Who'd have thought?

Questions you never thought to ask when house-hunting:

• Do the bedrooms have doors?
• Is the washer/dryer in the kitchen next to the stove, or is there a laundry closet?
• Does the house have more than three rooms?
• Does the one bathroom have a tub?
• Do the gun racks above every door come with the house?
• Are the clothes rods in the closet longer than 15" (did they really only own three hang-up outfits)?
• Are you using the word "quaint" to describe a mobile home?
• When you say "place" instead of "house" or "apartment" what does that mean?

All I can say is that a lot of people in this country live in less-than-adequate housing, or my standards are way too high. One man was so emotionally attached to his shack of a house that I had to take courtesy pictures just so I wouldn't offend him. He said he cried when he had to move out (to his big, beautiful, new house a little closer to the road). I'd have cried if I had to move in.

So the house hunt continues. We looked at a great little bungalow on an acre today, and we put in an application for another house on a very small lot, but everything inside is immaculate and the lady who owns the house had pretty good tastes when it comes to paint colors, fixtures, etc. The bungalow was charming but needs a lot of work and they want to do a rent-to-own deal so that's probably out. There is one more house that I haven't seen, but it's in the perfect location- in the country on land, close-ish to family, close to work- and here's what the listing says:

Very roomy two story farmhouse with an open, modern look. Nine rooms plus two full baths. Wonderful sun room looking out onto open fields. Hardwood floors; open living room, dining room, kitchen. Laundry room with washer and dryer included. Full, dry basement. Three or four bedrooms. Two acres with nice outbuilding and barn. Plenty of garden spaces.

This sounds absolutely perfect, and one of my main regrets about the smaller house we were hoping to get was that it doesn't have as much of a yard and not enough yard for a garden. Anyway, I am praying that the Lord would save this house for us. We somehow overlooked it on Craigslist, so the listing is a week old. It's a long-shot, but obviously nothing is too difficult for the Lord. I'm more encouraged after a week of looking than I was before because new things are popping up every day and our options don't seem so limited. House hunting gets old quickly though, and I will be delighted to be cooking in my own kitchen again, sleeping in my own bed, and able to find most of my belongings.

I'm off to find my black boots for church tomorrow...they've been missing for a week. Maybe next Sunday they'll be in my own closet.

P.S. My husband says that the numbers system can easily be abused and does not in any way take the place of a good heart-to-heart. I should have put some sort of disclaimer on that post!