matt

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.