October 1, 2002

Back again for my overdue update. If you think I'm slow to get new stuff on the site, you should check out Ed's site--he only updates a couple times a year! (Though when he does, it's totally worth the wait.)
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
We accomplished more around the house at the tail end of this summer than we have in the five years we've lived here! Since I know you're dying to hear about it all, here's a quick summary of what we did since mid-August:
Got a new garage door (No need to go into details of WHY, except to say that my father-in-law needs to learn to control his temper!). The new door has winders! No one should get as excited as I was for this change... I'm pathetic.
Painted the family room and kitchen a very light taupe. If you've been in our house and remember our living room/dining room colors, it's between those two shades. If you haven't been in our house, shame on you! This was a huge project because we couldn't do it while the kids were around or when it was dark. Though some might say they can't even tell we painted, to them I say maybe they should think before they speak.
Painted the entry, up the stairs, and the upstairs hallway a light butterscotchy yellow. It coordinates with the living room sofa color. I should clarify that we didn't actually do all the painting; I hired a guy to do the two-story entry because no matter what he charged, it was cheaper than the inevitable hospital stay I would have paid for had I attempted the task myself. Vic and I painted the upstairs. It's yeller, all right... we're still getting used to it.
Re-painted Katie's room. Because her room was the first painting project in our house--and it was done long before it was ever her room--I didn't really know yet about choosing un-obnoxious colors. As we painted it a much lighter shade of lavender last week it looked white in comparison to the original color... but the finished room definitely still looks lavender, which makes us realize how positively dark the first color was. Yikes! The change is a big improvement. I still have some details left to take care of, as I'm planning to hand-paint some flowers and bugs on the walls.
Painted the kids' bathroom the same taupe as the kitchen. We also changed the decor a bit. It was always Mickey-ish, but now there's no doubt. Ed, you'll love it.
Replaced lots of photos and created new arrangements in wall frames throughout the house. This is still a work in progress.
Put up shelves in the office. I think I mentioned this in my last update.
Got sheers for the living room and dining room windows, which give us some privacy and allow us to keep the blinds open to soften the glow of the new yellow walls in the entry!
Added a new leather recliner to the family room. Vic didn't think we needed it, but guess who won that argument? After it was in place he admitted he liked it, but I still punish him by not letting him sit in it.
Found storage boxes for the office shelves (picture is not actual size). They're from IKEA. Now I can put junk on the shelves like always, but it's disguised in somethin' purty. Oh, and thanks, Mom--these were a birthday gift from her!
Vacations and visitors
My mom and grandma came for a couple days in August. Grandma scrubbed the grout in our tile countertops with a toothbrush and bleach and she's welcome back any time!
Vic and I had a weekend escape to beautiful Vancouver, Washington the weekend before my birthday. We left the kids with a big bowl of food and a box of diapers while we shopped and ate in good restaurants and had two nights of uninterrupted sleep. Fine parents, we.
On my actual birthday Vic took me to lunch at The Chart House. Although we love that restaurant, their lunch menu didn't begin to compare to dinner menu choices. All I can recommend is to skip the Portobello mushroom sandwich. Ick. It tasted like dirt. Otherwise it was a very nice meal with delicious warm spinach salad and Godiva chocolate lava cake.
Vic had a couple weeks off in September, which is when we got a lot of the above projects completed. However, we also fit in some fun when we made the trek to Boise to visit Deanna and Debi. We had a fabulous time watching movies, playing at the park, inventing new beverages (the Dew-Mi!), testing our Simpsons knowledge, and simply hanging out together. We girls spent an afternoon at the paint-your-own ceramics studio and Katie painted a tile.
On the way home from beautiful Idaho we took a detour to Walla Walla to visit my grandma. It was hard to tear Katie away from the koi pond and to get Jack out of Nana's lap. We had a nice visit.
We made a trip to Seattle last week to spit-shine our brick at Safeco Field and see the last Mariners home game of the season. Turns out it was the first of four meaningless end-of-season games, but it was still fun. We took a long route home and it just happened to put us in line at Krispy Kreme! Convenient, hm?
Our final trip of Vic's vacation was to Cannon Beach last weekend. Neither of the kids had been to the beach before, and at first the sand bothered them both, but Katie adjusted quickly and ran straight to the water. Jack developed a taste (literally!) for the sand soon after we set up "camp." Vic spent a few minutes with Scout and Katie in the surf until a wave surprised them all and drenched Katie. It was a very uncomfortable walk back to the car, and a long drive home after our half-hour beach visit. We'll try again next year.
Kid Stuff
Jack started walking just after he turned 9 months old. In his first attempt he took not one, but three steps, and never looked back. Life has changed for us, Katie mostly. He's like Godzilla--he's so out of control with his movements and destroys everything he can reach. Oh, and he's finally getting some top teeth!
Katie gives a running commentary on our daily activities and is getting easier to understand, thank goodness. She bosses Scout around, tells Jack what not to touch, and has learned all about "time-outs." She really is a good girl, though, and makes us proud with all she continues to discover.
Other fun things
I meant to publish this photo the last time I updated the site. I think it's a great shot of the Manullang kids on our Sunriver vacation this past summer:
Victor, Sonya, Ted, and Daryl
One of my client contacts has a sense of humor I've really come to appreciate! Here are links to two short but hilarious videos she recently sent me. Thanks, Alisa!
Icky Monkey
Blind Date
The WWC web site has a photo project going in an attempt to identify students in uncaptioned archive photos. I spent an hour going through them the other night and guess what I found???
Wellington doing dishes!
Heh heh heh. I love the power that comes with webmastering!
Coming soon
I need medical help. I seem to have broken my foot again. X-rays were inconclusive, but after four times I think I know what a broken foot feels like. I've got a thorough exam coming up that will hopefully give us some answers as to why this keeps happening. It's not like I suddenly became clumsy!
Ed and Stefan got a new puppy and he's a cutie! We have yet to meet Augie in person, but hope to get over to see him soon.
Next week we're going to Seattle again, this time for my actual birthday gift! Victor got us tickets to the Broadway production of "Disney's Beauty & The Beast." It'll be our second time seeing it and we can hardly wait. By the way, if you're interested in seeing it on its current tour, they're not coming to Portland, but will be in Eugene Nov. 5-10. (I'm trying to find an excuse to go to a performance there too!)
A little farther away is our next big vacation to look forward to: we're going on a Disney cruise! Wellington and Darlene will be celebrating their 40th anniversary and have invited all of their kids to join them. I've heard they're fun for all ages, but I just found out that the kids' programming requires participants to be potty-trained. We keep telling Katie that if she wants to play with Julianne and Jacob all day on "the Mickey boat" then she needs to use the potty chair! She agrees to the theory... but not the actual practice, at least not so far. Wish us well.
Closing statement
I've done a huge update this time, and I'll remind you of that if you complain about my lack of attention to maintaining the site. Actually, it'd be easier to just keep the thing current. I shall do my best.