The One with the Housing Update

One of our top priorities upon arriving here in Grafenwöhr was signing up on the housing list. Our friends got here about a week before us and they were told they were #21 on the waiting list. Yiiiiikes. When Chris got us on the list and they wouldn't even tell us how far down we were so I prepped myself to be in this hotel for the long haul. Everyone was telling us to expect to be in the hotel for 6-8 weeks. The hotel on the other hand was telling us 30 days. But the hotel isn't owned by the Army so who knows. 

Last Thursday Chris went with Sergey to the housing office because Sergey was following up with his housing wait and it turned out he had an "offer" - meaning there was a place available. Sergey suggested Chris look and see if he had an offer and lo and behold - he did! HOORAY! It was in Erbendorf so we googled it and right away were a bit dismayed - it's 21 minutes away in good conditions. 

If we've learned anything since being here it's that the winters are going to be abysmal - nothing like we've ever seen. I'm scared. Do I even own a jacket? No! But that is another subject for another day.

After the Gazarov's went and looked at their offered housing, we took the car that Sergey's sponsor so generously has been letting us borrow now and again to go see our housing offer. 

Holy moly it's waaaaaay out in the boonies! 

The drive was one of the prettiest drives I've ever been on in my life. That's a bonus. But there is one part of the road that is pretty much a one lane road, it's that narrow. And then we imagined it in the dark and long and snowy nights of the winter and immediately our hearts sunk - Chris will be on call 24 hours a day and if he has to go into work in the middle of the night, I don't want to worry about him driving on that road. Right away we knew we did not want to be banned to the outskirts of Erbendorf. 

The house was pretty ghetto compared to the ones our friends live at in Netzaberg. It was 4 bedrooms though which was awesome. But the master was in the basement and the bedrooms on the 3rd floor. Not very realistic for such young babies when they're still waking up in the night. And the backyard was definitely lacking and small and angled. 

We marched right back to the housing office and told them no, we want something closer, preferably in Netzaberg. They told us they didn't have anything and to come back on Tuesday or Wednesday to see if anything has opened up. 

I talked with Crystal and the other women in our ward and they suggested to keep trying, to go by myself without Chris, and with cranky kids, so the housing people would have pity on me. 

Monday morning I got to the housing office right as they opened at 8am. I checked in and was immediately called back to talk to a counselor. I explained our situation and asked if there is anything in Netzaberg. She said no and that was that, there's nothing she could do. Poop. She said I could talk to the housing head honcho and I said sure, let's. 

I followed him back to his office and with shaking hands I explained our situation and begged to live in Netzaberg, 5 minutes from the base, close to all of our other dental friends. 

He tapped away at his computer for a long time, glanced over at the computer, then said, "There is a house that will be available to view on or about the 25th - this Thursday."

HECK YES!

Might I add that Chris and I fasted on Sunday and prayed like it was nobody's business all weekend that something would open up. Prayers were answered!

I immediately wanted to drive by and see what it looked like. But we're still carless. Grrrrrrr. On Tuesday Chris was able to borrow Spencer's car during lunch and check out our new potential digs. 

 Front/Back

Looks to be 4 stories, yay! (You can't see the basement). 

The backyard is definitely tiny, but heck, that means less maintenance and I don't really care if there are any faults because it's all about location location location!

I could hardly sleep the last couple of nights because I was so excited to go check out the house. I was even planning to walk the 3.5 miles there and back because we don't have a car and I don't want to pay for a taxi or inconvenience anybody to take me and Fox and Jane. 

This morning I walked with Fox and Jane back to the housing office to get the paper offer and the key. 

But alas. It was not meant to be. 

The counselor simply said, "It's not ready to view now until August 9th. That's all I can tell you. Come back then."
Are you kidding me? That's it? No reasoning or details?

The Army is having to fork out lots of dough for us to be in the hotel every day and I know they want us out of here and into the house. So 2 more weeks and then probably a couple more weeks to get everything squared away means a lot more money they have to spend to keep us in the hotel!

I'm soooo bummed! Today definitely did not go according to plan. 

So now I think I'm going to go in on Monday (I really hope they're not sick of seeing me...) and go straight into the head honcho's office and say, "Hey, thank you so much for getting us the offer in Netzaberg. But now it's not available until August 8th! Is there anything in Netzaberg, preferably on JFK or Grünhundstraße (that's where our friends live and they have openings all around them that we'd love to live at! Plus they're a bit bigger with nicer backyards :) that will be open before August 8th?"

So that's that. 

We'll be in our hotel for a long time still. 

At least there's air conditioning because none of the government houses or buildings have AC and it's been ruddy HOT lately!