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Did you think I was done talking about Mardi Gras? Me, too. We were both wrong. Last Friday morning, my car started making a horrid metallic screeching sound – not when I applied the brakes, but just minding my own business driving down the road.
Knowing I was headed to Birmingham the next morning, I drove across the bay to Mobile to the dealership, crossing my fingers nothing exploded on the way and that I didn’t have to sell a vital organ to pay for the repair. Five minutes after taking the car back, the service manager emerged with these in his hand:
Mardi Gras beads. In the brake rotor.
Speaking of Mardi Gras, how is your Lent going? Mr. Andi and I have survived our first week-plus of meatless days, and it actually has not been as hard as I thought it might be. I’m sure I’ll be sick of fish, eggs, beans, and cheese by the time Easter rolls around, but so far so good. I miss meat – oh, how I miss meat! – but I believe I can survive. Check back with me around Palm Sunday…
Sarah Kate has been invited to throw out the first pitch on Opening Day of softball again this year. I appreciate that they still remember her and want to include her, even though her softball playing days are probably over. Unfortunately, I don’t think she’s thrown a softball since last year’s Opening Day ceremonies so it may be a total fiasco.
We’re about to buy a new mattress, and I think asking you, my blog readers, to advise me is THE BEST way to choose one. Okay, maybe it isn’t, but researching mattresses on the Internet is giving me a headache. We are WAY overdue but, as you can imagine if you followed the blog at all last year, our budget was pretty tight in 2014 so sleeping well fell to the bottom of the priority list. Do you have a mattress that you love? We’ve always had innerspring but I keep hearing great things about memory foam.
One big issue that’s been holding us (me) back from a new mattress is the size. We’ve always had a queen size bed. Once upon a time when we didn’t have a boy who woke up in the middle of the night nor a dog that slept with us (and when neither of us … ahem … snored), we thought couples with king size beds were just SAD. I mean, what the heck? Your significant other would have to be So! Far! Away!
Nineteen years into marriage, however, I think I’m ready to upsize, but Mr. Andi is resistant. Any queen-to-king conversion stories out there you want to share?
While I’m asking advice on mattresses, I might as well go for shoelaces, too. Nathan wears athletic shoes to preschool and they are ALWAYS untied. Like, I’ll see they are untied WHEN WE ARRIVE AT SCHOOL and will tie them in the car while we’re waiting for the doors to open. When the doors open and I walk around to get him out of the car they are UNTIED AGAIN. I’ve tried double-knotting but he pulls on them and that just leads to a giant knot with laces hanging out of it.
Suggestions welcome.
How to freak out your kids’ grandmother: Let her open her inbox to find an email about Mardi Gras beads and mattresses, ending with a photo of her four year old grandson with a dog twice his size and a message saying that you’re adopting the dog.
Now I must dash because I’m expecting a call from my mother in 3…2…1. (Nana, if you’re still reading…don’t worry, we don’t really have a new dog.)
Have a great weekend!
This post was inspired by and is linked to This Ain’t the Lyceum’s 7 Quick Takes.
You could try something like these for the shoelaces:
http://www.amazon.com/Shoelaces-Perfect-Elastic-School-Uniforms/dp/B00HIAC0A8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1425044931&sr=8-2&keywords=Shoelaces+Speed
A friend shared a similar style on FB a little while ago, but I think I like these better. Have you tried them? It looks like the ends are “locked up” which is something the ones she shared don’t have.
We purchased a bed for the first time last month. After sleeping on a 20 yr old mattress it was a huge adjustment but we love our new bed now. We spent hours just trying out different beds at the store. I thought I wanted soft but turns out I felt better on the firmer one and Rob loves the firmer also. Also we got the adjustable base and we love it. Great for sitting up in bed and raising the feet helps the lower back pain. We ended up going over budget but both agree now that it is worth the money. I’m sleeping all night now and that has not happened in many years. We bought a tempur-pedic and it cradles your whole body giving support no matter how you are sleeping. Hope this helps. Just take the time to really try them out.
Thanks, Jenny! Our mattress is about 15 years old, I think. We bought it when we lived in Birmingham not long after we moved into our second house there, so that would be 1999-2000ish. I’m so glad you posted because I know you and I have some similar issues and I’ve wondered if I’m just destined to sleep poorly my whole life. You give me hope! Of course, I’m married to Mr. Can-Sleep-On-the-Floor-No-Problem so he doesn’t really get it!
I understand. Rob and Scott are so much alike. Rob can sleep anywhere and the minute he hits a pillow he’s out. Actually the minute he stretches out with or without a pillow he’s out. So frustrating for me. I went from sleeping maybe 3hours a night to 7to 8 now. We stayed with a queen even though we have two dogs sleeping with us because if we went to a king I’m afraid it would be like sleeping alone.
What’s funny is I was just thinking to myself this morning “If I had a king-sized bed I’d have so much more room…” I have a queen that I share with only two furbabies….Thank you, kitty cats, lol.
Well, our Daisy is about the size of your two cats put together, I’m sure! She’s a little bit hefty… Add to that a 6-1″ husband and an occasional four year old (and Stella when Sarah Kate is away)…
Search on amazon for keen Jamison youth hiking shoe. I have 3 boys and these are the best athletic shoes for ease and durability that we have found. They have bungee laces, so no tying required!
Adding to my Amazon wish list so I’ll remember. The laces look very similar to what Marissa posted above – I’ll try those first and then if they work maybe when it’s time for new shoes we’ll go that route. Thanks!
Even though it is expensive, I totally recommend the Tempurpedic. It was worth every penny. My husband is 6’4″ so we have to have a California King or his feet hang off. It does leave room for a small boy in the bed too.
Thanks, rixka! I keep hearing good things about Tempurpedic. Mr. Andi said to just decide what I want and leave him out of it. 🙂
The bungee laces are an option. But why not just Velcro? He’s still got a be small enough to fit into Velcro shoes (New Balance makes pairs that go up fairly large) and then he can do them himself.
He is small enough, but he used to have Velcro shoes and they weren’t great, either. He’d open and close the Velcro constantly until it was all fuzzy and worn out and didn’t work well anymore.
I also vote Tempur-Pedic! Hubby was having back problems that promptly ended after we bought the Temput-Pedic; we love it! At the same time, we went from queen to King…no regrets. The beauty of it is in the versatility. If you want to be close, you can. If you want space, you can have it. If you want to add kids or pets, you can do that as well.
As for the laces, Squeezums Lace Locks (http://www.tri-zone.com/Squeezums-Lace-Locks.html) work great! You can get them for a couple of bucks at your local running store. Great for triathletes and little guys whose laces are always coming untied. In my case, I got some years ago when I was pregnant…much easier than leaning over that big belly to tie shoes. LOL! I usually cut the ends of my laces off after I put the locks on so that there isn’t a lot of excess “baggage” hanging around.
Looks like I need to take a serious look at memory foam – TempurPedic and iComfort are two I’ve heard people rave about. Re: the laces, sounds like what the others are recommending. Hope they work!
I bought an iComfort about a year ago, and unfortunately it is already losing its sturdiness. It was firm – like a bag of wet cement, which is my preference! – when we bought it and now it is almost as malleable as a bean bag. I read mixed reviews online and sadly did not heed them. Recommend against! Good luck with your search.
Since I am an all natural, organic kind of person, I opted for a latex foam mattress. There is not a lot of choice in firmness and I thought at first it was too firm. But my hips did not hurt for the first time in years and I slept much better and longer than before. My husband and I tried a memory foam topper and returned it immediately because we both got so hot. It did not breathe. The latex foam is expensive but with proper care (cover with a zipper cover to protect it from light) it will last for 20 years without getting dented.
I did a little shopping today and I didn’t see any latex foam at those stores. Will do some research and see if it is available near me.
We mail ordered ours. My son and daughter-in-law found a hybrid with all natural materials and a good quantity of latex at Ikea. After the initial adjustment they love it.
This is where we got a foam mattress 6 inch firm and 2 inch convoluted topper with cotton zip covers for both. http://www.foamorder.com/ The price is more reasonable if you figure that it will last 20 to 25 years instead of 10 or less for conventional mattresses. And we like the health benefits.
We just recently converted to a king from a queen… and not the California one since we needed all the width we could get with our 4 kids jumping into bed for stories! Yes, it does feel like the hubs is far away sometimes, but that problem is easy to fix. We did actually get memory foam – and I still cannot believe it but – bought it at Walmart, of all places. Came highly recommended by 4 others, including parents. 12″ Spa Sensations… bed and frame for $500. a steal. Love it.
Great tip! I went shopping today but haven’t decided anything for sure other than that it won’t be a Tempur-Pedic. Some of the other big makers are doing memory foam now and I don’t think the difference in price is worth it.
Have you tried the elastic curly laces? We’ve used them before with some of our SPED kids and I used them with my young kids (who aren’t young anymore *sigh*). You can get some here http://www.curlylaces.com/curlylacescart.html and they aren’t expensive and are pretty easy to use.
As for the bed…we went from 17 years of our marriage on a full sized bed with three cats, two dogs, and three kids….and then about 6 years ago we were given a Select Comfort king sized bed by my in-laws. It still feels so incredibly huge to me 🙂
I haven’t. Do they actually tie, or just dangle?
They stay tightly coiled and just dangle, but they don’t hang to trip or fall on. You can also just lightly twist them together.