Monthly Archives: April 2025

Holy Week 2025: Getting Back Up

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Holy Week started yesterday with Palm Sunday. It is always interesting attending the mass because you are presented with two different gospel readings that convey two very different attitudes. The first reading describes Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem as people hold up palms and shout “Hosana” as he passes by on donkey. The second gospel reading is always a passion account that details the same people who cheered Jesus now exclaiming “crucify him!”

During yesterday’s mass at St. Mary Catholic Church in Spokane Valley, I was touched by some simple yet profound words from Fr. Jeff Lewis during his homily. He mentioned that in the same way that Jesus fell three times while carrying the cross, Christians also sometimes fall. But, just like Jesus did, we must get back up when we do.

Sloan holding the palm she folded into a palm yesterday. Fr. Jeff Lewis delivered a very profound Palm Sunday homily.

Talk about setting the stage for the next several days to come.

How has Lent treated you? Did it have some bumps? Maybe some unexpected turns? I will you this: it has been one of the more unique and challenging Lents I have journeyed through.

But if you did find yourself taking a fall or two since Lent started back in early March, there isn’t a better time to get up than now. Holy Week is the most significant period on the calendar and I believe that any Lent can be redeemed over the course of these seven sacred days.

As we continue to reflect on the passion of Christ that culminates in his crucifixion, let’s bounce back. I am going to do my best to be holy this week. During this home stretch to Easter Sunday, let’s devote all energy we have to exiting the desert in the best possible position so we may truly appreciate and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Don’t Blink.

Braces

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My “sentence” was from my 7th grade year in middle school until the middle of my freshman year of high school. This two-year period brought plenty of awkwardness, many inconveniences, and some pain but by the end of it, I was completely rehabilitated. Or at least my teeth were.

I am of course talking about braces.

Much gratitude to my parents for investing in the smiles of all three Reser kids. They shelled out the monthly payments so we could all wear braces and achieve straight smiles.

Of course at the time you never quite appreciate it. I remember pretty vividly getting my braces on and the several days of soreness that followed. I tried to keep a low profile when I wore them. Every single time I got my bands changed, I only got white. That lasted until the very last time I got them changed. I told my orthodontic hygienist that I wanted my usual but when she finished, she told me to go look in the mirror. After only getting white for two years, it was pretty wild what I saw: Christmas colors!

As you could probably guess, I followed the “rules” when it came to my braces. I didn’t eat popcorn, I very rarely drank soda, and I never entertained the preposterous idea of eating caramel.

Still, even though I took my braces seriously and did what was recommended by my orthodontist, it wasn’t always easy. As a lifelong battler of gum disease, having braces only irritated them more. Visits to the dentist were never fun when I had braces because of the special way they had to clean your teeth.

Despite all that, I persevered. Getting my braces off was one of the most liberating feelings in my life. The confidence I felt was pretty special.

Sadly, 23 years after I got my braces off, one of my bottom front teeth has shifted. So much for that perfectly straight smile. I never got a built-in retainer as my orthodontist gave me ones I could remove. I continued to wear my retainers at night through college but then ceased doing so. My teeth held straight for many years after that but in the past couple years I have experienced the shift. Oh well, it could be worse.

Even though my smile might not be perfect anymore, I am still grateful to my mom and dad for their investment. It at least paid off in the respect that my smile was attractive enough for someone to marry me. Don’t Blink.

Breakfast For Lunch Thursday Rundown

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Happy April! I hope your month is off to a great start. The second quarter of 2025 is underway so either stay on track or get back on it depending where you are at. Let’s begin with the Thursday rundown.

Spa Date – For our daughter’s birthday party, we opened up Sloan’s Salon for an afternoon. A week later, Sloan had the chance to get pampered at a real salon. Our dear friend, Fidela, took Sloan on a “girl’s afternoon” to the Coeur d’Alene Resort Spa. In addition to getting manicures, they also walked the pier, ate lunch, and visited the toy store. It was such a generous and special way for Fidela to celebrate Sloan. And she did all this while pregnant! Which reminds me, please pray for Fidela that she continues to have a safe pregnancy and pray for her unborn baby.

Fidela spoiled Sloan with a special spa afternoon.

Free Concessions – My former place of employment has made a big splash this week. The Coastal Carolina University athletic department recently announced it will offer FREE concessions items during the 2025 football season. We are talking free hot dogs, popcorn, nachos, and soda. Dubbed the CCU Kickoff Meal Deal, fans will be able to order four free items at a time and will be allowed to go through the line as many times as desired. Perhaps the timing of this announcement was the most ingenious part of the whole thing. Because CCU announced the promotion on March 31, people speculated that it could be an April Fool’s joke. Nope, it is totally legit—but the speculation added to the buzz.

When I started working at CCU, Brooks Stadium still had green grass and a fraction of its current capacity. It also didn’t offer free concessions. It will be interesting to see how it all works out.

Breakfast For Lunch – On Tuesday, our EWU marketing and communications team hosted a potluck during the lunch hour. Everyone was told to bring their favorite breakfast item. Let me tell you, my colleagues went all out and brought some delicious fare. As for me? Even though I have felt extremely burned by recent modifications, I couldn’t help but bring Costco muffins to the party.

Can you see my muffins? This was before most of the other food arrived. That’s my boss, Eric Limburg, flipping chocolate chip pancakes.

To Catch A Killer – While browsing Netflix for a movie to watch on Sunday, Sidney and I selected “To Catch A Killer.” The film is from 2023 and it stars Shailene Woodley, who I like, as a Baltimore police officer. When a mass shooter murders scores of people at multiple events, an FBI special agent leans on Woodley for her insight. When Sid and I talked about the movie during dinner the following night, I told her I didn’t really like it. She asked why. I told her I didn’t really know. But as she pressed me, I mentioned it was really dark, a little hokey, and just not very clever.

Although I like Shailene Woodley, I wouldn’t recommend “To Catch A Killer.”

Keep Scrolling – Many of you know that I try to end these rundowns on a humorous note and tonight I have the opportunity to do so. My friend, Lindsi, shared this four years ago but it still makes me laugh because it 100% resonates with me. Whenever I submit an online application that requires my birth date, I find the “year” field defaulting to something like 2007. Alas, this requires me to scroll back quite a bit to find my respective birth year. It is funny and concerning at the same time, but, believe it or not, sometimes I feel a pinch of pride mixed in that I have lived to this point.

This “Price Is Right” meme resonated with me.

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This is going to be a record April for the Resers so I have to sign off for now. Hope you have a great weekend and thanks for reading! Don’t Blink.

Toweling Off…I Mean On

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Back in high school, there was a coach from a rival basketball team with a peculiar signature “look.” Whenever he coached, he would always droop a white towel—one that was meant for players to wipe sweat from their faces at timeouts—over his shoulder. Mind you, this was during the days when coaches actually wore suits so this particular “accessory” always stood out.

To grab another memory from my prep years, our PE teacher in weight training required us to bring our own towel to class. This was mandated so we could use it to place on equipment while performing reps and to also deflect our own perspiration while exercising.

I think both of these influences—although the latter one more so—had an impact on me after I graduated from high school. Why so? Because since the nearly 20 years since I left Mead High School, I have always brought with me a towel to the gym that I constantly droop over my shoulder while I work out.

I always bring a towel with me to the gym to use while exercising

However, to be fair, the towels I use aren’t the athletic ones the high school basketball coach would use. Rather, my towels are pretty much whatever I can get my hands on. Some are hand drying towels, some are car wash towels, and others are promo items I picked up from events. So you might ask the following question: Do they do the trick?

My response would be, what trick? If you meant do they keep me cool and keep sweat at bay, I would say kind of. While they do help whisk away sweat while doing cardio, my weight lifting routine doesn’t leave me soaked and thus a towel isn’t absolutely necessary for that purpose.

Instead, I use a towel at each gym session for two other more obscure reasons. The first is that it helps me mark my territory. I can indicate that I am using a piece of equipment by sprawling the towel on whatever I am using. But when you use the gym at 3:30 a.m. like I do, let’s just say marking your territory isn’t always necessary when you are often the only one using the facility.

The more prominent reason for my dedicated towel use is what my wife terms “my OCD.” I simply like the comfort and familiarity of a towel drooped over my shoulder or in my hand at all times. I guess you can liken it to how a toddler becomes attached to a blanket. After exercising that way for 25 years, it has grown on me. I feel out of place and awkward when I don’t have a towel at the gym. If I somehow forgot to bring a towel with me, I will turn around and go home to retrieve one if I haven’t arrived at the gym yet.

So at the end of the day, I am very similar to the high school basketball coach. At one time we probably had functional reasons for our respective towels, but eventually they became more of a personal comfort than a practical necessity. Don’t Blink.