[wp-hackers] newbie - static pages as Home, and Categorized

[Colleen Robledo]

Hi All,

Just switched to Wordpress from Movable Type and Blogger.... and I love wp!

Can anyone tell me:
1.  How  I can make a static Page (not a Post) my wp Home Page... think I
read something about a plugin.
2.  How I can assign my Categories to the static Pages (only Post pages have
a Categories option; not my write/edit Pages).

I am very experienced with tweaking css and can code XMTL, but I am just
beginning to dabble in PHP.

Thanks!
Colleen Robledo