The Animal

I have been considering starting my blog again for a few weeks. We have had so many great accomplishments to post. I've been running them over and over in my head. So you ask. . . Michelle, what finally inspired you to start your blog again? What achievement motivated you? It's your kids right? Well, sadly enough, it was the Dyson D 17 Animal vacuum. Yes. Today I bought one. I have spent the last day or so dragging my children to stores. Watching Ruth at Sears carefully show me all the features. Letting me try different models on the conveniently dirty rug by the vacuums. Calling my friend Alyse who already was a lucky owner of one to get her advise. She is probably crazier about cleaning than me. For months I have heard her talk about vacuuming under beds, vacuuming stairs, firing cleaning people when they wouldn't do these things. I would think, "now who cleans under their bed that much?" Well, now it is 100% clear to me. I CANNOT wait to use the "low reach floor tool" that makes it all possible!

Daniel, lover of all things purple, was sold on "the animal" immediately. You see. It is partially purple. A purple vacuum?!?!? What else could a person want? Now your thinking, she doesn't have any animals does she? No, we don't. Does she even have fish anymore? Nope, even they have all died. You see, the other, "lesser" Dyson models don't come with all the fancy tools this one does. That low reach floor tool is like 70 bucks alone. Plus, IT'S PURPLE!

After putting it together I immediately vacuumed my kitchen rug. It is less than a year old and still sheds wool all the time. The Animal made it look like never before. My little bin that holds all of your dirt and is so convenient to dump out with a one finger push, had to be emptied after using it on my 9 foot round rug. It was FULL. How exciting! You do understand that I'm joking, well, sort of. . . . It is one powerful machine. We'll see soon enough if it stands up to the "won't lose suction" claim. My last hepa filter vacuum, the Hoover windtunnel, lost suction very early on and it never came back. It was disappointing. It cost me $300 8 years ago. Three days ago it exploded. Not a sonic boom, but a flash of light, a small poof sound, followed by smoke billowing out of it. This all happened when I had overnight company coming less than an hour later. I had been secretly hoping for that day for quite a while. The lure of Dyson's marketing is strong. I love gadgets and things that promise to make your life easier. Who doesn't? But have you priced these things? I scoured the web, hit the local stores. I finally decided on Bed Bath and Beyond. It was $20 more than Sears, (sorry Ruth, who works on "straight commission") but they let me use their 20% off coupon that shows up in your mailbox every other week. It gave me $110 off. Yes, 20% off saved me $110. If your good at math, which most people frankly are not, you would know that the vacuum cost was $549. Can you hear the sucking sound? Coming from a Dyson, it's particularly strong. But oh how I love it. . . . .