Another one bites the dust...

Sing with me now...

Bmp, bmp, bmp...Another one bites the dust
Bmp, bmp, bmp...Another one bites the dust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust!

Why is it that appliances seem to "break down" all at the same time? In the past few months, we have had to either repair, replace, or go without the following:

1. Gas grill...which we replaced as an early Father's Day gift!
Happy Father's Day, Jason! :-)


2. Lawn mower...which we had repaired (but borrowed a mower from friends until it was done - we've had LOTS of rain and the grass has been growing fast - thus, the onslaught of Mosquito Season!)

3. Weed trimmer...we were going without this one, but Jason just found a "deal" last week and bought a new one. It took him quite a long time to do all of the overdue trimming this weekend!

4. Vacuum cleaner...it had been on it's last leg for awhile. First the power button malfunctioned and so the only way to turn the vacuum on was to plug it in. Then some part fell off the bottom (it had some wheels on it - but the vacuum still worked without it, so I still continued to use it!). Finally, it continuously burnt up any belt I put on it, so I had to retire it. Here it is (in all of it's non-functioning glory):
It's a Hoover WindTunnel that I bought off of Amazon.com about a year ago. Before that, we had a Dirt Devil that I think we inherited from some friends, and before that, I can't remember exactly what we had...but it seems like we replace vacuum cleaners about once every year or so!

We didn't exactly want to spend an arm and a leg on a new vacuum...so I thought MAYBE we could use this for awhile:

It is actually a "working" kid's vacuum cleaner...but the suction isn't that great.

I also tried this:
BUT, it's not exactly what I would call "user-friendly" for home vacuuming.

And, I'm the kind of girl that LIKES to vacuum!!! I mean, really...I LIKE (maybe almost LOVE) to vacuum. How long could I live without a REAL vacuum, you might ask??? Well, not too long.

I borrowed my friend, Kristi's vacuum - one she did much research on...and I loved it! It's a Dyson and I have always wanted a Dyson (What can I say? When it comes to cleaning products, I have HIGH aspirations, I guess!). But, with all of the other appliances we have had to replace or repair...how was I ever going to be able to get a Dyson?

If you want to know all the down and dirty details of my vacuum-purchasing saga, you'll just have to stay tuned for Part 2 of this exciting vacuuming tale...