As a holiday bonus, at the end of this post, you’ll find some Calvin & Hobbs’ snowman comics, written and illustrated by Bill Watterson.

To see photos of our New Year’s Eve, please go to our private family website family.hernandezlife.com, or, to save time, just click here.

Remember, to reach the photos, you need the userid & password. If you’ve forgotten, or just lost it, call me, or send me an email, and I’ll get it to you.

To see 14 photos of our visit that night, please go to our private family website family.hernandezlife.com, or, to save time, just click here to go to the photo gallery directly.

After sleeping for a few hours we spent the day relaxing at the home of my parents (Pete & Elsa) and sister (also Elsa), but that evening we went out to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Never saw an Indian Hard Rock before (to tell the truth it is not on reservation land and there is big controversy over it’s existence). The casino itself is nice, but only offers slot machines & various flavors of poker. Dad & I gambled (and lost) while the girls walked around the shops (they said it was like a nice looking, outdoor, high-end mall). The one restaurant we visited was a real disappointment, with one of the worst examples of service I’d ever experienced, plus the food was ranged from bad to just OK, and over-priced. Still we all had a good time.

The next day saw us visiting a Catholic Charities pre-school/day care center that my sister was once in charge of, and is now just one of many she administers. She has done wonders with these schools and I am very proud of her.

Later that afternoon we visited El Palacio de los Jugos (Palace of the Juices (sounds better than Juice Palace)). If you like fresh juices, this place is amazing, we bought Mango, Tamarind, Guanabana (soursop), Coconut, and Pina-colada (Coconut & pineapple juices mixed). In fact we went back at least twice more during the trip to get more.

A lot of time was spent in my sister’s private enclosed side yard (Phaedra & my smoking section) that she fixed up nicely with comfortable chairs, flowering plants and an avocado tree. This photo was of a small lizard poking its’ head out of the air-conditioning unit in her yard. Glad I wasn’t there when the compressor fan turned on.

Next day Phaedra, my mother, sister, and I, went to an amazing place called Corral Castle. You can read it’s story and a link to my pictures of it in my posting “What depression can do for you…“.

That night I wanted to take everyone out to someplace nice, but different, so I looked up on Zagat, and found Ortanique on the Mile, a fantastic, if a bit pricey, Caribbean restaurant. I have to say, it may very well have been the best food, and dining experience, I have ever had. We tried West Indian Curried Crab Cakes, a 3 cheese plate, Pan Sautéed Bahamian Black Grouper, Black Angus Beef Tenderloin, and a West Indian Style Bouillabaisse. Highly recommend it if you’re in Miami, on the Miracle Mile (and can afford $90+ a person).

Next day, besides going to a chintzy street craft fair, Espanola Way Market, we visited Miami Ink, walked South Beach, and got tattoos. More of that in my post “So we went to Miami Ink…“.

During the evenings we also spent time in my folk’s beautifully landscaped & decorated back yard, with a beach and dock on the (aforementioned, alligator-free) lake.

The next day, Christmas Eve Day, and Phaedra’s birthday, were spent shopping (the girls anyway) at Macy’s (Phaedra made out well with birthday gift cards from my family), while my dad & I went out to Miccosukee Casino (we lost again). That night we had a dinner at home in Phaedra’s honor, composed of turkey & stuffing, spinach mashed potatoes, sweet potato pie, oven roasted asparagus, and cranberries. My father got Phaedra drunk with a sour-apple martini. We topped the night off with a birthday cake and gift giving.

Finally the event that brought us here. Christmas morning. A time of wonder and delight for all. After a breakfast of my wife’s world famous (at least in our small world) cheese soufflé, we got to the presents. This is a picture of what they looked like before we started.

The ripping, the tearing, paper & ribbons being uncaringly torn limb from limb. Oh my God, the horror of it all. No, only kidding, we had lots of fun, and lots of gifts for all. In fact, Phaedra & I had to leave some of our clothes behind (to be mailed) just so we could make room in our luggage for all that we received (and shopped for).

This is what the aftermath looked like. Oh the humanity of it all…

That was our trip. Phaedra & I had a great, and relaxing, time. We both very much want to thank my parents, and my sister, heartily, for their hospitality. We flew back at 9:30 p.m. Christmas Day, got in to Newark around 1 a.m. the next day, to the house by 2, bed by 3:30. Slept for a long long while, and then went to Eva & Anthony’s for Christmas leftovers, but that’s yet another post.

You can see the other 30 odd photos I took of our visit down south under trips on my photo page, or just click here.

Click any of the pictures above for larger versions

P.S. You may have noticed (or not) that the dates of the last few (and next) postings don’t match when they popped up on my blog. It’s because I mostly wrote them on that day, but had not had a chance to finalize the text (read spellcheck), or upload the pictures till now.

• Everyone who brought a gift ($20 min – unisexual) pulls a number out of a hat
• Person #1 picks a gift, unwraps it, & shows everyone
• Person #2 unwraps a gift, then gets to choose to keep it or forcibly trade for Person #1′s gift
• Person #3 opens a gift, then either keeps it or trades for either of the two gifts that came before
• And so on…
• The last person, #32 in our case, opens the last gift and gets to choose between it or any of the 31 gifts that came before.

Obviously the higher the number the better. I got #16. To be real fun, it must be played cutthroat; doesn’t matter if the person who has what you want is your boss or not, a friend or not. We all had a great time.

To see all the photos from our party, click Photos above, click on Work, then click on IS Holiday Party ’07. Or just click here. There are 2 pages worth.

Food, food, and more food was the theme (as usual) at the LaPreta’s for Thanksgiving. Besides the customary Turkey, stuffing, & cranberries, we were treated to anti-pasta, stuffed artichokes, stuffed mushrooms, lasagna, meatballs & sausages, sweet potato pie (a Phaedra special) and a mixed fruit compote. Of course, coffee and various pies followed. The hosts outdid themselves. Besides the usual crew we enjoyed the company of Mattie, Grandma Ruth, Aunt Irene, Aunt Liz, & John.

You can see more photos at my family only photo blog here. If you’ve forgotten the user-id or password, just send me an email.

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My parents (Elsa & Pete), and my sister (also Elsa) are up from Miami to visit us, my grandmother, and to spend Thanksgiving with some old friends. On Sunday we all got together with the Eva, Anthony, the kids, and Mattie. We all had a good time eating (anti-pasta, gravy w/ meatballs and hot & sweet sausages), drinking, and telling stories. Various deserts and coffee followed of course.

You can see more photos at my family-only photo blog here. If you’ve forgotten the user-id or password, just send me an email.

Click any of the 3 pictures for larger versions

Sunday night Phaedra and I went out with Eva and Anthony to celebrate Anthony & my birthday. We went to a restaurant in Englishtown NJ that has risen from the ashes, Peking Pavilion.
It is an awesome “Chinese Fusion” restaurant that burned down just before New Year 2007, and has returned with a vengeance. I can truthfully say it is some of the best Chinese food I’ve ever had. We started off with Steak Egg rolls, Creamy Spicy Shrimp on Scallion Pancakes, Chicken Corn Soup, & Asparagus & Crab soup. The main meal was Lobster Fried Rice, Basil Beef, Grand Marnier Shrimp, and a Salmon dish I didn’t try. Desert was Apple-Pie for Anthony and Flaming Bananas for the rest of us. Peking Pavilion also has some interesting drinks; we all liked he Lychee Martinis, the Pair-tinie and the Coconut Mojito. A bit expensive, but overall an excellent restaurant.

Click either of the pictures for larger versions

Today my Indian coworkers brought in homemade delicacies to celebrate Diwali. We had various starters, Puri (fried, puffed, unleavened whole grain bread), 2 different biryanis (basmati rice dishes), vegetable curry, stuffed chili peppers, and lots of homemade deserts. It was a great success, everyone wanted it to become a tradition. Unfortunately I did not have regular camera with me but you can see a bunch of poorly taken photos here.

Diwali is perhaps the best known of the Indian festivals; it is celebrated throughout India, and in Indian communities throughout the world. It is also known as the “festival of lights”, for the common practice is to light small oil lamps (called diyas) and place them around the home, courtyards, verandahs, and gardens, as well as on roof-tops and outer walls. In urban areas, candles are substituted for diya. The celebration of the festival is invariably accompanied by the exchange of sweets and the explosion of fireworks. As with other Indian festivals, Diwali signifies many different things to the people across the country. In north India, Diwali celebrates Rama’s homecoming, after the defeat of Ravana and his coronation as king; in Gujarat, the festival honors Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth; and in Bengal, it is associated with the goddess Kali. Everywhere, it signifies the renewal of life, and accordingly it is common to wear new clothes on the day of the festival; similarly, it heralds the approach of winter and the beginning of the sowing season.