I think I might be able to answer my own question... I think I have to wait for my bitcoin client to download the complete block chain @ 142,550 blocks (as per
http://blockexplorer.com/q/getblockcount )
Creepers I had no idea the bitcoin client would be so taxing on my OS X machine.
* 417MB on disk so far
* computer is generally sluggish while client is running
* confirmed client is not in 'mining' mode, it's just listening
I wonder how my android bitcoin wallet app is able to accept bitcoins w/out downloading 500 MB of stuff?