Will it ever come together???

Well folks, it seems that we have successfully found a house that will work for us. We like it, it's nice and well, it's nice. What more can you ask for? Forget the fact that it has ZERO major appliances. We also don't care that the owner seemed to be so cheap that they stripped most of the light fixtures. That too is not such a huge thing. Really. When you take into consideration the fact that we have seen one ugly house after another. After another. I don't know how people can consider living in some of these places. I don't think I'm acting on the snobby side either, but they are just totally unacceptable.

Some of the houses were downright deathtraps. I could see so much hideous potential for accidents. In one of the homes that had to be older than my grandparents, it had a wrought iron spiral stairwell with openings between each stair and also openings on the railings wide enough for my 3 year old son to fit through. Scary!

Some of the pools were black or dark green. Many of the houses were overgrown with brush that had not been trimmed for what might have been a year. One might suspect that there were a forest attached to the backside of some of these houses. Most were very very old. The appliances seemed ancient and I would have to consult an "elder" to learn to use them.

Anyway, what I am trying to say is that when we found this house that looked great and had a nice overall appearance and layout. We pretty much fell in love with it. Unfortunately renting a house in a foreign country, and for us on this particular assignment is not going to be an easy task. The government is putting all kinds of safety and security stipulations on everything and we cannot even sign a lease until these things are complete.

In the meantime, knowing what is out there and available ( a lot of ugly dog houses) we are worried that someone else might come along and like and rent the house that is meant for us. All during this time that we are trying to make the modifications necessary for the house to be livable, per standards for the US govt. Wow, try saying that three times really fast. It's giving us a headache. I don't want to look at more houses.

For another thing, they have this weird law here. There is a lot of air pollution in Santiago and on certain days, people who own cars without catalytic converters are not allowed to drive on certain days when the pollution is too bad. So, some of our Realtors have cars that cannot be driven and we are having a hard time getting around. Especially depending on another person to come and chauffeur us around. That too is a hassle.

But it sure would be nice to say that we at least have a house lined up to move into. We can deal with getting appliances, repainting the green and blue walls in 4 of the bedrooms, and adding light fixtures. But what we don't want is to go and live in a scary ugly house. We don't want the hassle of being drug around town to see the silly things either. Sometimes from the pictures the houses can deceptively look nice. And when you walk inside it's like a freak show. You have no idea what you just entered into. You don't know whether to laugh or cry. I keep thinking that the next one has to be better. It just has to. I mean, it can't get any worse. Right?

I will let you know if anything wonderful happens. Right now, we are waiting for some happy news. Which means that the owner would pay for the raising of the back wall and installing an electric shocker fence to the perimeter. (Yeah, and why would he say no to that???) Or we are waiting for some really bad news. (Owner says, "Go jump in front of a bus. I've got a house to rent here.") Waiting on pins and needles. All the other 67 items on the safety and security check of the property seemed pretty minor and we could handle all of those ourselves. And would do this willingly.

Hey, you get a little desperate living in a hotel room with two active toddler/preschoolers. They make you think that you can accomplish anything under the sun. Just give us our house already!! The babies need their own space, their own rooms, and mommy needs them to have a regular schedule already! This is getting a little nuts up in here.

It's much too late for blogging, I have to run now. Bed is calling and so is an early breakfast. We are going to go see another ugly house in the morning.

Ciao~