Life sure has been extra enjoyable these days. The beautiful spring weather, longer days, progress on the COVID front, and the promise of summer have me feeling very optimistic. Speaking of positivity, how about we begin my latest Thursday Rundown?

New and Free McFlurry – Last night, Sidney and I cashed in on a free McDonald’s offer. The fast food giant was giving away its newest caramel and brownie McFlurry…for free! The only catch was that you had to download the McDonald’s app but I really don’t think it is much of a catch at all because I have found fast food apps to be very helpful and full of great deals. Now we all know that a McFlurry doesn’t deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as a Dairy Queen Blizzard but what we had last night was actually really good. It was full of brownie pieces and a thick caramel swirl. 10/10 recommend.

Me gripping the two caramel brownie McFlurries we got for FREE from McDonald’s on Tuesday.

Come On, Subway – After giving kudos to a fast food chain I must do the opposite to another. In an earlier period of my life, I loved Subway. It was my favorite fast food option and I admired its aggressive expansion and marketing practices. But times have changed. Subway has fallen out of favor to competitors such as Jimmy John’s and Jersey Mike’s, restaurants have closed, and we all know what happened to Jared. I guess with all these things going against it I shouldn’t be surprised that prices have gone up so much. But it still rubbed me the wrong day when we went to Subway the other day and had to pay $8 for a Spicy Italian and $7.50 for a Cold Cut Combo. No deals were available and the Subway location we went to was empty except for us and a lone employee. With all that said, I still really enjoyed my sandwich.

I used to really like everything about Subway….not so much anymore. 

Back on Campus – After 412 days, I finally set foot on the WSU Pullman campus again. This past Saturday we honored our graduating students with a drive-through celebration and I had the opportunity to cover the event. It was a beautiful morning and the students brought plenty of enthusiasm and Cougar spirit. It was also awesome to meet many people in person after solely working with them over Zoom for the last 13 months. The icing on the cake was after the event was over and we were able to take our two graduating interns out to lunch. Thanks so much for your contributions to WSU Social Media, Chloe and Dani!

A screen capture from the recap Instagram post about the Drive-Through Celebration. It was awesome to finally work a live event on location.

Visit From Ice Cream Truck – Last weekend, we were over at my parents’ house for Sunday dinner with my sister and her kids. In a wishful thinking, offhand type of way my mom remarked that if the ice cream truck came by that she would be buying for all the kids. Because it was a Sunday night and April had only recently ended, I thought sure mom. In my opinion, there was a better chance that Chick-fil-A would be open on a Sunday than the ice cream truck rolling down my parents’ street. At the end of the night as we were literally packing up the car to go home, I heard that all-too-familiar jingle. No way. We extended our visit by another 30 minutes as the kids picked out a treat and ate them on a blanket that my mom and dad spread out on the front lawn. It was no Mr. Softee but Sloan certainly did not care.

Lots of smiles after the visit from the ice cream truck.

Crazy, Stupid, Love – I used to not be a Steve Carell fan, at least not his comedy. But then I watched him play diverse roles in movies such as “Vice” and “Welcome to Marwen” and learned to appreciate his talent. My renewed respect for Carell made his comedic roles more tolerable to me. This week, Sidney and I watched “Crazy, Stupid, Love” on Netflix. It is a 2011 film that details how a nerdy guy named Cal (Carell) rebounds after his wife announces she wants a divorce. Many of the laughs come the interactions between Cal and Jacob, a womanizer played by Ryan Gosling who prepares Cal for the dating world. If you subscribe to Netflix and want to relax with a funny and light movie, give “Crazy, Stupid, Love” a try.

Steve Carell has grown on me.

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Thank you for reading, friends. Let’s not lose sight about who this upcoming weekend is all about. Make sure to thank and celebrate your moms. Don’t Blink.