Hullo loves. The Maidengurl and K-Bug show is hilarious and most fun. I recommend it for everyone. (Although sometimes they're a bit TOO perceptive as I'm trying to play it cool in front of a boy.)

Yay for Deena house-having!

vw, I'm never planning to own. I like the freedom of renting, actually.

Both of my brothers are going to own houses before me. Both of my brothers are going to be grownups before me.

I suck. I feel like a total failure. This is not a good day.

My baby brother (5 years younger than me) is now married, just bought a house, and is the executive chef of a highly successful restaurant.

I'm single, rent, and not an executive anything. But I don't feel like a failure. Comparisons will get me nowhere. And most importantly, I don't believe some dictum which says I have to be married and have a mortgage and a high-powered career for my life to be "successful."

It's taken me quite a while to come to terms with that, but -- being a "success" is only what *you* define it as. You can decide that home ownership is the sine qua non for being a successful adult, and that's totally up to you.

But I think about your school, and those incompletes you finished, and the persistence in attendance that led to the iPod Of Reward, and the fact that you're working at the same time as being in school, and you're a good friend -- you're a GREAT friend, unless people around these parts are lying -- and you do all that while dealing with very real hurdles in your life.

Or, I should say, you do all that VERY WELL while dealing with very real hurdles in your life.

"Failure" is reeeeeeeeeallllly NOT the word that comes to mind when I think of you.

Gris: If the amount that is missing is equal to what you were charged for the computer (plus any other purchases you may have made since the last update), it is most likely 1). As long as you have enough cash left to live on, don't freak out until you see the detailed report.

vw: what Steph said. SO not a failure. You are in fact an inspiration.

1) Apple has charged my new computer to my debit card, and the charge hasn't been detail-reported yet. This is a happy idea, because it means my computer would probably ship tomorrow - a good two weeks before the "estimated ship date." This is not exactly a pipe dream, either - others with my ship date (and later) have confirmed shipment already.

It's probably this - that's frequently what I see when a debit card purchase is going through.

My 27 year old single BF just bought a house. Almost all of my friends are married.

You know, I don't WANT a house yet. I don't want to have to byt washers and dryers, and have to pay to fix the roof or gutters or whatever. I'm still working on paying my electricity bills on time!

Hell, I'm still trying to figure how to DATE, much less how to be MARRIED.

I have a job I love. I clean my dishes when I want to, not worrying about what someone else thinks. I stay out as long as I wish. I can flirt with cute boys, or kiss them, or take them home. My screw-ups with money affect no one else but me. I don't have to spend my weekend watching my in-law's bratty kids or Xmas vacas chatting with stultifying relatives instead of sleeping late and reading novels.

I can eat goddamn popcorn in my bed, and the only person bitching about salt in my sheets is ME.

A house is nice, but....not yet.

Both of my brothers are going to be grownups before me.

I've been a homeowner for 25 years, but I don't feel like a grownup. Would I feel more grownup if I had kids? If I had stayed married? If I was a corporate VP? You have good friends, you keep working towards your goals and you keep learning. I think that's as grownup as anyone should aspire to.

Thanks, guys.

Hee hee hee! Erin said BF!

Life is hard - learning to manage your own is what makes one a grown-up. I used to feel that I had to have a husband, a house, a CAREER, and maybe even kids to be a real adult, but I don't think so anymore. Now, I feel very much the same as Erin. I'm 42 years old. I pay my own bills, usually on time, I do my job reasonably well, I don't eat candy all the time, and I don't mess up other people's property. That's grown-up enough.

BEST FRIEND, fool.

I'm am still leery of the boyfriend word. My friend tried to use it on my this weekend, and I shied like a spooked horse. 5 dates do not a a BoyF make.

(DO they? Oh, god, I feel sick...)