I think I am going to try brewing beer this weekend. I hope it turns out OK!

Sanitation, and fermentation temp is pretty much all you need to worry about to make it not suck. The rest is just recipe development and taste preference.

thank you! I am going to look for a long, narrow pan to submerge a temp well for my fermentor in, otherwise a bowl, or bottom of a bucket should suffice.

OK, I was going to finally start today, but I fired up one of my thermometers that I grabbed from my basement, and found that my basement is at 52 degrees. It seems the low-end temp for ale fermentation is 58 degrees. I read that the process of fermentation will raise the fermentor temp by 10-15 degrees. On the 3rd (2 days from this post) I should receive a temp controller for a fermentor. I am likely to wait till tomorrow to boil my wort then I should only have 1 day without a heater.

Am I being overly cautious?

You could use a space heater with a built in thermostat to keep your basement at a more optimal temperature. Something like this should be able to raise the temperature down there at least a few degrees.

http://www.laskoproducts.com/cyclonic-ceramic-heater-model-758000/

Well, its brewing I guess. I pitched the yeast at 4pm, by 8 it was going pretty well. (I used dry yeast I reconstituted) I was worried as most of the liquid in my air-lock had been forced out. I swapped air-locks and put in a new one filled with one-step solution, and got a couple of drips in. Still going pretty good this AM. I just looked again, and it has slowed considerably. Now at 1PM (21 hours after pitching) The Kreusen(sp?) has abated almost completely, and it is throwing a bubble every 5 seconds or so. I did have a space heater near it, the ferm temp is at 81, so I shut it off for now. I am a bit concerned I killed it. We shall see!