sleeping like royalty

Was there ever a time when you said to yourself...we NEED a new mattress? I've been talking about it ever since we moved here to South Dakota. But since this was supposed to be a 2 year assignment I thought that we could stick it out for a couple of years and purchase a new mattress when we got to our next assignment. My reasoning being less wear and tear on a new mattress from the movers. Then through the years there was always something else that trumped our buying a new mattress for ourselves. Anyone who has children knows all about how their needs are always put before your own. Hence, no mattress purchase for us.

Sounds a bit like a scene from It's A Wonder Life, eh? Lets fast forward to December 2008- We (meaning my husband and me) looked at mattresses in November the Saturday after Black Friday and we told ourselves that we're going to get ourselves a new mattress before February. The catch was that we had to find someone with a truck. That proved to be very hard and the more we thought about it, the more we didn't want to bother anyone; it felt that it was a very selfish thing to do.

Then there's yesterday...my husband asks me if I'd like to take a ride with him, I ask him "where?" and he says..."to get our new mattress". I couldn't lace my winter boots up quick enough! Being that my husband and I don't like to bother the neighbors/friends (especially since it's so darn cold outside), we decided to take matters into our own hands. Now here's where you're all wondering how we're going to get this queen sized mattress home. Back in 2005 when we bought my minivan, had had some "extras" with it- one being a towing package! Yes, I have a hitch on the back of my kid-mobile! So we went to outdoor recreation center and rented a flatbed trailer, bought some rope and drove off to get a mattress.

We get to Sam's Club and that parking lot is PACKED! The parking lot of Walmart is even WORSE with traffic back up onto 2 different streets waiting to get into the parking lot! Good thing we weren't going to that store (we try and avoid that place like the plague- but that's another story).

While in Sam's Club, we finish up some last minute gift buying and I proceed to to get something that I need...what else, cream cheese! After I complete my quest of the magical cheese, I go to the bedding department and there it is, the Holy Grail of mattresses...the Serta Grandis super Pillow Top mattress. Now the thing that gets me is that on the website, it's $678, which does include shipping BUT, at the store, it's $549. My word of advice...have someone help you get it home and save yourself a few (hundred) bucks! Our trailer rental was only $18 and we don't have to return it until Monday (good thing with this weather).

Now we move on to sheets...We bought sheets that day we decided to buy ourselves the new mattress. Okay, let's fast forward to yesterday. We get our new mattress home and I'm tossing a package of sheets into the washing machine/dryer...get them out and put them on bed only to discover that the sheets SHRANK in a major way! OMG I was mad; we paid $45 for those sheets-early bird sale price (regular retail price is $115) . Even the pillowcases shrank 2 inches in the width- WOW! It doesn't really help that much when the mattress is FLIPPING HUGE! It's 14 inches thick and the sheets only covered 10 inches on either side. My daughter was laughing at the fact that the mattress was so thick (Hannah: I still am. If my parents fell out of that thing, Andrew would have to rush them to the hospital to make sure they don't have a concussion). And then I freak out because I can't find the receipt. Can you say ¿Tio Pepé?

Tio Pepé. That's our word/phrase for AUGH!!!!!!! Since we've gone totally off topic I feel the need to explain why: We say Tio Pepé when we're really angry or frustrated and don't want to say profanities. This is especially handy when we have guests- they don't have a clue and just think that I'm loosing my mind, LOL! This started when we were in Spain when the bus driver dropped the 4 of us off in the middle of the Tio Pepé freeway with our backpacks (no, the freeway was not named Tio Pepé). We saw a huge billboard advertising Tio Pepé beer and after that, Tio Pepé became our word for major frustration. The end.

I find the receipt and all is once again at peace. I wash and dry another set of sheets and they fit. These are our "rich people" sheets with the 610 thread count (we decided to splurge and get the good stuff). Well apparently our bed prefers "snooty" 610 thread count or higher sheets rather than the 350 thread count middle class sheets, LOL! Moral of this story...maybe just maybe I should have gotten a thinner mattress? But I have to say the pillow top mattress does indeed rock on!

Edited by: Your loving daughter, Hannah. (Please, you should pay me for this!)