Hi Ho, Hi Ho, Apartment Hunting we shall go!

This was no amateur apartment hunt people. There was a week of researching. There was MANY a phone call. There were spreadsheets. I even made up a leaving piece for prospective landlords.

I started feeling ill on Friday and Jason was seriously sick but we decided with all the leg work and showings set up we just couldn't bail. So we pressed on. The plan of attack....wake up at the butt crack o dawn after working 'till 11pm the night before and hightail it down to the furthest point South, then work our way back up the state, looking at apartments until we passed out from exhaustion or found THE ONE!

Hmmmm, how shall I sum up the search....#1 Apartments in Southern Maine are ridunculously expensive and it's been difficult to find any that aren't double what we're paying for our mortgage right now. #2 VERY VERY few apartments in Southern Maine allow pets...at least in the areas we need to be in.

This is my favorite highlight....so I'll share it with you. It all began in Kittery. A location near the ocean and walking distance for Jason to the Shipyard had our hopes high. What was described as an "eat in kitchen" was about 6x8. What was described as a "HUGE fenced in back yard" was about as big as our small backyard in Old Town, and partially fenced in with dilapidated chain link. What was described as a "really nice interior" was a DUMP! The walls were paneling painted a pea green, the floors were hardwood painted a maroon. In some rooms there was even hideous gold and black shiny wallpaper. The bathroom was about 5x5 and so disgusting I wouldn't even wash my dog in it. The whole place was tiny and dark. And last but not least...the kitchen cabinets were painted black with...I AM NOT JOKING...yellow splatter paint.

We made our way north through three or four other small towns with no luck. In our last and final town we looked at multiple properties with a leasing agent. There were two possibilities and a clean, spacious but older and kind of dated duplex that we thought we'd end up in. It would have been OKAY.

In a last ditch effort we stopped by an open house that I called about just the morning before. When we drove onto the street it was like Shangrila! I felt as if the heavens had opened and the angels were singing! It was like a little fairytale book. As far as I'm concerned, there were flowers blooming, butterflies flitting through the air and friendly little forest critters that could talk, smiling and welcoming us to the neighborhood.

It was a beautiful little neighborhood. The houses were spaced out with large manicured lawns. There were mostly single family houses and a few duplex's scattered about. The streets were quiet and people were out and about.

The duplex was gorgeous! The landlord was there fixing it up and he was super nice. So here's the run down. Nice wood floors. New laminated going in wherever there was carpet and new peel and stick tile going in wherever there was linoleum. Big living room, separate dining and kitchen. Nice cupboards, good cupboard space, a little breakfast bar and blue counter tops that totally match my kitchen decor! Good sized bathroom and bedrooms. LOTS of windows, really bright and sunny. Nice, dry cement basement for laundry and storage. And a truly big yard, nicely fenced in with privacy fencing. It's even landscaped! Little lilies were popping up through the ground, nicely trimmed hedges adorned the front and a few rhododendrons were just waiting to bloom! And to boot, the family in the other unit is a young couple our age with an 11month old baby girl!

Needless to say. We took it! Yay housing secured! We then proceeded home, feeling like a train had run over us both. We took care of our little girl as best we could and prayed that bed time would come quickly. Jason hit the sack at 6:30pm. I got Ella down at 7pm and then promptly went to bed myself. This morning I don't feel AS sick as Jason, which I attribute to the kick-butt nursing mother immunity! Jason will have to be hooked up to an IV soon if bodily fluids don't stop coming out! It's a nasty, nasty flu like virus that NOBODY ever wants. Please pray for health!