The days are noticeably getting longer and March is just around the corner! I hope you have the same optimistic outlook that I do. Speaking of optimism, I have plenty of it in tonight’s Thursday Rundown so let’s begin…

His First Steps – During the lunch hour yesterday, Beau took his first steps! While Sid and I watched “This Is Us,” our son decided to draw our attention away from the screen and put on a show. Sid and I could sense he was getting ready to walk so I had my phone out. Beau took 5 ½ steps before stumbling to the ground and crawling off with the biggest smile on his face. His first steps came 10 days prior to turning 13 months—his sister took her first steps a single day prior to turning 14 months. To watch Beau walk for the first time, tap here.

Here is a screenshot from the video I took of Beau walking for the first time.

Special Beyond Words – When our family visited Myrtle Beach for the holidays, we had the opportunity to see our spiritual mentors, Tim and Kathy McCormick. They showered us with gifts and one particular item had more value than I can express. Tim and Kathy presented us with a mass intention card for Feb. 27. In simple terms, this means that the Eucharistic sacrifice at that mass will be offered for our family. Why Feb. 27? That was the day that Beau was baptized (the McCormicks are his godparents) and Sidney was welcomed into the Catholic Church. We love you, Tim and Kathy!

What a precious and valuable gift.

#PalouseUnity – Last fall we launched #PalouseUnity, a joint public health campaign that included WSU, University of Idaho, the City of Pullman, and the City of Moscow. The goal was to combat the spread of #COVID19. Because the campaign was so successful and visible, we brought it back in 2021 but on a grander scale. When we launched yesterday, our community coalition had grown to TEN organizations. Healthcare providers, city chambers, and even an electrical equipment company were all on board. Holli Sampson from the University of Idaho and I have had the pleasure of running point on both the organic and paid social media coordination of this digital-heavy campaign. Working with the social media managers of these various organizations has been fun and allocating the increased resources we have for this phase has also been a noteworthy experience. I will keep you posted on how it continues to go!

The creative for this portion of the campaign are images of community members from the partner organizations.

John Harvey Kellogg – Sidney and I are in the middle of a great series on Hulu called “The Food That Built America.” It traces the origins of food brand giants like Coca-Cola and Heinz. Another brand that is featured is Kellogg as well as the man behind the name, John Harvey Kellogg. Let me tell you what, this guy did a lot more than make cereal. He was a famous doctor and by all counts brilliant. In some ways his ideas were genius and in other ways they were misguided. He followed a very strict health regimen and lived to be 95 which was quite old back in 1943. If you have a moment, read his Wikipedia page.

John Harvey Kellogg was a pretty interesting guy.

Meme – I had a high school math teacher who always had a “joke of the day.” He would put a comic book strip transparency on the overhead projector at the beginning of class. They were usually pretty corny. I feel I do the same thing, only mine is a “meme of the week” and it comes at the end of my rundown instead of the beginning. I digress. If you are a parent, I am sure you will be able to relate to this. I sure do, but most of the time it is my daughter giving me the wrong foot for the shoe I have out in front of her.

I can relate!

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Close out your February on a good note this weekend. Wish you all nothing but the best and look forward to catching up next week.