The vacuum saga....

A couple of years ago, our little red upright Dirt Devil vacuum just wasn't able to keep up with the collection of dog hair that we had going on around here. Well, back then we had 4 dogs living most of the time indoors. So, we passed that one on to Stephen and Hannia, figuring it would still be fine in a household without pets. And I was lured into buying the Bissell "Pet Hair Eraser" after seeing those seductive commercials of how easy breezy life would be if everybody had one. I think it lied.

Well, at first it did just fine. It was a huge step up from the struggling little Dirt Devil, so I was pleased. But after about 6 months or so it started to show its true colors. It is louder than a jet engine on take off. It eats belts way too frequently. It clogs. It just plain out acts ugly and stupid and I keep wondering why in heck I ever wanted the thing in the first place???? My advice? Do NOT buy one. You will end up hating it.

So, today I got a note from Ana, the woman who cleans house for us. She always leaves me a note to tell me if we need anything as far as cleaners go....and tells me how the cats behaved (they play with the mop and broom and dustrags and make cleaning somewhat ...um....difficult, until the loud vacuum is turned on and then they hide). She said that the hateful vacuum is acting ugly again. And she doesn't think its the belt. It seems to be the beater brush not turning properly and it is burning up the belt. Sigh. She said she had a hard time finishing up, but bless her heart, the house was really clean, so she must have struggled through with that damnable beast.

Tonight, she sent me a picture of the vacuum she prefers to work with....LOL. She likes a Dirt Devil canister vacuum. Its not terribly expensive. She says it is light, easy to operate and simple enough to not have many problems. I don't know....do any of you use a canister vac? We had one a long, long time ago and all I remember is the hose clogging on a regular basis. Of course, back in those days we had small children who stepped on the hose and smashed it out of shape, and left tiny little toys and game pieces to get sucked up and stuck. Maybe one might be ok now?
We would prefer that a vacuum last longer than this one did, and Bruce keeps fixing it, replacing the belts and so forth trying to keep it alive. But honestly, I can't just whip out the vacuum and do a quick touch up if company is coming over because every single time this bitch requires some kind of adjusting or cleaning or belt replacing just to do a small job. I don't really care anymore how much we paid for it, or how long it lasted or anything else. I am just ready for it to die. I really have come to have a deep-seated hatred for it.

So, send me some thoughts on what vacuum you use or prefer. Unless of course you are using some ultra expensive system like a rainbow or Dyson. I probably won't spend an exorbitant amount of money on what we buy just in case, you know, it starts to suck. Or in this case, refuses to suck....LOL.

Also? The little red Dirt Devil got left behind for the tenant that moves into Stephen and Hannia's old apartment. It made it through a couple of more years ok, but was on its last leg. It just wasn't worth moving. Bruce bought them a new one when they got to Lafayette. But I do have to say, even though it was relatively inexpensive, it lasted longer than the Pet Hair Eraser did....by quite a few years.

And on another, non-vacuum related note...Bruce took our kitten to the vet today for her shots. She is 3 months old, and we are running a bit behind. Our vet recommends starting shots at 2 months, but with all the moving and stuff, it just didn't happen. She stays indoors though so its not like she was in danger of getting rabies...haha. But they set up her folder for a medical record and asked for her name. Bruce listed her as "Itty Bitty"...LOL!!!! Her name was technically Clover, supposedly. But we never call her anything but Itty Bitty, because she is the itty bitty baby. And now? Now I think its official. I am still going to consider that Clover is at least part of her name. Itty Bitty Clover, maybe? Poor thing....just watch her turn out to be the biggest cat we have and still have to bear the name Itty Bitty.

Second childhood? Probably....

I must be going through a second childhood. Or else I am insane...take your pick. Either would probably apply. But I have decided that I just HAVE to have Barbie dolls again. I was browsing on ebay, and while I have no idea why I was in the Barbie section, I spotted it. The exact doll case that I had as a child, circa 1968. I had completely forgotten that case, a double one that held 2 dolls, had a nice closet space with a hanging bar, a pink accessory storage area, and 2 large pockets for other Barbie trinkets complete with garish mod graphic flowers. Oh how I loved that thing. I got so excited that I sat up late into the night checking these things out. They are plentiful, but ones in decent condition....hard to come by. Still, the prices aren't out of the question. You can find ones that are not so perfect for under $10. Good condition is anywhere between $20 -30. I haven't placed a bid on one, but I will, I SO will, (even though I told Erica I was going to force myself to be content to look). I am just waiting and biding my time to see if one in mint condition surfaces. Lots of the cases, and there were several different styles almost every year seem to have a few here and there in mint condition.

I also found my Barbie Lively Livin' house, circa 1970, and again....if I find one that is in good shape with no missing parts, it just might end up being mine. LOL. I can't tell you how joyous I have felt reliving those memories of my favorite toy.
Because Barbie? She was my obsession as a child. None of my Barbie things survived, sadly enough. I have no idea what my Mom did with all of it, but I don't have it. That makes me a little sad, but thanks to ebay apparently I can own it all over again.

I do have the orginal Holiday Barbie from 1988. Lila gave her to me for Christmas that year, and opening up that doll made me so happy. I have been holding on to her all this time for collectors' value, but I found out something else in my recent Barbie research....the Holiday Barbies aren't commanding much of a price in the collector's market now. Part of it is due to the fact that so many of them were produced and purchased. Part of it is venue's like ebay that make these things so accessible for everybody. But the article I read attributed the main reason to the fact that most of these dolls were bought for collections. They were rarely played with. And a doll that wasn't played with does not hold the same emotional attachments as the ones that were childhood favorites. Nobody searches out a doll that sat in a box. Not like I have been searching hard for my favorite doll case and house. I totally understand that, too. I might even take Christmas barbie out of her box and just enjoy her now.

I do have one thing to confess....in all of my Barbie searching I found other holiday Barbies. Not Christmas, because we all know a new one comes out every year. But I found Halloween barbie (yes I bought it), and Easter barbie (I bought her too....well, it was a set of 3 Easter barbies so....). And then I found a woman who has an ebay store and makes Barbie clothes. Her stuff is pretty, but I am really dying to collect her holiday dresses. They were really reasonable, running around $10 per outfit, and some of them were really elaborate. I saw a Thanksgiving dress, Valentines gown, St. Patrick's day gown, and an adorable 4th of July outfit. She even had a gorgeous Mardi gras gown with a mask!!! I haven't bid on any of those, but we shall see. I don't think I want hundreds of Barbie's or even the clothes. But a few Barbie's with dresses for all the holidays? That would actually make me really happy. Oh, and a case to put it all in. And maybe a house so the Barbies have a place to live....HAHAHA. But that's it. And no Ken dolls. I had a couple of those, but his clothes were all so boring that he rarely got to play unless I was forcing him to marry Barbie so she could wear her wedding dress! Good times, I tell you. :)

For Sale....

We had a freak rainstorm this evening. The kind where a heavy downpour just comes up out of nowhere. I was in the kitchen, cleaning up after dinner, and getting ready to set up the coffee pot for the automatic timer (I LOVE automatic coffeepots that allow me to wake up to the hot life-giving liquid!!!). I was rinsing the pot out when I felt something drop on my hand. It was a little weird but I was washing stuff in the sink, so a stray drop of water coming from above my head wasn't out of the realm of possibility...stuff splashes...so I ignored it. But I felt it again as I was spooning coffee into the filter, so I looked up to see what in the world was going on. There it was....a steady drip, drip, drip of a leak. Joy. I called out "We've got a problem" to Bruce who walked in, took a look, and headed off to the attic muttering stuff about how sick he was of home ownership.
Me too, baby. Me, too. We long to ditch the homeplace and live in an apartment with NO yardwork and a maintenance crew to call when the sh@t hits the fan. It probably won't happen, for many many reasons.....but we can dream.

So, he went up into the attic, and called down for a pan to catch the water. It had to be a very shallow cake pan kind of thing because this was up under the eaves around an air vent. It is going to need to be caulked to be more watertight. One more thing to add to the to-do list for this weekend. Along with acres of grass, and more stuff than I even want to think about right now. But the problem was temporarily solved. For now. So he climbed back down those God-awful attic steps, the ones that are a pull down ladder and never feels quite stable enough....and walked into the kitchen to show me this:




He found a gigantic snake skin up there in the eaves of the attic. In my house! Under the same roof that I sleep under every night! Well, I can pretty much guarantee I won't be doing much sleeping tonight. And tomorrow? Tomorrow there just might be a For Sale sign in my yard. Not that it would do much good in this economy....but again....I can dream....right?

Anybody

Anybody who has a cat can appreciate the humor in this. :)

Settling In

The kids are getting settled nicely in their new home. Bruce called a little while ago and said they were all pleased with how its coming together. They have spent most of their time out shopping for some things that they needed (a tv table among other things) and trying to get unpacked. I am sure they still have a ways to go, but it sounds like everything fit in there like they were hoping. The main thing they are still lacking is a kitchen table. They left the old one behind because it was rectangular and the new kitchen is probably going to need a round one to fit in right. There are French doors right by the eating area and an oblong table might block part of the path....hopefully they will find what they want this coming week.

One thing that was nice? They had ordered a rocking/glider kind of chair that wasn't scheduled to be delivered until this coming week. They found out that FedEx had delivered it early, and expected it to be waiting there on their front porch for them when they got there. They have a nice covered porch that should be good for leaving packages and stuff. Only it wasn't there. They were planning to notify FedEx on Monday because stolen packages are unfortunately pretty common. It gets replaced...eventually. But today their next-door neighbor in the other side of their duplex came over with it. He had found it on the porch and held it for them. How nice is that? They didn't find out much about him, like if he is married, or living with roommates etc. But at least they know he is nice and honest and that is a big bonus considering.

Bruce also reports that there are some really good places to eat. They have a little diner within easy walking distance that has delicious breakfast food at really reasonable prices. Apparently the pancakes were yummy. And the coffee....LOL. They ate at a couple of other places, too, and all of them were apparently very good. So much moving and packing has been going on that there hasn't been time for a grocery shopping trip. I am sure that will happen soon, but how convenient to have good food right around the corner.

As for me....I am doing ok. I've been feeling a little left out, not being able to see what all was going on. But Bruce said that this whole trip from the long hard drive, to the inevitable moving chaos has been brutal and it's probably for the best that I was spared all of that. I just want pictures so I can visualize my kids in their new space. I can't wait to get up there and see it. Our friends Chris and Jessica drove up to Greenville today and took me out to lunch. That was really nice to get out of the house and have some distraction from the whole Indiana move. I really enjoyed myself and the food. Chinese....yum.

Now I am just looking forward to Bruce getting back home tomorrow. It's been weirdly quiet here this weekend. And I really just don't sleep well when he is gone. Its like I keep waking up every little bit straining to hear if everything is quiet and in order. God help me if it wasn't. LOL. The one thing that we are just going to HAVE to do is have an alarm system put in. That would alleviate a whole lot of my anxiety about being way out here with no close neighbors in a house too large to be able to hear from one end to the other. But I am picking Bruce up from the Greenville airport after work, around 5:30 in the afternoon (I really need to recheck that time to be sure....wouldn't want to mess that up), and I can guarantee you that I will sleep like a baby tomorrow night when he is back home to protect the fort. Even the cats seem to be missing him.

And they are off.....

My Indiana-bound convoy took off this morning around 9am. I had to leave for work around 8. You know, I made it through the packing up of the house, loading it on the truck, and enjoying the kids for the evening here at our house with nary a tear. But when I got that last hug from Stephen as I walked out the door, that did it. The tears flowed and I couldn't help it. I managed to pull myself together enough to appear normal (I think..hopefully) at work. I got through the day. And as of a half hour or so, the convoy is still rolling away towards Lafayette. They weren't even quite halfway, and I am sure they are going to have to find someplace to spend the night and finish the trip tomorrow morning. It makes me feel exhausted just thinking about it, but I never really enjoy road trips.

But anyway, I am going to have a weekend of self-indulgence. It's been a long hard emotional week, and I feel like its my right. I am going to eat ice cream for breakfast and have wine and chocolate for dinner if I happen to feel like it. I may nap, or I may have a good cry, or I may shop, or I may just curl up on the couch with the cats and watch hours and hours of mindless tv like Cake Boss, Hoarders, or House Hunters. Who knows what I might do. But hopefully when real life and work rolls around again on Monday morning, I will feel rested and ready to go with it. I am going to be just fine. And so will the kids. Just send us all some happy thoughts that everything goes smoothly and they slide right in to life in the mid-west. I can't fathom it. I have never been there....I know the area they are moving too is really conservative. I also know that they drove long miles through cornfields and nothing but religious or country music on the radio. It may be a touch of culture shock, but while it may be different it will definitely be a new experience with a lot of new things to see and do. I hope all of you have a great weekend ahead.

I'm not quite right....

I am really not quite right at the moment. I am still feeling sad, I guess. This evening I was in the kitchen chopping veggies for a salad, and Bruce turned on some music. Sad music. Well, its sad to me. Do you remember this really old song "Seasons in the Sun". The lyrics go something like:

Good-bye Michelle, it's hard to die
When all the birds are singing in the sky....

And I could tell right away it was going to make me cry. That song depresses me on a really good day. I asked him to please turn it off. And he did for a few seconds, but then it came on again as he was adjusting something on the television and Netflix. I don't know what or why. But hearing it again, even a couple of seconds of it just got to me. I burst into tears and hid out in my room until I could get myself together. He came in to check on me and honestly? He seems to be totally surprised that I am sad. My dog just died, my son is moving a thousand miles away....and yeah....I am sad and feel entitled to be sad. I will be fine in a few days. Its this waiting for the awful part of watching them drive away on Friday that is hard. I will get over it and start looking forward to a visit to see their new place soon. In September. I will be fine. But in the meantime, over the course of these next few days, please do NOT play sad music in my presence.
Because for the moment, I am just not right. One day I will look back on all this and laugh. I am sure of it.