HI! You are going to love TFP! You have come to the right place to take control of your pool. You are correct that you need to clear the pool. We call it SLAM. Here is the link to it:Pool School - SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain In order to do that you need a good test kit. The pool $tore does not count (so some searching on here to find out why). Look in my siggy below for the one you need as it has more of what you will need. You will need to get the XL since you are green. You do need to get the leaves out so help SLAM the pool. I will give you some light reading so you can learn the ins and outs of TFP. All of our teaching is science based as well as daily tested in thousands of pools:Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry I look forward to helping you clear that pool so it will be clear when you and your family is ready to use it when it warms back up! Kim

Kim has great advice! I do wonder how soon you expect a deep freeze in NJ. Let us know.