Friends...

I have always had an extremely hard time getting to know new people and making friends. I have always been really shy. Why is it so hard for some people to make friends? It sometimes takes weeks or months to get to know someone and open myself up to them. I don't have many friends because of this! I am having a hard time meeting new people here in OR. I am started to get to know one of my son's friend's mother, but of course, she works and I stay at home. I am finding that I am so busy at home that I can't even get out of the house, and even if I do get out, I have no idea where to go to meet new people with whom I would have any common interests. I don't know the area that well yet, so knowing where to go is difficult. I thought about joining the PTA at my kids' school, but PTA only meets like once a month. This is not the first time that my fears of meeting new people have hurt my life. Prior to moving to OR, a person at my husband's work thought that I hated him because I never talked to him when I went to their workplace. When my husband told me this, I started asking myself if other people think that too. I try not to present myself as closed off and unapproachable, but...do I do that?? I have found that I sometimes have to force myself to be outgoing. I can remember as a child hiding from family members if I did not know them! Like I said, I have always been shy. How does one come out of his or her shell, stop being so shy, and start being more outgoing?