How I long for a home sweet home!

We have lived in a hotel since May 13 and I am very ready to get our stuff, creating a true home here in Sicily.  Hotel living certainly has it's perks- like someone else cleaning every day, but the walls are closing in.  Juliette is sleeping (well sometimes she sleeps) in our room so Brady can have a place of his own.  We have 1 couch and 3/4 of the room is full of toys.  I'm not complaining.  We are certainly lucky to have temporary living as nice as we have it.  There are those who have less on a full time basis, but none-the-less, I'm ready to go!
Searching for a house here in Italy is certainly interesting.  There are no listings, unless there is a sign posted outside (I've seen only 1) you would have no idea the place is for rent.  The Housing Dept. on base has a list of requirements a house must meet before military or civilian personel can live there.  There must be secure parking (gated or garage parking), a high level of security for the property (alarm system, fencing, shutters for the windows, ect.), hook-ups for washer/ dryer, at least 3 air conditioners, and a certain amount of cabinet space in the kitchen.  I may be forgetting a thing or two, but you get the idea.  Housing does provide a list of properties that have already been inspected and have been approved for immediate move-in.  We chose to have a friend of a friend take us around the first weekend we were here to show us houses.  We saw 5 the first day out and 5 the second day out.  We saw everything from a house at the beach to a house in the middle of town.  One was super modern, one was a large villa complete with a professional kitchen and small garden with fruit trees, and several townhomes with 3 or 4 levels. 
We decided on the townhouse in the middle of town.  It was my first choice because, well, it was in the middle of town.  We can walk to the fruit store, restaurants, bakery, clothes shopping... anything we want.  An added benefit is the house sits on top of a clothing store.  It also has only 2 levels and with a toddler and baby in the house, it's much safer and more convenient.  We have 4 bedrooms and 4 1/2 baths, 2 large storage closets, an entire wall of storage cabinets in what will be Brady's room (storage is a big deal because none of the bedrooms have closets), and a large living space with a play area for the kids.  Three of the bedrooms have private balconies and we have a huge wrap-around balcony outside, plus a very large garage.  I must say, I'm very excited about living here!
Once we decided on the place, we had to schedule an appointment for Housing to do an inspection.  They had to approve the property and inform the landlord of all the requirements.  The first inspection was conducted a couple of weeks ago and now on Monday we have a second inspection.  The house should be ready, or very close to it, by Monday, and then we have to start the process of getting utilities connected.  Word on the street is that process can take up to ten days.  SO, we should be able to move in by the end of the month.
I am so glad we found a house that first weekend because the road we chose has been a long one.  I'm not so sure it's any different from others who live in town.  The flight here made me not want to take another long flight for a while and the moving process has made me not want to move again for quite some time.  Our temporary lodging has been better than I expected it to be, but it's still not home.  Moving day in Georgia was sad, but moving day in Italy will be a happy day!