If you are out and about this weekend you may see any unusually large number of Open House signs decorating neighborhoods. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is sponsoring their annual Nationwide Open House Event, making it easy for buyers to tour a large number of homes at one time.
Yes, I will be one of the agents holding an Open House from 1-4PM both Saturday and Sunday. Come visit me at 5661 Beach Drive SW in fabulous West Seattle! This $1.1 million home has 40 feet of waterfront, 4 bedrooms, 2.75 baths and 1,980 sq. ft. of living space.
If that isn’t enough to entice you, remember that I always give away coupons for handmade ice cream from West Seattle’s own Husky Deli!
Here are some fun facts and figures provided by NAR concerning this big Open House event.
Technology is (mostly) wonderful, but what can you do with all those gadgets, appliances and electronics once they are obsolete or no longer functional?
On Sunday, April 29, 2012 from 9A-3P, you can take them to the Fauntleroy Church parking lot at 9140 California Ave SW in West Seattle where they will be accepted for recycling — free of charge — by the non-profit organization 1 Green Planet.
This “Recycle Roundup” is a great and very popular annual event, so expect to see a long line of cars waiting to drop off their unusable items.
Here is a sample of the kinds of items they accept:
A/C units
Answering machines
Calculators & adding machines
Computers, including monitors, keyboards, mother boards, modems, and speakers
Although the service IS free, keep in mind that 1 Green Planet is a non-profit organization that depends upon donations to provide these services. Please consider giving a donation when you drop off your items.
I took my own advice and visited some of the sites on the Seattle Green Home Tour this morning. In very short order I discovered several inexpensive ideas I can implement right away (e.g. nylon rather than vinyl shower curtains) as well as some that I hope to install in the future (e.g. solar tube skylights and infrared radiant heat panels).
I also learned about a relatively new kitchen countertop option called PaperStone®. It is a truly beautiful, green and affordable alternative to granite and other pricey products.
There’s still time to join the Green Home Tour yourself, which runs until 4P today (Sat., 4/21) and from 10-4 tomorrow.
Then come back to this post and tell us what YOU learned 🙂
Wow! Spring weather just doesn’t get any better than this in Seattle! I hope you are out enjoying it.
At the moment, I am hosting an Open House at 5919 36th Ave SW, in West Seattle’s Fairmount neighborhood. The accompanying photo is the view from the living room of this totally remodeled mid-century home. Weitzel Construction purchased this property and worked with architect, Veleta Witcraft, and turned the original 1958 design on it’s ear to create an amazing home that takes full advantage of natural light and the Sound and Mountain view. Listed at $729,000 by my Prudential Northwest Realty colleagues, The Johnson Team, it has 3 bedrooms, 2.25 baths, 2,620 square feet of living space on a 6,528 sq. ft. lot.
OR, come see it in person! I will be here until 4PM today (Sat., 4/21) and again from 10A-1P tomorrow (Sun., 4/22). As always, I am giving away coupons for free ice cream from West Seattle’s own Husky Deli, located in Alaska Junction.
Want to know where to find out about other Open House events? Follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/7089800
Whatever you do, enjoy this day to the best of your ability.
Looking for something fun and out-of-the-ordinary to do this weekend? Check out the Seattle 2012 Green Homes Tour, happening this Saturday and Sunday, April 21 & 22. And in particular, the West Seattle sites on the tour.
The award-winning West Seattle Blog has all the details, including a map of the five West Seattle sites, so grab your hat and a friend — maybe even the dog — and check it out!
Think that living green is costly? Discover how easy and inexpensive it can be to make your life and home a little greener. You’ll find lots of low-cost, easy-to-implement ideas on the tour. It’s free and self-guided.
We are very excited and proud to have Jean Smart, our Hollywood-success UW grad to be our keynote speaker, along with Michelle Esteban from KOMO TV as our emcee for the event. This fun day will be on May 12th, 2012 at the Grand Hyatt in Seattle from 10:30 to 12:30. I am hopeful that you can support our endeavor to raise money for deserving future leaders in our community in need of financial aid. Whether it’s coming to our event or donating something to our cause, we would really appreciate it! It should be a fun event, not just for Moms on the Saturday of Mother’s Day weekend, but for all that attended our Alma Mater. The origin of the words Alma Mater was in 1651, Latin for “Fostering Mother”. It is thus apropos that we hold the celebration of our school on this weekend. In the theme of celebration, with the University of Washington’s 150th birthday year, we are looking to create auction items of $150 or more. This sure-to-be fun event will reach hundreds of attendees along with tens of thousands in audience. I hope you can participate in some way.
When I was growing up in middle-class America (I’m 54 now), I was taught that a lady never swears. Those were the days when being a lady was an assumed goal for every young woman. My mother was a true lady and I never, ever heard her utter a 4-letter word in all her 88 years. As far as I know, she never felt the need; she was able to express her feelings without cursing. I cannot make the same claim for myself.
My father, on the other hand, had several favorite cuss words and phrases he liked to use when angry or frustrated. By today’s standards, they seem pretty mild; hell and damn, mostly. Being a good Catholic, however, he never took the Lord’s name in vain, and he never swore at people. I.e. he never “cussed anyone out.
I don’t remember when I first uttered a four-letter word, but I did. I suppose it was inevitable, given the demise of the value formerly place on being a lady. I was probably in my teens and it must have felt like a defiant rite of passage. I imagine that it probably felt and sounded strange to hear a cuss word or words coming from my mouth.
I wish someone had warned me that once you start using swear words, there’s no going back. I’ve tried.
A girlfriend and I were musing about this just the other day. I don’t swear much, but I do let the cuss words fly on occasion… usually for emphasis when I am frustrated or angry. I’m happy to say however that, like my father, I never direct my tirades at people, only situations. I never really thought about that distinction until now.
I remember reading somewhere that swearing is a sign of an uneducated person, the theory being that you don’t need to use four-letter words if you have an adequate vocabulary. I believe there is some truth to that. Even so, habit and laziness play their parts as well. The four-letter words slip out much too easily (if not frequently) now, often before I even have a chance to think about it.
Swearing is easier than searching for words that actually describe how I am feeling.
If you are somewhere near my age you probably remember the old television show “Room 222.” It was set in a high school and one of the episodes was about the problem of the boys on the basketball team swearing on the court. The solution they came up with was for the boys to substitute other similar, yet unoffensive words such as “fudge.”
I thought that was pretty ingenious, so I tried it myself… several times. Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked for me. Somehow, substitutions don’t feel as satisfying as the forbidden words.
So, for me, swearing is a case of “if I had known then what I know now.” If I could turn back time and choose again, I wouldn’t utter that first “bad” word. Not because it is unladylike, but because, in my opinion, profanity makes a bad situation worse. It gives added power to negativity.
Maybe it is the writer in me that protests profanity. After all, there is not much meaning behind swear words, only emotion. I prefer words that are descriptive and communicative.
What is your feeling about profanity? Are you comfortable with the amount you use? What about society in general?
I’d love to hear your thoughts… but please keep it clean 🙂