THE MATTRESS SAGA

Last Saturday night, December 19th, we opened the back of the house to the front of the house. We were determined to sleep upstairs if it was the last thing we ever did. We had been previously sleeping in our California King-sized bed in our family room which was also open to the kitchen. Yes, that's where we had been living for 1 1/2 years. We had had enough and weren't going to spend another night there if we could possibly help it.

When we first closed off the front of the house to the back we also purchased a new bed. Dave is tall. He has never been able to lay out straight in a bed and our bed was old. We always said we were going to buy a California King-sized bed when we redid the house. And we were true to our word. We bought the bed which comes with a mattress and a split box spring. The bed is great.

However...after we opened the house up we easily took the box springs up the stairs to our new bedroom. The mattress was another story entirely. It is massive.

About 5 PM on Saturday afternoon, Dave and I attempted the mattress. Earlier, my son had been over and he helped us move the couch to the den but he had left and told use he was going hunting. Dave and I were able to get the mattress wedged (with us wedged, as well) in the stairwell. We couldn't budge the darn thing any further. We just didn't have the strength we needed between the two of us. I had my cell phone in my pocket and called my son and left him a message as he didn't pick up (smart boy).

Then we let the mattress fall. And it landed. It landed right in the middle of the dining room floor and Dave said, "Well, I guess we may be sleeping there tonight." Now remember, company was coming.

I called my son again and asked that, if he could, spare us 15 minutes later in the evening. We were going to go out for a hamburger and then we would be back. While we were at dinner he called and we met him at home. He was exactly the strength we needed to get the mattress up the stairs. The stairwell light swung all over the place but it survived. We survived. We've been sleeping soundly since.