Was that a long college football season or what?! Even though I didn’t watch a minute of Ohio State’s victory on Monday night, I was sad that Notre Dame failed to complete an epic comeback. Okay, let’s get to tonight’s five topics…

So Lucky – On Monday, I found myself looking at my tire in a Papa Murphy’s parking lot. A screw was lodged in my tire. Not wanting to yank it out, I drove to a nearby Perfection Tire to let the professionals deal with it. Upon seeing the situation, the employee told me I was going to need a new tire. After accepting the quote he gave me, the guy sprayed a substance on my tire and removed the screw. To his astonishment (and my joy), the screw was just a tad longer than what you can see in the below photo and there was no puncture. I left the parking lot pretty happy that I got to keep the $150 I was ready to throw down for a new tire.

Thankfully my tire survived.

Scavenger Hunt Anniversary – I might need to repeat this with Beau. On this date four years ago, my sister and I staged a Dollar Tree scavenger hunt (back when everything was still $1) for her kids and Sloan. They had to find items such as “a green food,” “something to use in the bathtub,” “a red drink,” and more. Watching them run through the store and observing the items they selected was a blast. If you want to do something fun and affordable with your kids this weekend, you might consider your own Dollar Tree scavenger hunt.

Sloan holds the card she picked out to satisfy the “greeting card to send a friend” item on the scavenger hunt list.

Sour Powerade – The other day at WinCo I thought I found a bargain. At a display by the checkout lanes, Powerades were on sale for 48 cents each. But these weren’t just regular Powerades, they were a line of the sports drink I had never heard of before…SOURS. As someone who loves to try fun/new products, I bought several. I quickly learned why they were so heavily discounted. No bait and switch here, all flavors under this line were really SOUR. However, that’s pretty much all they were…an obvious shot of sourness with no detection of flavor or quench of thirst. A total fail for sure.

These Powerade Sours were terrible!

Texas Roadhouse Experience – Last Saturday, my family went to Texas Roadhouse for the first time in at least a couple years. Two things surprised me: First, the prices were actually much better than I remembered. Pretty much everything was under $20 and came with two sides. Add on unlimited rolls and peanuts and you have an incredible value (and a potential stomach ache). The second thing that surprised me was that the restaurant was still playing Christmas music. I joked with Sid that Texas Roadhouse celebrates Christmas even longer than us Catholics do 😂. Although the food itself was so-so, we had a nice time.

I ordered a cheeseburger at Texas Roadhouse this past Saturday.

Back in Action – I really wanted to enjoy this movie because I am a big Kyle Chandler fan. Throw in Cameron Diaz, Jamie Foxx, and Glenn Close for good measure. What can go wrong? Ugh, I didn’t like this movie. The premise is that a duo of skilled government operatives (Diaz and Foxx) go off the grid to live a normal live and to raise a family. But they are then brought “back into action” to secure a piece of technology that would change the world if it landed in the wrong hands. I could deal with the fact that the movie is totally unbelievable and outrageous. But what really annoyed me was how they tried to overcomplicate everything and the over the top acting. It was seriously like I was watching one of the ridiculous “challenge-based” YouTube videos that Sloan loves where everyone acts so dramatic. I wouldn’t recommend “Back in Action.”

“Back In Action” wasn’t worth my time.

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Hope all is well with you now that 2025 is truly in swing. Crossing my fingers that your resolutions are intact and that you are happy. If you need motivation, know that Blue Monday is now over and the days are noticeably getting longer. Don’t Blink.