Adventures in Vacuum Cleaning

This morning, like most mornings, I started off with a "to-do" list. Normal things like finish up the dishes, make the bed, return things to the library, etc. I thought I'd start the day with a clean house since that always makes me feel more efficient and motivated. I thought, "I'll just start off with the easiest job - cleaning the living room . All I have to do is pick up Meg's toys and then vacuum. Little did I know that Megan and I were about to embark on one of our greatest challenges yet in our new home.

While Meg was putting her doll to "bed" (the bottom step of our stairs is baby's favorite place to sleep apparently), I gathered up her menagerie of toys and then got the vacuum out of the closet. Now, I had known for a couple of weeks that the "full" indicator was on and that we should go and get more vacuum bags. However, due to a certain birthday girl wanting a night out at a nice restaurant, our funds were a little short this month and so I neglected to buy the necessary bags.

Once again, I noticed the "full" indicator was on and also noticed that this time not much was getting picked up. So, I thought to myself, "I am a resourceful, independent, and savvy woman and I can make this work". I decided to just empty out the bag and put it back in place and re-use it...brilliant! However, when I opened up the vacuum I found that the bag was completely empty. Uh-oh...must be something wound around the roller...this will take a little longer to fix, but I have a tool box and I can do it! I tipped the vacuum over but, after careful inspection, I found that the roller was actually pretty clean.

Oh, no! I would have to take apart the vacuum to see what was going on. Turns out that I had a MASSIVE clog in the vacuum hoses. This started from the take-in point by the roller all through the hose all the way up to the point where the dirt is SUPPOSED to go into the bag. So, I got out the screwdriver and began the demolition process. Megan now thought this was great fun and decided to start "helping". This was bad because she not only lost a couple of screws for me (which I luckily found later) but she also decided that working with tools looked like a lot of fun - she headed straight for the electric outlet with screwdriver in hand!!

NOOOO! I screamed at her frantically just as she was about to insert the screwdriver into the wall socket. Luckily, she decided not to ignore me on this one and came toddling back over to inspect my progress. "Yucky!" she said, pointing at all the dirt, dust, popcorn kernels, and pieces of shredded paper I had thus far managed to pull from the bottom of the vacuum. Luckily she doesn't like getting dirty, so she did manage to stay out of the huge mess and remained content after that to read her dolly a story.

My short fingers could only reach up so far into the machine to get the clog out and I still had about 3 feet of hose to unclog. So, being resourceful, I used a chop stick and the rod that rotates my blinds to pull/push the clog through the hose. About an hour later I had managed to get 3 POUNDS of clogged dirt, carpet fibers, hair, popcorn kernels, and grossness out of my machine.

Now, my vacuum is put back together and works great, my daughter remains un-electrocuted, and I am now sneezing and filthy from all the dust and dirt I had to let out into the air. YUCK! I just hope the rest of my chores today are much less uneventful. Happy house-cleaning!