Courtney breathes a sigh of relief

I am sure Matt will update you all on the Ryder Cup sometime soon. I just wanted to poke my head in and let everyone know that I got official word today that I passed my written preliminary exams. It was a stressful few months around our house and I don't think I took a full deep breath since early July. The exams are required (along with an oral exam which is slotted for January) in order for me to advance to candidacy which is the next step towards that PhD.

For those of you that weren't privy to the entire process: I got 7 topics for the three questions back in late May. I gathered all the research materials I could for those topics over the next few months (with time off for the wedding and honeymoon of course). In mid-July I got the first question which I had 72 hours to write and hand in (8-12 pages). After handing in the first question I got a week off before getting a second question (again 72 hours, 8-12 pages). Another week off and then I got my third question (a full week, 15 pages).

I passed the first two questions on the first try. My advisor and the other grader of my third question decided that the question I had been given didn't really suit the 15 page limit.  They asked me to rewrite my answer with a more focused question. I started rewriting on the 10th of this month and handed in my rewrite on the 17th. Apparently this time around I improved on the original enough to squeak by. 

Combined with the fact that I think I have found a new site for my research where they have already established an active purple martin colony, my degree is once again completely on track. I'm just thrilled I never have to take this test again, it wasn't fun. Now I guess I should start focusing on the oral exam. Well, maybe I will take just a day or two to celebrate....

Courtney 

Heading Back to Carolina

Well, everyone keep Chester in your thoughts this weekend, because he's under the sole care of Courtney. Just kidding - she loves him as much as me (possibly more after that crack).

I am heading back to the Triad tonight, where I'll be teaming up with Shawn in the Pine Brook Member-Guest golf tournament. I wish I could get down to Southport to see my parents as well, but there's just never enough time.

There's a practice round tomorrow, and the tournament really gets under way Saturday (although the practice round apparently has some kind of cash award, so it's hard to not believe that's an important part of things). After having a pretty decent round last Friday in Dallas, I hope I'm ready to play well, so as not to let my partner down.

So if you're so inclined, give Courtney a call this weekend so she doesn't get too bored just doing her work, watching girly reality TV and playing with the dog. Hopefully I'll be posting pictures of a trophy by next week (there probably isn't a trophy, but it sounded cool).

-Matt

Back From Dallas with an Airport Surprise

Well, we had a fantastic, if tiring, weekend in "Big D" for the Tex/Haas wedding. It was great to get to hang out with a lot of the people we hadn't had a chance to spend a lot of time with at our own wedding. Here's a recap:

Friday:

We left St. Louis at 9 and were picked up at the airport by the Sleeps, who had arrived earlier that morning. We went straight to the golf course, where Shawn and I played a round at Northwood Club (home of the 1952 U.S. Open) with Tex and Rich, Haas' brother. While the guys were out playing golf, Courtney and Alisha took off to the nearest shopping center, where they got manicures and pedicures and who knows what else. In the meantime, I shot 77, which I was pretty pleased with, especially heading into next weekend's golf tournament.

We showered up and headed to the church for the rehearsal and then to the Petroleum Club downtown for the rehearsal dinner. After that it was out to a bar, the Ginger Man, for drinks.

Saturday:

We headed out to pick up tuxes for myself and Shawn, and then got some authentic (we think) Tex-Mex food. Then it was off to Humperdink's, a great sports bar, where we started watching the Wake/Ole Miss football game. I had to leave to head over to the wedding site for pictures, and Courtney kept the guys updated with text messages while we frantically checked our phones for updates. We were extremely happy to get a chance to see Sam Swank boot the game winning field goal with a couple of seconds left. Combined with the comeback win against Maryland last year during Zach's wedding, I advise everyone to bet heavily on the Deacs in October during Carl's wedding when they play Miami (note: I don't condone gambling if any authorities are reading!)

The wedding was really nice - it was a shortened Catholic ceremony and went off without a hitch. Shawn and I got to ride the party van (complete with stereo system and strobe/laser lights) to the reception, which was at the Northwood Club. We did some dancing, some drinking and some socializing and just generally had a great time.

Sunday:

Did a little exploring of Dallas, specifically the site of JFK's assassination. It was really hot. We had tickets to the Red Sox/Rangers game, which started at 2, so we spent the early afternoon at a different Humperdink's watching some of the opening weekend of the NFL (Courtney is great for putting up with the fact that so much of everything is sports-oriented, but I'm pretty sure she enjoys it too).

The game was amazing - Courtney's first Red Sox game! We were sitting in a luxury suite, which was ... something we probably shouldn't get used to! But a great experience. Finally, it was off to the airport.

The only unfortunate thing was that, upon returning to St. Louis, we found that my car had a completely flat front right tire. So we got to fix that before heading home. I think both of us were dragging a little today.

If you made it through this post, wow, you must really be interested in our life!

Matt