Home Sweet Home?

This time I can't blame my mom. And I can't say the dog ate my homework because I made Norm give our dog away. I woke up in the morning and said, "oh, I forgot to write yesterday." And since it has happened so often in recent weeks I didn't feel a moments panic. It was kind of a relief.

But I did write. I spent almost an hour writing a letter trying to convince a rental property owner that he should rent his townhome to my family instead of the two other applications who had already applied. I wrote like I have never written before. I even got some help from Norm. I ended with a picture of the four of us at a Giants game, praying he wasn't from LA.

We have looked at hundreds of rentals in recent weeks. And when we pulled up to this community, we just knew it was the right one for us. There were a row of townhomes with small front porches that faced a huge grassy field. Almost like having your own backyard, or rather, extremely large front yard.

The four of us walked along the row, hoping that 370 was one of these front units and not one that faced the alley. Josie ran ahead and as I got to the end my heart sank when I realized ours didn't face the grassy area. Josie took off as soon as she got around the corner. I hurried after her worried about what might be around the corner. What awful setting there might be in front of our new potential home.

As I turned the corner, I smiled and my heart soared again. In front of 370 was another huge grassy area and a few yards further was a beautiful play structure. What I had feared was even better than I have imagined. If only the owner could have seen Josie and Owen running to the playground and shrieking as the went down the slide. Then the place would be ours for sure.