bed

What A Pain In The Neck

Posted on by Josef Havelka

I finally had a good sleep last night. I was cozy and warm all snuggled up with my wife. I even slept through the night until my alarm woke me up.

But from the moment I woke up, my shoulder and neck have been in pain. Debilitating pain that has stopped me from basic activities. Driving has been challenging as it hurts to shoulder check since it’s my left side. Which is contrary to my normal pain on the right side.

I must accept that I am always in pain. But I don’t want to. Maybe stretching before bed? Perhaps more pain killers? Cry and whine?

Ugh. Getting older sucks. Maybe I’ll trade a shitty night sleep to wake up without pain.

Cold Days/Warm Bed

Posted on by Josef Havelka

This past week has had me appreciate the comfort of my own bedroom. After feeling the below freezing temperatures against my face- and the wind chill factor pretty much as soon as you walk outside- it’s nice to have something to look forward to.

For me, I come home after a twelve hour day and immediately find my comfort zone. I change from my work clothes into pajamas. I enjoy a quick meal. And before sleep- I pour myself a cup of tea or coffee.

By then I am watching the clock and see that it’s almost 9. Waking for work is at 4:30- getting into bed is the next part of the routine. In the summer, the ceiling fan was on to circulate the air conditioning. In the winter, the gas fireplace in the bedroom goes on.

I close my door and let the room warm up. A quick bathroom break and brushing of my teeth ends my day. Now it’s time to get into bed and fall asleep. But alas, my phone keeps me awake a bit longer. At least until it falls out of my hands and lands on my face.

At this point I’ll call it a day. Usually I’ll turn off the fireplace. Sometimes I’ll forget and wake up with a feverish dream. That’s a fun experience.

But at least I’ll be warm. Not like the next day when I have to go back out to brave the weather at work.

The Queens

Posted on by Josef Havelka

Today was a day of moving beds around. Two were dismantled and another was built. Not too shabby of a day. I even had some help without much prodding.

First I took apart the queen sized bed that our oldest was using. It had been all but forgotten about in my wife’s front office. We are going to put the bed and frame into storage until our oldest needs it. All the pieces from the frame are together and I labeled each part just in case they need to reassemble it on their own.

After I dismantled that bed, I moved onto our middle child’s bed. They had been using a twin frame that was originally from a bunk bed. It was a solid pine wood bed and will last forever. So that bed is going into storage as well for the time being. Basically until one of our kids has kids…

Once that bed was out of the bedroom, it was time to build a new bed frame. We had bought a queen sized frame, mattress and blanket set as a graduation gift for our middle. At first they were worried that the bed would take up too much space. But in the end, it was a perfect balance of space needed so they could still have all of their friends (aka stuffed toys) sleeping over. Especially the Hello Kitty stuffies and accessories.

I’m glad that our kids are growing up, yet staying youthful at heart. A new bed and frame will push them into adulthood, but with a good nights sleep to get them there.

Temporary Bedroom

Posted on by Josef Havelka

Since we went away on a vacation last week, we required someone to be here to help our two youngest get to school and look after our home. My mother was gracious enough to travel over from Vancouver Island and take on that task. At 79, we couldn’t ask her to sleep in a kids bed. So we offered up our bedroom.

In doing so, my wife and I needed to sleep elsewhere in the house. So we took over the queen size bed in our eldest child’s room. Since they chose to go stay elsewhere over the past few weeks, it wasn’t going to inconvenience them. It’s a pretty good room in many ways. Close to a bathroom, has a fireplace, it’s own entry to go outside, double French doors inside… but you can hear everything that goes on downstairs in the kitchen and living room.

For me, Sunday was challenging to get some sleep since I have to work night shifts and the noise during the day kept me up. Today, because I am so tired, as soon as I’m done writing- I should be passing out. It’s the last time I need to use this room since my mother is leaving to return to her home.

I noticed that sleeping in our home has a “Goldilocks” feel. Our son’s bed is two small and the next two beds are two soft. But because the master bedroom is ours- it definitely feels like a “Papa Bear” place to rest. Which will be my normal place after this sleep. I look forward to that, but fully understand that our oldest may get cranky sometimes when people aren’t respectful while they try and sleep.

Do you give up your bed for guests, or do you have a spare room/ bed you give them?

ENDY- Will It End My Poor Sleep?

Posted on by Josef Havelka

Man, it feels as though I’ve been complaining a lot lately about getting old and my ailments. Sorry about that. This is my last one for a while, I promise.

Couple of human sized divots from a decade of sleeping.

Our king size mattress has been causing restless nights over the past while. Waking up with back and shoulder pains was making my wife and I cranky. So we discussed getting a new mattress for when we move.

Our compressed ENDY grew into a real mattress.

My wife placed an order for the ENDY mattress because it was coming with some free bedsheets if we order before the end of May. We expected the mattress to show up next week some time. Instead it arrived the next day. Awesome!

This morning I swapped out our old mattress for the new one with the help of our kids. Then off to the Waste Transfer Station (A nicer way to say Garbage Dump) to get rid of the old mattress. $15 to ditch a bad night’s sleep. Better than offering it out to friends.

We are looking forward to our first sleep on the ENDY. With all of the positive reviews, if it lasts ten years like our other mattress then it will be well worth it. If you want to get one for yourself, check out this link: ENDY.

Now to make the bed and take a nap.

Clean Sleep

Posted on by Josef Havelka

I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned this before, but it really bears repeating. There’s something wonderful about sleeping on clean bed sheets.

Washing bed sheets is something that kind of gets overlooked on a weekly basis at our home. Every week, my wife does laundry. In fact it’s almost daily it seems. But the beds? Each bed is practically a load on its own. So they get forgotten or ignored for a bit longer. But it’s awesome when those sheets are fresh and it’s time for bed.

I think that’s why I love hotels. They will change the sheets DAILY if you want them to. When traveling, if we are extremely active for the day, I’ll get the sheets changed. Honestly, that’s the beauty of vacations and traveling. Nightly sleeping in clean bed sheets.

Aw man, now I miss traveling. Maybe I should ask my wife to wash the bedding every day… That would go over well.

Ice Mittens

Posted on by Josef Havelka

Our home has been feeling colder than usual this year. No matter what I do to warm up, it never seems to be enough. I’m not alone either. I know my wife is cold at times as well. That’s because she shares her frigidness with me.

I swear that when I go to bed at the same time as her, she decides that her cold extremities need to touch the warm parts of my body. Her feet find my lower back or rub my calves the wrong way.

And then there are what I have dubbed over these past few years- her “Ice mittens”. Those hands of verglas that caress me into convulsions of terror. My squirms and shrieks only cause her to enjoy the torture she inflicts upon me. To say she is “cold hearted” is a lie. She is cold bodied.

It’s been going on for years. Somehow I manage to warm her up. It must be from the vibration of my shivering that causes friction to bring warmth to our bed.

Cold Room Warm Bed

Posted on by Josef Havelka

The weather has been getting colder these days. So that means time for warmer blankets and sheets on the bed. We’ve done fleece or flannel to keep warm and cozy while we sleep. It’s nice to crawl in to bed and feel the weight and warmth of the bedding as the room chills out.

As I prepare for sleep, I try and burrito myself up like e.t. about to go on a bike ride. Turn up the heat? On the really cold nights we will add another blanket.

I hate waking up and being uncovered. I can’t sleep if any part of my body is exposed. Especially my feet! I don’t want those monsters stealing my body parts. They don’t hibernate in the winter- instead they’re always waiting under the bed and in the shadows for an opportunity to grab you.

So anyways, we have our winter bedding out and it was really nice to slide in and feel the warmth on my feet for the first time this season.

IKEA

Posted on by Josef Havelka

Today I assembled a new bed frame for our oldest daughter. She is turning 16 next month and is rather tall- at 6’2″. Her twin bed wasn’t really fitting her anymore. Lucky for me- a friend was giving away a nice queen size bed frame a couple months ago. So I snagged it up.

It was great that he had dismantled the bed for easy transportation. All the parts were there when I started to work on it today. However, I had no instructions. But since it was from IKEA, how hard could it be? I’ve assembled my fair share of Billy Bookcases in my lifetime.

Most of the bed was easy to figure out. With only one minor mistake that I had to fix (one of the wood slats I had put in upside-down). At one point, I had to refer to the image of the frame my friend had posted just to make sure I was doing it right. After about an hour, the bed was built.

My daughter is excited about her new bed. I hope she appreciates the new bed. Maybe she will wake up in a better mood!

The Hump

Posted on by Josef Havelka

There’s something about my bed that I really enjoy. It’s the hump.

I’m not talking about sex. I mean, that’s really good as well… (perhaps that could be another topic.) I’m talking about the spot right in the middle of the bed. Also know as the great divide.

Everyone who shares a bed with a partner knows of this mountain. With mattresses that have memory foam and springs- body divots become created. These are the comfort zones when you sleep together. On our king size bed, we have split box springs underneath. This emphasizes the barrier up top.

Usually before we fall asleep, one of us has to crest the mound and spoon the other one. I like being the little spoon. Mostly because it means my wife’s bum is aiming away from me. (She tends to fart when she wakes up). It also means I don’t have to try and figure out what to do with my gimpy arm that I lay on top of.

When I’m alone in the bed, I enjoy laying on the middle peak. I lay on my side which allows my gimpy arm to be used underneath my pillow.

It is possible that there is a king size mattress out there that prevents the middle hill? Probably. But until I can afford a new bed, I shall just remain the fool on the hill.

Quiet Sunday Roads

Posted on by Josef Havelka

Turns out that not a lot of people were on the roads this morning. I was heading home with my son after we spent the night at a friend’s place. The roads were empty and the fog was blindingly thick. The sun was attempting to burn it away with hardly any success.

On our way home I stopped at another old friend’s home to pick up a bed frame for my oldest daughter. She’s kind of outgrown her twin bed. At age 15 and being 6’2″ I figured it was time to get her a bigger bed. So I packed in the dismantled queen size bed frame into my Pathfinder and headed home.

No one was on the back roads going home. It was eerie and calming. Usually there is too much traffic and bad drivers. Not today. My son and I had a pleasant journey home as I drove below the speed limit in order to not jostle the bed frame pieces around. Before getting home I was tempted to keep on driving around since it was a quiet Sunday and the fog was dissipating. But I needed to come home and rest before my night shift. Hopefully the roads will still be quiet later on for my commute to work.

Bed Neglect.

Posted on by Josef Havelka

The age old question, “Why make your bed if you’re just going to sleep in it again?”


Our bed is rarely made up. But it’s not my fault. Usually for a day or two after clean sheets are put on, I tend to straighten out the bed and try to keep it looking fresh.  But then it happens.  Not even slowly.  Seriously, on the third day after clean linens are on- the caring just stops. By the third night’s sleep, the softness of the blanket and the fresh laundry smell is gone.  So is the desire to care about the one thing that brings me great joy after the end of the day. 

Neglected bed.

It lays there in wait.  It doesn’t know what it did wrong or why you just stopped caring.  But it welcomes you anyways.  The disheveled blankets quickly wrap you with the comfort and warmth you need. But it’s not the same as that first day of clean linens. It never is.

“But Josef, why don’t you just make the bed?”

Two reasons. 

1. I’m not the last one out of it and I’ve gone to work already.

2. I’m too lazy to care.

“But Josef, why doesn’t your wife make the bed?”

Two reasons.

1. She claims that the bed needs to “air out” to prevent germs or bugs.

2. Or she claims that I was the last one up, so why didn’t I bother to make it?

The bed remains neglected. After every sleep, you just get out of bed, leave your room and start your day. And you don’t turn back for 12-16 hours. 

But neglected bed remembers your curves. 

Neglected bed will bring you comfort.

Neglected bed won’t neglect you.