This week was one of ups and downs. Some things came up and Kim and I have some major decisions to make after next week after the pre-retirement seminar. Retirement from the Corps is possibly just around the corner, but the final decision has not been made and will wait until after the seminar next week and I get more information.

Gannon will be making the honor roll again and of course we are very proud of him. High school soccer conditioning started for him this week as well. So he doubles up for high school conditioning and practice with the Brazilian Soccer Club.

As I posted last week, all commissions earned from Brochin.net, until 24 February will be donated to The Brothers in Arms Foundation. So if you are looking for anything IT or Telecommunications related, what better feeling than to know when you purchase that the sales commission goes to some very deserving people.

Last night we had Captain D’s and rented the movie Hurt Locker. First, I love the deluxe meal from Capt D’s. Second, the Hurt Locker is a stupid movie and a waste of time. The first 20 minutes was ok, but after that it spiraled so quickly and rapidly into Hollywood la-la land that it was unbearable. Don’t waste your time with this movie.

Been studying for the CompTIA A+ and currently studying about motherboards. I am really enjoying studying this because I had forgotten a great deal of things I had learned before and I am learning some new jewels as well. Gannon will more than likely get his A+ before I do though.

Before you get all impressed with the fact that we have nothing better to do with our time than to watch an entire season in a week, if you look at past posts, you will see Gannon and I watched Season 7 in a weekend. Season 8 starts next week, and we are looking forward to it and hoping to knock out Season 2 before then.

Started studying for the CompTIA A+ exam yesterday. Not really impressive I know, but I figure I might as well since I already have Net+ and Sec+. Having A+ should round everything out and then maybe I can work on my Server+ or start working vendor specific certifications.

Was talking with Gannon last night. After we finish 24 Season 7, we are thinking about doing one 24 episode every day starting with season one. After each episode, I was thinking about writing a review of each episode on this blog. So we should finish Season 7 today and start the “24 Everday” with Season 1 tomorrow, Monday our time. I will create a new category labeled “24 Everyday”, then add sub categories for each season.

Really weird watching people in the states getting ready for New Years and we are already 9 hours into the new year here. Started uploading the pictures from the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium, they can be seen on my Facebook profile http://www.facebook.com/joebrochin .

Sitting around watching college football off and on the rest of the day while Kim and Gavin watch the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie….ooops….no football. Gannon and I decided to buy the Season 7 of 24 and bring it home. We are half way done already. We watched it from about 1pm to 10pm. Love the series, in fact, my favorite of all time. I just pray we really have Jack Bauer’s out there doing the dirty work to stop the monsters that go bump in the night.

New Years Eve morning, up at 6am and sucking down coffee. I am not a Starbucks addict like some. In fact I have only had Starbucks coffee a handful of times, but Kim received some Starbucks in a gift basket a couple weeks ago and since then I have been hooked. No, I haven’t lost my mind or become a cellphone, caffee latte welding asshole, but I do like the Starbucks in MY coffee maker.

Got up this Tuesday morning and had to go into work just to get my swine flu vaccination. It was made mandatory for all of us to get the H1N1 shot so we don’t come down with piggy flu. Other than that, I did not do anything else except update some websites. I watched the Vikings vs. Bears, but that really doesn’t count as doing anything productive.

Kim used her gift certificate for the spa today and when she made it home, made some breaded shrimp for dinner. After dinner we watched a movie titled Staten Island. It was a little different spin on the mobster movies, I would say it was worth the rental fee.

We went to the local zoo ran by the Okinawa Kids Discovery Kingdom Foundation here Sunday and it was a good time.

Kim had been telling me how she didn’t like the exhibits for some of the larger animals. I didn’t think they were too bad, however I thought the size of the hippo area was small and noticed the lack of grass or dirt in the bigger cat areas. I took some pretty good photos, or at least I thought they were good.

Took a couple days leave last week and will taking some time this week as well. Really enjoying the time with the family around the house. Christmas was good, the boys enjoyed their gifts and Kim and I enjoyed their smiles.

We purchased two movies and went to see one movie this weekend. We purchased Night at the Museum 2 and District 9. Night at the Museum 2 was funny and a really good time to watch with Gavin. District 9 was a little disappointing. I expected more from a movie that had so much hype to the trailers and website. However the irony of the movie being set in Johannesburg did not escape me and in fact it seems to be the main point the movie is trying to drive home. Like the movie makers are trying to open a somewhat healed wound or something.