Okay gang, this isn’t just my first Thursday Rundown of 2026, it is my first rundown in more than a month! The last time I graced you with five random topics was on Dec. 4. But the holidays are over and my regular blogging schedule is back so I will let normalcy prevail. I am enthusiastic about tonight’s lineup…

Beau Wins The Pickle – A beloved Reser holiday tradition is finding the pickle in the Christmas tree. It isn’t for the faint of heart. People get pretty competitive as the tree shakes back and forth as branches are pulled and ornaments fall. My parents offer a children competition and an adult competition. When it came to the competition for the kids, Beau dethroned his cousin Mikayla who had found it for multiple years straight. As for the adult division, Zella, the oldest cousin of the family, spotted it first. To the victors were given scratch offs (can someone check Beau’s I.D.?!).

Beau found the pickle during our family’s Christmas celebration. This is him with the pickle ornament and his prize.

Thank You, Shelley – At the end of the year, a member of my team retired. Shelley Stickelmeyer served as our marketing project manager for more than a decade and was instrumental to not just the success of University Relations but to EWU in general. On a personal level, she helped me so much with my onboarding and was invaluable every single day I had the pleasure of working with her. I had the honor of delivering a speech in her honor during our department’s holiday party. I stressed how lucky we were to have someone of Shelley’s caliber who never brought ego to the job as she thrived at some major university responsibilities while at the same time enthusiastically completing many imperative (but not glamorous) jobs that kept University Relations running. It has only been a week and I already miss her dearly.

It was an honor to work with Shelley Stickelmeyer. She served Eastern Washington University as its marketing project manager for more than a decade.

Ears Pierced – Perhaps the most prized Christmas present for Sloan was a gift card to get her ears pierced. Last Sunday, we went to Silver Safari in the Spokane Valley Mall to get it done. When we got to the shop, we were pleasantly surprised to learn that they weren’t going to charge us for a full piercing but rather just a “re-piercing.” Several years ago, Sloan got her ears pierced but the piercings had closed up over time. Because of the much lower price of the re-piercing, Sloan had plenty of extra gift card funds to spend on new earrings. As for the re-piercing procedure itself, Sloan barely flinched.

Sloan gets her ears pierced at Silver Safari in the Spokane Valley Mall.

Happy Ordination Anniversary, Fr. Mike Kwiatkowski! – Sidney and I hosted the Spokane Catholic Engaged Encounter Christmas party last month. Not only did we celebrate a terrific year for the ministry but we also celebrated the 47th ordination anniversary of Fr. Mike Kwiatkowski. When it comes to legendary priests in the Spokane Diocese, Fr. Mike is right up there. He served as pastor at several big parishes in the diocese and oversaw deacon formation for many years. His service to the Engaged Encounter ministry and the many weekends he has given up to minister at the retreats is just another notch on his legacy.

Sloan poses with Fr. Mike Kwiatkowski at the Engaged Encounter Christmas Party. Fr. Mike is holding an ordination anniversary card that Sloan made for him. He was ordained a priest 47 years ago in December 1978.

Holiday Trash – I ate waaaay too much over the holidays. It was tough for me to turn down the many treats that seemed to come my way. But believe it or not, the holiday snack I enjoyed most of all was something I made! A couple days before Christmas, I purchased the ingredients for a very large batch of Holiday Trash. Consisting of peanuts, M&Ms, pretzels, Chex cereal, and Honey Nut Cheerios all blanketed in white chocolate, I first made this irresistible combination several years ago. This year it was better than ever as I substituted plain M&M’s for peanut M&M’s. If you didn’t get to sample any this year, I apologize!

This was the batch of Holiday Trash I made. It was enough to feed an army.

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Lots of good stuff within that rundown, don’t you agree? Hope everyone has a great Friday. I hope to enjoy mine after my 7 a.m. dentist appointment. Don’t Blink.