My new BFF

I recently - as in 2 days before Thanksgiving and a houseful of company arriving - had the good fortune of my 11 year old vacuum cleaner dying a quick, although not painless, death.  I say 'good fortune' because I never knew how poorly it was functioning until I tried out my new one.  She's a Bissell Powergroom, by the way, and she's a real beauty.

Ahhhhh.  Just look at her. 

Oh, er, ummmm...excuse me.  I was having a moment.  As I was saying, my old vacuum, unbeknown to me, just wasn't getting the job done.  After vacuuming the master bedroom alone, my new BFF, as I like to call her, pulled out so much dirt that I was seriously appalled and embarrassed, not to mention flat-out disgusted!  My apologies to everyone who has been to my house - EVER - for having to walk on such a filthy floor and for unknowingly inhaling all of those hidden dust particles.  Yuck.

The Powergroom comes with all of the extras that I would ever need, such as a turbo brush tool...

...a 35 ft power cord...

...and a dusting brush/upholstery tool.

It also comes with what I consider to be pretty standard features for vacuums of this day and age, such as a HEPA filter and an extension wand, and it has a canister for collecting the dirt instead of a bag.  Gotta love that!  My old vac had a canister too, but it was so stinkin' hard and frustrating to remove and empty that it had me wishing for a nasty ole bag to replace every time I vacuumed!  This new one is sooooo much easier; it has a lock/unlock lever underneath the canister, and a simple slide to the side makes it a snap to remove and put back into place...

The canister also empties from the top...easy-peasy!  I really couldn't be happier with my purchase, which retails for $79.92 (what a random price!) at one of the Wally-Worlds I shop at.  BUT...and I saved the very best detail for last...because the box of the only one they had on the shelf was extremely torn up, so much so that the hose was exposed and partially hanging out, and because I took the time to ask to speak to a manager (who happened to be walking by at that exact moment) about a discounted price, I got it for a flat $70!!  It doesn't sound like much of a discount, but when you have to feed, clothe, house, and transport a family of 6 on a single salary, little things like that really add up.  And, to borrow a totally made up word from my niece, Krista, who borrowed it from a friend...it was a FANTASTICULOUS way to end my long, somewhat tedious day of Christmas shopping!

Have a great day, everyone.  I'll be hanging out with my new BFF.

Melissa