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...)

No! Absolutely not! Neverever and in no way.

t fans erin gently

VW, you are so totally NOT a failure. Fitting the Expected Template for Adulthood doesn't make one suddenly more mature or successful than the rest of the world, and not fitting it doesn't mean you're somehow less worthwhile or mature.

Hell, I'd even say that the Expected Template types are often the least successful -- IME only, and no offense to Templatey types here, of course.