Finding a House

We finally settled on a six month lease for a furnished 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom in the lovely tree lined neighborhood of North Adelaide. It's an older stone house with high ceilings, elaborate moldings and stained glass windows. I'm not one to go for carpeting because of my allergies and difficulty keeping it clean especially with kids, but there is carpeting in the hallway, front bedroom and living area off the kitchen. It's kind of a sky blue, but at least it is nice quality carpeting. We got really lucky the the owners have agreed to furnish the home. The leasing agent told me the owners are hiring a interior decorator to funishe it. COOL!! I'm excited to see what they do. I'm hoping it's just what I would do instead of frumpy victorian.

We don't have a back yard for the girls but we do have a nice walled in brick patio. The down side is that our "car park" is part of this patio, and there is a roll up garage door that you open on the side to pull the car into. Another oddity about the house is that it is right beside a dentist office which offers zoom whitening for $695. Really the neighborhood is a bit of a NORC (naturally occuring retirement community) and there is actually elderly housing on the street beside ours. But sprinkled amongst the dentist office and old age homes are some very pretty homes.

Anyway, I had no idea it would be such a chore to find a furnished home. I did go look at one that a realtor didn't want to show me, because we have children. Of course, I had to play the role of the pushy American, and insist on seeing it in person. The young, unsophisticated leasing agent actually told me she didn't want me wasting her time by seeing it, but I wanted to decide for myself whether or not it was suitable. Actually, It was beautiful and full of character and antiques, but the reason I didn't think it would work is because the furniture and beds looked small and uncomfortable. The whole time I was with her, I told her I loved it and it was perfect for us. Of course I insisted on an application. She was not into this at all. And while I was trying to keep her hostage by trying to fill out the application at the house, a small black insect, smaller than a fly but bigger than a gnat landed on the center of her doughy forhead right between the eyes. It's not a good look, if out of nowhere an insect lands on your face. It kind of gives one the impression that you never wash.

Observations in Australia
In Target we Trust, does not apply in Australia. Actually I should have been tipped off by the black type and different font of the logo followed by a period. Then I went in the store and saw headless mannequins all over the place displaying wretched apparel. I was suspicious but not clued in that this was Not the Target from the states, so I poked around until I found the downstairs for electonics,toiletries,etc. I just needed a few toiletries. I got some Q-Tips, which I was desperate for after traveling 20 hours on a plane. But these of course weren't real Q-tips just have a teeny tiny bit of cotton on the end, so that you might as well poke a twig in your ear.