Thursday night we got a new vacuum cleaner. I had a weird fear of vacuum cleaners - I don’t like their noise and the always seem to have a mind of their own.
But they are necessary when you have cats and lots of cat hair. Rod usually handles the vacuuming so it’s ok. I just leave the room when he comes in with it. Recently, our vacuum cleaner broke but luckily we got the replacement plan at Best Buy. So we trekked down with our dirty 2-year-old vacuum cleaner and brought back the same model, just newer. Also, we purchased another replacement plan just in case!
This morning, Rod had a migraine and I was trying to clean the house to get ready for his sister to come in town this afternoon. I did everything, leaving the vacuuming for last in case he recovered. He did not.
So, I unpacked the new vacuum, assembled it, and read the manual. I’m the manual reader in the relationship - I think there must always be one. One person will rip into something and set it up, tossing the manual out. The other person will sit cross legged on the floor next to the new purchase and read the manual cover to cover, trying to learn everything about this new purchase. I’m the manual reader.
I gave myself a pep talk and actually felt a bit of a connection to the vacuum after having assembled it and knowing it in and out. I started it up and heard Rod call out that he would vacuum soon. But I was actually enjoying it - seeing all the crap on the floor that we hadn’t been able to pick up disappear was very satisfying. And it was A LOT since the old cleaner crapped out a week or so ago. I have to empty the canister TWICE. Gross.
I don’t think I’ll take over his vacuuming duties, but I’m glad I faced that fear. Geez, I just realized we got a new microwave and a new vacuum cleaner in one week. So domesticated…
