Say Hello to My New Best Friend

Today I finally broke down and bought a "store" vacuum. I've never had a "store bought" vacuum cleaner before. I've had hand-me-down Kirbys from my grandma and a Rainbow that once belonged to my mom. Pricey, super-suction vacuums sold by door-to-door salesmen who promised they would perform far superiorly to any "store bought" vacuum. But my hand-me-downs are well into their geriatric years and performance is failing. Plus they are cumbersome and heavy and I vacuum ALOT -almost everyday - some would say it's OCD - I would defend myself by saying, "We have 5 pets and I have people coming in here with wedding dresses!" I love to vacuum - it is my favorite household task. It relieves my stress and creates nice little vacuum tracks in the carpet. I believe the satisfaction of creating vacuum tracks has something to do with the farm girl in me loving straight rows of corn or perfectly swathed alfalfa. (I also like mowing the lawn for this very reason.)

Anyway - I've had my eye on the Bissell Pet Hair Eraser for some time now. (Lord knows I need some pet hair erased!) I read reviews of it on the internet and checked prices at some local stores. A few days ago a catalog from Kohls arrived in the mail. They had the Pet Hair Eraser on sale for $169 plus the little peel off coupon on the front revealed that I had an extra 30% off. It was a sign that it was time to bite the bullet and purchase that store vacuum.

And, can I just say that after its first use, I love it very much. It is easy to push - almost self-propelled feeling. And you can stop the brush from turning when you want to vacuum the hardwood floors. Plus the front edge fits all the way under the kitchen cabinets and sucks up all the little crumbs that live under there. It has this little turbo brush that did a number on my stairs - black dog + light tan carpet on the stairs=UGLY! The turbo brush got into all the little nooks and crannies and stair edges. Then there is the edge to edge cleaning - right up next to the baseboards. Oh my!! I am smitten!

How my "store bought" vacuum will hold up over time remains to be seen but right now this looks to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

PS: Dear Grace - I'm only kidding about the best friend thing. A vacuum could never replace you - unless maybe it also made fresh guacamole while vacuuming - but so far no one has thought that up. Your BFF status is very safe!