The Vault.

So I started this post a week or so ago and it's been sitting in the vault since then.  Here are a few updates for my loyal followers...

So a couple weekends ago in NY it wasn't all about garbage plates.  Saturday night Amanda and I went over to Micah and Julie's house to watch game 3 of the Dodgers/Cubs series with my dad, Ben, Tim, and his girlfriend Kristen.  We had an awesome time, and not just because the Dodgers ended up winning the game and sweeping the Cubs in round 1.  It was great hanging for a few hours, catching up with everyone, and talking some baseball.  Here's a pic from after the game:

On Sunday morning Amanda and I wanted to get an early start so we could get back to Virginia and get our long run done for the week.  Our plan was to tackle 20 miles which would be our longest run yet and our last really long run before the race.  Well, we were about an hour from Rochester when we started to see signs for Elmira, where I went to college.  It was a seriously beautiful day outside and I have really been looking forward to showing Amanda where I spent "the best four years of my life."  So spontaneity took over and our long run was put on hold temporarily.  About a half hour later we were in Elmira and I was walking around a campus that I hadn't seen in 3 years.  It was fairly surreal, and I was a little less nostalgic than I thought I would be, but it was really great to see all of the purple and gold again.  A quick 20 minute tour ended at The Branch where I spent many, many happy hours and happy nights drinking cheap beer.  Luckily Amanda was into having a lunch-time drink at The Branch and I bellied up yet again.  Here are a couple pics from around campus:

 

"Simeon Benjamin was the name that began Elmira's fame..."

I can tell you more facts about that fountain than you could possibly imagine

Mark Twain - many connections to Elmira, NY and the college

Local waterin' hole

I took Amanda to Ithaca, NY after our stop in Elmira.  Robert Treman State Park, one of my favorite places in the world, was a must see since we were so close and we had already decided to ditch our run.  Once in Ithaca we stopped for lunch in the commons, and without getting into too much detail, we ate at a little restaurant owned by a cult.  Of course we didn't realize we were eating cult-prepared food until shortly after we began our meal, but it was interesting to say the least.  Check Amanda's recent post (right after the picture of Mark Twain's study) for more info on this one.  Here are a few photos from Robert Treman.  Despite the incredibly low water levels, it was still great to see the falls again: 

It was a great weekend and we're really glad we decided to take the day long detour.  I probably could have written more if I finished this up last week when I started, but I'm going to have to end this post here for now!

Garbage Plate.

So I fell off the wagon momentarily. Anyone that knows me knows I don't eat fried food. It's been over 2 years since I decided to give up french fries, chicken fingers, potato chips, onion rings, and anything else deep fried. I have accidently slipped a few times here and there. I think I've eaten 2 donuts, I ate an eggroll a couple months into my new dietary decision by mistake, and I haven't been able to give up tortilla chips just yet, but that's really it. A french fry hasn't touched my lips... until today.

A garbage plate can come in many forms, but the basic idea is this: 2 hotdogs or 2 cheeseburgers (your choice) piled on top of a mountain of macaroni salad, french fries, home fries, baked beans, or several other delicious choices. When you order your plate you get to pick 2 of those things that your meat is piled on top of. I go with french fries and homefries. On top of this greasy mountain of yumminess is a big scoop of unbelievable meat hot sauce, a handfull of onions, and a splat of mustard. It all comes together once you add ketchup and Frank's Red Hot to the equation. The summation is one of the most delicious, and downright awful for you, concoctions you could possibly imagine.

Nick Tahous (ta-hoes) is the home of the garbage plate in Rochester, NY. When I was in high school Tahous was open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, save for a week at Christmas time when they locked the doors and literally hosed the place down. It has since come under new ownership (although still in the Tahou family) and I'm not sure if the same hours and policies apply. What I do know is that there was nothing better at midnight, or 2am, or even 4 in the morning than a plate with your buddies.

I came home for the weekend and after 2 years of shunning fried foods I couldn't help myself. I went for it. I fell off the wagon momentarily, but it was the most delicious fall you could conceive. A picture tells 1,000 words...

In its purest form

My routine: flip the burgers, cut them into sixths, add kethcup and red hot, mix

Done

And now my stomach doesn't feel too good, but it was well worth it!

On to the Post Season!

They did it!

Must have been the power of the 'staches

The Little Things.

As you've probably noticed I've been limited to fairly short posts about once per week lately.  I've been way busier than I imagined I would be now that I'm finished with grad school, but apparently when you're a part of every committee, team, and meeting one year it's pretty difficult to bail out of all that responsibility.  I've tried, but it seems like in education today every issue is resolved with a meeting.  Throughout the course of a week I am expected to meet as a team, a content twice, for 504s, IEPs, as part of the child study committee, and with administration for lead teacher responsibilities.  At various times throughout each month I am also expected to meet with the school improvement team, as the head of the math task force, with my grade level, as the leader of school-wide vertical math meetings, and of course the ever-popular "faculty meeting."  Now any number of other meetings can pop up without warning.  For example, I am usually asked to help organize professional development (which is incredibly time consuming), lead teachers are expected to drop everything and run to meetings at the drop of hat, and you never know when a parent will call with a concern that trumps everything else in your life.  When it gets to the point that your meeting about meeting, you know there is something fundamentally wrong.  Also, when you're in my position it's impossible to ignore the time it takes to prepare for, and then follow up with all of the items discussed in these meetings.  Oh, did I mention that I need to perform the duties of a teacher too?  I need to squeeze teaching, planning, grading, and general upkeep of my classroom somewhere in there.  Anyone that knows me professionally knows that I strive for positivity at work and I do everything in my power to shy away from the "complaining bug," so I write these things not to complain, but to illustrate the difficulties I face in trying to do my job well.  When the hectic schedules become way too much I need to take a step back and think about the little things in life that keep me going.  It's these little things that I'd like to dedicate the rest of this post to.

The Dodgers are currently winning 4-3 and there magic number stands at 2 because of a D-Backs loss tonight.  They are on the verge of a playoff birth and you can barely even imagine how excited that makes me.

The Office, How I Met Your Mother, and Entourage are back.  I go though major cycles with my TV watching diet but these 3 are all staples.  I'm pretty pumped they're all back!

31 days remain until the marathon and I'm starting to get really excited.  I'm ripping off 6 and 8 mile runs during the week like it ain't no thang, and the long runs on the weekend are increasing my confidence that I can finish with some gusto.  

The weather is getting cooler outside which is signaling the onset of fall, my favorite of all 5 seasons.

Amanda and I are finally almost settled in our new place and it's a great feeling.

Manny just hit his 17th home run as a Dodger and we're now leading 6-3!

AND last... in just 40 days I get to cast my vote for Obama.  

I've got lots to look forward to over the next six weeks as long as I can keep my head above water at work.  It's the little things that keep me going and I know I'm fortunate that I can find solace in these seemingly minor things.  As I mentioned last week, stay tuned for my political series, I promise it's coming up.  

I leave you with a quote that my boy Sean claims he is going to live the rest of his by:

"Stop bitching and start organizing!"

Amen Sean, Amen...

 

This Weekend's Magic Numbers.

18 and 10 were this weekend's magic numbers.  18 was the number of miles Amanda and I ran on Sunday morning, and 10 literally is the magic number for the Dodgers with 13 games left to play in the regular season.

This was a great running week for both Amanda and I.  We ran separately during the week but we both had some really good 6 and 8 mile runs.  They were all in preparation for the longest run either of us had ever tackled.  We knew the temperature was supposed to reach the mid-90's today with a heat index hitting at least 100 so we were up at the butt-crack of dawn.  We had been mentally preparing ourselves for a few days and we knew that we were physically ready; no ailments this weekend like there were last weekend.  We hit the road around 7am and clocked in at about 2 hours, 50 minutes for the 18 mile run.  Finishing today without any battle wounds to speak of gives me a lot of confidence in our ability to push through 26.2 in about 6 weeks.

As for the Dodgers, we took 2 of 3 games from the Rockies this weekend, making it 12 wins out of our last 14 games.  Our magic number is now 10, which means any combination of 10 wins by us and losses by the Diamondbacks clinches the division for us.  I think things are clicking at just the right time for LA and I'm really looking forward to the playoffs.  I don't want to get ahead of myself here, but we certainly have a better chance of at least winning a couple games in October this year than we have in a long, long time.  In fact, Peter Gammons even wrote about it on ESPN today (the link may not work without an insider subscription on espn.com).  If things ended today we would be playing against the Brewers in a 5-game set, however the Phillies are creeping up on them in the wild card which would result in a 5-game series against the Mets instead.  Either way, I'm excited.

Keep an eye out for my upcoming blogs.  I'm going to put together a multi-part political blog over the next couple weeks dealing with a lot of issues that have been on my mind.  I'm sure you can't wait ;o)

Have a great week!

A Deep, Cleansing Breath.

This weekend was exactly what I needed to re-charge my batteries. I finally got a few days to simply relax. No rushing around, no long car rides, no moving. Just relaxing. I watched all 3 Dodger games. All 3 were wins. We now have a 1.5 game lead in the West which a pretty great feeling. I got to see the Eagles dominate the Rams. I won both fantasy football leagues I'm in. Watched a movie. Layed on the couch all weekend with Amanda. Drank mimosas on Saturday morning. Life was very good.

The only thing that was a slight bummer was my run on Sunday morning. Amanda and I had planned on 18 miles. My longest so far has been 16 and I've done that twice. I know I'm ready both physically and mentally for 18 but my left quad wouldn't let me finish. It felt fine last weekend after the race but I tweaked in during Tuesday night's 6 mile run. It felt sore all week, including my 6 mile run on Friday night. I had a feeling it wouldn't let me finish 18 miles and I was right. After about 8 I knew that if I pushed myself any further I could potentially put myself out for longer than necessary. I'm glad I decided to call it quits because I'm feeling better today and I think after another day or two I'll be back to 100%.

And now it's back to reality. Another busy week, but another empty weekend to look forward to in just a few days!

A Whirlwind Week.

Get ready for a long one, because the past 9 nine days have been pretty eventful for me, and I'm finally getting some time to sit down and relax with a beer and the Dodger game.  Well, I guess this is kind of the 2nd time this week I've been able to do that, but lets begin with last Saturday.

After 4 years in good ol' Pemberton Village my time had come to finally move on.  My little 2 bedroom apartment was the very first place I looked at way back in 2004 when I came to Winchester to interview for what would be my first real job.  I lived in 1980 #12 for about 6 months or so until Jeff decided to move in.  The next 2 and a half years were pretty damn awesome.  It's tough to recount all of the great times we had in that place, but I promise you, we had some pretty great times.  The final year was mainly just Amanda and I because Jeff was basically moved out and living with Michele.  It was weird at first because him and I had spent so much time together, but life happens and "the two greatest guys in Winchester" are now living with the loves of their lives ;o)  

Now that Pemberton has come and gone, 206 Stratford Drive is here.  It's a nice 3 bedroom townhouse with a tiny backyard, a nice little deck, much more space than I'm used to, and my favorite part... my very own washer and dryer!  My mom has been telling me for 4 years now, since I left college, that I won't be a real adult until I come home to visit without bringing laundry.  Well guess what MOM, you can call me a REAL adult now!

An incredibly long and tiring day was made much more bearable by my boys Sean and Jeff.  Sean was such a huge help, showing up early in the morning and helping all damn day.  Jeff made his appearance in the afternoon and kicked our asses back into gear when we started to slack.  Here are a few pics of the new place... 

No neighbors to our right

Backyard with our deck

Standing in the empty family room

As if moving wasn't enough, Saturday was actually much more meaningful than that.  Amanda and I have agreed, we couldn't have picked a more fitting day to move in together considering it was our 2 year anniversary.  That's right, on the day that officially marked 2 years of dating Amanda and I took huge step.  I don't think I could have picked a more perfect way to celebrate.  Although it wasn't typical, romantic, Matt Court style, it was perfect nonetheless.  The romantic part would come several days later.   

After a physically exhausting day I somehow found the strength to wake up at 7:30am Sunday morning and tackle a 16 mile run.  Let's just say the rest of my Sunday was consumed with naps and lounging around!

Wednesday was day #1 of year #5 in my teaching career.  I met all 115 of my new students and things went as smoothly as one could expect.  I keep telling people it's difficult to get a real read on the kids the first few days of school.  It takes another week or so for them to show their true colors, but so far so good.  I'm really looking forward to another exciting year!

Thursday was finally a chance to relax and have some fun for Amanda and I.  Our friend Bob gave us Nationals/Dodgers tickets way back in December for Christmas and I've been looking forward to the game ever since.  Of course it poured rain all day and I was nervous the game wouldn't be played.  DC hadn't had a drop of measurable rain in 13 days until the day we were supposed to go to the game.  Luckily, the weather held out for us!  We hit the road as soon as Amanda got out of work and made it to the game in the bottom of the first inning.  No big deal, we only missed the first half inning of the game right?  Wrong!  We missed Manny's 2-run homerun and the only Dodger runs of the game!  Our boys got smoked 11-2 but we still had a great time.  Beers, italian sausage, Amanda's first veggie dog, nachos, peanuts... we definitely made the most of the game!  Thanks to Bob-O for the tickets!  Here are a few shots from the game...

Love the new stadium

I always watch in amazement

The biggest fans in the stadium

Manny at the plate with Ethier on 1st

After a long week Friday finally came.  I had made reservations at a highly recommended restaurant in Front Royal, VA called Apartment 2g to celebrate our 2 year anniversary in traditional Matt Court style.  The restaurant was great, the food was incredible, and Amanda and I finally had a chance to celebrate for real.  Here are a few photos from dinner...  

So beautiful

Us with our delicious dinners!

Saturday morning we woke up early once again and headed down to Virginia Beach for the Rock and Roll half marathon.  We ran this race together last year and followed it up last October with another half marathon in Baltimore.  This was my 3rd half and Amanda's 4th.  You probably know that we're training for a full marathon, so I didn't have too much trouble with Sunday's run except for the brutal heat and humidity at the start of the race.  It may have been 7:30am when we finally started but boy was it hot.  Everyone was drenched in sweat by the end of the first mile.  Amanda fought through the pain to pull out a great finish and I was really proud of her.  I know it's difficult for her to run in extreme temperatures and there is no doubt in my mind she gave it everything she had.  Here are some pictures from race day...

Mile 1.5

Mile 13.1

Mmmmm, tastes like victory

Phelps aint got nothin' on us

So that was an incredibly brief, yes I said brief, overview of the whirlwind week.  This week should be much lower-key.  Next weekend we're going camping which should be fun!  If anyone wants to volunteer to come help us unpack boxes, we'd graciously accept your offer.

Roi.

Tuesday night at 11:44pm I learned that LeRoi Moore, saxophonist of the Dave Matthews Band, passed away.  I couldn't believe what I had heard.  The emotion I felt about a man I never met was a bit overwhelming.  It's amazing what kind of connection you can feel to someone you've never even spoken with.

I started listening to the Dave Matthews Band about 10 years ago while still in high school.  My first show was May 11, 1999 and since then I have seen the band perform 13 other times.  I went through what I jokingly call a "healthy obsession" my freshman and sophomore years of college.  I was really into collecting live shows on CD and would trade people on-line for shows they had and I wanted, and in return I'd send them something that I had in my collection that they were interested in.  I have  compiled well over 100 DMB CDs over the years and I can imagine that some people think that's a little nuts.  It really was just a hobby though.  For the record, yes, I have listened to every CD at least once.  My obsession slowly dwindled but I have continued to keep up-to-date with what's going on with the band.  Now defunct www.nancies.org, and the still flourishing www.antsmarching.org are fan sites that I check pretty regularly to see what songs that band has been playing in concert, what other projects the band members may be working on, and updates on the band's studio recordings.  Although I spend a lot less of my free time consumed by DMB I can say with certainty that the Charlottesville quintet has had a profound impact on my musical taste.

The thing I think I love most about the band is that they are a band in every true sense of the word.  Although their name prominently places Dave at the forefront I'm know every member of the group believes their strength is found in their unity.  The Dave Matthews Band is not the Dave Matthews Band without Dave, just like they're not the Dave Matthews Band without Stephan, Boyd, Carter, or LeRoi.  Each member provides such a distinct and vital facet of the bands unique sound that it's difficult to imagine them any other way than how I've known them the past 10 years.  I truly can't imagine the band going forward together from here, but they chose to play Tuesday night even after they learned of the terrible news.  

I have so many distinct memories of listening to the band's music.  The first time I intently listened to Under The Table And Dreaming and laid there in awe, the first time I heard "Big Eyed Fish", going to the post office on campus and picking up new shows that had just arrived in the mail, the often told "tracking down Bo and giving up the shirt on my back to receive front row tickets in Saratoga" story, anticipating new albums, playing "Say Goodbye" on the Branch jukebox every weekend in college, and of course the absolutely unbelievable 14 shows I've seen.          

My most recent show was on June 28, 2008 here in Virginia.  Little did we all know that night that it would be the last time LeRoi Moore would ever perform.  He was in an ATV accident the following day at his home in Charlottesville, VA.  He punctured his lung and was out indefinitely. The only real details that I have read are posted on the band's official website.  This is what was written:

08/19/2008

We are deeply saddened that LeRoi Moore, saxophonist and founding member of Dave Matthews Band, died unexpectedly Tuesday afternoon, August 19, 2008, at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles from sudden complications stemming from his June ATV accident on his farm near Charlottesville, Virginia. LeRoi had recently returned to his Los Angeles home to begin an intensive physical rehabilitation program.

It is two nights later and I'm still in shock. I have chosen to mourn LeRoi's death by celebrating his music. I am dusting off some of those old CDs I haven't listened to in a while (now in digital form on my computer and iPod of course) and listening especially close for his parts on each of the songs. Here are a few photos from what nobody expected to be LeRoi's final show:

Greatest tailgating spot... EVER

Julie, Micah, Me, Amanda... Progress Baby!

LeRoi Moore, doing his thing

There is no doubt LeRoi Moore will be missed by many.  My thoughts go out to his family and the Dave Matthews Band.

Brian and Melissa.

This past weekend Amanda and traveled to New Jersey for Brian and Melissa's wedding.  Brian was my roommate senior year of college and is most certainly one of the greatest guys I know. Him and Melissa are so perfect together and the whole weekend was incredible.  Here are the highlights...

After picking up Brian's life long friend Steve in Baltimore on the way up to NJ, we crashed at Nick and Paul's place Friday night.  We caught up for a while and heard the story of Nick and Paul's car crash earlier in the day.  Luckily everyone is okay, however Nick's Sentra was totaled. Everyone turned in pretty early but I just couldn't help staying up until 2am to watch Manny's first game as a Dodger.

Saturday was the rehearsal dinner up in Hackensack, NJ where Brian and Melissa live.  We got to check out the location and meet all the bridesmaids, most of whom I had met at least a couple times in the past.  Bri's Aunt Nancy walked us through the ceremony and we all had it down in no time.  We were off to the dinner part of the evening next.  We went to a nice italian place and had our own private room upstairs.  The 4 1/2 hour dinner was incredible.  They just kept brining us more food.  Every time we thought they were done they'd bring something else!  Hors d'oeuvres, pasta, chicken marsala, fresh fruit, ice cream, and of course... open bar dude! 

Me, Brian, Kohler, Nick, Hugo

Amanda and I at Dinner

Brian and Melissa receiving their wedding gift from THE Chris Berman

No one circles the wagons like... Melissa and Brian!!  Congrats!!

After an incredible dinner we headed back to the hotel and hung out late.  We just shot the shit, drank some brews, and reminisced about the good ol' days.  We also tried to make Bri as nervous as we could about what was going to happen in a few short hours but he didn't waiver.  He may have been the most excited dude I've ever known when it came to getting married.

The wedding on Sunday wasn't until 5pm so we had plenty of time to recover from the night before.  At around 3pm we traveled in style to the wedding and the fun began.

Chrysler 300 limo - sick

The groomsmen and the wedding singer before the festivities

Amanda arrived shortly after me, looking beautiful of course

Here we are just moments before Bri takes the plunge

A little explanation is going to be needed before this next photo.  So it was beautiful the whole weekend.  Well, except for 5 minutes at the beginning of the ceremony (of course).  Although the sun was shining, the rain decided to make an appearance.  It rained lightly for about 5 minutes and although everyone kept their cool you could see Melissa and the mothers of the bride and groom shooting looks every which way praying for the rain to stop.  Someone decided to shield Melissa and Brian with an umbrella (hence the photo), it worked wonderfully.  Brian asked me several weeks ago to do a reading from The Old Testament during the ceremony.  I was happy to do it and it ended up being much more appropriate than anyone could have imagined.  Literally SECONDS before the following line was read the rain cleared... "For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone."  It elicited quite a bit of laughter and many sighs of relief.  They say rain on your wedding day is good luck and I have no doubt that someone was sending Brian and Melissa their wishes for lifetime of happiness.   

After a beautiful ceremony by the Rabbi and Priest we headed inside for one of the greatest parties ever.

Ice luge at the martini station - damn cool

I can't even say enough about the food.  No amount of racking my brain could begin to get me to remember everything that was served during the cocktail hour.  Check out Amanda's blog for a list of SOME of the cuisine.

A very, very, very small part of the spread

One of several ice sculptures

Damn good looking groomsmen ready to get their party on

Mr. and Mrs. Herzbrun being introduced for the first time

Cutting the cake

Okay, so I said I couldn't really write about all the wonderful food, but I HAVE to mention the desserts.  We headed back to the room where the cocktail hour took place and it was transformed into dessert heaven.  There were millions of tiny delicious treats everywhere.  Eclairs, fruit, pastries, chocolate mousse, an ice cream scooper man, a chocolate fountain, and of course wedding cake.  If you know me at all you know I made the best of it. 

Nick, Paul, and I housing our chocolate drenched treats

Uncle Steve at the fountain

All the groomsmen ready to take shots with the groom after dessert

The crazy Elmira College crew, Paul going commando in more than one way

At this point the open bar is making everyone as fun as possible

Nick and Amanda cuttin' a rug

Amanda fell in love with Hugo and all his "Latin beauty"

These Long Island ice teas did us very well after the wedding back at the hotel bar

The photos end there but the fun certainly did not.  A huge group of us, including Brian for a short time, headed down to the hotel pool and had a blast.  Hotel security wasn't wild about us finding a way into the pool at 1am, but Brian's mom sweet talked them into giving us a solid 45 minutes to enjoy ourselves.  It was a damn fun way to end the greatest wedding ever.  Congrats Brian and Melissa, you guys are the best!