vacuum

When we got new carpet, our vacuum went kapoot. It decided that it was no longer interested in offering its cleaning services and that screeching loudly was a great way to get out of the work. Thus, I began searching for a new vacuum. I couldn't find any reviews that pointed to one vacuum being the absolute best - well... except for a Dyson, but I just couldn't get myself to fork out $500 for a household cleaning item - I don't really even like to vacuum. So after much searching and indecision for weeks, I finally decided on a Hoover Windtunnel II (the bagged version). It is big and rather heavy, but it is surprisingly fun to use. The best things about it:

1. It has a bag like in the good ol' days. I hate the canisters - too messy.


2. I got it for 40% off with a 2-year supply of bags + no tax + no shipping charges.


3. It's green. That is a huge plus. It probably should have been higher on the list...


4. It has an auto rewind for the cord. I think liking this feature makes me lazy, but it's awesome.

And the best thing of all...

The vacuum cleaner tells me if my carpet is dirty. It has an "Embedded DirtFinder system" with a red light that pops on for dirty and a green light for clean. When my carpet is clean, the nifty little green light comes on and tells me so. Very addicting! My neighbor's mom has a similar vacuum and he told me that she vacuumed for 2 hours in order to get the green Clean light to come on. At first I thought that was a little weird, but after feeling the power of the DirtFinder system, I can understand the peculiar desire to see that green light pop on.

My guess is that the Embedded DirtFinder system isn't triggered by dirty carpet at all - the lights simply come on randomly. I can just see the Hoover engineers now... "Let's add these silly little lights that make people think a vacuum, yeah, a plain ol' vacuum, can determine if their carpet is dirty. We'll have 'em vacuuming for hours! bwahaha!"

Either way, I happily vacuum my carpet until my Hoover WindTunnel II tells me to stop.

without words

Brandon's heading to the Jazz game tonight after work. That means I have Zachie all to myself, all day. So I was pleased when Zach didn't wake up from his afternoon nap until 4. I was a bit perplexed, however, when he woke up less than happy. After all, he had slept for 2 1/2 hours, hadn't he? Finding myself curious, I walked into his room to find this:

Zach had pulled out everything in his church bag. He'd found pictures to look at, pencils to color with, books to read, cars to play with (notice the pile of 15 or so cars on his bed). He must have been in heaven "taking a nap". Who knows how long he actually slept with all this stuff to play with and his mom being clueless in the adjacent room!?!

The icing on the cake came when I discovered these strewn around his room:

Zach had found my gum (also in the church bag) and ate all of what remained in the package (6 or so pieces). He better hope superstition proves to be false and that lump of gum doesn't stay in his belly for the following 7 years. He's a poor eater as it is. I don't need any of his stomach room taken up by a pilfered lump of mommy's gum.

who invented running?

Zach is a ball full of energy. One of his new favorite games is to run around the house with Brandon or I (or both) following him. This is great except that I am fat and have a baby that sits on my bladder and Brandon would usually rather sit than run (who can blame him?!?).

At the beginning of this game, Brandon thought he could run longer than Zach, but even after 12 minutes of straight running, Zach was not tiring. We still do not know how long he can last. I'm usually hyperventilating on the floor after 3 minutes and Brandon has the patience (and perhaps physical endurance :D ) to make it until 10. Zach continues to get faster and faster. Zach has added new tricks now to this running game: hopping, walking backwards, and rolling on the ground (I usually don't get back up).

As a sidenote: The pregnancy is going well. I am 24 weeks along and am feeling good. The baby is sitting really low, however, making it uncomfortable to bend over. Zach and I were at Walmart this morning and his new Thomas the Train underoos kept "falling" out of the cart with the help of a certain 2-year-old. I tried to explain to Zach that I'm fat and that it squishes everything when I lean over so if he'd stop aiding the "falling", it would be helpful, but he didn't seem to get it.