It's back to work and now it's even longer work. Our workday has changes from 9-5 to 8:30-5:30 and I'm not exactly thrilled. At this point, I'm just dealing with it but it really bothers me that I'm losing an hour of my day. Alas, what can you do?

I had a great long weekend doing some things and also relaxing. We went to IKEA and got a nice entertainment center that really looks nice. It's not complete, as we need another shelf unit to compliment it so we can store our DVDs and other knick-knacks but the corner of the room with the TV really looks nice and I think once we get that shelf unit, we'll be really set and it does make the living room much nicer than a TV stacked on top of a cardboard box (yes, that was really how it was). What's really interesting to me is that I am really becoming my father. With the new TV, I find myself just sitting in front of it and watching anything I can find in HD simply to enjoy it, which is exactly what my dad did when he first got the family HD tv. Not only that, I basically refuse to watch anything not in HD on that TV because it seems like a waste to me. Sad how I mock my dad when he did it, yet I'm doing the exact same thing....it's like we're related or something.

We also saw a few movies over the weekend, thanks to RedBox. First up was Get Smart which was terrible! The reason it was so bad was simply because it was not funny. At all! There were no real laugh out loud moments and I really felt like I wasted my time watching that movie. The next night, we watched Hancock and this one I thought was going to be a dud based on the reviews I read but Marissa and I both really liked Hancock. It was a simple, fun movie that was entertaining. I really liked Hancock a lot more than Get Smart and definitely recommend it. As good as Hancock was, the best movie I saw was Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Marissa picked this one out and I told her beforehand that if it stunk, I'd leave but this was laugh out loud funny and a real treat. I was genuinely disappointed when it was over because it was so entertaining. Of all the movies I mentioned, definitely go see Sarah Marshall because it is really funny (although watch out for all the penis sightings).

Speaking of entertainment, I finally convinced Marissa to sit down with me and watch Dead Like Me. We've watched the first two episodes and I think she really likes it. The show is really well written and very entertaining so I highly recommend picking up the DVD set if you get a chance.

We also signed up for a gym over the weekend. It's expensive ($40/person) but it is a nice gym. We get one month to try things out and I think we'll simply use the gym for a month and then cancel and get our money back. We need a gym that's like around $20/month and has decent equipment. Alas, our search for a good gym will continue soon enough but for now, I'll milk what I can get.

No plans really for this week. We're going to get back into the swing of working (well, I will since Marissa did work a few days over the weekend). I want to go to the gym a few times and probably just end up watching something on our new TV because it really is quite lovely.

Song of the Day: Daughtry - Crashed

As of yesterday I got the HD service all set up in our apartment and it actually works! After a quick call to Bright House to get them to actually turn on our service, it worked pretty well. I'm waiting on some HDMI cables to come in the mail so I can have a true HD picture (I'm using composite cables right now). Hopefully today after dinner we'll go to IKEA to buy an entertainment center so I can work on setting that up over the weekend and then finally have the entire television aspect of our apartment perfectly set up.

Tonight is New Years Eve and I think our plans are to relax at home. Marissa made a booze run last night and I suspect after we go to IKEA (if we do go), we'll sit in front of our new TV and have a few drinks and ring in the new year. Not exactly the most exciting thing you've ever heard, but we're a boring married couple. The days of going to overcrowded bars where it takes 15 minutes to get a drink for new years are well behind me.

Today is the last day of work this week, as I'm off tomorrow and Friday. No major plans for the weekend other than maybe putting together than entertainment center (assuming we buy it). I'm looking forward to a nice long weekend (again).

I'm back from a nice long weekend in Georgia. We went up there for Christmas and as always, had a great time there. I really enjoy my time there because I can really relax there. Unlike when I'm visiting my parents, I don't feel like I'm "on duty"...when I'm at my folks place, I have to ensure Marissa is included in everything and also be social with my parents, sisters, friends, etc. In Atlanta, I'm just along for the ride.

Christmas itself was nice. We slept in and opened presents after breakfast and I got a few nice gifts and Marissa also got some nice gifts. I only wish we had more money to spend on gifts because I really prefer to give out kick ass gifts instead of boring gift cards. For Christmas dinner, they had roasted ham while I enjoyed some very good baked ziti.

On my birthday, we spent time together relaxing and went out to my favorite restaurant, El Ranchero, for dinner. Sometimes you crave something for a long time and it never lives up to expectations but honestly it lived up to the expectations that I had in mind. It's just so good and makes me cringe when I think about the Mexican options we have down here. What was also nice was Marissa's parents gave me a few more gifts for my birthday (on top of the Xmas stuff) and it really means a lot to get something.

Saturday we had the Christmas party at Marissa's parents house and it was a nice affair. I will say that their family is very nice and inviting and I never feel out of place or anything. Once again I had baked ziti along with some roast beef and some other food....almost as good as a cruise buffet! Much later that night, Marissa and I went to El Ranchero again for one last visit; we had dinner during the party at like 3pm so by 8pm we were hungry again and one never really needs an excuse to go to El Ranchero.

The theme of the weekend was trying to find us a TV to buy. We searched a number of stores in Georgia for a tv but came up empty. Finally this afternoon I found a Walmart that had the TV we needed for the price we could afford and after jamming it in the backseat of my car, I am proud to say the Hochbergs have HD TV! Well, I still need to set it up and ensure it works (and didn't melt in the trunk of my car) but assuming all goes well, we should be set. Now we just need to buy an entertainment center from IKEA and we will have epicly good entertainment!

The only real problem with the trip was our ride back home. It should have taken about 6 hours but it took about 8.5 hours thanks to ridiculous traffic on I-75. There was one stretch of congestion that was about 25 miles long! It was quite annoying and by the end I was ready to snap but luckily once we got to the Florida Turnpike, I was able to drive at a respectable speed again and I got a lot of my frustration out in the form of speeding.