Wake Me Up When It's All Over

Before I forget, here's a couple of pictures from the zoo. We went over the weekend. The girls really deserved some time doing something just for them. Staying in a hotel, looking at houses, and dealing with all the in-processing items we've had to take care of, has taken it's toll on them both. They especially loved grooming the pregnant goats and the park. Matt especially loved drinking beer (in a glass) while the girls were playing at the zoo park.

So, here's where it all starts to go wrong (Admittedly, I am being a bit dramatic. But, what's new). On Tuesday, we went into Weisloch (the town we'll be living in) and drove by our house. The front walkway still needs brick laid down. The backyard needs a fence and seed. Neither done. The kitchen, however, was put in over the weekend. Move in date is 1AUG. We shrugged our shoulders and decided to bring it up when we signed our lease - we were waiting for our housing rep to call us back with the time and date to do that.

In the mean time, we swung on over to the kindergarten across the street from our house. Surprisingly, they were still open (school holiday is coming right up) and even more surprising was that they had slots for our girls. We did the preliminary sign up; I walked out feeling relieved that that was over. We proceeded to celebrate by going into the town square (really cute) and having lunch.

Later, as we walked around looking for a park, housing called. The landlord wants 7,000 euro as a deposit. Up from 2,700 euro. This sounded suspicious. Our housing rep told us we should start looking for another place and that he would gray list the landlord so he could not rent to Americans.

Did I throw a fit? You betcha. A ginormous one. We were so done looking at houses. This house is cute, in a great location, kindergarten in walking distance to our home, the town is very very cute, and there is even an organic store where I can buy organic wine, beer, brats, etc. - things not often found at local markets (not that I've found yet anyway).

Today is a new day. Another American family (friends of ours) is interested in the other half of the duplex. His housing rep is not as concerned about the huge deposit (we will get the deposit plus interest back - and we will get that interest back as it is the legal obligation of the landlord to do so). Matt, the landlord and the other family interested in the house will meet today and try to negotiate a better deal and feel the landlord out. If all goes well, we'll sign on the house and move in in a week or so. Positive thoughts, positive thoughts.

If all does not go well, I will curl up into a ball, go to sleep and someone can wake me up when it's all over. I'm so tired of living in this guest house and so sick of looking at houses, the thought of doing it all over throws me into a depression. I know I'm supposed to be a strong military wife and embrace all that is thrown at me. But, one person can only take so much - especially with a deployment lurking right around the corner!