Things that increase my sanity

Let me start by saying this - we have a small zoo.  To be exact, we have two cats and a dog.  All three have long hair.  All three shed regularly.  Except they do not shed on the same schedule. 

A typical evening - these two are best friends. 

The constant stream of cat/dog hair drives me insane at times.  Especially considering our other cat is white...so we have white hair on our dark things, black hair on our light colored things, and so on. 

I wish I could vacuum every day.  Wait, I wish someone else would vacuum for me every day.  Since neither of those things are feasible, I have found sanity elsewhere.  Two of my favorite household electronics - I could not live without either of them. 

First, our Dyson vacuum.  And, no, I am not getting paid to write this. 

Dyson D14, obtained from Amazon.com

We received our Dyson as a wedding gift over three years ago.  It works as efficiently today as it did when we first got it.  I have not had it serviced yet (although I probably should soon).  I love that it is bagless, easy to use, can be used on carpet and bare floors, and picks up everything.  And I do mean everything.  We had a bagless vacuum made for houses with pets prior to the Dyson.  I cannot even recall the brand, but it was a decent vacuum.  It did the job well (or I thought it did).  And then, I used our Dyson for the first time.  Our carpet literally changed color after the first use.  It is somewhat disgusting the amount of animal hair that is is in the canister when I'm done vacuuming - but it is also a good feeling to know that our carpet is truly clean (at least for a little while!)

I am 100% positive that I will buy another Dyson when ours no longer works.  The version with the ball was not released when we got ours, but I love that concept and love that Dyson is obviously a leader in technology for keeping a house clean!  The only downfall is the price - but I personally think it is worth every penny (especially since I did not actually buy the one that is in my closet!).  In all seriousness, I like the saying "You get what you pay for" and truly feel that a Dyson is worth the price. 

You can find your own Dyson here:

I just purchased another little "piece of sanity" about a month ago.  Since our pets shed daily, it is hard to maintain a clean house without vacuuming on a daily basis.  Pulling out the full vacuum daily is not practical for our lifestyle, so a small handheld vac is perfect for use in between weekly cleaning sessions. 

I had a different handheld, which lasted for about a year and has now lost some suction power.  When I went to purchase a new one - I stumbled across this little beauty:

Electrolux Ergorapido, found on Amazon.com

Even though I have only used it for a few weeks - I'm already in love.  It has a docking station that keeps it constantly charged, there is a handheld component that is built in and easy to pull out and use separately, it works well on both carpet and bare floors, it is extremely light, and easy clean out.  Oh, and it is surprisingly quiet.  I think I'll even be able to use it after Baby H is born - without waking her up from a nap!

My only complaint?  It occasionally drags across our carpet when pulled backwards - I think because of the carpet height.  It is not a major inconvenience - but it is noticeable at least once during each use. 

It is a little pricier than similar models by other brands (about $100 msrp - I bought mine for $80 after a 20% off coupon from Bed, Bath and Beyond).  It has been worth the price so far.  The test of time will tell if it is truly worth it - if it works efficiently for more than a year it will be worth it!  I'm under the assumption that it will, it seems to be good quality. 

You can find your own Ergorapido here:

 I am all about sharing things that I love with others - and these are two things that I love.  I am very conscious of animal hair in our house - and will only continue to get worse about it once the baby gets here.  These two wonderful electronics allow me to keep our house "fur free" without taking up a ton of my time.