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Organization is everywhere right now.  The IT thing.  Everyone is doing it.  So...what happens if you are a born organizer and then all of your friends begin to notice how organized you are and, one by one, ask you to come and help? Organization Essentials hatches.

Liz Szalankiewicz, owner of Organization Essentials, has a knack for getting (and staying) organized.  Liz helps her clients implement a system for filing and for maintaining tax records with labeling systems that help you to know what you need to save.  I recently decided to tackle organizing my kitchen and asked Liz for a few tips. Here’s what she had to say:

When it rains it pours. And when it snows...the heat goes out. That’s exactly what happened to us during the first big snow of the season. Pretending you are camping out only worked for a few hours so, after a night of sleeping in hats and gloves, we called in 4 Seasons Heating & Air in West End for some professional help.

Co-owner Mike Smith quickly came over and assessed our situation thoroughly. This was our first time meeting Mike and he caught us off guard when he said he'd have an estimate in just a few minutes. Turns out, his SUV is his mobile office…he jumped in, made a few calls, put all the info in his laptop and presented us with a detailed quote with different options of efficiency for us to choose from in less than 20 minutes.

We were very impressed and scheduled the work to be done with Mike and his HVAC team and they delivered on their promise with a system that will not only be more efficient for our home needs, but will also enable us to get a tax credit. They had quite a lot of work to do, but were able to install our new system in just a few days, even working after hours one night so that we could be home and be warm!

We were also impressed with 4 Seasons Heating & Air's informative website about their services and products - check it out: www.4seasonsheatnair.com

Last week we took Nina to Dave's Dirty Dogs, a new (and brilliant!) business in Pinehurst. Dave, who also owns the laundry mat next door, renovated the other half of the building into a save-your-home-from-the-mess place for people to actually have FUN washing their dogs! We sure did. And Nina was thankful for the free bones and head scratches. The rates are reasonable and if you don't want to roll up your sleeves, the friendly staff will wash your dog for you.  We'll let the pictures (and a short video) show you around...

Step one: bring in your dirty dog

Step two: walk the plank (just the dog) 

We thought we'd post a few of our own "Sandhills Snow Days" photos.  Nina, our adopted dog, was the star of the snow shoot.  She was trying to win the Swank gift certificate all for herself, but we told her that just wouldn't be fair.  Send in your photos (or video!) - there's still time!

Trying to compete for the winter Olympics...

Out playing with her grandma...

Showing off for the camera.

I recently added an important phone number to my contacts – 910.944.8188. This number is for Rockwell Towing located in Aberdeen. There will come a time when you or someone you know will need a little help getting your stranded vehicle from one place to the next.

In my case, I needed my car towed to Bill Smith Mazda for some much needed service. I called Brenda at Rockwell and she was very helpful, communicating to me a plan to get my car to Bill Smith. Scott showed up on time, in the pouring rain (with a great attitude), and loaded up my car. Relief!

Meet Nina, the newest member of the SandhillsDig.com team. Although inexperienced (10 weeks old), she has already brought much energy and joy to the team.

For Anna and me, finding Nina was both fun and educational. Although Petfinder.com is a popular new resource for finding any and every pet nationwide, we decided we wanted to learn a little more about animal control and adoption in Moore County and adopt a “local.”

We headed to the Animal Center of Moore County and were amazed at the size, cleanliness and service at the Center and encourage you to visit if you haven’t already.

After speaking with Alfred Carter, Director of Animal Control, we learned that as this year draws to an end, they will likely have over 1300 pet adoptions!

Here are some other facts that we learned in our visit:

I will be honest with everyone, I am not a painter.   Every good paint job begins with deligent prep work and I just so happen to despise that blue tape. However, a visit to Aberdeen Paint & Wallpaper before I begin any home project helps me to relax and figure out exactly what I need. The friendly staff at Aberdeen Paint has walked me through their Benjamin Moore color chart and also suggested what type of paint finish I would need for my recent home projects.  Our kitchen is now "Soot," the dining room "Wythe Blue," and the living room the perfect shade of "Stonington Gray."  Thank you Benjamin Moore for your beautiful paint colors.  Thank you Aberdeen Paint & Wallpaper for helping us amateurs out.

In preparation for some out-of-town guests (when you move back to Pinehurst and everyone wants to come and visit!) we decided some of our area rugs needed cleaning. Where do you go to get an area rug cleaned? After a few phone calls, we found Victor at Neighborhood Cleaners on Hwy 5 (next to Sandhills Bowling Center). His dry cleaning business not only takes care of your clothing, outerwear, linens and bedding but also cleans area rugs. Victor will give you a quote based on size and thickness of the rug and the cleaning takes about a week.  Neighborhood Cleaners continues to impress us with their friendliness and customer service.

Got a question about where to go for something in the Sandhills? Let sandhillsDig.com investigate for you.

Recently we noticed our water developed an odd smell. Our dishes smelled terrible after going through a cycle in the dishwasher and we couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. Yes, this was bad news but I knew whose number I needed to pull up on my Blackberry. I quickly called Ray's Plumbing Service in Aberdeen. “Boz” and the team from Ray's was able to come that day, diagnose the problem (an old and faulty water heater) and got my water supply back to normal...clean and odor free. From toilets, to tubs, to leaky pipes, family-owned Ray's Plumbing has been servicing the Sandhills for over 30 years and always focuses on satisfying its customers – that gets a thumbs up from sandhillsDig.com!