Dodgeball tourney

One of the greatest benefits of working at a high school is getting to participate in things like dance contests and... dodgeball tournaments.  

Yes, a dodgeball tournament.

The students formed teams and were allowed to invite teachers, and I'm on a team with two other teachers and several sophomores.  

I can't wait to raise some hell next week.

Movie Monday: Mo Farah interview

Remember this guy?

He won two Olympic gold medals last summer for Great Britain, and then went on to inspire the hilarious meme, "Mo Farah running away from things."

He just won the New Orleans Half Marathon yesterday in 1:00:59, and for his efforts was submitted to a live interview by the wonderfully inept reporter LaTonya Norton.  Not only does she insist on reporting that he won the marathon instead of the half marathon, but she seems to have no idea she's speaking to a two-time Olympic gold medalist.  Awkwardness ensues.

I thought they said pizza...

Stevie has joked that this blog is turning from running blog into foodie blog.

And by that you know I made another pizza.  The pizza kick I'm on right now continues with this creation:

I found the idea for this in a pizza book at Barnes and Noble the other day.

• Homemade bechamel sauce.
• gouda, mozzarella, and cheddar cheese.
• ham steak chopped and fried.
• frozen peas.
• half wheat, half white crust.
• sprinkled with garlic powder.

Might seem like a strange combination of ingredients but they really do blend nicely.

Saturday night run

Spend a lot of time running at night, and before long you will end up scaring someone half to death.  Turns out people don't like the sensation of being snuck up on in the dark.

I ran by a woman in her driveway unpacking groceries.  Not only did she scream so loudly that she startled me, but she dropped an entire bag of groceries.  She laughed it off, though.

I also hate it when I feel like I'm running super fast, and then check my watch at the end and realize I ran a full 20 seconds slower than the day before.

Then I came home and found the gals getting ready for Abby's birthday dinner.

Time for some Indian food.

No school 4 miler

Post run

Day off from school today.  Temps in the 40's without a cloud in sight.  4 mile run in 32 minutes.  I'm not as much training for something at the moment as I am just trying to keep myself in the game.  But I hope to sign up for some spring races very soon.

New goatee, snot leaking all over me, and a busted eye.  Pretty sure I was scaring small children by the end of the run.

Wedding invitations

Guess who's (probably not) coming to our wedding...

Bitch, please

Historians and scholars of I Thought They Said Rum will recall that before Stevie, I lived in this same apartment with a guy I found on Craigslist.  Amongst his friends, he was the most stereotypical skinny gay white boy you've ever met (slugging girly cocktails, wearing pink briefs, constantly blasting bad trance music, and yes, calling everyone bitch), yet around me he was painfully shy and awkward.  I've accepted that I won't click with everyone I meet in life, and this was one of those occasions.

He had a modest collection of wine bottles prominently displayed in the kitchen, the centerfold of which was a bottle with the singular word "bitch" on the front.

Guess what Stevie found at the liquor store today.

(He also left behind two pint glasses labeled "slut" and "hooker" when he moved out, prompting interesting conversations with uninitiated guests that ask for drinks.  My ex-rommate is the gift that keeps on giving.)

Disco Scott

My wedding is this April.  We're not hiring a DJ, but instead are just making our own playlist that will be played on camp's sound system.

Disco Pogo is going to make a cameo.

Dancing with the Staff: the results

Last night I won first place in a dance competition.  There is just something so strange about that sentence. Let's just say I never thought I would start a blog post like that.  Yes, I can do flips and the like, but I've never been a strong dancer and usually only take to the dance floor at weddings when I've had some liquid courage.

Anyway, this was the first year they've ever tried this at my school, and it was held on a Wednesday night, so I wasn't sure how good the turnout would be.  Turns out hundreds of people were willing to pay the $7 entry fee, and the auditorium was packed.

Stevie, my high school friend Amy, and my dad and Debbie all came out to watch too.

8 teams competed with songs like "Little Talks" by Of Monsters and Men, "Pump It" by the Black Eyed Peas, and "Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer.  Votes were cast during intermission, and during the second act several students performed songs while the votes were being tallied.

At the end of the night, they brought all of the teams back on stage, and Team Spartenheimer prevailed! Dancing with the Staff champions!  

Though the rehearsal committment had been a bit larger than I would have liked, it definitely paid off.  I honestly wouldn't have cared who won.  The best part was watching the staff and students come together for such a fun event.  We raised a lot of money for a great cause, as well.

With my dance partner, one of my German I students

This morning one of my German III students gave me a hand-made blue ribbon in German.

The first place trophy and the ribbon one of my German III students made me

I played a lot of baseball and soccer as a kid and won my share of trophies back then.  I have since won some hardware in running as well.  But dancing?  Now I've seen everything.

And without further ado, here is the spectacle that was our dance last night.  I give full credit to my dance partner, who came up with about 97 percent of the dance and waited patiently for me to master simple moves throughout the rehearsal process.  (And thanks to Stevie for filming.)

Disco Pogo

This is about to happen.  I'm actually about to go dance in front of hundreds of people.

And yes, our team name is Team Spartenheimer.

The dress rehearsal was yesterday, and I went full out, and consequently woke up with an increibly sore back this morning.  I joked all day with my dance partner that I'm an old man and can't be cutting a rug on a stage with a bunch of teenagers.

I'm about to head over to the school for the show.  Let's crank it up to 11.

Beer Run

Interesting article from a few weeks ago about the merits of beer paired with running.

Apparently they go together better for women.

Excuse me while I go test the theory.