June 16: Farewell, Dad

I got a very early morning phone call on June 7 with the news that my father, Curt Saltmarsh, had passed away. He had awakened around 3 a.m. having trouble breathing, and Dotti called 911. Apparently he had a blood clot in his lung and died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

Ron and Kathy flew to Portland immediately. My mom drove down from Walla Walla to help out with Katie and Jack. Arrangements were made with other friends and family members for their arrivals, and we began preparing a memorial service.

Kathy went to view Dad's body on Wednesday. I couldn't go. The thought of seeing him like that, touching him and feeling how cold he would be, was unbearable. I last saw him fairly recently, but Kathy hadn't seen him since last summer so it was important to her to get one last glimpse. Afterward she was glad she'd gone but said it was very difficult.

We began to scour our photo albums and scan pictures to put in a slide show for the memorial service. We chose three songs and organized the pictures around them. The show came out to about 10 minutes long, I think, and I've posted it to the web site so you can download and view it. It should run automatically. Be sure you have speakers turned on.

Assembling the slide show was cathartic, I suppose, but also very, very sad. It was hard to cut down a person's life into such a short amount of time. Kathy and I each wrote a eulogy to be read at the service, and they became complements of the slide show, in a way. Anyone who didn't know Dad well before the memorial service would certainly know him after!

The memorial service went as well as it could have. Mark Winkelman (Dotti's son-in-law) read our eulogies. Wellington sang "The Lord's Prayer" and it was absolutely beautiful. There was a time for people to share memories of Dad, which was very special for us to hear. We closed with the slide show. There was a reception afterward, where Dotti served a bunch of my dad's favorite cookies. I couldn't help but think how much he would've enjoyed being there.

It's really unbelievable that he's gone. Just when I think I'm okay I'll remember something and burst into tears. Poor Katie and Jack can't figure out what's wrong with me; although they understand that Grandpa Curt is gone, they obviously can't comprehend the permanence of death. They just know that Mommy and Appie and everyone else who was at our house this past week couldn't stop crying. And still can't.

If you never met my dad, please take a moment to get to know him by reading our eulogies and watching the slide show. Kathy and I have both said that we suddenly feel this great desire to share our dad, so indulge a couple of proud daughters, won't you? We'd love you to share any special memories of Curt Saltmarsh, so please leave them in the comments area below. Thanks.

--Jen

Apr. 26: Doot-in' doo-doo, feelin' o-old

Hey.

Here's why I've been feeling more like 86 than 36 lately:

• Last week I ran out of moisturizer. I remembered getting a free sample in the mail a while ago, so I dug it out of my junk mail basket and used it. And I liked it, so when I went to buy a big bottle I looked for the same kind... and found a little more information on the full-size: it's some mega-anti-aging, wrinkle releasing, skin restoring, cell regenerating serum. I bought it, but I know people were pointing and laughing.
  
• My recent eye exam showed that my eyes haven't gotten any worse in the past few years (hooray!) and that my reading glasses can be purchased at the dollar store (not so hooray). I went to Wal-Mart where I splurged on a pair for $7.84. What made me feel like I deserved a senior discount was the style: for working on my laptop, the best type seem to be the ones that sit way down on my nose. If Vic keeps calling me "Granny" I'm going to hit him with my cane.
• The rain makes my shoulder hurt. It starts to hurt before the weather cools, and makes me gripe until the sun comes out again.
• I went to Clackamas High School today to get tickets to their upcoming production of "Disney's Beauty & The Beast." Just seeing the students made me feel out of it, but then when I realized I'm actually closer to being their parent than I am to being one of them... where's my wheelchair?
  
• I've got my eye on a housedress I saw in the Fingerhut catalog.

Okay, I made up that last one, but the rest are true. I'm a geezer! When'd this happen???

Techie stuff

I got a new printer that's super-cool. It's a Hewlett-Packard All-in-One 1315. What I like is not just that it prints, scans, and copies, but that it's a flatbed scanner/copier. If you've ever tried to photocopy your passport or a page from a magazine on a sheet-fed copier, then you know why this is such a great design. I don't much like the scanner software HP sent, but it lets me use the Windows XP scanner wizard, which is cake. And YES, I realize I'm way too excited about this.

We moved our cell service to T-Mobile and got a coupla fancy new phones. Mine is a Motorola A630, which flips open to a QWERTY keyboard. It's perfect for text messaging and e-mailing. Of course, I don't text message or e-mail over the phone. I do, however, like the idea of a PDA phone, which I was led to believe the A630 almost is. But it turns out this ain't a PDA phone. It doesn't even pretend to be one. It doesn't hold mailing addresses, and e-mail addresses create duplicate phone book entries; that means you scroll through them until you finally find what you're looking for or crash your car. Calendar entries work well, though recurring entries don't sync and that sucks. There's picture caller ID (fun), lots of polyphonic and "real" ring tones (lame), ability to edit MP3s and make them into ring tones (haven't tried it yet, but I can't wait to hear "Springtime for Hitler" telling me I have voice mail!), and Bluetooth (very cool but still not working correctly on my laptop). Victor's phone doesn't pretend to be anything but a phone, and it's good at what it's supposed to do. He always has to be better than me.

Updates

• Pictures of Presley. Is she the cutest thing in the world, or what? Are we the proudest uncle and auntie, or what? Daryl, Sally, and Presley will be here in a couple weeks. Are you jealous, or what?
• Katie's class picture for this school year. Don't know why they have them done in the spring and not the fall like most schools, but whatever. She was adorable then and she's adorable now.
• More pictures of Cooper Bissell. I love that giggly stage!
• I'd show my nephews' prom pics but they turned all squirrely when they were e-mailed to me. If I get viewable versions I'll post them.

I can't think of a single other thing to say.

Apr. 2: Common Sense & The Living Will

There's nothing new to share since my last entry, I just want to post an e-mail I received today. It's a good'n.

--Jen
----------------------------------------------------

I, _______________ (fill in the blank), being of sound mind and body, unequivocally declare that in the event of a catastrophic injury, I do not wish to be kept alive indefinitely by artificial means.

I hereby instruct my loved ones and relatives to remove all life-support systems once it has been determined that my brain is no longer functioning in a cognizant realm.

However, that judgment should be made only after thorough consultation with medical experts; i.e., individuals who actually have been trained, educated and certified as doctors. Under no circumstances -- and I can't state this too strongly -- should my fate be put in the hands of peckerwood politicians who couldn't pass ninth-grade biology if their lives depended on it.

Furthermore, it is my firm hope that when the time comes, any discussion about terminating my medical treatment should remain private and confidential.

Living in Florida, however, I am acutely aware that the legislative and executive branches of state government are fond of meddling in family matters and have little concern for the privacy and dignity of individuals.

Therefore, I wish to make my views on this subject as clear and unambiguous as possible. Recognizing that some politicians seem cerebrally challenged themselves (and with no medical excuse), I'll try to keep this simple and to the point:

1. While remaining sensitive to the feelings of loved ones who might cling to hope for my recovery, let me state that if a reasonable amount of time passes -- say, ____ (fill in the blank) months -- and I fail to sit up and ask for a cold beer, it should be presumed that I won't ever get better. When such a determination is reached, I hereby instruct my spouse, children and attending physicians to pull the plug, reel in the tubes and call it a day.
   
   
2. Under no circumstances shall the members of the Legislature enact a special law to keep me on life-support machinery. It is my wish that these boneheads mind their own damn business and pay attention instead to the health, education and future of the millions of Floridians who aren't in a permanent coma.
   
   
3. Under no circumstances shall the governor of Florida butt into this case and order my doctors to put a feeding tube down my throat or through a hole into my abdomen to keep me alive. I don't care how many fundamentalist votes he's trying to scrounge for his run for the presidency in 2008, it is my wish that he plays politics with someone else's life and leaves me to die in peace.
   
   
4. I couldn't care less if a hundred religious zealots send e-mails to legislators in which they pretend to care about me. I don't know these people, and I certainly haven't authorized them to preach and crusade on my behalf. They should mind their own business, too.
   
   
5. It is my heartfelt wish to expire quietly and without a public spectacle. This is obviously impossible once elected officials become involved. So, while recognizing the wrenching emotions that attend the prolonged death of a loved one, I hereby instruct my relatives to settle all disagreements about my care in private or in the courts, as provided by law. If any of my family goes against my wishes and turns my case into a political cause, I hereby promise to come back from the grave and make his or her existence a living hell.

IMPORTANT: This email is intended for the use of the individual addressee(s) named above and may contain information that is confidential, privileged or unsuitable for overly sensitive persons with low self-esteem, no sense of humor or irrational religious beliefs. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, distribution or copying of this email is not authorized (either explicitly or implicitly) and constitutes an irritating social faux pas. Unless the word "absquatulation" has been used in its correct context somewhere other than in this warning, it does not have any legal or grammatical use and may be ignored. No animals were harmed in the transmission of this email, although the poodle next door is living on borrowed time, let me tell you. Those of you with an overwhelming fear of the unknown will be gratified to learn that there is no hidden message revealed by reading this backwards, so just ignore that Alert Notice from Microsoft. However, by pouring a complete circle of salt around yourself and your computer you can ensure that no harm befalls you and your pets. If you have received this email in error, please add some nutmeg and egg whites, whisk, and place in a warm oven for 40 minutes.

Mar. 29: A few thousand words

I think all of us are just now feeling mostly healthy again. Over the past few weeks Vic had the flu, I had a bad cold that turned into laryngitis, and the kids both had 2-week colds. We've successfully infected everyone we've come in contact with, and our work is done.

Not a lot to say here, but I did update several pages on the web site. Here are changes you might want to check out:

• Katie and Jack's most recent portraits
• Cooper Harrison Bissell
• A couple photos from the Lassen Family's Disney cruise
• The latest photos of that darling Presley
• A picture of Abby and Katie dressed as princesses

I just heard that Jerry Falwell is critically ill. Boy, that's a darn shame. And yes, I know I'm going straight to hell for even thinking such a terrible thing. But he thinks he's God and I know he's the Anti-Christ, so either way, the guy ain't a real human being. I can think of many farm animals or body parts he might be though...

Because I love you all so very, very much, I'll share with you my joke for the day:

How is an elephant like a tomato?
Neither one can ride a bike.

Somehow I forgot to include one of my biggest pet peeves in my last entry, so here it is. It is not Nordstrom's, it's Nordstrom. It is not Meier & Frank's, it's Meier & Frank. It is not Fred Meyer's, it's Fred Meyer. It is not J.C. Penney's, it's J.C. Penney. No one says Costco's, or Safeway's, or Target's, or Eddie Bauer's, so why do people insist on tacking an "s" onto the end of all those other store names? I don't get it. Something else I don't understand is why people say The Wal-Mart. We don't say The Target, or The Safeway. But instead of irritating me, hearing The Wal-Mart mostly just makes me snort. I have to remember that The Wal-Mart is from the land of The Piggly-Wiggly, also known as the part of the country where family trees have no branches.

My my, I'm sounding quite snobbish today. I'd apologize, but I don't wanna.

Burgerville started serving their fresh strawberry milkshakes on Saturday. If you haven't had one before, you really should. They're the best. Vic and I just couldn't wait to have our first one of the season, so on the way home from Walla Walla the other day we stopped in The Dalles, wherein lies the east-most Burgerville. We're trying to figure out what part of our regular diet will need to be swapped out so we can have several shakes a week. We should probably try to figure out what bills we'll stop paying to afford them too.

One more recommendation: "The Incredibles" on DVD. Love it, love it, love it.

More next week or whenever I get around to it. Lovies!

Mar. 8: Restraining Orders, or "get out of my dreams and also out of my car"

You know, it's very easy to criticize. Fun, too.

Today, for your reading pleasure, I'm going to share some of the things that really bug me. Because it would be impossible for me to rate these things by degrees of annoying-ness, they're in no particular order. You'll notice that many of the things that bug me are writing- and grammar-related. My sister's list is identical in that way; blame our perfection-obsessed parents.

My Airing of Grievances
with apologies in this non-Festivus season

• Incorrect usage of your and you're, it's and its, their and they're and there, to and too. A typo is one thing. If you really don't know the difference, though... did you pay no attention in grade school English class??? Sheesh.
• Watching my mom prepare her coffee. First, she waters it down, and then destroys it further by adding powdered creamer, even when there's the perfectly good liquid kind in the fridge! And then she DRINKS it!
• Over-using exclamation points!!! If I do it, it's because it's necessary. No one else has a good excuse.
• People that don't signal when changing lanes; I want to know that you know where you're going. People that try to merge on the freeway at 40mph. People that go the speed limit in the fast lane; first, it's there for passing, not for driving, and even if you think you're forcing everyone to obey the law, you're really just a traffic hazard and the source for much road rage. Someday when someone shoots at you it will be because you deserve it.
• Inconsiderate neighbors (not just mine). You know who you are. Actually, you probably don't, but if you did you wouldn't change. You're just that way, aren't you?
• That more people don't listen to my brilliant ideas. I have many.
• People using apostrophes where they don't belong, as in, "Lot's of people have brilliant idea's, but not as many as my friend's and I do." Also incorrectly using plurals, like "skys" or "sky's" instead of "skies." Have you heard the good news about spell-checkers?
• Not using spell-checkers.
• People that don't take responsibility for their actions. "Ouchie, I spilled coffee on my nether regions because I put it in my lap even though I knew it was super hot. Now McDonalds must PAY!" Because of you, food packaging now says things like, "Warning: Product will be hot after heating."
• Houses painted in hideous colors in neighborhoods of houses painted in non-hideous colors.
• Return envelopes that say, "Tampering with this envelope or its contents will result in legal action." I don't know how serious the threat is, but it interferes with my habit of returning crap mail to senders just to show them how annoying it is to receive crap mail. A Sharpie used to be enough to fix identifying info on the outside of envelopes, but now I'm too a-scared!
• Web sites with ridiculous shipping rates. They suck. Also, poorly designed shopping cart systems on store web sites. Ya gonna have a web presence? Make it work.
• Reruns in prime-time.
• Bad tippers. Like it or not, in this country, it's customary. Don't embarrass your dining companions by being cheap.
• That annoying shortcut language that's become popular and accepted thanks to chat rooms and messaging. You know, using "u" instead of "you," "2" instead of "to" or "too," "b4" instead of "before." The abbreviations don't bother me--LOL, BRB, IMHO, etc. It's the weird Prince-like spelling that gives me the shivers.
• That Crispix is so expensive. Other cereals are expensive too, but Crispix is my favorite. Seems every time it's on sale the store has, like, four boxes in stock. Stooopid store.
• Expiration dates.
• The dash lights in my car. Too much red! It looks like a freakin' cockpit at night. As much as I love Volkswagens, it's always something with them. At least everything is still working in the Passat, unlike my Jetta, which had odd little electrical problems from the start.
• The fact that if not for Hitler, Volkswagen might not even exist. I just found out, thanks to Yahoo!'s question of the day, that that German Ethel Merman ordered development of what eventually became the Beetle. I blame my goofy dash lights on him.
• Putting two spaces between sentences or between the state and zip or after a colon. The "two spaces" rule went out with typewriters and fixed-width fonts. Stop it.

That's all for today, kids. Maybe tomorrow I will share a few of my favorite things, like raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles, and warm woolen mittens.

Or not.

--Jen-Jen

Mar. 3: Pope-y peed on my sofa

My step-sister Cindy got married the other day. It was fun and celebratory, as weddings should be, but everyone there was nice and mostly normal; this was disappointing to me and Erin. Who could we gossip about? We were actually exchanging recipes at one point. I did, however, get a good pic that makes my mother look like she misbehaved much more than she actually did. Blackmail via blog!

Here's another pic, one of my mom and Len at Cindy's wedding.

Vic's and my eighth wedding anniversary was on Wednesday last week. We celebrated by me getting sick early that day and not improving much as the day went on. I moved our Morton's reservation to Friday night and spent the evening watching my ever-helpful husband assemble our new bookcases. On Thursday we moved the kids' toys, etc. to their new playroom and tried to clear out what had been in there before. We worked hard and got a lot done but there's still an ungodly amount left to do. Friday was more of the same, 'cept it ended with a fabulous dinner at Morton's. Over the weekend we were back to cleaning, organizing, and simplifying, and finally found a good stopping place so we could welcome Katie and Jack back home to show them their new playroom. Slowly, things have begun to come together. After a trip to Ikea I've planned for next week I should have the tools I need to finish the organizing part. We really are trying to get rid of stuff as we go along, and it's a lot more difficult than I expected. I don't know why we hang on to some of the things we do, but we're both packrat-y.

Me and my ever-handsome husband, fourteen years after we first met and about three years before we had a garageful of crap.

Why, oh why, won't they just let that poor pope dude die??? The guy has nine toes in the grave. He's gotta be miserable. I admit, I don't exactly understand the "holiness" part of the pope (or "Pope-y," as my ever-respectful husband calls him), but PLEEZE, just appoint another one and let this guy go. Sheesh.

I have few good things to say about the Adventist church, but one is that no one person is more holy or closer to God than the next. 'Course, lots of them think they are, and that they have the right to criticize others... Oh, don't get me started. That's a whole 'nother blog.

I'm a little worried Debi might never come back from Scotland. Her trip has been extended at least a few weeks. For me, though, the worst part is that she has inconvenient Internet access and we can't have our daily e-mail conversations. Poor me. What about my needs???

Seems as though Martin might be my only friend, as he's the one regular comment-leaver on this page. I mean "regular," as in "consistent" or "frequent," not any other kind of regular, though that may also apply to him, but I don't really know and I'm not going to ask. Anyway, shame on all of the rest of you! (If he'd e-mail me some new pictures I could probably update his page... hint hint...)

For a certain someone or two that might be dying to post a comment but something's holding you back: remember, you can post anonymously and without registering. Just an idear.

I got a butt-load of free software when I bought my tax program today and I gotta get it set up. I wonder how many hard drives this round of installations will kill.

With a love that will echo through the ages--

Jen

Feb. 19: Everyone's a critic

Busy week. Between working--both at home and at the hospital--transporting children, rearranging rooms in our house, and coddling two still semi-sick kids, I'm exhausted. Vic probably is too, though I'm guessing. Our paths haven't crossed much in the last few days. I hate that. Next week is our anniversary (#8!), we're both taking a few days off work, and Katie and Jack will be at Grandma and Grandpa's.

I've made a few changes to the site, mostly to the cascading style sheet. If there's anything that looks really "off," please let me know. I didn't take the time to check every page.

Tried a new restaurant on Wednesday: Vitis Enoteca. Not your standard Italian fare but absolutely delicious. My salad was watercress, prosciutto, and pear--wonderful! The pizza I chose for my entree was prosciutto, potato, fresh mozzarella, and pesto on a thin crust. I had a fabulous dessert; a poached pear cored and filled with mascarpone, then drizzled with caramel. Ed's walnut popovers were tasty, and one of the main reasons I can hardly wait to eat there again. We also had antipasti, and Ed and Stefan shared some of their dishes with me too, so I feel well-qualified to highly recommend this place, especially if you enjoy wine. Dana, the owner/chef, is friendly and obviously very skilled. Vitis Enoteca is just over 405 from the Pearl. Go. NOW!

Olivia is being released from the hospital on Monday! Her body shows all signs of reproducing the cells from the transplant, so things are looking good. There's still a long way to go for them, and they'll stay at Duke for at least another few months. The silent auction and benefit dinner that was held in Enumclaw this month was a HUGE success! Read more detail in the journal Mark and Annalee have been writing on her web site (www.oliviaswish.com/), and please keep Olivia and her family in your hearts.

I just shake my head over why gay marriage is such a controversial issue. Besides the fact that it should be a religious issue, not a political one, it's simply unfair. Allowing gay couples to marry has NOT ONE EFFECT on me or my marriage. It changes nothing about my life. It takes nothing away from me. How could I be against it? love is love is love has some important and eye-opening info. If you've never given this issue much thought, please do.

Oh but wait, I'm not off my soapbox yet. I hate bad drivers, tomatoes, clowns, loud TV, and when people don't smash big hairy spiders. And I'm not too fond of poodles.

There, I'm done.

Katie, Jack, and Jonathan posed for some fun pictures the other day. Check them out. I'm sure there'll be more to come, because today Katie got four more outfits in the mail from Appie, and as soon as Jonathan sees them...

Vic and I had a decent Valentine's Day. He gave me a bouquet of flowers (gorgeous!) and I gave him a Starbucks gift card (yawners!). Darlene offered to watch Katie and Jack so Vic and I could go out for dinner that evening, which was such a treat. It was so last-minute, though, that we had no reservations and were too hungry to wait an hour for a table anywhere. We ended up at a quite desolate Burgerville. No matter, it was still nice to have a quiet meal together away from home and the hospital cafeteria. Besides, V-Day just isn't as big a deal for us because our anniversary is nine days later. Seems odd to make a huge thing of it when we'll be celebrating again so soon.

We're in the middle of our room transitions project in the house. What a lot of not very fun work. We've decided to keep the front room as a family room and subtly add some of our office furniture and stuff. If it doesn't work we'll do the bookcase divider thing. However, the upstairs room is still being converted to a playroom for Katie and Jack, and we've got tons yet to do in there. Our motivation is the lofty dream of toys and all the rest of the kids' stuff being on ONE floor. Having a place for everything. Being able to truly straighten/clean to make the house presentable.

IN SUMMARY,

Vitis Enoteca:

Olivia's Duke University medical team:

Opponents of gay marriage:

Kids giving me belly laughs:

Valentine's Day:
(I still love the holiday even if we don't celebrate much)

Mile-long to do lists:

People who visit manullang.com:

Feb. 10: I Need More Cowbell

New pictures from Katie's big day yesterday are on her Fifth Birthday page.

I was on my way out the door this morning when Katie and Jack both said they weren't feeling good. Since they'd been coughing for a couple days (but showed no other signs of illness) I thought maybe they were finally truly sick. I called Kristine to say I wouldn't be bringing them over, and the hospital folks to say I wouldn't be coming in to work, and within a half hour my "ailing" children were asking if they could play outside, or at McDonalds, or with neighbor kids. I said, "But I thought you were sick," to which my brilliant daughter replied, "I was, but I feel better now."

I tried to keep them busy at home but they weren't too interested in any of the super-fun activities I suggested: laying down, sitting quietly, resting, napping, dozing, being quiet so Mommy could do those things, etc. Who said kids are easy to please?

A fun web site to check out: PseudoDictionary. Click one of the letters on the light green bar along the top, or use the search box to find new and exciting words. Or, if you don't have time, just check out this goodie: Wanna go out or stay in? (Betcha never knew how to spell that one, hm?

Know what tastes yummy? Shasta Tiki Punch. Mmmmmmm...

Know what'll make you bounce off the walls? Shasta Tiki Punch and birthday cake. It's like drinking a Squishee made entirely of syrup. ("Let's go crazy Broadway-style!")

Jen

Feb. 7: Mid- Katie's Birthday Season

Well, I'm just mad. Some tiny little man has taken away all my fun. The Voss Family.

Mom and Len were here this past weekend. Mom and I got some rare shopping time, and Vic and I had a no-kids afternoon that we greatly enjoyed too. Mom made Katie a gorgeous princess dress for her birthday, complete with sparkly shoes and fun accessories (photo here). She loved prancing around and showing it off (um... to clarify: Katie pranced, my mom did not, though she would probably not turn down an opportunity if presented). A lot of Katie's birthday gifts fit into a dress-up theme: Darlene made her a bride ensemble, Appie is sending a very cool Disney princess costume trunk, her friend Eliza gave her beautiful wings, a tiara, and a magic wand, and we got her a fairy princess outfit and a chef uniform. She's also getting a 3-panel room divider with a mirror, hooks, and organizer boxes for keeping all her dress-up things in one place. Well, my plan is for it all to stay organized...

Katie's birthday party was yesterday--read all about it here. More celebrations are to come this next week. Wednesday is her actual birthday, and as if Daddy having the day off isn't special enough, she also is quite proud to get to choose where the four of us will have lunch. I'm betting/hoping it'll be "Passagetti" Factory--that's her favorite, and we think it's more than pretty okay too.

Valentine candy corn just isn't the same as the stuff at Halloween. Bleah.

We're about to make another major change in our house. Since it may not work for the long-term, we're trying to do it in a very temporary way so we can change it right back if we need to. We're thinking about moving the office to the front room downstairs and then making the upstairs room into the kids' playroom. We're so tired of the constant mess of toys up anddownstairs, and hope this will relieve some of that. To separate the two areas of the front room, we're looking at putting up a wall of bookcases. If it works and we like the arrangement, we'll probably make things more permanent and put in French doors to the office. If this move is successful you can be sure to find before-and-after photos on manullang.com.

Debi seems to have made it to Scotland in one piece. She said she's having fun, but that was before she'd tried driving. Yikes. I haven't heard much else and am anxiously awaiting more details.

Not that writing about Debi reminded me of this, but I watched "Mean Girls" last week. I think Tina Fey is hilarious, and this movie was pretty funny in parts, but it didn't have the charm of, say, "Clueless." I give it 2.5 stars out of 5.

And another movie theme that did not make me think of Debi... I watched one of last year's HBO films, "Normal," with Tom Wilkinson and Jessica Lange. Interesting. This guy decides, after 25 years of marriage, that he wants a sex-change operation. What makes it interesting is that his wife--after going through a predictable reaction to his announcement--actually accepts it and they continue to live together. I thought the movie said a lot about love: we find it where we find it.

I wanted to get Katie's party pictures posted, so it's just a quick update for now. I'll post the other pics and write again later this week.

J.

Feb. 2: Heil Myself... Heil to Me...

Know what? I'm so darn smart I can barely stand myself.

Problem is, today my noggin just gave up. It's full. The "No Vacancy" light's blinking, and if I could think of any other metaphors I would. They say beer kills brain cells, and drugs kill brain cells, and TV kills brain cells. I know for a fact that thinking too much kills brain cells too. And it ain't as much fun as that other stuff neither.

Anyhoo, I can tell I've exhausted all intelligence because I can't think of anything to write and also because I said "anyhoo." But has that ever stopped me before? I think you know the answer to that one.

Today is Sean's birthday. It's hard to believe my nephew is already 15! Just kidding, I know he's actually 18. Yikes-a-hootie, I 'member before he was born. It's actually just as hard to believe he's 18 as it is that my sister has an 18-year-old kid! Geez, she must be really old, like FORTY.

And speaking of important birthdays, there's one coming up in our house too. Yessiree, Katie will be 5 years old next Wednesday. Her party--this year, classmates only--is Sunday afternoon. She can't stop talking about it. I can't stop stressing about it. It'll be fun, I'm sure, because our parties always are (I hear--I don't attend them all). One of the plans is for the kids to play "Hullabaloo," a kid game from those brainiacs at Cranium. If you haven't played it, you should--it's really fun, kind of a combo of Twister and I don't know what. Just trust me.

My little friend Olivia is doing very well post-transplant. Read Mark and Annalee's journal entries at Olivia's Wish. Warning: Jan. 30 will make you cry.

Well, it seems my blog has finally seen some action! This is quite exciting, though undoubtedly only to me. I liked that "Anonymous" made a worthwhile contribution as she always does, and was not surprised that Martin's entry was mostly just making fun of things I say. If he continues this pattern I might have to make use of that little garbage can icon underneath the comments... but not yet, I'm just so thrilled to know someone is actually checking in to manullang.com!

And Lori, the motherboard episode got me too--that was the turning point, when I went from sorta liking the show to really liking the show.

So now that you kids have checked in, it's only a matter of time until Kathy contributes, isn't it???

My friends Kristine and Michael just crack me right up. I want to share a couple of their recent e-mails with you, my Jenketeers (The Onion reference... I promise, it'll never happen again):

Yummy Chinese Food!

And y'know how your monitor can get so grimy? Here's a little help getting it polished up: Mr. Clean

In the ancient words of the ever-eloquent Taylor Lassen, "No more words."

J.