By Popular Demand: The Mattress Update

We will all now pretend that people have been e-mailing me and begging me to not only talk more about my mattress, but also post pictures.  All right, already!  You people are persistent! 

I give you...  the mattress transformation.

Before:  Our old, hand-me-down mattress.  A Simmons Beautyrest that had seen much better days.  Like in the 1970s.

After:  Our new mattress!  A Sealy Posturpedic, plush-top (not pillow top).  Can you see how much higher it goes up on the headboard?  It's so thick!  And white!  And clean!  And new!  Not pictured:  the mattress cover that protects against bedbugs.  You know, just in case.

Cooper approves.  He lounges like a woman in a Renaissance painting.

We really are sleeping better on this mattress.  The physical and mental symptoms of grief had blurred together for me for so long that I had not realized that the ache between my shoulder blades was actually from that ancient, sagging mattress rather than emotional tension alone.  I say this is easily the best purchase we've made since David brought Cooper home from the vet's office.  (Little Mac was a gift.  I think perhaps a white elephant gift.)  Runner up best purchases:  David's Prius, the Kitchen Aid Mixer, the Magic Bullet blender, the Dyson, and my "Mrs. Duckworth" bag--a Dooney and Burke purse that is the perfect size.

Money cannot buy happiness.  This I know for sure (although I could probably know more certainly if I had a little more money with which to experiment.  Would anyone care to fund this project?  E-mail me.).  It can, however, buy you a good night's sleep.  And so I'm trying to appreciate that for what it is.

I've been doing so much thinking about big philosophical things--the randomness of the universe, life after the death, the point of a God who doesn't intervene to save babies, why life has to be so shitty, whether there is some kind of balance in the universe, karma, reincarnation, how small dogs can be so stinky, why people can't merge properly on the highway, how old is too old for leftovers, how students manage to sleep through 1pm classes...  all questions for the ages. 

And I'm freaking sick of it.  I want to think about nice, concrete, material things.  Superficial things.  Things with brand names that I can BUY and OWN and feel all nice and materialistic about.

So if you have made a recent purchase lately that made you happy or lifted your spirits momentarily or made your life easier, I want to know about it.   

One of my favorite recent acquisitions was actually a gift--Bobbi Brown lip gloss in a lovely coral color.  It's the "in" color for spring (according to my most fashionable friend).  It brightens my day (and my face) every time I go teach.  Bonus:  it doesn't make me look like a hooker!

So what have you been doing to stimulate the economy and maybe make yourself a little happier as well?  Do tell.