What did I do without them?

Recently we have acquired a few new things around the house, that, while they are pure conveniences and 'niceties' to have, I really wonder what I ever did without them!  Or why I waited so long to buy them!

The first is our Dyson handheld 'dust-buster' style vacuum cleaner.  We've had a Dyson upright for a few years and love it, so we've always wanted to get one of these too.  It's an alien looking contraption... certainly not something you buy on it's looks.  It took Mackenna a little while to warm to but she loves it now (runs around screeching and laughing when we chase her with it!)  I genuienly love this thing....  cleaning Mackenna's highchair of all the crumbs and dried up food that otherwise take ages to drive out of the all the cracks are gone in a flash, the rugs and mats around the house have never been cleaner and we can finally, easily get rid of random clumps of Malamute hair that somehow manage to get in the house even though the dog strictly lives outside.  The battery is short lived (apparently it lasts about 6 minutes, but I'm not going to time it) but I'm never using it for that long so it doesn't matter to much (... it is a bit of a bastard when it runs out just as you start doing a big job like the car though!)  If you are considering getting a handheld vacuum and are able to spend the money on this one (it was a bit excessive), I can't recommend it more highly!!

The second is my electric toothbrush.....  I seriously did not know how good a teeth clean I was going to get for $35!!  The heads are a bit expensive, but you can get them cheap enough online if you look hard enough and man, for how clean my teeth are every single day, they are worth every single penny.

The third is our electric blanket.  I now realise just how torturous it is to get into a freezing cold bed after a few nights that we had forgotten to turn it on or having to get back in after feeding Piper.  It's been taken off the bed now because it's getting heaps warmer at night (... thank god!) but I honestly do not know how I went for so long never having one.  There's no real reason I never had one, I just didn't ever really consider buying one.  I'm so glad that I finally did though and I don't think I'll ever go a winter without one again!!   

The forth is my laptop.  For some reason, I was always hung up on having a desktop....  can't tell you why but to me it was just better  (...old school much?)  I hated using the touch pad mouse (still do), but never considered connecting a mouse and using that instead. As Mackenna got older though, it became apparent that I wasn't able to spend time in the study on the computer, because she needed constant supervision and I wasn't able to keep her restrained for long any more.  I got an old secondhand laptop that I could use at our kitchen table, that ran on Windows XP (after being used to Windows 7 :( ) and was quiet slow and clunky, and even though it navigated the net as quickly as our ISP would allow (which is basically all I wanted it for) I was too scared to load Office onto it, in case it bogged it down too much.  It did the job that I needed it to do, so I was grateful for that, but it just would have been nice for it to be a bit more up to date. The very first time I mentioned to Todd that I might be in the market for a new one, it started to play up, eventually dying just after we bought the new one home.  I am in love with my new one.  It's nothing grand... just a middle of the range laptop, but it's mine and it's all new and shiny and it's just great. And the old one has made a perfect 'toy' for Mackenna, bless her.....  I've got an old mouse plugged into it and all and she loves it.  She sits up at the table next to me, typing away, bless her....  then she'll grab the mouse and move it around a bit before going back to typing.  It generally keeps her away from mine too, well for about 5 minutes until she realises there are pictures on mine and not on hers!!

Isn't it amazing how material things can really just help to make things better.  I am a big believer in the idea that material possessions don't matter that much in the grand scheme of things and that money doesn't buy happiness, but I can tell you..  being able to have a few of life's luxuries does really help in boosting your outlook.  My living room rug is actually clean now (most days) and it's amazing how much better that makes the whole house look....  getting the actual vacuum cleaner out would take more time than what I need to use it for, so I'd just leave it until the next vacuuming day when I did the rest.  That would mean I'd have to look at the crap all over it for a week, so to be able to do it in a minute or so, is just great.  And I can get into a freezing cold bed and spend 10mins tensed up all over in the fetal position with no real ill side effects no worries...  but getting into a bed that is warm and toasty where I can fall asleep pretty much straight away is a much nicer thing to look forward to.

What is your favourite gadget or luxury that makes your life just easier and nicer?