bringing home the orient

I've sent off my oriental rug for a deep cleaning. It had a few disastrous run-ins with full doggie bladders...and it made the whole house smell like stinky.

This is the one I got in Turkey right after graduating high school. It's beautiful. It's silk. It's handmade. It feels soooooo good on the feet - soft and cool and like nothing else. I've thought about it for years....I was so excited to have in my house "someday;" in the meantime, it lived somewhere else. I cried when I got it back and realized just how strong of a liking their dogs took to it.

It's been away for more than two weeks now, with a nice guy named Mark working on it. He called this afternoon to say that the 'usual' methods for delicate fibers aren't working, and do I give him permission to use something stronger. The options are, get it back the way it is, and it'll be much prettier but still smell like pee, or give the green light for a stronger cleaner and risk some bleeding/discoloration AND it might still smell like pee. I haven't decided yet, but I'm leaning toward risking the discoloration. It's ALREADY had some nice yellow and brown tinting...what's a little more, right? I'm scared, though. It was so beautiful before.

At this rate, it's probably going to take a month to get it back. But compared to the 7 years I've waited, this means it will be back soon, and I'm having fun thinking about where to put it. It feels good. It feels like progress.

A week ago, it was going to cost me $150 total for the pickup/delivery, cleaning, de-urine treatment, and a protective coat. I'm scared of what 'further treatment' will do to the tab, but at this point I don't have much of a choice. And Mark was delicate enough not to mention any extra costs in the voicemail.

Either way, my little own four-legged cutemonster better stay away from it.