blasted off simultaneously. It is always a little tough on little ones when the pyrotechnics don’t start until 10 p.m. but we make an extended bedtime extension for the Fourth of July.

Sidney watches the fireworks at Pavillion Park in Liberty Lake on the Fourth of July.

Big Cats – Over the weekend, I took the kids to Cat Tales, a wildlife rescue and teaching zoo in north Spokane. If you are looking for a pristine animal sanctuary, this place definitely is not for you. However, if you can tolerate dusty conditions and want to get close to some big cats in a no frills sort of way, you might enjoy this rather primitive zoo. Cat Tales is home to tigers, cougars, smaller cats, a bear, and lots of other random animals. Because Sloan, Beau, and I have read books lately on many of these animals, it was a timely and educational visit.

We saw some cool stuff at Cat Tales.

Hamm’s – Although it didn’t make my top list of beers back in 2018, I have developed a fondness for Hamm’s. When my dad isn’t drinking PBR, this is his brew of choice which means every now and then I crack open a can with him. Hamm’s recently received a new look but its classic “the beer…refreshing!” slogan remains and so does its cheap price—you can buy a six-pack of 16 oz. cans for $5.49 at Rite Aid.

This is one of the cans of Hamm’s I drank during the Fourth of July.

National Fried Chicken Day – Today is National Fried Chicken Day and on this “holiday” two years ago I wrote about my favorite place to get fried chicken. As someone who lived in the South for six years, I surprised a lot of my readers when I said there wasn’t a specific restaurant in South Carolina that I tabbed as my favorite location to get fried chicken. Instead, I turned some heads when I humbly admitted that my top place to pick up some legs, thighs, and breasts is just the deli at whatever local grocery store is nearby. You can read the entire post and my reasoning here.

This is me about ready to eat some fried chicken at a Bojangles restaurant in Conway, SC.

Names – I am pretty good with names…as long as I allow it to register in my mind when the person introduces themselves. When meeting someone new, we have the tendency to think about what we are going to say next or how we are going to introduce our own selves that we space the person’s name. It would serve us better to look the person in the eye and listen with 100% attention when they make their introduction. Thanks to my friend Lindsi for the meme.

It is sometimes a tendency to not even register what a person’s name is.

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Hope you are living up your summer. The mercury will be rising this weekend in the Inland Northwest so I am looking forward to the pool, cold drinks, and plenty of rays. Don’t Blink.