Thursday, January 14, 2010

What are you doing with yourself Andy???

I am not sure if I mentioned previously, both of the houses that I own are up for sale. My primary residence is under contract and my rental property is still not under contract. Both are short-sells which take alot of time. Some good news is that my primary residence has been under contract for almost 90 days. Yesterday a mortgage broker came by to establish what the house price should be based off of the conditions in my neighborhood otherwise known as comps. I could not believe that homes were selling for $12K and $15K!!! Since I am ready to get my primary residence sold, I was worried about the price of $21K being too low, but he seemed to think that the price was good. This is really good news. So he submitted his opinion to the bank, and I am one step closer to being out from under this mortgage.....I think I have an interested party in the rental house. We'll see

On another front, I have been digging deep into the goals and dreams that I have set for this year. Yesterday I received notice of an opportunity to join Michael Reynolds and Earthship Biotecture in the construction of an Earthship in Wyoming during the last week of April and first week of May. My calendar is beginning to fill up!!!!! I was wishing for an opportunity and it has presented itself. We will learn how to lay out the building, pound tires, install cisterns and thermal wrap, build interior buttresses, start pack out on tire walls, form and pour the bond beam, basically all the steps to get an Earthship project ready to put a roof on it. I could not be more excited than I am right now. My goal would be to get involved and if I like it, to become part of a team that travels all around constructing Earthships. There is a large project getting started in the Galapagos Islands that would be nice to dig into...The goal of course as previously mentioned would be to own land possibly in Guatemala on Lake Atitlan and to construct our own Earthship. It is only a matter of time.....How cool would it be to travel around the world building Earthships. This year alone their builders are traveling to Baja Mexico in February, Swaziland Africa in May, Pataonia, Uganda and Norway this Summer, and The Galapagos is ongoing. What a job that would be, to build and become a master at building 99% self-sustaining housing with people from around the world. We'll see....

So this is what I am doing today. The Earthship opportunity presented itself this morning and I am now on the list of interns for the Wyoming 2010 Earthship build. I have never been to Wyoming, but from the pictures, it looks like a beautiful place to spend 2 weeks in the Spring. I will more than likely stop by and visit with Katie, Xander and Josh on my way out. We'll see, I don't want to get ahead of myself....I think? I am also looking forward to not towing the Airstream and not having my dogs with me. We'll just have to wait and see...I look forward to seeing what else takes place between now and then, what else decides to jump into my path along the way.

In February, Rosemary and I will be going to Mardi Gras for 2 days. NOLA is her old stomping grounds and she will be returning during her favorite time. We will both be in costume. She actually is hand delivering a $500 costume she is making for an old client of hers. She is making it. This evening she was involved in an event at the W Hotel for a new high profile client, the Maverick Group. She is making 4 costumes for them in late February and before you know it we will be traveling to festivals. Life is definitely treating us well these days.

"Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions." - Einstein