January 31, 2001

Well, clearly there have been some changes made on the site recently. Teaching JavaScript as often as I do, I felt I should actually use some scripts on my own site. I found the cool mouse-over menu code and thought it would work well on the site. That, of course, necessitated a complete re-design. No, we don't do things small 'round these parts.
Oh, and I added another element to the page: JavaScript for a random quote generator. I filled it with Simpsons quotes, of course. What, you were expecting something more profound?
We're busily preparing for some company next week. Kathy, Deanna, Debi, Sherrice, and others are joining us for Katie's big first birthday celebration! There will actually be quite a few more people, but these are the lucky few that actually get to clean our house, cook, and clean up. They don't know it yet, though... so shhhhh... thanks.
A couple weeks ago Vic, my dad, and I worked on a project in our living room-dining room area. We painted two shades of taupe and put up a chair rail. It really does make a big difference, at least to us. We'd been planning to do something to that big plain room since we moved in over three years ago, and feel good that we finally got it done.
We also painted the half-bath downstairs, which took all of 45 minutes. Vic and I are getting so good at this painting thing, each room we do goes faster and turns out nicer. By the time we reach expert status, we'll have nothing left to paint. Time to start over?
Probably the biggest news, though, is that Katie's walking! She started taking a step here and there a few weeks ago, but finally caught on to what she was doing last week, and is now getting more brave. If there aren't any toys in the way, she'll walk across the room! We're very proud, as is she.
I still have Christmas pictures to get developed, and yes, they'll be really old by the time I put them on the site. We'll post some birthday party shots for those of you who won't be able to make it, so watch for those in the next few weeks. And Katie's going in for her 12-month portraits next week, so I plan to scan proofs and post them too. Ooooh, now you can hardly wait, huh?

January 10, 2001

I scanned in a bunch of photos that can be found on a new page on our site: Friends. Links to some pages that have been here a while can be found there too.
The Voss Family page has new photos. These are the super-duper they-really-do-look-like-that photos that are so hard to get with teenagers.
Daryl & Sally finally have a page. Not much on it, but it's there.
Last weekend I got quite a treat: Vic took Katie to Seattle for the weekend to give me a few days of solitude. I enjoyed every minute! Ed, Stefan and I went out to Pasta Veloce Saturday night, and tried to go to a movie at the new Fox Tower but just about everything was sold out. Sure, we could've seen "Dude, Where's My Car?" but gee, we just didn't. Otherwise the weekend consisted of lots of quiet time at home, watching rented DVDs and cuddling with Scout. It was just what I needed after the busy holidays.
I've just started reading two big fat books: Maurice, by E.M. Forster, and Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, by Gregory Maguire. The last book I read was an autobiography of Armistead Maupin, which was interesting but quite short, so I don't consider getting through it a very big accomplishment on my part.
Congrats to my friend Annalee and her husband Mark, who had a baby girl last weekend. I can't wait to meet her! Watch for pictures here as soon as they're willing to part with some.
As Taylor Lassen would say, "And we're not going to say any more words. Good-bye."

January 5, 2001

Happy New Year!
Site's re-designed, as you can tell. If it's really difficult to read, please let me know; otherwise I don't want to hear anything but NICE comments.
Christmas in Colorado was white-ish. We had so much fun, I can't even begin to regale you all with the details. Santa Kathy made sure Katie's first Christmas was memorable and fun. We discovered the game Cranium (thanks, Dad and Dotti)--here's a hint: don't let Kathy play on your team. She always loses. It must be one of those scientific phenomena, because she should be really good at it.
My plan is to scan the Christmas card photos we received and post them on the site, so watch this space for your picture! Then you can be just like Deanna, Martin, Lori, and Ed and have your own coveted pages on manullang.com! If that ain't a brush with greatness...
I also want to apologize to all of you who are waiting for me to reply to your recent e-mails. I haven't been on the computer much lately, but I promise I'll get to you soon.