March Birthdays

Here are the birthdays for the month of March:

• Michelle Arellanes (hi sista!), March 1

• Teresa Arellanes, March 2

• Manuel Romero, March 15

And of course, we remember Grampa Sal's birthday on March 12.

Wish them happy birthday, folks!

Gramma Connie Turns 82

Most of y'all were there, if even for a short time.

But for those of you that weren't, here's some pics from her birthday.

Oh, and if you were wondering why I put the words "FOR EVER" after every mention of her birthday (on the calendar or on the post for 'February's Birthdays') it's because that's what she says-- she ain't dying, she's gonna be around FOR EVER!

Hope you enjoy the pics!

February Birthdays

Happy Groundhog Day, people.

Here are your birthdays for the month of February:

• Ray-Dawg Aspuria, February 13

• Liz Villareal, February 19
  

• Gramma Connie, February 25 (FOR EVER)
  

• Mary Ellen 'Mija' Cook, February 26

Wish them well!

Birthday Appeal

Folks, I'ma level with you.... in a fun way.

As I said before, there are quite a few birth dates I do not have. I might have only two-thirds of all birthdays in our family on the calendar. There are more than 100 of us at last count (which may itself be off).

Take a look below. This is the spreadsheet I have been using to log the birthdays. Go over it and see if there are any birthdays missing, or if there are any incorrect dates. Between those of you who view The Herd semi-regularly, I'm sure most of the rest can be found.

January Birthdays, Updated Again

See what I mean.

Someday I hope to have all of the birthdays on the calendar. I think I'm up to about 60-70, which means there's only 30-40 more to go.

Here's the latest update:

• Abraham Fuentes (Joaquin's son), January 28

I'll update more as they come.

Alexiana's Moves

Of course you didn't think we took Monica to dinner without any entertainment, right?

After Harry's, we took her party to Gramma Connie's (woo!) for some cake from Jennine's Bakery (which is actually very good... thanks Robert and Renee!) and to watch Monica's year-old granddaughter Alexiana dance for us (woo again!).

Yup... we know how to party. Oakland's got nothing on us.

Here's a video of the entertainment, Alexiana and her moves...

Updated: Martin's Birthday Video

Hey, everyone.

I know the quality on Martin's birthday video was poor, and it was hard to hear or read comments. So I went back and upped the quality. It's now a lot better.

Here it is below, and I changed it in the original post as well.

Monica's Birthday at Harry's

Our family is always fun, there’s no doubt about that. Monica’s birthday dinner at Harry’s seemed to take that seriously, because everyone seemed to enjoy him/herself on Saturday night.

26 people showed up: Monica, Renee, Chris, Raquel, Ryan, Alexiana, Esther (Chris’ Mom), Henry (Chris’ Dad), Robert, Gramma Connie, Linda, Manuel, Carmen, Eric, Lil Eric, Mija, Lizzy, Cindy Cook, Martin, Ty, Marina, Dolly, Bill, Marisa, Michelle, and I.

Here’s a few pictures in the Photo Album.

For those who didn’t go, here’s a few notable quotes from that night:

• --Singapore Slings for Linda, Manuel and Robert. As Robert said, “In honor of my godmother, Mija.” If you haven’t heard that story, ask someone. I’m not gonna put it up here…

• --First people (Monica and I) got to Harry’s at 5pm sharp. Folks were streaming in for the next 35 minutes. But the last group didn’t get there until just after 6. Everyone was wearing a watch. Maybe they’re just for looks, ‘cuz we all know how to tell time, right?

• --Gramma Connie likes to talk. But more than that, she just wants to know what’s going on. She was seated in the middle of the long table, where tradition says important people should sit (the ‘head of the table’ is a weird American thing the means you only have 2 people to talk to instead of 5 as you would in the middle). Thing is, she couldn’t hear the conversations at either end of the table.

• She was kinda pissed. So Renee commiserated, “I know, Gramma [I feel your pain]! See what happens when you have 13 kids and try to go to dinner with 50 people?!” We need to get a table shaped like a donut and put Gramma in a swivel chair in the middle so she can swing around and be part of EVERY conversation.

• --Monica had 2 glasses of wine. Folks asked her if she had brought a designated driver. She thought for a second and said, “Well, I brought David, so…. Never mind. I guess not.” Salene mentioned this in a comment to the post titled ‘Harry’s It Is’ by saying I needed to get my license so my Aunties could have a good time and still get home safely. I’m still laughing.

• --Carmen wanted to pay her bill, and she was asking for the ticket. Someone answered, “Hold on. They’re passing it around.” And Carmen said with excitement, “Oh! What are they passing around?!” Trying to hold back laughter, Renee said, “A joint.” Dolly threw in, “A mirror and a straw.” We love our Aunties, don’t we, Cousins?

January Birthdays, Updated

I forgot to include Cousin Candy in the birthday list for January-- sorry!

Here's the updated list:

• Leah Hernandez, January 1

• Martin Hernandez (Sr), January 2
  

• Marisa Arellanes (Scoob!), January 2
  

• Monica Modlin, January 8
  

• Manuel 'Duke' Romero, January 15

• Cousin Candy Diaz, January 15
  

• Sonia Aspuria, January 19
  

• Natalie Hernandez, January 22

• Malaya Aspuria, January 29

• Salene Castaneda, January 30
  

• Bill Arellanes, January 31

As I've written before, if you have anything to say, or want to add birthdays to my short list, just let me know!

Harry's It Is!

If you take a look at what I wrote yesterday, you might notice that someone left a comment (click on '1 comment' at the bottom of yesterday's post and the comment will open up).

Looks like Monica has decided to go to Harry's!

But take a look at the comment anyway. He or she has some words for y'all..... funny words.

May or May Not....

Monica turns 54 today (woo!) and there have been some discussions on what to do. Oprah turns 54 today too but who knows what she'll be doing.

Well, here's the maybes:

Folks may or may not take Monica to dinner on Friday night. Monica says things have been busy, and since 54 isn't a big number, she could take it or leave it.

Take it! Take it! Take it!

They may or may not go to Jill's Place (Shalhoob's). Jill doesn't take reservations of groups more than 8, and there's about 12 people on the short list.

So, they may or may not go to Harry's, where the food is mediocre but the drinks are stiff.

What's that mean for everyone? Not a whole lot, but wish her happy birthday anyway!

January Birthdays

Apologies for being a few days late (Happy Birthday to Leah, Martin and Scoob!).

Here are the January Birthdays (quite a few, in fact... what were y'all doing every October? No holidays, no change of seasons.... )

• Leah Hernandez, January 1

• Martin Hernandez (Sr), January 2
  

• Marisa Arellanes (Scoob!), January 2
  

• Monica Modlin, January 8
  

• Manuel 'Duke' Romero, January 15

• Sonia Aspuria, January 19
  

• Natalie Hernandez, January 22

• Malaya Aspuria, January 29

• Salene Castaneda, January 30
  

• Bill Arellanes, January 31
  

One birthday for every Tuesday in the month, and there are 5 Tuesdays in January-- if y'all planned that, you're good... you're pretty damned good... ;)

Here's the Calendar. Wish 'em well, folks!

Martin's 50th

Uncle Martin-- You made it!

50 years around the sun, and all is well.

Here's a little video of the day's happenings. I wish the sound was better, but you should be able to figure out the dialogue. Enjoy!

December Birthdays

Mornings in Santa Barbara from now until the middle of Spring are some of the best. The skies are blue, and most often without any clouds. The air is crisp, and refreshing. The sun, as it rises above the mountains and over the Channel, turns everything a wonderful golden hue...

I just wanted to mention that.

Without further ado, as we always do here on The Herd at the beginning of a new month, here are the birthdays for the month of December:

• Tyvador 'Ty' Hernandez, December 6

• Johnny Hernandez, December 11

• Trina Garcia, December 29
  

• Matthew 'Matt' Hernandez, December 29

As usual, I know there are more out there. But I haven't gotten feedback on the totality of birthdays yet, so this is all I have. Wish these folks a Happy Birthday-- remember, December folks usually lose out to Christmas, so it's a nice thing to go out of your way to wish them well!

New Photos In The Gallery

Hey, y'all. I broke into my older pictures and loaded up quite a few in the Family Album. I'll be adding a few more pictures to each album, but not too many.

Take a look at one of the new albums:

• -Memorial Day 2005

• -Independence Day 2005

• -Fiesta 2005
  

• -Marisa's 4th Birthday

• -Cousins February 2006

• -Family General '05-'06
  

Updated November Birthdays

I'm glad word is getting out. It means the Birthdays on the Calendar will be more accurate. If we took all of our family and averaged the birthdays over a year, we'd be celebrating twice a week for the entire year. Wow.

Here's November's Birthday list, updated to include Louie Hernandez and CJ Hernandez:

• Carmen Garcia, November 3

• Meagan Berendt, November 3

• Louie Hernandez, November 10
  

• Lizzy Cook, November 5

• Eric 'Lil Eric' Garcia, November 19

• Christian James 'CJ', 'Ceej' Hernandez, November 29

Good times, folks.

November Birthdays

Here's what I have of the November Birthdays. Wish well on another trip around the sun, y'all!

• Carmen Garcia, November 3

• Meagan Berendt, November 3

• Lizzy Cook, November 5

• Eric 'Lil Eric' Garcia, November 19

Here's the Calendar as well. If you have any events, let me know and I'll put them up.

October Birthdays

Hey, y'all. Here's the Birthdays for October. I know there's more, but this is what I have...

• Sal 'Junior' Hernandez, October 9

• Marina Hernandez, October 9

• Joe Cook, October 15

• Mike 'Mikey' Montross (aka, 'Mo'), October 15

• Malia Cook, October 15
  

Happy Birthday, people! Here's the October Calendar (click link).

September Birthdays

Here's what I have, and it's likely a lot less, and not as accurate, as the real thing...


- Danny Hernandez, September 5

- Ronny Hernandez, September 19

- Richard Hernandez (Sr), September 23

- Renee Jaimes, September 25

- Victor Hernandez (Sr), September 30


Apologies to Reina Hernandez, and the twins David and Jessica Gladish: I know your birthdays are in September, I just don't know when! Here's the calendar for September (click on link).

Birthday Parties Galore

Late breaking for me, but it seems we have a couple of birthday parties going on this weekend. Here's the info:


Good Lord, she’s 22!

Cindy’s celebrating her 22nd birthday this Saturday, August 11, at Rusty’s Pizza Parlor on the Beach (click for map) in Santa Barbara from 2pm-4pm.

Please RSVP with Mija: 805-564-1989



Let's see if he throws some cake...

Isaac Medina (Natalie's oldest) is celebrating his 3rd birthday this Saturday, August 11, at home in Carpinteria (click for map).

Be sure to bring your bathing suits!

RSVP: 805-448-3319



Happy Birthday, y'all!