A slightly unorthodox way to remove cat hair

Snapper's mad...very mad. How do we know this? Because he is not sitting on his favorite chair. And why not? Because I hauled it away.

Now why would I toss a perfectly good, not very old, extremely comfortable chair? (You may remember it from the impromptu open house last fall.) For the same reason I hauled off the mother of all area rugs underneath it – I hate my vacuum cleaner.

See Snapper's chair? He wrote his name all over it in cat hair.

In a house-cleaning frenzy over the weekend, I had a vision – a vision of a living room that would be easier to clean. A living room that didn't need to accommodate seven adults. Hello! I live by myself! An open, airy living room that wasn't a cat hair repository!

Deets helped me move the chair into the garage, where its fate remains unknown. Anybody need a chair? It's free and freshly vacuumed – just come and get it. The rug is rolled up and awaits its fate on craigslist. And the living room looks like it lost a couple hundred pounds. After almost four years, I finally figured out I had too much furniture in there. As an added bonus, I feel like a new person, having taken major strides in resolving the dysfunctional relationship I have with my vacuum cleaner.

The only one around here who isn't happy with the new arrangements is Snapper. As he reflects upon his predicament, I'm certain he'll come to realize that he still has a pretty good life, even if it doesn't include a big, comfy chair to call his own.