flexi, flexi. -part 2-

(-flashback- A 'Flexi' Example: one year I did not get to attend any prep meetings before the trip to Mexico (I think we had moved to Alabama or I was at college or something). We usually have two or three different teams, like a Bible school team (goes to the same village everyday, does a VBS) and a ministry team (goes to two different villages a day, visits door to door), and I hadn't heard about being in anything. I figured I would be like a floater. I met the whole group in Mississippi and rode down with them for two days til we ended up in Texas on the border. The night before we go in, I found out that someone forgot to tell me that I was in charge of a skit team and that I was supposed to have prepared five skits for the week. Yeah....)

So I'm sitting at Panera, listening to iTunes and seeing what's going on in the Facebook world. Sixteen minutes into my alone time, when I get a Tommy text, "Start date is June 6." Did I mention that it was May 23rd? That means, two weeks from that day, we needed to be in VB and settled enough so that Tommy could go to work that day.

Slight moment of panic. I actually let out a small hysterical giggle.... poor people having lunch near me....

So, I immediately start checking out apartments. "What happened to getting out of apartment life?" you may ask.

We had learned earlier that day from the realtor that most of the rental sites required not only the approval of the owners, but of the Home Owners' Association. This sometimes takes 20 days or a month- time we previously thought we had. So, I figured we could just live in a decent apartment for the shortest contract available, and then have plenty of time to find a more exciting and grown-up-y place (flexi, flexi!).

I found several apartment complexes and kept a list of their addresses. I picked Tommy up, and since we didn't want to waste time thinking about food (that never happens!?!) we drove straight back to Panera. I showed Tommy some of the apartments I had found, and let me tell ya, it's always the same. They give you a picture on their website of their clubhouse and like, a pool chair. You really do not know if the actual apartments are any good.

First complex we came to, we asked immediately if they had any availability, and they did.... in July. We hopped back in the car and drove a decent distance to the next complex. Although it was slightly farther away than we wanted it to be, it was in a quiet, less developed area and seemed rather peaceful. The clubhouse was beautiful, new and clean, and even offered movies to check out (...which I guess is important when choosing a place to live?). Just before seeing the only two bedroom layout that was available, she let us know "we have the biggest floor plans in the city." And, boy. Was it small. And old. And gross. Also, Tommy and I are not tall nor very rotund. So, when WE feel that the ceilings are way too low and the doorways rather tight, we know many of our would-be-visitors would be hunched over throughout their visit... and we would not be able to befriend any fat people.

We kept the smiles plastered on our faces and told the lady that we would let her know.

The next apartment complex on the list? Literally next door. The clubhouse seemed strangely familiar. And the man in it liked to talk. And talk. And talk. And the whole time we were thinking "HURRY UP". We FINALLY were taken up to the model apartment and realized that the same builder built both entire complexes all at the same time. With the same clubhouse. With different paint. And different names on the gates.

Crying a little bit inside, we escaped Chatty McChatterson and regrouped in the car. We had the "that was the largest floor plan in the city??" conversation and unhappily decided to drive to the next apartment, staying illogically hopeful. After seeing what was behind that final gate, Tommy decided we weren't even going to get out of the car...

Sitting in the car in the parking lot of last dumpy apartment complex, we called the realtor from that morning and bite-ed the bullet....and told her we were interested in the retirement community. YUP- flexin' like crazy. We decided we could live there and just... deal. The realtor had us believing it would be a "long shot" to get in within the two week time frame, and she didn't have anything else to show us.

By now, it was about 4pm. We were finished. The only place we thought would be 'ok' was only a 'maybe'. So, Tommy wanted to find a Starbucks and get on the laptop and re-look at everything we could think of. We found a 'Bucks on his phone and started the drive, which was taking us out of the city. Then, thank the Lord, HE reminded me of a realtor for an adorable townhouse I had seen during my search, and I had written her number down. We thought she'd kindly refuse to show us anything so late in the day, but I had to try (flexi, flexi!).

At a gas station, I called her and left a short message about how we only have that evening, were in a jam and if she had any interest, to please call me. Completely trusting that she would call us back, we headed back towards Vero.

And She Called Back!! She met us at her office at 4:45 and she showed us places until 7pm, telling us about the town and encouraging us every step of the way. We were so, so, so, very thankful for her help- we would've been thankful for her even if we had found nothing! (SHE was being flexi!)

But, walking into the last rental house, we knew we had found the place!

The next day, we emailed and faxed back and forth with the realtor. Tommy and I put in our less-than-two weeks notice at work....waited.... And a day later were informed that we got the house!

It's a seasonal rental, for beach-go-ers, so it was fully furnished. So, we are getting to use their big kitchen table, twin beds, and a few other things that we didn't have. We have a yard that the home association provides care for! We have a garage! We have room for our wonderful friends and family to come visit us! We feel like real grown- ups!! We've been shown such kindness from our Provider. May we be humble and truly thankful!

...also, sorry for the longest story ever... yay flexi.