January 16, 2003

Only a few changes on this update. I added some pictures to our Christmas 2002 page, edited the Jen's List page, and am adding a few paragraphs here.
We're settling into the new year nicely... had a lot of company for a week, but things have quieted in the last few days and we're back to our regular routine.
After Mom and Len left on the 5th, Darlene and Wellington stopped by on their way home from Daryl and Sally's. They gave me and Vic a chance to go out--dinner and even a movie! They were also kind enough to take the kids away for a few hours and I managed to get a bunch of stuff done around the house, so it was a good day all around.
The day after they left, Debi arrived. We spent Thursday in our jammies and pretty much let the kids entertain us. Friday Victor took the day off and stayed home with the kids. Debi and I took advantage of a day to ourselves and got pampered with professional manicures and pedicures, a little shopping, a movie, and all that girly talking stuff we so enjoy! It was really wonderful to have her here, and the kids thought so too. Unfortunately, with her starting school again this week, she won't be able to make another trip here for a while. Our next get-together will probably be in March when I go to Boise.
Congratulations to Annalee, Mark, and Olivia Medici, who welcomed Eva Anastasia on January 6. Olivia and Eva have the same birthday, just two years apart!
Seems like almost everyone I know is pregnant all of a sudden. Kim Quishenberry, Deanna, and April are due in June. Sherrice and my neighbor are due in July. OK, well that's not even close to being everyone I know, but they all fall in the "my favorite people" category, and I think that's a pretty amazing thing. The best part is that I'm not even a teensy bit jealous, though that could change when I hold their sweet newborns in my arms...
Last night Vic trekked to the Asian market all the way across town because he's been craving natto. Don't know what natto is? Well, here's an excellent description I found on the Internet:
"Natto is molded beans. It gets worse. It's not the description of its make-up that makes this food disturbing. It is its smell. Imagine being locked in the trunk of a car for 24 hours with only a dozen rotten eggs and yesterday's socks to keep you company. I think you can get the picture..."
I'm pretty sure I've heard Sonya describe natto in exactly the same way.
I used to be flattered when Vic complimented my cooking, but because he eats that garbage (and that is what it is!) I'm not sure I trust his taste buds.
Smooches--

January 6, 2003

Happy New Year!
You may notice things looking a little different around here... I've spent the last few weeks sprucing up the site for the new year. The biggest change you'll see, besides the general look and feel of the site, is the addition of thumbnailed photos. Some of our pages were very slow to load and I decided that thumbnails were the best way to remedy that. Just about every image on the site is clickable, and most of them won't take you to porn (anymore).
Navigation has been removed from the top of each page, and can now be found at the bottom and/or on the left hand side. The Simpsons quotes are still here; I even added a bunch of new ones. Look for the link on the home page, where the quotes will open in a separate winder.
For you techie types, if you care, manullang.com's new look was created using cascading style sheets. No more FrontPage themes! Altogether now: Oooooooh, aaaaaaaah!
Anyhoo...
We had a wonderful Christmas, Santa was good to us, and we all got fat(ter) and happy. Our New Year's Eve festivities were kept to a dull roar--we've resigned ourselves to the fact that they won't be "normal" again for several years. Vic and I watched the ball drop, but we're always up late, so it was nothing really special. Poor Scout was terrified and hid in the closet until the neighborhood fireworks were long over.
We had a belated Christmas celebration with Len & Mary this past weekend. They were at Kathy's for Christmas, but came down to Portland at their first opportunity to see their other four daughters and families. Hopefully I can get the pictures from that part of Christmas posted in the next few days.
The Wondrous Debi will be coming out for a few days starting Wednesday evening. I can hardly wait!
After all my efforts in getting the site up and running smoothly, I'm left with nothing much to report. I'll try to update again soon. Please e-mail me if you notice anything working incorrectly or if you want to say hi.
xoxo--