Sleep Well

You'll spend roughly 1/3 of your life on your mattress. That means buying a mattress is one of the most important purchases you will make. It can also be one of the most intimidating. If you are researching new mattresses Kennesaw GA area, you'll want to find a store that offers sleep experts on-site to guide you in choosing the type and style of mattress that is right for you.  Here are some basic guidelines to start your search:

• A side sleeper needs a softer mattress that allows the hip to drop down and spine to align properly.
• A back sleeper needs a softer mattress that allows the hips and shoulders to sink in a little and the spine to align.
• A stomach sleeper needs a firmer mattress because the spine is already aligned. A mattress with more give will likely cause your spine to slump a little, which could lead to waking up with back pain.

And if you sleep with someone else who sleeps differently, things can get more complicated. You'll want to find the best balance possible between buying the perfect mattress and staying within your budget.

Getting a good night's sleep is one of the most important things you can do for your health, so keep that in mind when choosing your mattress. Getting the right sleep impacts your productivity, your mood, and even the aches and pains that you suffer. So besides getting the right mattress, you'll want to develop some good habits that will help you get the best sleep possible.

Good Habits to Encourage Good Sleep:

• Stick to a regular sleep schedule even on your days off work so that your body can react consistently.
• Unwind before trying to go to sleep and avoid searching the internet on your phone or computer.
• Keep your bedroom somewhat cool for sounder sleep.
• Avoid napping during the day as it cuts into your night sleep, which is recommended to be seven to nine hours for most adults.
• Don't expose yourself to bright lights, especially the blue ones, in the evenings.
• Don't drink caffeine or alcohol before bed.
• Don't eat a big meal within three hours before bedtime.
• Don't sleep on a worn-out mattress where the coils or foam can no longer bounce back and provide the necessary support.

Dream Home Furniture is an example of a company with a great selection of mattresses and bedding needs. Their staff of experts is happy to help you decide on the perfect mattress with the comfort level that best fits your body based on your sleep preferences and habits so that you can wake up each morning feeling refreshed.

Tips for Helping the Whole Family Sleep Well

Sleep deprivation can have an adverse affect on both kids and parents. As a parent or anyone who has spent time with young children, you know that when they get tired, they can get a little cranky. Although adults may not like the comparison, they too get a little irritable when they are sleep deprived. A lack of sleep can make kids and adults accident prone as well as making it difficult to concentrate at school or at work. Here are several things to look at that can help your whole family get a good night's sleep each night.

• The Bedroom
  It's difficult to relax and feel a sense of calmness in a cluttered bedroom. Clearing the clutter and simplifying the décor can make the bedroom a more pleasant sleeping area. Some experts suggest that a bedroom be painted in soothing colors that encourage sleep. It's also difficult to sleep soundly in a room that is either too hot or too cold. Experts suggest that the ideal temperature for sleeping is 65 degrees. If noise prohibits kids from going to sleep or sleeping soundly through the night, a white noise machine could resolve that problem.
• The Bed
  A good mattress is essential to good sleep. It's worth investing in the best non-toxic mattresses for everyone in your household. Memory foam mattresses and those with heat dissipating gel can provide a comfortable sleeping area for kids and adults. In addition to a comfortable, supportive mattress, everyone should have a high quality pillow on their bed. 
• Routine
  Having the whole family establish a pre-bedtime ritual can help everyone go to sleep faster. This routine should start at the same time each evening. Keeping the same bedtime and wake-up time throughout the week and weekend is beneficial to the family. For everyone's benefit, you should set a technology curfew. Some studies show that watching television, using a laptop, or playing electronic games is not a good pre-bedtime activity. Bath time, followed by story time, is a good ritual for the kids. Reading prior to bedtime is also a good way for teens and adults to relax.

When every family member gets a sufficient amount of sleep, there's likely to be less conflict among siblings and less stress for parents.

It Could Be the Pillow

I was trying to get comfortable in bed the other morning and get back to sleep.  Sometimes I feel like I'm waking up every hour or so all night long, and then other nights I go to sleep and know nothing until it's time to get up in the morning.  The other night I think it was worrying about selling the house and whether or not the would-be buyers would be willing to negotiate - and mostly how in the world was I going to be ready to leave my house.  So, of course, I wasn't sleeping really well.

I tried blaming it on my pillow, though.  I'm wondering if I should try using another pillow for a while.  It seems that, no matter how comfortable a pillow is for a while, it eventually just doesn't seem to work for me.  I wake up feeling like I need to head out to massage montréal (or massothérapie montréal for those who speak French, which I don't.)  I just feel like I'm either not lying on the pillow properly, or it's not supporting me in the right way, or something.  My back feels out of line, my shoulders feel tight, I wake up with a headache, etc.  Yeah, a massage would be nice, wouldn't it? 

I'm sure there is some information available telling me how often I should get a new pillow and what the best type of pillow is for the way I sleep, but I'm not sure that's it.  Usually when I get to this point, I just swap my pillow out for a different kind - one I've used in the past - and I'm good for a while.  Until the next time.

Of course, it could be the stress of selling the house - probably is the stress - but it won't hurt to find that old pillow.  Now, which one was it, and where did I put that thing?

Good Night

It's not like we did much today - sat around and talked, ate, walked down the hill to see Darryl's house.  I rode Jessica's horse and did puzzles with Naomi.  I didn't get to play dominoes.  But it's definitely bed time.  The kids wanted to play Double Hearts, but we didn't get time for that before they had to go home to bed - and now it's about time for the rest of us.

Jeffrey and I are planning to pack up our clothes, stainless steel necklaces, toiletries, computers, and everything else, and head home tomorrow.  We'll get to spend some time with Cory over the weekend before he heads off to ACTF - so that will be nice.  It's been nice being here, but it will be nice to get home and see our boy.

I just wish home wasn't so far away and we didn't have to go so long between visits.  Somebody figure out how to get that Google Earth thing to work in real life.  I know a whole bunch of us who would get together a whole lot more often!

Radio Dreams

My alarm goes off at 5:45 every morning and starts playing the local country music radio station.  Jeffrey's goes off at the same time, except that it's usually a little earlier or a little later because our clocks aren't exactly synchronized.  His is just an annoying beeping.

This morning I woke up and looked at my clock.  It said 6:00.  I stared at it for a while wondering why it hadn't gone off - before I realized that the radio was playing, and had been playing since 5:45 like always.  I just hadn't heard it, at least not on a conscious level.  They could've been talking about the Super Bowl or Christmas Cards for all I know.  I had some odd dreams during that 15 minutes, something about song lyrics that didn't make sense and radio hosts who weren't in town and were missing their show, so part of me was listening.  The radio hosts really are out of town - in Mexico and doing their show from there.

Thankfully, it didn't matter that I missed hearing the radio come on.  Because of the cold, Jeffrey had already decided last night that he wasn't walking this morning, so we got to sleep in a little.  Which is probably why I didn't hear the alarm - I knew I didn't have to get up. 

Morning Comes Early

I'm used to getting up at 5:45 every morning (except the weekends) to walk.  So why does it seem like it's going to be so much earlier getting up at the same exact time just to get ready to leave the house tomorrow morning?  Maybe because we didn't have to leave the house today until 9:30, and it was windy and rainy so we snuggled up and slept in a bit?  Or maybe because I've been making myself get up to go walking for years, so I can do that, even when it's still dark like it is now.  But the idea of getting up for anything else?  Well, that's different.  That has me reaching for the eye cream for dark circles and hoping no one notices that I got up too early!

Regardless, we have to be ready to leave the house at 6:30 in the morning.  Getting up at regular time and being ready to leave at 6:30 may be pushing it for me, but I refuse to get up any earlier.  That's too much like getting up in the middle of the night!  It makes me crazy that Jeffrey can go walking with me in the mornings, get back in the house a little after 6:30, and still be able to shower, get dressed, and be able to leave for work before 7:00.  How does he do that?

I'm just going to have to take a quick shower, pull on my jeans and some kind of shirt - that I really should decide on tonight, pull my hair into a ponytail, and hope no one looks to closely.  It's all about Jeffrey, anyway - right?  I'll probably have to put my coffee in a travel mug and grab some muffins to take along for breakfast.  (and when Jeffrey leaves for work before 7:00?  He doesn't have coffee or breakfast until after he gets to work)

Then I could always sleep while I wait for him to get out of surgery...  But I'll probably just read a book.

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Wasted Day

I'm really tempted just to throw up some filler here, because I don't have much energy.  I woke up with a head-ache and basically felt awful all day.  I tried going back to bed, but then there was all that banging going on.  Today they started ripping the siding off the house, so instead of thumping on the roof, there was ripping and banging and hammering on the sides of the house.

I was tired enough that I even managed to sleep through some of that.  I hate days like this, when I have so many things to accomplish but can't do any of it!  At least I wasn't planning to start a medical job search or something important. I was planning to do some baking and cleaning of the house for the weekend, but that didn't happen.

I do feel a bit better now, so I might still get some cornbread muffins into the oven.

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Camera Critters (#125)

I think Weasley would still like to be friends with Tillie, but she’s not ready for that.  She tolerates him.  He’s usually pretty good about giving her space.  Sometimes she chases him, but she doesn’t want him to chase her back, and I don’t think they’ll ever snuggle up together and take a nap.  Sometimes they get kind of close, though.

Camera Critters is a fun weekend meme hosted by Misty Dawn.Visit the Camera Critters headquarters and join in.

Another Day, Another Headache

I'm not feeling much better today than I did yesterday.  I hate this whole headache thing.  Unfortunately it's something I've always had to deal with, and the best I can do is just try to get some extra sleep and wait for it to go away.  Excedrin used to be the only thing that worked for me, and I only took that as a last resort, but I can't take it any more, so I just have to wait it out.  Thankfully it feels like it's on the way out, and now I'm just really tired.  If I'm smart, I'll go to bed early.  Except I'm probably not that smart.

I'm hoping that by tomorrow I'll be back to normal, and I can get some stuff done.  At least more than I got done today.  I did some cooking - made Taco Dip and a zucchini pie for dinner.  Then, of course, I had to wash the dishes from cooking, and I got a couple 'presents' today in the mail and delivered by UPS, and those had to be washed, too.  So I guess I don't get to completely take the day off even if I don't feel good at all.  No sense pulling out the Blue Cross Blue Shield NC card, that is if we lived in North Carolina, and running off to the doctor or something.

Then tomorrow, when I feel better, I can try out my new 'toys' and see how they work.  Hint: one of them is from CSNStores, so I'll definitely be telling you about that one.

Headache

For some reason I woke up with a headache this morning.  I hate that.  I just don't feel like doing anything.  I probably should have just gone back to bed, or gone out to the deck and curled up on some outdoor cushions, and hopefully a little rest would have made me feel better.  Instead, I just slowly moved through my day and didn't accomplish much.  So far.



I guess it's not too late...

What Kind of Pajamas Do You Wear?

There are so many styles of women's pajamas, it would be hard to pick just one, wouldn't it?  I remember having a flannel nightgown on some of those winter nights when I was growing up, but what I really wanted was some super-warm footie pajamas - the kind babies and toddlers wear.  Do they make those in women's sizes?  

I was thinking a different material, but these flannel ones would be nice.  I found them at womenspajamas.com where you can buy women's pajamas, and only womens' pajamas.  Men have to get theirs somewhere else.

Speaking of men, my husband probably wouldn't like these flannel footie things, but I'd only need them for those nights he's not home.  The bed is a lot colder when I'm the only one in it.  Of course, now that the winter is over, that really isn't an issue.  Now I need something a whole lot cooler (womenspajamas.com has those too), that is, if I'm going to wear womens pajamas at all. 

How about you?

Just a Little Caffeine

Well, I didn't get a nap. Instead I had a cup of coffee - I tried making this cold brewed coffee yesterday, so I had to see how it turned out.  It wasn't bad at all, though from what I've been reading, there isn't as much caffeine in cold brewed coffee, so it probably didn't do much for me.  It was the idea of it, I guess.

It was enough of an idea that I got Cory's shirts ironed - both the white one and the black one because he's not sure which one he's wearing to prom.  It depends which one looks best with the bow tie.  Then after the ironing, I cleaned our bathroom, which really needed it.  And for dinner?  Grilled cheese and turkey salad on homemade sourdough bread - easy but yummy.

By the time the dishes were done after dinner, I was more than ready to sit down.  My head doesn't really hurt any more, but I am so tired.  I really don't want to move until it's time to head down the hall to bed, but Beth wants us to go over to her apartment and see her new table and how she's got her tv stands and other furniture arranged.  It sounds like they're pretty much unpacked and settled in and even have pictures hung on the walls.  Just the fact that she wants to share it with us is enough to make it worth getting up and going over there and going up all those stairs...  She's so excited to have her own place, the least we can do is go visit when she asks us, right?

I wonder when she's serving us dinner on her new table?

I Need a Nap

For some reason I woke up with a headache this morning.  Combine that with the fact that I didn't get to go walking this morning because it was raining, and I just don't feel good at all today.  I've been slowly trying to accomplish something today, but the list just seems way too long.  I wonder, will I ever get caught up?  I've got emails to respond to and send, posts to make, charts to convert and get uploaded, bathrooms to clean, dinner to make - once I figure out what to make, and I'm pretty sure there are a bunch of other things on there that I'm forgetting.

I should probably start with making an actual list, so I don't forget anything and so I can cross stuff off as I get it done.  That will make me feel like I'm accomplishing stuff, right?  Though I honestly don't feel like doing any of it - not talking about life insurance rates, ironing Cory's shirts so he has something to wear to prom Saturday night, or any of it.  Mostly I just feel like curling up and taking a nap.

Camera Critters (#100)

 
Wow!  This is the 100th weekend of Camera Critters!  That’s a lot of critter pics.  Makes you tired just thinking of it, doesn’t it?

Camera Critters is a fun weekend meme hosted by Misty Dawn.Visit the Camera Critters headquarters and join in.

Tired, Tired, Tired

Jeffrey was supposed to have today off, but he didn't.  Instead he went to work, because there was so much work to do, and I think someone else was supposed to come and work with him on a project or something.  So, today was just a regular Monday for me - laundry and catching up from the weekend - not that we had anything special planned if Jeffrey was home.

Thinking back on the day and trying to remember exactly what I got accomplished today besides laundry and ironing, I'm having a hard time remembering anything specific.  But I must have done something, because I'm really tired.  Good thing it's almost bed time!  Jeffrey went and played basketball for a couple hours after dinner, the first time the guys have gotten together this year.  He's looking a little tired, too.  Even if we were in the habit of taking sleeping pills, which we're not, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't be needing them tonight.  And I somehow think morning is going to come way to early.  Again.

I'm Needing Some Sleep

Cover of Barn Party (I Am Reading)

I'm watching the weather, and they're calling for all night rain and morning showers. What that probably means is no walking in the morning. Since there's no school tomorrow (Teachers' Convention) I don't even have to get up if I don't want to. I'll probably still get up when Jeffrey does because I still have lots to do tomorrow. I only got one of the bathrooms cleaned, so I need to clean the other one, and I need to make a big pot of chili for the Barn Party and maybe some caramel corn, too. And finish putting stuff back in the living room, or at least put it away for the weekend. And figure out something for dinner and something for breakfast on Saturday, and...

Just thinking about it all makes me tired. As soon as Jeffrey finishes copying the music from his portable hard drives to his computer, and as soon as Cory's friends go home, and as soon as Tim goes home, I can go to bed. I hope that's soon.

The Weekend, Finally!

Image via WikipediaTwice yesterday I heard Thursday referred to as 'Friday Eve' - is that new? I never heard that before. It's like we all live our lives waiting for the weekend and doing whatever we can to hurry it along.

I must admit I do like weekends, mainly because we usually get to sleep in and get some extra rest. Last weekend we were busy with the school musical. While we did get to sleep in, we were also up late, so it was pretty tiring. I'm hoping to catch up on my rest this weekend.

We do have a few plans, nothing major like jetting off to las vegas nevada or anything. Cory is going with his friend Vanessa to meet one of his favorite authors tomorrow, John Green. He's taking his books and a couple of the library books to hopefully get them signed. Then Sunday we're going to see the new Bond movie - Quantum of Solace. I never used to like Bond movies, but they've grown on me. I especially liked the last one, Casino Royale, the first one with Daniel Craig as Bond, so I'm looking forward to this one. Daniel Craig is no Sean Connery, but I still thought he was pretty good.

I started reading some reviews suggested by Zemanta, but I'm not going to do it - maybe after. Seriously, movie reviews - if the reviewer loved the movie, I expect too much. If they hate the movie, well - I just want to make up my own mind.

Camera Critters (#31)

Cats sleep in some of the strangest positions and places.  I guess it just depends on where they are when the get tired.  Here's a sleeping Tillie:

Camera Critters is a fun weekend meme hosted by Misty Dawn.Visit the Camera Critters headquarters and join in.

For a Good Night's Sleep

A few years ago Jeffrey and I bought a new mattress. We went to various mattress stores around town and tried out the mattresses. Do you know how many different kinds of mattresses there are out there? There are pillow top mattresses and memory foam mattresses and just plain basic mattresses. How in the world do you figure out what kind of mattress you actually want?

We laid on them, to see how they felt. Still, it's not the same as actually sleeping on the mattress night after night. I think it's really important when buying a new mattress that you get some kind of guarantee that lets you sleep on it for so many nights and return it if it doesn't work for you. After all, you are going to be sleeping on that mattress for many years, and you want it to be comfortable. We ended up with a pillow top mattress with at least one layer of memory foam, and it's really comfortable - much more so than our last mattress.

The idea of buying a mattress online never occurred to me. Did you know you can buy a mattress online? At Overnight Mattress you can. They have memory foam mattresses, free shipping the next day, and a 120 night sleep guarantee. They manufacture and sell their own mattresses, so they can offer the best prices, and if you don't like the mattress, you can send it back. They will even pay return shipping. The reason they're able to offer this unmatched return policy is because their mattresses are both absurdly comfortable and ridiculously low priced. In turn, they get very few mattress returns. All mattresses also come with a 20 year Limited Warranty.

If you have any questions, you can call their toll free number or chat live on the website.

Something's Interfering with My Sleep

Image by midorisyu via Flickr They had a story on the Olympics last night, saying that they realize watching the Olympics is interfering with everyone's sleep. I guess we're lucky that it only lasts a couple weeks, right? Of course, the Olympics aren't the only thing that interferes with getting a good night's sleep. Having teenagers seems to be interfering with our sleep, too.

Either Beth works until 10pm, and then has to drive home, or she's over at Tim's and not wanting to come home until the last possible minute. Try explaining that, even though it's summertime and she gets to sleep in, the rest of us are still getting up at normal time. This week I may be staying up watching gymnastics or something else important, but most nights I (we) want to get to bed before 11pm. And I'm just not good with going to bed until I know she's safely home where she belongs.

Those of you still buying diapers and crib bedding may think you're not getting any sleep now, but just wait until those precious babies are teenagers. Parents don't get to get a good night's sleep until those kids finally move out. At least that's my theory.