Perfect Sleep

"How blessed are some people, whose lives have no fears, no dreads, to whom sleep is a blessing that comes nightly and brings nothing but sweet dreams."
Stoker, Dracula

Perfect Sleeper

Everyone in my life knows that I have always had sleep issues.  Anyone who has ever gotten between me and a good night's sleep has (barely) lived to tell the tale.  I am happy and in a great mood when I get a full night's sleep.  When I don't, I am beyond grouchy.  Often, I just can't sleep.  It has nothing to do with another human being.  I toss.  I turn.  I get up and "prowl-" which means I tidy the kitchen.  I take dry clothes out of the dryer.  I fold the dry clothes.  I take wet clothes from the washer and put them into the dryer and get that started.  I put a load of dirty clothes into the washer and get that started.  When I can't think of anything else to do, I go back to bed.  This very often happens on a work night.  I try to avoid turning on the television or getting on the internet.
The mattress that we've been sleeping on was the one that I bought when I got divorced.  That was 1989.  It was a cheap mattress.   I bought the queen pillow top mattress and box springs and brass headboard with porcelain knobs for a small sum of money.  At the time it was heavenly.  Fast-forward to the past few years- frequently I had to get out of bed because my body was hurting.  I am a side sleeper.  Recently I thought my right shoulder socket was blown.  I couldn't begin to sleep on my right shoulder for the pain. 
A few months ago I began my campaign to redo the bedroom- paint the ceiling, get a new ceiling light, paint the walls and get some new inexpensive carpet.  (The bedroom is the only room in the house that still has carpet.)  In this house, in this relationship, I begin the campaign at least three to six months before I hope it happens.  It takes a while for me to convince him that my great idea is actually his great idea.  (There may be a few of you out there who know what I'm talking about.)  About a week before my birthday, (October 20) he announced that he was getting me a bed for my birthday.  Great.  I mean, really.  Great- we are getting a new bed.  The first night that we shopped for a new bed was on my birthday.  The evening of my birthday.  Which was pretty crappy in my opinion.  Which was great because we were finally shopping for a new bed even if it was in the rain and on my birthday.  That night we went to Sam's Club and HH Gregg and Big Lots.  Sam's Club had these fabulous Serta mattresses.  I could have went home with any that they had on the floor.  HH Gregg wants a million dollars for any mattress on their showroom floor and none of them were as nice as what Sam's Club had to offer.  Big Lots didn't have anything at all that appealed to me on any level.  After that he told me that since he could sleep on a rock, why don't I just go out and shop for a bed and let him know what I wanted?  I went to another local place- Pate's in Ellettsville.  The salesman was a southern gentleman that hailed from near Ashville, NC.  Their beds were nice.  I probably could have bought one there but in the end, despite the salesman saying he could work with us on the price, some of their beds were more expensive than Sam's Club.  And I told Doug that this was one time that I didn't want to buy local- that I wanted to go with the huge box store.  I said "who knows if the local place will be here if something goes wrong?  We can feel fairly secure in the fact that Sam's Club (after taking over the world) isn't going anywhere." 
So, I joined Sam's Club. I have always wanted to join Sam's Club.  He has always said "I'm not going to pay to shop somewhere!"  So, I paid for the membership- which he will enjoy especially when we get the cheapest price on gasoline in town with my membership card.  (Sorry to the WalMart haters out there-haters gonna hate- and by the way, I'm not too keen on WalMart, either.)
Now, I have a Serta Perfect Sleeper which is the official mattress of the National Sleep Foundation.  I can miraculously once again sleep on my right shoulder.  I can't tell when he gets out of bed.  It is fantabulous. 
And it is sky-high.  I am the princess and the pea.  Although all you can see from the photo is that it is higher than my washstand bedside table.  When I sit up to get out of this bed I have to take a little leap.  My feet don't touch the ground- just my toes.  I am five foot two.  I use my cell phone as my alarm clock and I always leave it on the floor beside the bed- I have to lean out of the bed to reach my phone. 
Paul Simon is playing B-town tonight.  The Punch Brothers are opening for him.  I would have loved to have been at this concert.  But as he says..."I got you a new bed."  The concert is sold out so we can listen to it on the radio.
This princess is happy.