A shopping trip I won't forget very soon.

Carrie and I went shopping for a bigger matress as we just can't share a full-sized bed forever. We happened to meet a guy at Denver Matress who was quite helpful in informing us what not to pay for in a matress. I've never done this before (just went to Sam's and bought the only one they carry--Serta--last time) and so don't know much about matresses. Apparently, when it comes to matresses you don't usually pay the asking price but try to talk the salesman down to a price you're comfortable paying (like when you buy a new car, something else I've never done yet). Unless you go with Denver Matress and get a nice outlet price. This is not the interesting part of this day's shopping experience. Here we go.....Did you know that the average person loses a pint in fluids (sweat, oils, dead skin cells) every night. A PINT! That's like a gallon a week. And the matress absorbs a lot of this which then attracts dust mites and other things. This is why when we moved recently our matress seemed so much heavier than when I bought it. It's getting heavier. It's gaining weight. Sorry to the community group guys who helped move it. The matress guy said a matress may be 25% heavier over several years. That got me thinking....I've been sleeping on the same pillow for like seven years. It's like a sack of bricks, twice as heavy as any other pillow in our house. Sick huh? So, good reason to change sheets often and wash matress covers and so on. I can remember in college only changing sheets once per semester. I didn't share this with the matress guy. So, hope everybody sleeps well tonight. Clean sheets anyone? Buenas Noches.

Our New Pet

Carrie and I have this gold finch that loves to perch on this branch just outside the window to the main living area. He will sit there for hours sometimes pecking at the window (he comes every day, several times per day). He obviously sees his reflection in the window and so thinks he either has a friend or a competitor. We're not sure which. He does account for much of our dialogue around here lately. Occassionally he has a leaf in his mouth. That usually makes me think of U2's song, Beautiful Day, "See the bird with the leaf in her mouth...after the flood all the colors came out." Sometimes we talk about whether the bird has a good or bad self-image. Good in that he thinks he has a friend (his reflection). Or bad, in that he is doing battle with another male and he is always the first to leave the scene (making him the inferior loser). Either way, it's nice that he is around. One evening Carrie thought I'd left the oven on (as it will make this infrequent clicking sound when on) and then when going to check it out it was indeed off (as I said it was off) and it was this darn bird pecking at the window. So, he made a nice little I-told-you-so moment for us. The students I work with think it's crazy I don't have any pets. I'm thinking of telling them I have a bird. He is kind of ours. If I move really really slowly I can go all the way up to the glass without him seeing past his reflection and can put my nose on the glass and feel him peck the other side of the glass. Pretty sweet! That makes us intimately friends. I need a bird name our friend. Any suggestions?

Short One

Here's a short update for everybody. We've been busy like crazy lately. I just started a new job (still OGC) full time yesterday. All is well with that. We sold our house at 537 Clearwood Ave to a great gal named Trudy who truly is our newest friend. We are currently living in Harbor Meadows in my mother-in-law's rental home which she is trying to sell. So, we're looking for a good home in a great location. In the meantime we're enjoying Harbor Meadows as we're right across the street from a swimming pool, park, and huge fishing pond. I've been tying bass flies and I've got several 14+" fish. Just back to work after a week off. Spent the week moving of course (HUUUUGE thanks to the community group guys and Jeff for helping us move) and a few days fishing on the Norfork and White Rivers (so make sure check out as always my fishing report on my Ozark Trout Bum link). I'll try to be more regular about blogging soon.