Of course I am from the desert, so I might find manatees curious, but I don't think so.

heh.

Hey, Tep, I know you weren't looking for hairpats or anything, but let me just add my assurance - I totally feel ya.

I feel anxious on meeting so many for the first time, too. What if people don't reassure me of my beauty/adorableness/sexiness? Hardly anybody's seen me before. Maybe they'll find me icky or boring. I feel pretty confident that this will not happen, and yet. The Brain, she will mess with you.

Oh, and since I specifically thought of you guys while I was dressing (and don't want JohnSw to feel that he's the only one with unmentionables mentioned) - today's a blues/greens tie-dyed patterned bra and black string bikini with a blue flaming heart. They don't actually match, but I think that individually they both show a lot of 'tude.

I definitely have issues with being boring. The physical looks thing, that's not really where my insecurities lie, so much, oddly. I've always relied on my humor and wit more than looks and I am convinced that I am totally dull, dull boring and more boring.

I've always relied on my humor and wit more than looks and I am convinced that I am totally dull, dull boring and more boring.

Welcome to my corner of the dance floor, Nora. Would you like a comfy chair?

I am convinced that I am totally dull, dull boring and more boring.

Nuh-UH!!!1!

Just skipped a whole bunch of posts.

Finally decided today that my wrist has been hurting for too long, so I went to the doctor, who confirmed that it's tendonitis. Bleh. So, it's a wrist brace for awhile longer, plus advil and ice. and I'm supposed to be avoiding writing and typing. Um.

At least you got it diagnosed, Hil. A lot of people work through the pain until they've done way too much damage to themselves. If you own a PC and can afford it, I highly recommend using Dragon Naturally Speaking.

{{{{Hil's Wrist}}}}. In a totally supportive and non-wrenchy way. (wenchy still possible upon request.)

So, umm, how the hell do we go about buying a house? I mean, we know we've got to move, know we'd rather buy than keep renting, know our latest credit news (imperfect, but decent, and much improved over recent years), have a decent sense of what we can afford and what we want and what's out there and the devastatingly small overlap between those things, have some dudes to contact (mortgage dude from an online friend I don't actually know IRL, agent dude who is ex-of-a-dear-friend), but... what do we do? Contact the dudes? Which dude first? And what do I say to them? Hi, dude, I'm looking for a yadda yadda yadda and btw homeboy said I should look you up?

Mortgage dude will get you pre-approved, which is REALLY good so that you know what you're looking at and the seller's like you best. Then agent dude, who will help you find your house, arrange to go see houses on your schedule without hassles and make everything easier.

A nice bit of added stuff: zillow.com is really useful for statistics on homes in the neighborhoods you're looking in.