A few things...

Ew.


No. That 3br for $230 a week was not a STEAL. It was HIGHWAY ROBBERY. The house was disgusting. Matt said it best, 'You couldn't pay me to live there!'. The outside looked decent and the yard was ok. But the moment the realtor opened the door and I saw the disintegrating carpet with black stains all over it, I had a sinking feeling. Then there was the dog/stale cigarette smoke smell. The wallpaper coming off the wall in sheets. The holes in the wall where I can only assume they YANKED a few large screws straight out of the wall. The rust spots on the 40 year old linoleum from the fridge, the avocado green Formica, the huge pink stain on the bedroom carpet. No way. There was a reason it was $230 a week. And we are NOT going to live there.

But the good news is that we decided to call a lady yesterday about seeing her house - and she let us see it last evening. And it was gorgeous. New-ish, beautifully maintained carpet, new kitchen, nice paint (minus the gouge in the wall where they must have hit while removing a piece of furniture), the three bedrooms with one downstairs (so my sister doesn't have to worry about interrupting Oceana's sleep), the unending storage/closet space, the cute little yard... its amazing. It is higher than we wanted to spend - but like our friend's said, anything under $275 is a dive. Argh. So much for $250 a week. But oh well.

We're just hoping and praying, crossing our fingers, and considering mild forms of bribery while she checks our reference and decides who (of several interested parties) gets the house. Please pray it's us! This house is awesome and the landlady seemed great. It's in a great neighborhood, on a cul-de-sac (no through-traffic), behind an elementary school (they don't build elementary schools in bad neighborhoods) and it's got a great park 3 houses down the road. It's bicycling distance from our office, which means Matt/I wouldn't end up stranded when the other goes to work.

Please pray with us that this is the right house and that we get it. She's supposed to give us an answer by Friday (Thursday). We won't stop looking, but we are going back to the beach today, so we don't like driving down all the time if we don't have to.

I have a school presentation today at Whakamaramara School. You think I made that word up don't you? You're wrong. It's a word. It means (I think) "To cause splintering". Whatever.
I'm telling the kids about the ship, about how we provide doctors, dentists, eye doctors, etc for children in the Pacific Island (everyone really, but when talking to kids, talk about kids). I'll take some pictures of the colouring book that I made (ooh baby, I'm so talented...haha). I coloured it in yesterday and then Oceana found it and left me some red pen scribbles on their faces. Grrr. So much for my presentation being immaculate. I don't have time to get back to the office, print another, colour it, and paste it before I have to leave in an hour and a half.

Oh well.