jmc

Because the diagonals of a rhombus are perpendicular bisectors of each other, they divide the rhombus into four congruent right triangles. Let $x$ be half of the length of the shorter diagonal of the rhombus. Then $x+3$ is half of the length of the longer diagonal. Also, $x$ and $x+3$ are the lengths of the legs of each of the right triangles. By the Pythagorean theorem, $$x^2+(x+3{)}^2={\left(\sqrt{89}\right)}^2.$$ Expanding $(x+3{)}^2$ as $x^2+6x+9$ and moving every term to the left-hand side, the equation simplifies to $2x^2+6x-80=0$. The expression $2x^2+6x-80$ factors as $2(x-5)(x+8)$, so we find $x=5$ and $x=-8$. Discarding the negative solution, we calculate the area of the rhombus by multiplying the area of one of the right triangles by 4. The area of the rhombus is $4\cdot \left(\frac{1}{2}\cdot 5(5+3)\right)=\boxed{80}$ square units.