I actually talked to Mari-Mom today for the first time since the “war”. She was pretty cool. She seems to be over it. We actually had a decent conversation, and there was no real incident of any kind. She's on about flowers now, and planning a whole other shower >_<;; although she did say she realized that really wasn't my thing. At this point it's easier just to go 'okay, whatever' given she's gotten over the whole thing about the shower Mum's hosting. Sorta. She expressed that she really didn't think part of it was a good idea, but she said that was mostly because she doesn't think she's a very creative person, but other people might be.
She's on flowers now…but, she's at least saying what I want she will go with, she just wanted me to know she was willing to front the bill for whatever I decided. So, fingers crossed we're over the mess.

The main thing she's on at me now for is presents for the holiday. She said she considers it unfair for people to go 'I don't know what I want' because then if you get the something you don't want, they never use it and you wasted your money. Really, I can see the point on that, because I'm the world's worst person for fretting that I'm giving someone something they're not going to like. Then again, I don't go, “I don't know what I want,” I usually go, “I don't want anything,” because now that I'm working if I want something I will set money aside and buy it for myself, or I'll just figure I survived this long I don't really *need* it.
Anyway, I think I have a solution to the problem. I remember last year all she asked for was donations to her saving up to buy an electric wheelchair. So, D and I pooled our money together and I made a pretty envelope in Publisher and we gave her some money, so I may do the same thing, as the only other thing I've really been wanting lately is a piece of religious jewelry, but that's also something I really need to pick out myself so that it will be more easily attunable to me.

The mortgage meeting was so-so, mostly because their credit report running program wasn't working properly so we wound up doing an even more tentative guess-timate than we would have in the first place. The thing that scares me now is closing costs. Depending on D's income and the *actual* credit rating, and the cost of the house we pick out they can run anywhere between $270-$3100, which really puts a crimp on having money to turn on things like electricity, water and internet (which is a must given if I don't have net access I can't complete my degree). So, while I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of money we *could* potentially finance ($75-150,000) The amount of the mortgage payment for the $150,000 would be more than I get paid in a month (especially as my wages will drop down again!) So we doubly don't want to run to that full amount because as Seiya was saying the other day food is a must.
Plus D and I have agreed that while it's comforting to know we're on the right financial footing. We don't need to dig ourselves into a hole, and we're probably going to go up to $100,000 at most, and only if every where else needs way too much work to be feasible. The mortgage woman was saying that we'd be lucky to find anything under $75,000 but she has reckoned without our wonder-realtor!