Today marks two full weeks since our house has been “on the market.” A and the boys think I have a high standard of clean most of the time which is not to say that our house is never a mess, but we are speaking in generalities here. Every day before we leave for work, we do a sweep through in case the house will be shown. One appointment arrived an hour earlier than I thought and so I shoved EVERYTHING into the dishwasher because I was cooking dinner at the time.

At least now, these boys of mine now have a good comparison to my standard of clean. We have evolved to what was considered clean previously (a couple cups on the counter next to the sink) has now become dirty.  The other day, A and J came home and a neighbor wanted to have a look. J’s comment to A was “the house is dirty…I don’t think I rinsed my toothpaste from the sink.” As it turned out, this neighbor has come back twice to look and last time informed me that “she had been to the bank.” It will be unfortunate if we pay 6% to the realtor when we could have put a for sale by owner sign out front and sold it just as easily. However, we will feel fortunate to have sold the house.

We’ve spent the last two weekends looking at about 16 houses. It wasn’t until number 14 that we actually saw a house that we felt “This is it!” We aren’t ready to commit yet, but we stew about it every night. It is in the suburb next to the preferred suburb and because it is metro, four miles means 12-15 minutes. Have I mentioned that I HATE traffic??? Not that many people particularly enjoy traffic, but I also am not crazy about suburbs, so I’ve got to have some balance somewhere.

When we started this house search, I stated up front that I didn’t like split levels. I grew up in one and it isn’t that I necessarily disliked it, it just brings back sad nostalgia in leaving it. Of course, THIS IS IT house is a split level that we both LOVE. It is very much like my cousin Julie’s home although she has a great three season porch off the back and this one does not.

A and I are racking up over 200 miles a day in commutes, so we are getting a bit concerned as the price of gas here today is $3.49 a gallon. Plus, we just had to put in $1000 into one of the vehicles for regular maintenance…well, $700 was regular maintenance and $262 was for a new windshield wiper motor. Yes, that is right, a windshield wiper motor cost $262. Actually, that is the cost for a rebuilt one ($160 plus labor) as a new one is $300 plus labor. Who knew?

Tulips are blooming, but the daffodils haven’t shown up…don’t know what is wrong because they bloomed last year. We’ve mowed the lawn twice, and by we I mean A. It will probably be two more weekends before I plant potted flowers because two nights ago we had a hard freeze. I replanted several of our flower beds last fall, so I am excited to see how they will turn out…Iris are appearing where they never were before.

Water is a near-infinite resource in our world. However, that’s not enough! Water may be everywhere, but are you sure it is clean? Is the water you drink or the river near your house clean? The nearby river or creek may not have the same sparkling water you can find in a beach resort, but that’s no excuse to leave it as it is! We should all do our part to make sure all types of water is clean. How? Here are my tips.

1. Wash those water dispensers! A lot of people are not aware that those hot and cold dispensers may be dirty. Bacteria stick to the hot and cold taps, as well as the inside when you change the bottle. Over time, all that bacteria accumulates. Eventually, every glass you drink is laced with bacteria! You don’t want any children to get sick, do you? To prevent this, clean your water dispenser by running bleach through it every month. Rinse it by running a lot of tap water through. This also applies to any water containers you reuse. Make sure you wash them!

2. Clean up animal droppings. Storms can carry that stuff to rivers and creeks, dirtying the water and introducing bacteria. Keep them clean by disposing of poop in the trash bin! It may be disgusting to handle it, and I will be the first to say that, but remember that it is for the environment! Getting your hands dirty is no big thing.

3. Have your water tested. If you get your water from a well, make sure to have it tested at least every few months, specifically for nitrate. If you get it from a public supply, make sure that it’s a clean supply! If you’re paranoid, you may even want to test that. It may cost money, but prevention is better than cure any day. I’m glad my own water supply is clean. Make sure it complies to the Clean Water Act!

4. Wash on your lawn. Clean your car on the lawn instead of the driveway; better have the soapy water absorbed into the ground instead of making soapy runoff. For that matter do all your washing on the lawn! Runoff can pick up pollutants en route to its destination, so better if you can reduce that. My neighbors wash their animals in the front yard. You may also want to redirect downspouts from your roof to the lawn, or into a container so you can use it for watering later.

5. Don’t be trim-happy! If you live near the bank of a body of water, keep the vegetation there as is! Plants, grass and trees prevent and reduce erosion and hold back pollutants, so do not cut them down or mow them. You’ll be glad you did, one day. You get to keep more actual land on your property!

Whew! It may be tedious, but we can do all our part for clean water. What tips do you live by?

Beautiful! Alfa Romero 159 | Vivez l’expérience 159 screenshots:

Rollovers above are beautifully lit when you go over each rectangle. There is also a sound that plays.

I love the typography and the colors on each section. They know how to use the big quotation marks, imo.

Nice subtleties added, like a few leaves falling in the background and the street lights glowing big to small.

Rollovers on the yellow text was also nice and clean — gray rectangle underneath on hover.

Animated lightening in the background.

I also enjoyed the photo treatment on the images, like the lense flares.

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