matt

I had a fun weekend at Disney and Boardwalk. Our night at Boardwalk was very nice...almost like a date, in that we checked in and then went to dinner at Portobello. Dinner started off badly but the food finally came and made up for the shotty service and I had a really, really good fillet mignon steak. Afterwards we returned to the Boardwalk for dessert and I opted for a cupcake with an ungodly amount of frosting on it. It reminded me of when I was a kid in Madison and after school my mom would bring me to Upper Crust Bakery to get something to eat before hebrew school and I often got these cupcakes that were so good. Like anything you try to bring back from your childhood, it's never quite the same but it was a nice memory to bring back.

Our night at Boardwalk was pleasant, except for the birds that took up residence outside our window and began skwaking at like 6am until we got up. I wanted to throw my shoe at them, it was so annoying. On Saturday we had the oil changed in Marissa's car and walked around the Magic Kingdom. Aside from that, not much else happened and I had a nice, relaxing weekend and those are my favorite.

It's time for the weekend and this weekend, Marissa and I will be staying at Disney's Boardwalk resort. We're just staying there tonight but it will be nice to "get away" for one night and have some fun. We haven't settled on any firm plans beyond dinner. We're eating at Portobello Yacht Club restaurant because we received gift certificates from some friends before the holidays. I haven't heard great things about it but since we aren't really paying for it, we really have nothing to lose. At any rate, it should be a nice weekend together.

Yesterday we went to the gym and I had a good workout. When I was doing weights, I felt good and afterwards I felt like my upper body was....swelled up, which is a good thing. Then I did the elliptical and I felt great. On Tuesday I was struggling through my workout but I finished with extra energy and felt great. I only wish I didn't have the typical post-workout-hunger binge where I had a few servings of the wonderful banana bread my wife makes. It's funny because I really don't like bananas but I could eat banana bread all day long. Marissa made it for me as a surprise and I was thrilled to have some of it.

So the big news of the day is the plane crash yesterday. What happened is pretty much the sum of all my fears when it comes to flying and it reminds me, yet again, how much I really hate flying. The worst part is it isn't the fault of some faulty sensor or screw that can be repaired in all planes. Rather, it's friggin birds! What are they going to do...kill all birds? Now in addition to worrying about the plane exploding/crashing/falling apart, I have to worry about mammals in the air too!

Earlier this week, I mentioned how this week at work we switched from 9-5 to 8:30-5:30. Well as of today, we're back to 9-5. Evidently I was not the only one annoyed by the change and the change wasn't sitting well with most of us and we also weren't any more productive than before the change so we switched back as of today and I love the change back. The only thing that is different now is instead of a full hour for lunch, we only get 30 minutes but I'm so willing to make that compromise. I'm glad the owner saw the issue and remedied it and quite honestly it's made us all a little happier and happy workers and busy workers. Besides, now I'll have less traffic to deal with and I get to sleep an extra half hour and I get home earlier. If you can't tell, I'm happy about this change.

After work today I'm going with Marissa to the gym for a nice workout. I'm looking forward to it because I do like the gym and I feel motivated to exercise and (hopefully) drop some weight. Plus there's the whole get into shape idea.

This weekend we don't have any firm plans. My friend will be in town for the Disney Marathon so we'll likely be hanging out with him but other than that, no other plans to speak of and that's fine with me. I always enjoy quiet weekends.

One last note, my lovely wife has asked me to build her a blog because she too wants to share her random thoughts with the world. She once had a blog a number of years ago but stopped writing in it because her dad used it to spy on her but I guess she's ready to give it another shot so feel free to stop by and see what's on her mind at her blog and say hello.

My 3 day weekend is over, but my 5 day weekend is beginning tonight! It's such a weird feeling because I feel like I should be depressed since today is my first day back at work after the weekend, but then again tomorrow I'm off for the rest of the week for Christmas so I'm quite conflicted.

After work today, Marissa and I are driving up to Georgia to spend the weekend with her family. They will have a Christmas party at some point (I think Saturday). As I'm sure you're all well aware, my birthday is on Friday so I'm sure we'll go out to dinner. My pick will have to be El Ranchero since it's my favorite Mexican restaurant. Aside from that, I think we'll exchange Christmas presents on Christmas morning and possibly go to Christmas mass tomorrow night. Should be a nice weekend relaxing up there.

Yesterday my folks and sisters came into town for the day. They had a stopover in Port Canaveral on their cruise so we "celebrated" Hanukkah by doing a few things. First we drove to Orlando and I had a quick falafel lunch and then we went to Disney. My mom and sisters got manicures and pedicures while me and my dad went to Epcot for a few hours. My dad was so hellbent on going to Epcot and getting some German food that he bought a one day ticket for about $80 and only spent like 3 hours in the park. He was happy, so that's what mattered. Afterwards we went to Citricos at the Grand Floridian for dinner. I picked Citricos since my family is a fan of up-scale dining and I hit a home run with that pick since they were raving about it the rest of the night. Afterwards I drove them back to Cape Canaveral and dropped them off.

For Marissa and I's Hanukkah gift, my folks are chipping into buy us a 42" LCD tv. The issue is we couldn't buy it yesterday since we had no room in the car so we decided to buy it online. The problem with that is the stupid web site refuses to let me pick the TV up despite the fact there's like 20 TVs at the store. I can't just go to the store to buy it because I don't have my folks' credit card. I'm contemplating just going there and giving them the sob story and hope they'll take it but I doubt it. The reason I want to buy it today is I'm worried this particular deal won't be available when we return from Georgia. Decisions, decisions, decisions!

Why is there a light in the fridge but no light in the freezer? Why wouldn't I need a light to see things in the freezer? I'm fairly certain it's dark in there too.

Song of the Day: The LeeVees - How Do You Spell Channukkahh?

It's Friday!! I'm excited not just because it's the end of the work week but because after work today, there will be nothing between me and my cruise on Sunday! I'm excited to start my week long vacation. I've taken all of next week off from work for the cruise and for some post-cruise fun at Disney. I'm really looking forward to this cruise, a lot more so than my honeymoon cruise if only because the wedding was what I was focused on with that last cruise. Weather should be nice for the cruise and I think we're going to have a genuinely good time and this will be Marissa's first Disney cruise so I'm excited to show her everything on the ship.

Today at work we had some people from L.A. Fitness come in and talk to us about gym membership. They are having an open house tomorrow so I'd like to go there with Marissa for a workout since we it's our workout day anyway and their gym is way better than our dumb apartment complex gym. If we sign up is going to depend on how much, if any, work will be covering for the registration costs. I'd like to join a gym, but money is very tight so it's hard to say if we can afford it or not. While I'd much rather work out at a real gym, I'll settle for our crappy apartment gym since the price is free. While the L.A. Fitness people were here, they took our percentage of body fat and BMI and evidently I have 15% body fat (which is fine for my height and weight and age) but my BMI is off by like 2 or 3 points.

Since it is December and Hanukkah is right around the corner, here is a live version of one of my favorite songs by the LeeVees. Definietly listen for the part where the mom comes up to sing her part.

Song of the Day: The LeeVee's - At the timeshare (Live)