Thanks be to God!

A new family member will be joining us in February and as you can imagine, this blogger is over the moon happy. I loved fatherhood from the moment Sloan was born and for the past 18 months or so, I have had the itch to add to our Reser clan.

I love my girls and I am so excited that I will have someone else to love soon!

Sidney, the person who does the actual childbearing (you know, the hard stuff?), is overjoyed too. I think it took her a little longer to get to the point of wanting another little person, but she is on the same cloud that I am. We found out about the pregnancy after we came back from the Florida Keys in late June and have been dreaming about becoming a family of four since then. Although she had several days of feeling crummy during the first trimester, she trudged through it with strength and optimism. Now 15 weeks pregnant, we are talking names and predicting the baby’s gender.

What about Sloan? Well, when we ask her what is in mama’s belly, she will loudly exclaim, “A baby!” Just last night, she wanted Sid to “rescue it” so she could hold it. Although we doubt she fully comprehends that she will soon be a big sister, we are trying to gently introduce the idea. Whether she understands it now or not, she will in the future. That is a big reason why we are so ecstatic about having another baby––Sidney and I both believe that there is no greater gift you can give your child than a sibling. Sloan deserves it.

We waited until this past weekend to make the news “social media official” and I am not going to lie, I am glad it is now “out there.” It is hard to talk about the future or make long term plans with people when they have no idea that a certain month is going to be rather busy. Special props to Sid for coming up with our method for announcing.

Sidney announced that we are expecting this past Saturday.

Thank you for all the support we have been given over the past 48 hours. The next five months will be an adventure and we are glad to have our friends in our corner. Don’t Blink.

I hope everyone is staying safe. I uncharacteristically did not have a Thursday Rundown last week so I am happy to return with my most popular Don’t Blink feature. Let’s hit it…

Hurricane Update – At around 3:30 a.m., Sid and I were jolted awake by a combination of phone alerts and heavy rain/wind. As it howled outside, our phones were warning us of nearby tornados. That has been the most concerning point of the day. Over the past 14 hours or so, we have had steady rain and wind but nothing that has caused us to feel nervous. Fortunately, the hurricane is moving northeast and worst case scenarios are no longer on the table. However, it is still supposed to get nasty tonight so we aren’t completely out of the woods. In fact, our street is starting to flood.

Our street in front of our house is starting to flood.

Cookie Dough Sundae – A couple weeks ago, Sonic was aggressively promoting a cookie dough sundae. The commercials influenced a certain blogger who is a little obsessed with ice cream. I thought it was just OK. The scoop of cookie dough at the top of the sundae lacked flavor. The ice cream itself was decent. The best part was the bottom where the excess caramel sauce and cookie dough pieces congregated. If I was to make a recommendation, I would advise the cookie dough Sonic Blast over the sundae.

This was the cookie dough sundae I got from Sonic.

Old Childhood Memory – My love for magazines started when I was little. My parents kept a subscription for Highlights, a children’s magazine with iconic features such as Goofus and Gallant, hidden pictures, and the jokes page. We kept each issue and by the time I was 10 we had a bookcase full of the issues. But over the past couple of decades I have not picked up an issue…until yesterday. When we were at the library I saw the latest Highlights magazine in the children’s sections and I couldn’t help but pick it up and skim it. Did you read Highlights growing up?

I loved reading Highlights growing up.

Another Witty Marquee Message – In the past, I have spotlighted random messages put on Mellow Mushroom marquees in Myrtle Beach. I couldn’t help but do it again today. Judging by the rather light Hurricane Dorian impacts we have received up until this point, I think Mellow Mushroom is probably still open right now.

If this sign is truthful, Mellow Mushroom is most likely still open.

Don’t Be Tardy – Today is National Be Late for Something Day (I am not kidding) but you won’t find this blogger participating. As a no-frills Type A dude, my biggest nightmare is showing up late for something. I don’t think it would hurt if others adopted the same attitude.

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That’s what I got for you tonight. I hope all my South Carolinians stay safe and that things start to go back to normal tomorrow. Don’t Blink.

Today was kind of an interesting day. In the absolute truest sense of the term, it was the calm before the storm. The impacts of Hurricane Dorian won’t hit us until early tomorrow morning but you could feel its impending arrival. It was a gray, overcast day with an off and on drizzle. I could smell Dorian in the air.

But a dreary day with light rain is better than one with violent winds, flash flood-producing downpours, and tornado threats. With the former, you can actually do stuff. And do stuff we did.

I was fortunate that Wednesday was my least busy day in terms of work with CCU. With students evacuated and campus closed, we didn’t have too much to communicate which meant I wasn’t tied to my laptop or stationed inside the EOC. Although there was still work to be done, I was able to spend a lot of time with my family.

After an early morning workout, I prepared our yard for tomorrow’s storm. With the outside of our home ready for Dorian, it was time to do the same for the inside––which meant buying lots of hurricane snacks! Sloan and I went to the store and loaded up on sugary cereals, chips, crackers, and desserts.

Snacks on snacks on snacks.

Once we returned home and unloaded our loot, we got back in the car and drove up the street to the Carolina Forest playground. We met Sloan’s best friend, Jacqueline, and her mom, my friend and fellow CCU employee, Susannah. The girls played so well together in what will probably be their last time together until they meet again at daycare.

Sloan and Jacqueline at the Carolina Forest playground this morning.

We headed back to the house to get Sid. After I caught up on some work and took a shower, we decided to use the rare Wednesday day off to got out to lunch. Wanting to give a new place a try, we went to Chile Frito, a Mexican restaurant in Carolina Forest that opened just a few months ago. We really enjoyed it even if Sloan couldn’t stay still and dripped salsa all over her dress.

We had a great experience at Chile Frito today.

With our stomachs full, we granted Sloan’s wish to play with her cousin. Since last night, she had desperately wanted to play with Henry so we went over to Sid’s sister’s house and let the two toddlers have at it while we let our food settle.

Henry and Sloan playing this afternoon.

On the way home, we stopped at the Carolina Forest Library. We checked out several books to read to Sloan over the next few days. While we tried to find suitable reading material for Sloan, she ran around the children’s section playing with the toys and pulling books off the shelves.

Sloan enjoying herself at the Carolina Forest Library.

Sloan fell asleep on the way home which allowed Sid and I to watch the movie we checked out at the library in relative peace. “The Greatest Showman” was the film we rented and although it was decent, we both agreed that it would have been much better in the theater.

Watching “The Greatest Showman.”

Right before the credits rolled, a little voice announced that she was finished napping. We brought Sloan out with us and ate a roast dinner. As I write this, the girls are in the bathtub and I am watching Dorian news coverage. Our grand finale for the night will be “Big Brother” and mug cakes.

Well, Sloan is now out of the bath tub and watching “Mickey Mouse.” She had a great day!

With so much going on the last two weeks, it was nice to catch a breather with family. Tomorrow we meet Mr. Dorian, a fate that has me concerned but by no means shaking in my boots. When it is all said and done, I think we will be just fine. Once again, let’s pray for those who were dealt a far worst hand than us and have been devastated by this hurricane. Don’t Blink.

Growing up in Spokane, winters were brutal and long. The snow fell freely and we lived through some nasty storms. Aside from wearing heavy coats, driving on slick roads, and constantly shoveling our driveways, another memory I have from those seasons is watching the local news forecasts. Or, to be a little more specific, watching my parents watch the local news forecasts.

I can look back 20 years and picture my mom groaning during the local news, dreading the snow-filled forecasts from the local meteorologists. She would scan through the three local stations, catching each forecast, hoping that one would convey better news than the other. Aside from maybe an inch or two, they rarely did.
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Sidney and I watch the Myrtle Beach news stations on a daily basis. During the work week, we will usually catch a local newscast around dinner time and then I watch the morning weekend shows. But by no means do I spend an abundance of my time watching local news.

Except for when we are on a hurricane watch.

Taking a page out of the playbook of my parents, during times such as these, I will force myself to stay up and watch the 11 p.m. news. I will then watch the early shows and the plethora of broadcasts that come on from 5 – 8 p.m. Needless to say, I become a little bit of a local news junkie!

But why? As a social media nerd, I have a real time play-by-play account of every minor move these storms make. I have the Weather Channel website bookmarked on my computer. I have amateur “meteorologists” all around me and on the other side of the country (thanks, mom and dad) who are more than willing to give me the current forecast and their interpretation of it.

So, it might seem puzzling that I make the effort to be in front of my TV during certain times of the day (and put up with commercials) when I can get all the info I need just by looking at my phone.

I think I know why I do it though. No, it isn’t just because my parents did it themselves while I was growing up. Heck, who is to say that they wouldn’t have relied solely on their smart phones if that technology existed back then? Rather, it is all about the personal touch.

Maybe it is because of my vulnerability during these unsettling times, but I appreciate the comfort of a well-mannered local weather expert explaining the complexities of a potentially devastating situation in a way I can understand. To have someone on the other side of the TV screen who is in it for the long haul with me develops a special rapport (as one-sided as it might be).

These Myrtle Beach meteorologists, one in particular who is a full-blown celebrity in our area (looking at you, Ed Piotrowski), make navigating through a hurricane a little more bearable. Their commitment wins me over. These individuals work round the clock, some going live for hours on end. They serve as my trustworthy tour guide through the twists and turns of a stressful, dangerous event. They don’t take breaks, they don’t complain, and they don’t fizzle under pressure. I can respect that.

In closing, hurricane season is also local meteorologist season in the Reser household. Some people might think the local weather guy (or gal) is a bit corny, but I much rather have him in my living room than Dorian. Don’t Blink.

It wasn’t supposed to work out this way.

Unfortunately for the people of Florida, Hurricane Dorian was poised to wreak catastrophic destruction on the Sunshine State. Up here in South Carolina, we were sympathetically monitoring the situation. We wanted to be there for our southeastern neighbors while also preparing for any impacts that the Florida landfall could have on us.

This was the sentiment throughout all of last week. But then I went to sleep on Friday night…

When I woke up on Saturday morning, there was an entirely different narrative. It looked like Florida would be spared and South Carolina would take the brunt of Hurricane Dorian. Was it just bad luck or did Dorian know that she had a streak to extend? This will mark the fourth consecutive year that our area will be impacted by a major hurricane.

Myrtle Beach is now in Dorian’s path.

Since Saturday afternoon, I have been busy. I am running Coastal Carolina University’s social media response and worked all of yesterday from my living room chair. I also share the public information seat within CCU’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and spent today working from our command center on campus.

Shameless selfie taken outside of our EOC at Coastal Carolina University.

But it just isn’t the work side of Hurricane Dorian that I am worried about. As you can imagine, my family situation is what concerns me most. What will happen on Wednesday night and Thursday when the hurricane is supposed to swing by the South Carolina coast? Will our house go unscathed? Will our streets flood? Will grocery stores still have food?

Well, it is tough to say.

However, I am cautiously optimistic that we will be just fine. Although Myrtle Beach has a 76% chance of tropical storm-type winds, this weather event doesn’t scare me as much as Hurricane Florence last year. Judging by models and my own intuition (not to be trusted), I think we will escape this storm just fine. At the time, we don’t have evacuation plans. But don’t get me wrong––if Dorian’s track moves just a bit to the west (God forbid), it will be an entirely different story.

So please, don’t worry too much about us. Instead, say a prayer for those in the Bahamas and those who will face a much more violent Dorian than us. This hurricane is no joke and not everyone will be as lucky as us. Don’t Blink.

Well, my wife has spent more than a week as a fourth grade teacher and is starting to get settled in. After five years as a second grade teacher, the jump in grade level has provided a change of pace for Sidney. Through our conversations at the dinner table, three themes seem to stand out about her new assignment.

Sidney started as a fourth grade teacher last week. This is her today in her new “flair” shirt (you have to be a teacher to get the reference).

Dang, these kids are smart – You might be thinking duh, right? But it doesn’t just revolve around their ability to understand multiplication tables. Sure, the intellectual capacity of fourth graders is greater, but they are smarter in other ways as well. Their understanding of cultural customs and differences is superior to what it was as second graders. They also understand social principles and problem solving strategies better. The gap in overall intelligence between Mrs. Reser and her new class has closed a bit.

Same dog, same tricks – In Sidney’s class there are several students she taught in second grade. When asked how it is to re-teach these children, she famously says “I like it but I don’t like it.” These students know Sid’s style and have quickly adjusted their expectations and tendencies to conform to it. On the other side of the coin, they also know her “tricks” and aren’t as susceptible to her ploys of harmless manipulation. But make no mistake, the familiarity is more of an asset than a headache.

Starting Over – Sidney didn’t just move to a different classroom. Besides her new digs, she also has a new curriculum and a new team of teachers. She can’t rollover past lesson plans from the last half decade as fourth graders learn entirely different material than second graders. As you can imagine, developing new lessons takes time and creativity. She is also interacting daily with a different teacher team. In the second grade, Sid had the blessing of learning and working with veteran teachers who had decades of experience under their belts. She is now with a fourth grade team comprised of teachers more her age and on par with her experience level. The situation has its advantages and disadvantages but the one major reality is that becoming a well-oiled fourth grade machine will take time as Sid and her co-workers learn to work and plan together. So far, it is going great!

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I am proud of Sid for answering the call of her principal and teaching fourth grade. Change can be hard, but my wife is talented at making the most of it. Don’t Blink.

When I heard the news over the weekend that Andrew Luck was retiring, one thought came directly to mind: Good for him.

Well played, Andrew Luck. Enjoy retirement.

Why stay? Why continue to do something that is wreaking havoc on yourself both mentally and physically? That he is able to easily walk away at 29 years old with his body still healthy and his pockets still loaded is an accomplishment 99% of the work force will never experience.

Perhaps that is why Luck was booed after leaving the field on Saturday night. Was it just pure jealousy? To retire before turning 30 is a luxury all of us would like (or would have liked) to have. Or, perhaps the people who heckled the quarterback simply did so because of what it might mean for the chances of their team. But honestly, check your priorities if you are so wrapped up in an NFL franchise or a fantasy team that you need to boo someone who is doing what is best for his family.

I put the situation in perspective by thinking about it from my own career perspective. If I was working at a university led by an under 40 rock star president who brought the institution to new heights only to unexpectedly retire, I couldn’t hold it against him/her. Stress is intense for top administrators in higher education and even though it would be a huge loss, you got to respect that the person did what was right for them and their family.

By walking away from the game, I think Andrew Luck showed that Stanford really does produce geniuses. I wish him the best in retirement and hope he makes the most out of an opportunity many of us will only dream of having. Don’t Blink.

Greetings, everyone! Excuse me, but I must admit that I am a little tired, it has been quite the week. Needless to say, I am ready for Friday to arrive. But fatigue will never halt the Thursday Rundown so let’s get started…

The Popeyes Chicken Sandwich – I watched with interest as Popeyes duked it out on social media with other fast food restaurants after the release of its chicken sandwich. Although I know that being rude and crude on social media has paid big dividends for some companies, I could personally never follow suit. I wouldn’t want to work for an employer that would sell out its integrity for “likes” and perhaps a little larger bottom line. BUT, regarding the important part of this debate, there is no better chicken sandwich than the one you can order at Chick-fil-A.

This image of Popeyes’ chicken sandwich has become extremely popular over the past few days.

Coupon Cards – A couple nights ago, a Carolina Forest High School football player stopped by our house to sell us a coupon card. I am extremely familiar with this type of fundraiser because I had to do it when I played football for the Mead High School Panthers in the early 2000s (graduated in 2005). I HATED it back then so I felt plenty of sympathy for the young man at my door. As I purchased the $20 card filled with less than stellar deals, I wondered why a better fundraiser hasn’t been developed in the 14 years since I last sold the damn things. Heck, back in 2013 I was lobbying for the end of them. I guess some things never change.

We bought this Carolina Forest High School coupon card the other night.

#CCUfamily for Generation Z – A hallmark of our #CCUSocialMedia program, #CCUfamily, received a facelift for the new academic year. Wanting to modernize the solid feature, I relied on the suggestions of Geoff Insch, video superstar, and Anthony Bowser, our social media specialist, to create a fresh look. What we ended up with was a Buzzfeed-inspired, Generation Z-optimized final product. Best of all? We profiled my social media intern, Katie, as our first feature. If you have a moment, take a look!

Make sure to follow the link to view Katie’s feature.56 qtr

Latest Ice Cream Flavor – Over the weekend, we celebrated the end of our summer by hitting up one of our favorite ice cream shops, Brusters. I experimented with a new flavor that I feel is worth mentioning here. I ordered the month’s featured flavor, lemon blueberry cake. It was lemon ice cream with thick blueberry swirls and yellow cake pieces. I was impressed that the blueberry and lemon flavors could work in harmony to provide a taste that was unique, pleasant, and very “summer-yyy.” Two thumbs up.

A look at the lemon blueberry cake ice cream I had over the weekend.

Old School Laughs – How did I never know about “The King of Queens”?! Sidney, like she has done for other shows, has hooked me on reruns of the sitcom. My enthusiasm for the show comes from the character of Doug, played by Kevin James. He cracks me up and truly is relatable. My two favorite episodes so far are when Doug purchases an ice cream truck and when he gets out of exercising by bribing his trainer who has an addiction to video games. Good stuff!

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Thank you for the opportunity to once again write for you! Enjoy your weekend and I look forward to touching base next week. Don’t Blink.

Funny story…

Although I work out at Gold’s Gym most of the week, I still escape to our gym on campus every Monday and Wednesday. When I go to Gold’s, I return to the house to shower and take Sloan to daycare. On Mondays and Wednesdays, Sid takes Sloan to daycare and I don’t come home after I exercise. You staying with me?…

Because I stay on campus once the HTC Center opens at 6 a.m., I shower in the locker room facilities after my workout. This of course requires that I bring my office clothes with me so I can change into them after freshening up. As your stereotypical Type A person, I select and pack my clothes the night before. Pants, socks, undershirts, shoes, etc., go into my gym bag. To avoid wrinkles, I carry the shirt I will wear that day in my hand. It is usually second nature for me to remember my shirt when I grab my gym bag and dash out the door in the morning.

I don’t know if it was excitement over the first day of classes here at CCU or some other factor but I did something I normally never do: I forgot my shirt.

It wasn’t until I turned onto campus that I realized I left my shirt at the house. Low key stressing out, I surveyed my options.
1. Turn around, go back home, and take a day off from the gym.
2. Forget the gym and do a quick workout on the track. Then quickly return home, shower, and rush back to campus.
3. Go to the gym as usual and then find some other option in terms of my wardrobe.

I opted for the third choice and decided on the “some other option” rather quickly: Walmart.

Unfortunately, to pull this off, I needed to complete an abbreviated workout. However, the shorter routine I went through was sufficient enough to at least not make me feel like a slacker throughout the day. When I finished I took a quick shower and then did something kind of embarrassing…because I didn’t want to walk out in front of everybody and go to Walmart in my undershirt, I slipped on my Gold’s Gym pullover that I wear prior to my workouts.

What a combo! I went out in public like this.

So there I was, rocking a Gold’s Gym pre-workout shirt with khakis and dress shoes. I looked like a real piece of work. I awkwardly walked past the students working the front desk and hopped in my car and went to Walmart. Luckily, the store is about halfway between campus and my house, so roughly a 10 minute drive. I did some quick browsing but I didn’t waste too much time making a decision.

A look at my selection this morning.

I opted for this $7.76 shirt that reminded me of something I would expect a senior citizen to wear, not some dude trying to satisfy his employer’s business casual dress code policy. However, it would make do for one day.

After some quick browsing, I made a selection.

I changed in the Walmart bathroom and then navigated the morning traffic back to campus in plenty of time. Even though I wanted to wear something CCU-related for first day of classes, I felt a little accomplished that I didn’t let my absent-mindedness rob me of a workout that I really needed (I have slacked with my eating over the summer).

This shirt served me well today.

In life, it is about the small victories. Don’t Blink.

From time to time, my childhood neighborhood would become ground zero for people going door-to-door selling magazine subscriptions. I vividly remember the high octane energy some of these individuals would bring when they knocked on the door. They would get me excited and suck me in, usually with a spiel about how they needed to sell subscriptions to earn points for a trip.

However, despite their enthusiasm, they never pulled off a sale. My parents always said no. They came mostly in the summer, usually during the day, when it was just my mom and the three of us kids at home. Thus, it was my mom turning them down.

Except for one day.

To be honest, I can’t remember if it was a Saturday or simply a day he took off, but on one particular late morning my dad was the one to open the door (with me trailing). My dad listened to what this man had to say but then declined the pitch. He followed with asking the gentleman not to come back. As the guy turned his back on us to walk away, he muttered “Oh, I’ll be back.”

My dad responded, “You do and I will call the cops.”

“Oh, I’ll be back,” the guy responded for the second time as he walked down our driveway.

Sure enough, two minutes later there was a cop car a few houses down from our house. A police officer was standing outside the vehicle talking with the man who was just at our house. The magazine salesman was escorted out of the neighborhood.

To be honest, I had not thought about that story until this past weekend. Probably 11 or 12 when it happened, I can’t remember ever coming into contact with another door-to-door magazine salesperson. Not again at my parents’ house and never in Montana or South Carolina. But on Friday night, Sidney and I were aimlessly browsing Netflix looking for a movie to watch. As I do quite often, I selected a film without really even reading the summary. On this evening I selected “American Honey.”

“American Honey” was an entertaining movie.

Over the course of the two hours and 45 minutes that the movie ran, I learned about the wacky and tough culture of the door-to-door magazine sales business. “American Honey” follows a group of 12 or so teens and young adults who travel across the country selling magazines. Although Shia LaBeouf stars, the other cast members were literally pulled off the streets by the director. I quickly became fascinated by the pressures and tactics employed by these magazine sales groups, both on potential customers and internally within the group.

Besides the interesting plot, the cinematography is also very interesting. The movie is shot in several different states and you can see that reflected when the gang moves on to different neighborhoods. Also, no words are needed to show the disparity in standard of living between the magazine salespeople and the homeowners they target. From a visual standpoint, it is very well done.

If you have time over the course of a couple evenings, I would recommend “American Honey.” It is something different but also something you might be able to connect with. Don’t Blink.