You know how wives are supposed to get all offended and hurt if their husband buys them a vacuum cleaner as a gift? Well, what if this is the vacuum cleaner?

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Our old Eureka died last weekend, finally, after nine years of pretty good service. We went to Sears, thinking we’d replace with a similar model, but Brian instantly fell in love with the Dyson, and it didn’t take much to talk me into it. It’s spectacular.

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If you click on the pic you’ll see how much dirt, dust, and hair this machine picked up on a tour through our house, which was just vacuumed a week ago. I really like having a clean house with clean floors, and even with three pets, this is now possible. Today I vacuumed all the carpets, the stairs, and the furniture in the front room. And then I emptied that full can into the trash with the touch of a button. Ahhh. With the Eureka, I had to get my hands real dirty to clean off that old paper filter. Anyway. Yeah.

So the bookcase arrives Tuesday and will go here:

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In the meantime, the books are in the dining room.

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Here is Kona on sentry duty with her pal Simon:

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Here is our new bed, currently bare as I am awaiting the delivery of the box spring. Isn’t it pretty? The bookcase will be the exact same color as the darker panels.

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Edit: Box arrived, here’s the finished bed!

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Couple pics from last week — the fruit crisps we made on Wednesday, and sitting around after dinner in the family room:

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My dad just had to wear socks with sandals…