After much daydreaming and a fair bit of accelerated heart rate we FINALLY got to inspect the inside of the BIG 'OLE WHITE HOUSE. 

Saturday morning at 11:15pm we ambled round there, and low and behold, the lawn had been mowed, the bins put away, the blinds straightened and the door actually closed.  What a difference this all made!

It turns out 3 girls are living there at the moment, uni students.  And in typical uni student, share house circustances, they are living a life that doesn't lend itself to home duties.  It seems they spend more time sticking posters on the walls and drawing cartoons, than tending to the gardens and mowing the lawns.  (See what happens when strangers wander through your house, they look at all your personal stuff, as well as the general house!).

Anway... I digress. 

The owner on the other hand is a lovely older man, early 60's perhaps, with a slight European accent.  He showed us around.  The 3 girls were conveniently out. 

From the inside, behind the uni student 'decorations' and uni student furniture, is a house with real character and potential.  The front sun room has a gorgeous shape, with wide windows that let in streams of great light.  The sleep out is sunny and cute.  The bathroom has been renovated recently, as has the toilet... so no sitting on an ancient throne!

The 2 bedrooms freaked me out a little.  But mainly because the current inhabitants chose to hole up in them, with heavy drapes drawn and clutter everywhere.  Once I got over my initial shock I started wandering around the bedrooms and pulling back the drapes and low and behold!... lovely old fashioned windows, with views to pine-like trees, golden sunlight, a room that doesn't have to look like a cave, but instead a sweet old fashioned bed room!! Very exciting.

The carpet in the house has been collated bit by bit over the centuries, it would seem, and has a bit a patchwork effect.  Red wine red in the main bedroom, crazy greeny blue in the dining room, shaggy browny orange in the spare room - while this is not ideal, ....I can live with it.  I can even work with the eclecticness.

The house is full of windows, windows, windows.  They open over a large, lush back yard.  The clothes line is BIG, and sturdy.  The lawn is lined with plants and bushes.

I could live here.

The kitchen is still stuck in another time zone.  Though a new stove sits in the corner, the cabinets were made in the old fashioned 'everything smaller' way and as I took it all in I thought..

"A trip to Ikea is in need.  We need to solve this storage problem".

And so, go to Ikea, Caleb and I did, on Sunday.

There is a convenient new SUPER Ikea Megastore that has just been opened, and we spent a good couple of hours or so wandering around it gathering ideas.

Late last night we decided we would do it - and Caleb called the owner to discuss becoming the new tenants.

AMAZING THINGS THAT CAN ONLY HAVE BEEN ORCHESTRATED BY GOD

1. We can move in on the date that suits us, even though that leaves the house empty for 2 weeks, he didn't mind.

2. We don't have to pay a full real estate bond, as it is a private rental, this means we get some bond back from our little unit that we can use  on...furniture to fill our BIG 'OLE HOUSE.

3. We can move out on the date that suits our current landlord, thereby securing 2 weeks free rent! YIPIE!

4. We only had to search for 2 weeks!

5. At present the rental market dictates house hunters look for 6 months!  We only had to look for 2 weeks!

6. The current rental price for a house with the attributes the BIG 'OLE WHITE HOUSE has would be at least $300 - we will be saving $120 a fortnight as our rent is only going to be $240!

7. The landlord is Christian.

8. There is a massive, under the house space, where Caleb can set up his drums, and keyboard and play to his heart's content.

9. There is a garden.

And now for a list of not so greats that we are willing to put up with.

1. The carpet.

2. No bath!  BooHoo - I am a bath fiend, and now, will have to learn to go without.  We discussed this at length because it would also be very handy to bath a 1 year old in a bath rather than a shower, but we decided we have at least 10 months to worry about it, as the baby will be bathed in a baby bath until then.. so it is not a huge problem... I just have to learn to get by without my baths...     :(

3. Kitchen cabinet space.  At present, I know there won't be enough to make it comfortably functional, that is where Ikea comes in.

4. No fly screens on the bedroom windows.  At least by June when the baby comes, it is winter and sleeping with a window open will not be an option...so again... we have time before this becomes a problem.

5. At present the main bedroom built in wardrobe doesn't have doors!!! WHAT THE..??? solution = Ikea.

We are confident that the pros outweigh the cons, and we are also excited about what we can do to change the cons, over time.

So, house hunting = over...

now time to go back into waiting mode.

Sigh* 

8 weeks until we move.....until then, I will continue to think and dream and shop for the new house.

And so, a daunting situation that could have taken months to finalize and co-ordinate has been sorted out in two weeks with multiple advantages ... what a blessing.  God is good and continues to prove His faithfulness and character to us.  Amazing.

No, this entry is not about black and red power suits complete with gigantic, shoulder pads, grey stockings and pencil skirts with sky high slits. 

Nor is it about comedy that is just not funny.  You know the type, racist  or sexist in subject matter.

No. 

This is about the bad taste that has appeared and is no constantly hanging about in my mouth!

It is similar to what I had in the first trimester, though not as lethal.  The first trimester bad taste was complete with congestion and excess saliva and often led to vomiting.  This one has appeared in the last week or so, and doesn't seem to be going away.

It is hard to describe, but it seems to be there all the time.  I have taken to chewing gum just to keep from tasting it.  Sometimes I brush my teeth 3 times a day, but it quickly comes back.

Does this mean that my hormones levels are still changing?

That they are still rising?

Just how full of hormones am I?

I just thought of  way to describe it...

You know when you lick a stamp?  And then you have that funny artifical glue taste hanging around for a moment or two?   Well, it's just like that!

24 weeks and 5 days and this is what's going down:

- I noticed my linea nigra just the other night as I was getting ready to take a shower.  Up until then I had just had an increase in snail trail hair, (lovely, I know), but now the flesh underneath has definitely started to brown.  I got hubby to confirm.  ew..weird.

- I spoke with my older sister about THE babyshower today.  We are planning it for SAT the 31st of March, a good 2 months before the birth.  Seeing as we will be moving in April that month is pretty much a write off, and I felt more comfortable doing it earlier rather than later... there will be enough to do in May as it is!!!

- We still haven't heard from the owners of the BIG 'OLE WHITE HOUSE in regards to getting a look inside the house...waiting, waiting, waiting.  It will be nice to just know for once and for all if it is a possibility and if not...move on.

- My clothes continue to get tighter, my thighs larger and my bra's smaller. I am finding this quite funny and enjoyable, I have never seen myself look so meaty before!

- I haven't started packing up the unit yet, which I probably should get stuck into while I am still raging with tri-mester 2 feel good hormones. I have the energy to do it now, but may not in a month of twos time.  It is so hard knowing where to start though, as we will still need to live in this space for at least another 6 weeks...

- People still continue to tell me I am 'small' (tummywise), but when I told my midwife this she said...

'I don't think so.  I think you are a good size.'

...as I am measuring bang on every week, and she has been in the profession for 30 odd years, I am inclined to believe her and not the exclamations of everyone else around me!

- I am feeling pretty certain baby is a boy.  Though I keep dreaming they are a girl, when awake, I sense boy, boy, boy.  Will be interesting to see if I am wrong.

- Time seems to have stepped up a notch, and the days and weeks are going faster.  For the first time the other day I thought...

"eeekk!  Only 16 weeks to go!" 

In typical Bianca form, I have gotten ahead of myself, and started day dreaming about the possibility of moving into the big, old house we drove by yesterday.  This is strange because:

a. It looks like a dump from outside

b. We haven't even seen the inside

c. When I first saw it, I thought, "no way".

But, ever the optimist, (or perhaps, the fool), I have found myself entertaining visions of painting the house.  Yes.  In my dreams, Caleb and I move in, and though the place needs a little TLC, it is not too bad, and we are excited about getting stuck into it, and turning it into a green lawned, soft lamped, old fashioned abode.

Caleb mentioned yesterday that perhaps we could speak with the owner about doing some work to it.... I think this was the catalyst for my day dreams.

We could pick paint colours, and together paint the inside walls, making them warm and ours.  Caleb could mow the lawn and I would pull down the old curtains, revealing beautiful windows that let in wonderful light.

Well, well, well.  This daydream is really getting out of hand.

I desperately need to get into the house and see it for what it really is, and if it sucks, MOVE ON!

Our little baby will have a beautiful room, wherever we end up. It will have a brand new cot, bought as a gift by it's Nanny, probably white, because that is the colour she keeps hinting at.  Baby will have pictures on the wall, that when reflected back on, will conjure up good memories.  Baby will have fresh linen and clean, fluffy towels.

No matter where we end up setting up, it will be good.  I just got to get a handle on this day dreaming, and patiently wait the days out.....

Ho Hum.