Happy birthday, Mal! And happy day-after, hopefully without snot.

I cannot wait to go out on the Grand Canyon Skywalk! I've been hankering for that since I first heard about it! Awesome! Must plan vacation.

I just ate a bowl of ripe blackberries with cream. Yum.

Emily, you're more than good enough. For what it's worth, I admire the hell out of you.

Ginger, glad your mom's better!

Hil, awesome trip! That's so amazing, that you got to do that!

S&S, I so feel for you, may you both be much much better soon, and yay for achieving morphine at last!

Oh, and today I got a raise. It wasn't bad, but considering I'm overworked as a matter of course and my boss had nothing but praise, I wonder if it shouldn't have been a little more. I'm not dissatisfied, really, I'm actually a little worried - I'm close to hitting the top end of my salary band, and what happens then? The next salary band up is managerial, and I don't want to be a manager. Well, I already am, but I don't want to be any MORE of a manager. Will I have to go get another job just to get an acceptable salary increase in a couple years? I can't even think of anything I WANT to do. Or anything else I'd be qualified for.

To celebrate our purchase of a new printer/scanner/copier combo, I present: Jello Wrestling!

Yes, the girl with the fluffy hair and the U2 t-shirt is me.

Zenkitty, a raise is awesome!!

And Hil, that sounds really neat...can't wait to hear more about your trip!

Steph, I'm afraid I'd have the same issue! I get all depressed and think I'll never own a home.

Steph, I'm afraid I'd have the same issue! I get all depressed and think I'll never own a home.

I tell myself that I'm single and what do I need a home for? And I remind myself that in Europe, most people still rent. Or maybe I'm just rationalizing....

{{Teppy}}

BWAH! Remember when we talked about how whenever someone does something stupid, they go into rehab? Boston Legal just spoofed it with Denny Crane going into rehab, saying "I said something bad about the jews, I don't know what but [my exgirlfriend] left me over it, anyway, I recognize that I have issues that I need to examine within my soul. I'm getting treatment and with the help of family and friends, I shall make a full recovery." and then he left the room. HAR.

Teppy, Teppy, Teppy - get Home Buying for Dummies and then ask the various homeowner Buffistas for sage advice. Why take a class?

Being a homeowner IS scary. I wish I'd taken a class or something before we bought our house.

My dad took us out to dinner tonight for K-Bug's birthday (it is actually on the 27th) and for Persian New Year. He didn't think to make a reservation at the Persian place he wanted to go to, so we ended up having Japanese. There is a new, at least new to me, tapan table place in the Berkeley marina area. It was nummy!!!

Actually, ignorance was bliss in buying a house for me.

the things I learned:

1) yes, you can pay more than you think you can in a mortgage. But yes, going to the top of your mortgage is crazy.

2) if you aren't into a fixer-upper- don't do it.

Thinking about it was scary. I had to trust the people giving me advice and modify to my own comfort level.

the two pieces of advice that I got , that made the most sense:

from my dad: I never lost money on a house. so do it.

from other people and my dad: buy a home, not an investment.

and the thing I learned - if you hate doing something ( like lawn mowing or painting) you probably will continue to do so. Buy with that in mind.

I cannot wait to go out on the Grand Canyon Skywalk! I've been hankering for that since I first heard about it! Awesome! Must plan vacation.

I just discovered that Zenkitty and I are not, after all, one. You couldn't pay me enough money to go out on that thing. Yeah on the raise, though! Alas, this is apparently yet another thing that we don't have in common.

I fear I might be like Teppy on the homebuying thing. I suspect this might be why I haven't gotten myself into a class yet, even though they supposedly save you lots on your mortgage. The other reason is that I just can't imagine being able to afford anything where I want to live, but that's just depressing. Most importantly, Teppy, I hope your head feels better soon, if not already!