matt

I realize I haven't written in a while but I've been generally unmotivated to write in here for whatever reason. At first it was just because I had nothing to write about but soon after I just couldn't motivate myself to write in here. Maybe because nothing exciting is going on beyond the things that are related to buying a house, which aren't that exciting. Well, I'm on a flight to Hartford and since they have internet onboard (woot!) and since I'm out of things to do online, I decided to write now. I guess it's a case of taking what you can get...

First, I'm savoring the flavor of the Marlins being 3-0 this season, which is their best start since 1997 (when they won a World Series). I'm hoping this year I actually get to a game in Miami but the 3 hour drive is kind of an issue. Ideally there'd be a 4pm game on a weekend so I can drive in, see the game and leave Miami around 7ish and be home around 10. We'll see how that plan goes.

As I mentioned before we are buying the house and now trying to get the mortgage in order. One company is almost done but they need one more thing from us. We're also trying a different company to compare and see any difference, so we'll see where that goes. Once we have the mortgage, we'll be ready to go and because we don't quite have the mortgage yet, I'm not entirely convinced that we have the house yet because technically we can still pull out if we can't get mortgage rates that suit our needs.

We're on a flight to Hartford to celebrate Passover. Marissa and I are going to New York tomorrow to spend the day in the city at the Museum of Natural History and then it's off to Long Island for our passover seder. Technically passover starts right now but I don't think there's any matzah on the plane. Aside from the seder tomorrow, our only plans are to see the Heaths and spend time with my family. Should be a nice long weekend.

Speaking of Passover, I'm rebelling this year and allowing myself to eat certain food that is not typically kosher like rice or beans or other foods that make no sesne why they are not kosher for passover. It's my own personal fight for my principles.

Anywho, that's it for now. Hopefully I'll find the motivation to keep writing some more or at the very least post funny videos.

Song of the Day: Daughtry - Home

This whole A-Rod thing and steroids isn't as surprising as I had thought it might be. To me, it's more surprising that anyone doesn't take anything than if they do. I'm glad to hear he only did it in Texas (or so he says) and that his Yankee years appear to be clean, especially since he's been tested since joining the Yankees. What bothers me really is that he is getting a ridiculous amount of attention from the press but most other plays get a quick mention and that's that. Even if Pujols or even Manny get caught, I don't think it would be as big a situation as A-Rod.

Last night Marissa and I began looking around for a cheap cruise deal. The way I see it, if we can grab some cheapo cruise that is like ~$300 or so per person, it's a great deal. We're eying right now two cruises that go out of Fort Lauderdale in the beginning of May but we're keeping our options open. I want to go on the cruise before the summer because I don't want it to be overly hot and also because I want to go on a cruise sooner rather than later. I think having a cruise planned would be a nice thing to look forward to and be something Marissa and I could plan together. I think we're getting a bit of "cabin feever" even though it's going to be 77 degrees today. Since we live in Florida now, we really don't have any real vacations planned where we have to go somewhere outside of this state (aside from our tentative plans for our anniversary to Disneyland). It's always nice to have something to look forward to, I think. Nothing is booked quite yet but we're keeping our options open for something.

Song of the Day: Elton John - Island Girl

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

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.

I'm back from a week long vacation. The cruise was everything I hoped for and I think we really had a great time there. Given that it was a Disney nerd cruise, Marissa I'm sure wished for a little less nerdiness, but overall we both had a good time on the cruise. I'll post photos whenever I get a chance to post them on Facebook, which hopefully will be sometime soon. Some of the highlights of the cruise was Marissa and I doing our own walking tour of Nassau, smoking Cuban cigars with friends while watching Monday Night Football on the big LCD screen near the pool on the ship and seeing Bolt in 3D.

We returned from the cruise on Thursday and spent a few days following that playing at Disney World. We spent the last 3 nights at dessert parties, had a VIP ride on Tower of Terror and Soarin' after the park was closed, and participated in a lot of other fun activities around WDW. I love Mousefest and it's a fabulous time of the year that I really relish and I'm pretty bummed that it's basically over. It's such a fun and busy time of the year that I love being able to participate in it and already can't wait until Mousefest 2009.

There's lots of fun stories to tell, but I'll share one from yesterday that was rather humorous. I valeted my car at 2:30pm and hung out around the resort for a few hours. At 7pm Marissa calls me and asks me where I am. I tell her I'm at the Beach Club resort with friends. She asks me where I parked my car and I told her I valeted it. She then asks me where my keys are and I put my hand on my pocket, feel my keys, and then realize I forgot to give the valet my keys. So nearly 5 hours later, I return to the valet and give him my keys. I felt like a dumbass but I'm lucky I didn't park my car in the middle of the street or something.

Even though I'm back at work, the good news is that I won't be for long. I have to work this week, but have a Christmas party on Friday, then next week I have Monday off for the start of Hanukkah, then work a day and the next day is a half day for Christmas eve and then we are off the rest of the week. Not bad, eh?

Song of the Day: Rhianna - Disturbia