Thank you guys for the responses you gave me. I'm sorry I couldn't thank you sooner...been busy trying picbasic. I've got one more question, that I hope one of you can help me with. I can't seem to get my head around how the pic can take in three bytes in a row from the PC...

(ie: mscomm1.output = 9 + 22 + 1)

and know that the first byte is the address, the second is the output, and the third is the state? I think I'm just over-thinking this. Can one of you gentleman help me understand this?
Do I do it like this:

serpin VAR porta.0
address VAR b3
output VAR b4
stat VAR b5

If b3 = PORTB then
SERIN serpin,N2400,address,output,stat..........

is serpin b1
is N2400 b2
is address b3
is output b4
is stat b5

Am I thinking correctly, or am I way off base?

Thanks for letting me bend your ear...
Chris