The Mattress

Chuck and I can't even remember when we bought our mattress...it was that old.  At some point, we went from a queen...the bed he had when we married...to a king.  We've been married 28 years and we think it was around year 5...no, maybe year 7...or it could have been year 8 or 9.  Gross?  Gross.  The mattress, not the marriage.
So for the last several years, my shoulder and hips have been hurting and I've been flipping and flopping all night long trying to get comfortable.  I wrote it off to age or menopause or just being a "side sleeper." But about a year ago I turned up the volume on the complaining. 

"My shoulders are killing me...we need a new mattress."

"This mattress is ridiculous!"

"We HAVE GOT to get a new mattress....it feels like sh*t and my body aches when I get up."

"I feel like I'm sleeping on concrete..grrrrrrrrrr."

"I'm going to buy a new bed with

or without YOU!"

And each time I complained, we would try to figure out just how old the dang thing was.  Never could.

I'd back off and then push forward with the complaints.  Finally, finally, finally, Chuck agreed to go get a new mattress.  But you need to know this did not happen overnight.  It was months and months that added up to years and years of me requesting, asking nicely, then begging in a ridiculous way.  It may have been when I said I would have to start sleeping on the couch or upstairs that got his attention. Or maybe when I just finally told him I was going to buy one with or without him there.

Mr. Control Freak in the Money Department went with me and we made a purchase.  Three weeks ago.  I did a little research (googled it and asked a few friends) and decided I wanted to go with the Tempur-pedic Cloud.  Expensive?  Yes.  But when you consider it is guaranteed for 20 years and how long we go between mattress purchases, we may never need another bed.

Not us...but apparently we could be this happy
on a Tempur-pedic according to their ad!

So we get to the place and he decides he actually likes the next step up.  The Cloud Supreme.  Works for me.  It gets delivered and I'm sleeping like a baby. 

Him?

Not so much.

Really?  Your back hurts?

Really?  'Cause I hurt for years and now I'm not.

Marriage.  Oh,  nobody tells you about this stuff, do they?

Apparently, Chuck can listen to me complain for years and tune it out.  I, on the other hand, am not used to Chuck complaining so after the 3rd day, I was sick of his whining. 

We started trying to compromise.  I know.  Can you believe it? 

I suggested we give it more time and if he still hated it, we would return it for another kind of mattress.  He wanted to just go look at other mattresses.  I made him promise me in writing that if we returned this one and bought a pillowtop, we would get a new mattress in 3 years if I hated it.  He said he would put it in writing. 

So yesterday, we headed back to the furniture store to "just look" at other mattresses....again.  Because we looked at all of them 3 weeks ago.

The salesmEn (more than one) told us we really have to give it more time.  They would take the mattress back but even a new pillowtop would take time to break in....so we would be right back where we started.  They explained that the beds we are trying out on the showroom are "broken in" because hundreds of people have laid on them...ew.  Even the exact mattress we purchased was way more comfortable than ours because of all the traffic it had seen.

So we're taking more time.  We're waiting. 

Bed shopping may just be worse than bra shopping.

And I didn't think anything was worse than bra shopping.