I Wonder If I Could Have Paid Them In The Form of the Beagle

Perhaps you've noticed that the name of this blog is "Two Kids and a Beagle." You might have also noticed that I haven't posted about the beagle much lately.

Here's where that all changes.

Magnolia Dumplin' aka Maggie the Wonder Beags is in deep doo doo with me to the tune of $360. See, Maggie has this joyous little habit of peeing in the house. She started doing it when we moved in to this house 3 years ago (three years!? What?!) and we've tried a number of things to make her quit. About the only thing that has made a dent is putting her on anti-depressants. While she still isn't perfect, at least I'm not cleaning up 3 pee spots a day.

However, she still has two rooms in the house that she considers her personal pissing ground - the library and, of all places, Liam's bedroom. I have a spot steam cleaner and I use that to clean up after her. We've tried sprays to deodorize and keep her from going in the same place. I've had the carpets in the whole house cleaned by a less than reputable company because I was trying to save cash. I've used baking soda to kill the odor. Despite it all, the pee smell lingered. Liam's room got to a point where I smelled it every time I walked in. On damp days, if I walked in the front door, I could smell it coming from the library.

It made me absolutely mental.

I finally couldn't take it anymore and I called in Stanley Steemer. I knew they would be more expensive but I figured they would be more thorough and have better products for cleaning and deodorizing the carpets. So, I scheduled them to clean the library, Liam's room, and the family room since that room was just gross from baby urp. The thing I didn't count on was just how much more expensive they would be.

See, the problem is that most of the rooms in my house are what they consider to be "oversize" - more than 250 square feet. This applied to both the library and the family room. That meant an extra charge. Plus labor. Plus tax. Plus the extra deodorizing spray. So yeah. The $217 quote turned into $360 when all was said and done.

Now, don't get me wrong - I have no bad things to say about Stanley Steemer. They came in with two guys, did all three rooms in about an hour flat, and still managed to clean under most of the furniture. They were professional and awesome and the carpets look great now. But my wallet is substantially thinner as a result. If only I could have paid them in body fat - then I would be substantially thinner.

Which leads us right back to Magnolia Dumplin'. If she so much as sniffs around looking for a place to squat, I'm going to have her hide for a pair of slippers.

*angry eyes*