One 'Door' Closes...

The fixer-upper is off the table. The trustee for the estate decided he could not sell it for the low price he offered. That's okay. I am at peace and am in a state of openness to what might happen. That sounds really new-age dippy but there it is. Tomorrow I meet the soil test man and the backhoe at the 20 acres of field which butts up against my dad's woods. If the soil will perk test for a septic system then we wiil buy it. If it doesn't and a holding tank is our only option then we will not. Period. (there is another parcel of land for sale 1/2 mile down the road) (with a woods) (in the preferred school district-no 'school choice' and meeting the bus on the corner-only 50 yards, but still). I am excited about building our own 'ARK'. Passive solar, wood heat, water collection systems, off grid (maybe).
I'll let you know what happens tomorrow -if I have time before scooting off to work!
Kris

Wanting and Waiting...My 'marshmallow' test

Have you heard of the famous marshmallow test? First performed by Walter Mischel at Stanford University in the 1960's, the marshmallow test was a measure of delayed gratification for 4 year olds. The children were told they could have this marshmallow NOW or wait and receive 2. The kids who were successful in waiting employed specific strategies-playing with the marshmallow or otherwise pretending it was something other than an ooey gooey yummy treat. The kids who could wait not only got a second marshmallow but, on average, an extra 210 points on their SAT scores. I have been using a similiar technique to deal with the waiting and the wanting which goes along with this land/farm purchase.

The four noble truths of Buddism teaches that craving and attachments are the root of human suffering and disquiet. If you can end craving, you can bring yourself to a quiet, peaceful place. This is what I have been working on. Rather than let myself become embroiled in the wanting and all the tension that stirs up, I am letting it go. The right solution will come if I don't push too hard and 'surrender to the stream'. A little new-age I know, but it's working for me.

Thanks for all the support by the way, it took all day yesterday -reading, painting, and puttering to get back to normal (or as close as I can get anyway!). When I put days like that into my 'Your Money or Your Life' hourly wage determination, things look a little different!