SNOW QUEEN

My mom always calls on my birthday (the first day of Spring) to remind me that on the morning I was born over a foot of snow fell prior to my delivery.  Apparently this was a sign to her that I would be a different child but she just didn't know HOW different.  Mom tells me that my Dad was quite nervous about the snow and travel to the hospital  but that she wasn't worried at all, which for some reason I find hilarious. I have visions of her dressed for the hospital and I do mean dressed as in "I'm ready for the photographers",  puffing away on a Kent sitting on the front bench seat of the blue Ford wagon as Dad shoveled the driveway minutes before their journey to the hospital.  Every time we get snow -- a little or a lot -- I flash to this image.  I hope I am mostly like her with that ability to take life's hurdles not in my control in stride.

SMELL-O-RAMA

Scented candles, plug-in/solid/spray air fresheners don't ever really help...they always just combine with and accentuate dirty house/cooking/pet odors. My friend Miki always says that a clean house never smells...and she's right.  My partner Michael is quite the cook but I usually hate the odors afterwards...sometimes a glass bowl of white vinegar set on the kitchen counter left overnight does the trick and sometimes it doesn't. Ventilation/airing out is key for bath, kitchen, basement, attic, closets, laundry room. Don't forget the epicenter of stink...the carpeting and the dog's favorite couch.  Have them professionally cleaned prior to marketing the property.  A quick shot of  fresh air from an open window does a lot even in a small amount of time before a showing.  Move gym clothes and those classic sneakers you can't part with from your closet to the basement or garage (mine go in the car trunk) before a showing.  If you smoke, do it outside while your house is on the market, sorry. Buyers have a visceral reaction to odors and they don't care if you have granite counters if your house stinks.