Good news!

I'll post pictures later, but wanted you to know that we signed our contract for the house today and that we took a contractor to the house to bid on the work that needs to be done (and will be taken from the rent). He'll be giving us his bid tomorrow and then we'll go from there.

Here's what I am excited about:

1) the neighborhood is awesome and quiet (except for the airplanes 9 times a day)- also it is an easy commute to the places we need to go to frequently (the NGO office, church, the cheapest market)
2) we hear that this neighborhood has good water and electricity (as in the power cuts are less frequent and shorter duration- and it is possible to get enough water from the govt and not have to buy it)
3) there is a yard with grass and also ivy on one wall and a rose bush
4) there is more space than anywhere we've ever lived without being overwhelmingly big (and therefore difficult to maintain/clean/etc)
5) the landlord seems gloriously flexible and normal (which can be a rare commodity)
6) the guy that lived there before didn't pay his rent so his stuff was taken as collateral which isn't exactly great but means that the landlord is looking to sell some of the furniture to make up his costs- we'll meet Friday to discuss that stuff- there are air-cons for example and if he gave us a good cheap price we could have some :-)
7) I love the floors
8) the contractor there today said that he believes that all the work could be done by the 20th and the landlord said that even if the work is done before July 1st and we move in that we don't have to start paying rent until July. Our furniture and appliances will be available the 23rd so we could conceivably be moved in in three weeks (I"m sure if John read this that he would be skeptical :-) )
9) there are bathtubs- nice long ones (that is very important in this family :-) )

I'm really looking forward to Sam growing up there- with a bit of green space and the dogs.

I'm relieved to be done with visiting houses with real estate agents, with negotiating the rent and the commission for the real estate agent and with not having a light at the end of the tunnel.

Thank you to everyone who prayed for us and our housing. This place is much better in every way than the place that we had originally tried to get into- neighborhood, price, landlord, privacy, etc.