If you’re a frequent traveler, leaving live plants alone to fend for themselves may not be a good idea. Unless you have someone to check your home and to water and feed your plants in your absence, having live plants is probably not a good idea.

Consider your pets. Curious cats and dogs can destroy your natural indoor garden by nibbling on leaves or digging in the soil.

Whether your plants are real or fake, you’ll need to decide what level of maintenance you want to deal with. If you enjoy nurturing your plants with trimming, feeding, and watering, then live plants will likely work for you. On the other hand, faux plants are dust collectors and require regular tedious cleaning.

If you have your home on the market and are having it staged, then fake plants may be the way to go. With the availability of a huge variety of faux plants, great marketing backdrops can be created. Staging is usually short-term, so these décor items seem to make the most sense. There are also companies that rent real plants for staging and will provide the required care.

When it comes to real or fake plants, call or email us, and we can help guide you in the right direction and provide you with supplier recommendations.

LEGO’s new prototype uses plastic made from recycled bottles, known as polythene terephthalate, or PET plastic for short. The procedure involves procuring discarded bottles made from PET plastic and grinding them down into tiny flakes before purifying them, grinding them into even tinier granules, and putting them through an innovative new process patented by LEGO to strengthen the grains, making them tough enough to fit the durable design we all know and love. Finally, the grains are molded into the classic LEGO bricks and color is added.

The new process is not yet ready for mass production but signifies the latest in a line of changes made by LEGO to play their part in protecting the environment, after recently beginning to remove single-use plastic from their packaging and switching the materials used in some elements to Bio-PE, a product made from sugar cane.

Not only could LEGO’s new initiative be a building block in the quest to reduce the amount of plastic pollution produced globally, it may also eventually contribute to the cleanup of nonbiodegradable waste by making use of the litter that already exists.

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

In a large bowl, combine pumpkin pie spice and flour. In a blender, add soaked dates, date soak water, vanilla, and milk and purée 1–2 minutes until smooth. Add to bowl with flour and spices along with pumpkin. Mix with wooden spoon until dry ingredients are incorporated.

Pour batter into 8×8 baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 25–30 minutes until lightly browned with some cracks. Cool for 10–15 minutes. Cut into squares before serving. Frost if desired, before serving.

1. Since it is likely that the seller will turn off the utilities upon closing, contact the utility companies and have the utilities turned on in your name ahead of closing. Be sure to include setting up your Internet and cable services at the same time.

2. Make sure the vacant house has been cleaned to your standards. If not, hire a cleaning service if you don’t want to do it yourself. At an average cost of $150, you may want to leave it to a professional.

3. For closing day, arrange for a locksmith to come and change the locks. Often, the locksmith will only have to rekey the existing locksets at a reduced expense.

4. Any planned remodeling or renovations are best accomplished when the house is vacant. It is much easier than you having to live around construction debris.

5. If repairs need to be done, line up a handyman to get the work done right after you close.

6. Be aware of what safety items need to be in place prior to taking occupancy. Have a fire extinguisher for each level of the home. Ensure that the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are in working order.

7. Prior to closing, have a walk-through with the seller or your home inspector so you can be familiar with the electrical service and water shutoff valves in an emergency. Get instructions on any other working systems of the home.

8. Have your mail forwarded and change your address profiles where needed.

Contact us for an even more extensive checklist to help with your move.

L: Look at the details. Making sure you’re fully informed about every detail and potential outcome will help you to decide what decisions you can make.

A: Anticipate the challenges. It’s probably a given that you’ll receive some pushback or have some hurdles to overcome during the conversation. Make sure you’re ready for the kind of questions or resistance you might face while negotiating and have your responses prepared.

T: Think about what you want to walk away with. Be clear in your mind about what you actually want from the negotiation, what you are prepared to be flexible on, and which parts of your desired outcome are not up for negotiation. Also, be sure to consider what the other party wants from the conversation for a stronger approach.

T: Talk it through! Practicing talking through your points out loud will help you be confident and collected when it comes to the real thing. You may even find that hearing your points out loud helps you identify where your tone or approach might need to change.

E: Evaluate your options. Before making a final decision, give yourself time to review the outcomes you’ve been offered from the negotiations to make sure it’s what’s best for you!