The preparations for the China adventure continue. On Friday we had a rental agent do a quick walkthrough of the house. The plan is to rent the house while we're away, so it doesn't sit vacant. (Generating some income to pay the property taxes is also desirable.) I didn't have many expectations, but it was a slight reality check. He recommended only two improvements to make the place more rentable--repaint the interior and add a shower to the bathroom. Now the repainting thing has been nagging to be done for years now. I'm not at all surprised that he suggested that. The shower thing, though, that's something that we've gotten used to over the years. It would have never occurred to me that it would be a major detriment to the marketability of the place. Kind of myopic of me.

I suppose that's one way this whole process will affect Noodles and myself. We've gotten comfortable with being a bit different from the status quo. More than comfortable, actually. I think we're stuck in the oddball rut. Of course, now that we're faced with things like renting our house and fundraising, where we're seeking other's approval (and money), we have to give more thought to others' views and prejudices. Not something that I've had to do for a while. Nor something I particularily relish. But I must admit it's a good step. I call this an adventure, but if we're really going to do this well, we have to adopt a more servile attitude--Noodles, so that she can be an effective teacher and myself, so that I can give emotional support to her and the kids throughout a challenging couple of years. Lord, have mercy! Help this stubborn old mule change his bad habits!