Gimme The Suckiest Vacuum You've Got.

I have tragic news. My vacuum cleaner of 6 years has passed away. It was 10 years old and came into this family with my husband when I married him back in 2004. I’ll give you some time to compose yourself and wipe away the tears before I continue.

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The vacuum officially ceased its faithful service to our household three weeks ago, but we haven’t actually been able to replace it yet. Unfortunately, everything else has broken in the past few weeks as well, and we’ve been busy replacing things left and right. When it rains, it most definitely pours.

Given that I have two little boys, you must think that my carpet is atrociously littered with dirt and debris with my vacuum being out of commission for so long. However, I’m happy to report that this isn’t case. I have to hand it to the Rainbow and Kirby sales people. They are absolutely wonderful… even if they don’t know it! If there is one thing that I’ve learned during the past few weeks, it has to be this:

The more fictitious phone conversations you have with your spouse’s voicemail to “beg him/her for a vacuum,” the cleaner your house gets… also the more amused your spouse gets when he/she checks his/her voicemail later.

Chris didn’t know it until later, but he was really playing hardball when it came to getting a new vacuum cleaner.

This leads me to the next thing:

All good things must come to an end.

Needless to say, I’m running out of local sales people to exploit. So, it’s time to take the dive and make a purchase for the sake of my carpet. If you’ve ever met my husband, though, you know he has to over-research everything he buys. It doesn’t matter what it is. If we’re buying new kitchen spoons, he’s going to research whether or not we should buy bamboo or nylon, and we’ll probably do everything short of touring the factory. This may or may not include asking potential manufacturers for resumes. Vacuums will be no different.  

The first tell-tale sign of the great vacuum hunt came today when he called me from a local vacuum repair shop and told me one of the floor models he saw today was “beautiful.” Yes, he called a vacuum cleaner beautiful.

It’s beginning. Be afraid.

On a completely different note, I’d like to share with you a mural that was drawn by my youngest son not too long ago. I’m not exactly sure what it is, but I’m leaning toward “demon with a guitar.” That’s just sort of his speed, ya know? You can see that the artist has chosen faux wood grain for his canvas and has used only a white paint pen for this minimalistic piece. Enjoy.