Hernandez Life » friends

Mark Is At It Again

Rick — Tue, 06 May 2008 19:00:01 +0000

At the time these photos were taken (April 10th), Mark’s wife was expecting and we threw him a baby shower at the office. Since then, on April 16th, baby Paige Mackenzie came into the world.

Mark posted some photos at the following:

http://gallery.mac.com/runforacure#100045

Click on a photo above to go to the galery

Happy New Year & Deranged Snowmen

Rick — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 04:37:20 +0000

We hadn’t originally planed on it, but Phaedra & I ended up having an impromptu New Year’s Bash at our home. Three generations of LaPreta’s plus our friends Stacy & Mike helped us bring the new year in. Thanks to Anthony, we’ll have enough cold-cuts & antipasto to last the whole year. Thanks to my overzealousness, we’ll have liquor to last just as long. Photos of the night can be seen on our family website. Phaedra & I wish everyone a great 2008.

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.

I.S. Holiday Party

Rick — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:55:53 +0000

We had our yearly ‘Informations Systems Department’ Holiday Party on Tuesday. Thanks to all the managers for supplying all the food & drinks (including Champaign), also Mike brought in some great food from his wife’s Chinese restaurant. Other IS staff brought in a bevy of deserts. We also had our traditional ‘Chinese Grab Bag’ (don’t look at me, I didn’t name it). Yours truly came away with a nice bottle of Finlandia Vodka with 3 shot glasses. For those of you who don’t know the rules:

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.

Dec 5th – A New American Drinking Holiday

Rick — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 05:13:45 +0000

At least it should be. Yes we celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day and Cinco de Mayo, but these are not American holidays. Repeal Day commemorates the anniversary of Congress repealing the Eighteenth Amendment and giving us the government’s approval to consume alcohol in all it’s glorious variations. Repeal day is a great ~~excuse~~ occasion to get together with friends and pay tribute to our constitutional rights.

Here’s a quick history:

On January 16th, 1919, Congress passed the Volstead Act, outlawing alcohol mostly due to the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, who believed alcohol was the root of all evils. Predictably, our thirst for alcohol increased during Prohibition, and organized crime rose up to replace formerly legal methods of production and distribution. America was not happy, and in the thirteen years that followed, even many of the original proponents of Prohibition came to their senses. In 1932 Franklin Delano Roosevelt ran for President on a platform that included the repeal of Prohibition.

On Decenber 5th, 1933, Congress ratified the 21st Amendment, repealing Prohibition and restoring the American right to a celebratory drink.

Click HERE for a great video showing what life would be like if the Volstead Act had never been repealed. Also click HERE for a very good Bartender’s blog on the same subject.

So to wrap it up, On December 5th, make sure to get together with friends and family, have a few drinks (but don’t drive), and start a yearly celebration of “Repeal Day”.

Eoin Becomes A Pop

Rick — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 16:50:04 +0000

From Eoin:

Please pass on the perfect news to everyone. Nabi Young Quane was born at 5:09 pm on October 31s weight 6 lbs and 15.8 ounces. Mom and baby are well. Thanks to everyone for their best wishes.

Sobong & Eoin, You have been blessed by a li’l miracle. Phaedra and I want to congratulate you, and give you our warmest wishes for a happy & healthy life for all of you.

Click any of the 3 pictures for larger versions

There Goes My Life – by Kenny Chesney

All he could think about was I’m too young for this.
Got my whole life ahead.
Hell I’m just a kid myself.
How’m I gonna raise one.

All he could see were his dreams goin’ up in smoke.
So much for ditchin’ this town and hangin’ out on the coast.
Oh well, those plans are long gone.

[Chorus:]
And he said,
There goes my life.
There goes my future, my everything.
Might as well kiss it all good-bye.
There goes my life…….

A couple years of up all night and a few thousand diapers later,
That mistake he thought he made covers up the refrigerator.
Oh yeah……….he loves that little girl.

Momma’s waiting to tuck her in,
As she fumbles up those stairs.
She smiles back at him dragging that teddy bear.
Sleep tight, blue eyes and bouncin’ curls.

[Chorus:]
He smiles…..
There goes my life.
There goes my future, my everything.
I love you, daddy good-night.
There goes my life.

Eoin’s Baby Shower

Rick — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 07:01:36 +0000

Well Eoin is gonna become a daddy within the next few days; so we got together at work, chipped in a few bucks for a present, cake, soda, and gave the soon to be Pop a little shingding. Besides celebrating his bundle of joy to be, we were also consoling him on the total loss of any free time he would have had for the next 18 years or so. But the most important thing to remember, is a little gem a TV dad once said:

“If the new American father feels bewildered and even defeated, let him take comfort from the fact that whatever he does in any fathering situation has a fifty percent chance of being right.” -Bill Cosby

You can find a few photos of the event here.

To the future parents to be, Phaedra & I are so happy for you and send you our warmest wishes. Congratulations and enjoy soon getting to know your family’s newest addition!

Funnies

Murphy — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 03:48:56 +0000

I just love this.

Marylou’s Birthday

Rick — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 06:48:39 +0000

We went Tuesday night to celebrate Marylou’s birthday at her home. As we both work in the city, by the time we got to her home, the party was in full swing. After eating a quick Chinese meal, we got in a few rounds of laughing and drinking before the birthday cake got brought out. We had a great time and want to thank Marylou, and her daughter Louisa, for inviting us. You can find a few pictures of the event here. And you can find the full set of photos on our family site family.hernandezlife.com.

Gavin’s Visit

Rick — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 03:37:13 +0000

Sorry but this posting is a bit belated. Turn’s out our friend Louisa, daughter of Marylou (see next post), has been having an internet romance. On August 19th, Gavin flew over from England to meet Louisa for the very first time in person. Given Phaedra & my work schedule, we unfortunately could not meet Gavin in person, but from what everyone has told us, he is a very nice guy (like Louisa would go out with anyone who wasn’t!). Hopefully he’ll be back soon and we will get the chance to meet him (sure, that’s the only reason Louisa hopes he returns). Phaedra & I wish them the best of luck. You can see the full set of pictures here.

Maya & Ori Have A Barbecue

Rick — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 04:46:08 +0000

Yesterday Phaedra & I, Kurt & Diane & kids, and Curtis went down to PA to spend the afternoon. The kids turned into prunes (in the pool) and the rest of us feasted on pate, bruschetta, curried chicken, spicy mushrooms and steaks. Topped off by cheeses, various ice creams, and fresh fruit. Of course various types of martinis lubricated the BBQ. I can definitely say, a good time was had by all.
Thank you Maya & Ori.

Photos can be found here.