Papa Murphy's heart-shaped pizza

After a week hiatus from the Thursday Rundown because of something much more important to write, I am back tonight with five fresh topics. Let the rundown begin!…

Heart-Shaped Pizza – It isn’t an annual tradition but it is something we have done many times before, including when I lived with my parents in high school. Papa Murphy’s offers a discounted heart-shaped pizza starting in early February that runs through Valentine’s Day. This past Saturday, Sidney was on her birthday present excursion so it was just the kids and I. When it came to dinner plans I picked us up a heart-shaped pizza—half cheese for the little ones and half pepperoni for me. As usual, it was delicious.

This was the heart-shaped pizza from Papa Murphy’s that I cooked for the kids on Saturday night.

Soda Fountain – This was really cool. When we were in Walla Walla last weekend, my cousin and her husband hosted everyone over at their house. While we were there, Gary showed me a room in the basement. Not only did it have a bar area but it also had a soda fountain! I geeked out over it. The fountain looked vintage and it was totally functional. A new life goal for me is to one day own my own soda fountain.

I was so impressed by this soda fountain at my cousin’s house.

Blippi – It was more than three years ago when Sloan first started to watch Blippi. She developed into a pretty hardcore fan but isn’t quite a diehard anymore. However, if she knew that Blippi was at one of her favorite places on Tuesday she would have hopped on her bike and went there herself. The man in the blue and orange was in Spokane this week as he went to Jump for Joy, an indoor jump house center, to film a video for his YouTube channel. Not going to lie, if I knew he was going to be there I would have went too just so I could thank the guy for providing countless hours of entertainment to Sloan (and precious hours of rest to myself).

The Facebook post from Jump for Joy in Spokane Valley showing Blippi and Meekah at their business.

Beau Meets World – On this date two years ago, I published the blog post that would later be named the top post in the history of Don’t Blink. Titled Beau Meets World, it chronicled the emotional ride of Beau’s birth followed by his time in the NICU and finally his triumphant trip home for the first time. Looking at our son today you would never know that he had a stint in the NICU. I am sure thankful for those talented doctors and nurses at McLeod Regional Medical Center in Florence, South Carolina.

Beau was discharged from the McLeod Regional Medical Center NICU at noon on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2020. Sidney finally got to enjoy the special moment of leaving the hospital with her baby.

Whiplash – If you desire a movie with some great performances, a few tough scenes of psychological abuse, and a pretty damn good ending make sure to give “Whiplash” a try. I stumbled upon the 2014 film on Hulu this past weekend and enjoyed it. The movie centers on how a young drummer (Miles Teller) at a prestigious music school deals with his intense bandleader (J.K. Simmons). I am a big Simmons fan (fellow University of Montana alumnus) and the role he plays as the ruthless conductor is superb. In fact, he nailed it so much that he won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. I know next to nothing about jazz music but this film captivated my attention the whole way through.