A Room For Rent?

I originally posted this in my private blog, but found it to be more appropriate in this one so I am re-poting it:

I will be starting my long term sub job at Aveson School of Leaders in mid January. The school is located in Alta Dena, which is part of Pasadena. I have spent this past week in the classroom that I will be taking over shadowing the teacher in order to better prepare myself for the upcoming job. In doing so, I have also learned about the traffic habits of the 210 freeway and that I am not a huge fan of waking up at 4:00 in the morning...

A thought that I had today was that maybe, just maybe I could find a small room (or preferably a back house) that I could rent for the 3-4 months that I will be working at this school. I was talking to my grandma about this subject, and she suggested that I write down EVERYTHING that I want in a place to rent. She thinks that by putting what I want out there into the world, that the world will give me what I am looking/asking for (at least that's the impression I got). I have been in a really great mood lately (I think Aveson is rubbing off on me), and have been feeling very optimistic so I think I will give it a try and see what happens... why not?

IDEALLY what I would like to find in a place to rent, is someone's back house. This school is located in a very wealthy neighborhood, and I am sure that a lot of the mansions nearby have back houses that aren't being used. The school that I will be working at is located on Allan street, other than that street I haven't really had the chance to explore that areas close to the school. BUT I do see the houses the whole way up Allan street, and I think they are all SO beautiful.... it would be a dream come true to find a back house for rent located on this street. It is a pretty steep grade of hill, and every time I am driving to Aveson, I imagine myself running up this hill before school in the morning!

Cost... this is an important aspect of what I want. Billy and I talked briefly about a price that would be "worth my money." Since if I stayed at my parents house I would be spending approximately $400 a month in gas, I decided I do not want to spend more than $600 a month on a place to rent. I'm not exactly looking to savemoney, but I sure don't need to get myself into financial trouble with this venture either.

So now that I have stated what and where and how much, I think I should talk a bit about the actual place itself. I would like to find an older woman who lives alone and is renting out some space because the place she lives is just to darn big for her all all by herself. I already stated that I would prefer a back house, so that I could feel like I have my own space, but my second choice would be maybe like a portion of a house? I'm not sure what that would look like though... I definitely want my own bathroom, and it would be great to feel comfortable enough to cook in the kitchen. The woman that I move in with will be a big fan of tea, and we will have great conversations together (maybe she's even a retired teacher).

I don't have a lot of things to furnish a space with, so if I do end up finding a back house, it would be awesome if it was furnished, or at least the living space was furnished, I could bring my room with me. And Bellatrix........... ideally this woman will also have a dog, and I will be able to bring Bella with me.... And the woman can't walk her dog too often, so I will walk him :) She might even give me a break on my rent for my services!

I feel like I am asking a lot of the world..... but here are my requirements. wish me luck!!!