Vote! And an update on the bed.

Before I get to the bed update, I almost forgot to post this! RAKScraps and ScrapDish both made the Creating Keepsakes Reader's Choice Awards ballot! So exciting! Please vote for us!! You don't have to vote in every category. Since I don’t paper scrap, I think there were only like two other categories that I had any clue about. LOL These are the ones we're in:

• Section 15. Internet Sites - Vote for RAKScraps.com (alpha order)
  
• Section 35. Scrapbook Kits - Vote for scrapdish.com Summer SunsationsZ (2nd one from the bottom of the section)

VOTE HERE

Ok, now about the bed. Well, it turned out that the leak was patchable, and it wasn't Mark's side that was leaking after all. It was my side, but because of where the hole was, all the water that was coming out went onto his side! LOL So we drained the bed, dried everything off, patched the leak, and refilled it. And we got it all done that same evening. BUT… after seeing what bad shape the inside of the bed was in, with tears in the liner and severely deteriorating chunks of foam everywhere (we actually ended up duct taping the foam to the interior frame on Mark's side of the bed), and discovering that the heater on Mark's side no longer works, after much discussion, focusing mainly on my paranoia about what would happen if the leak were on the bottom next time, we decided to go ahead and replace the bed anyway.

We missed the original deal that was going on, but they had another sale with a slightly smaller discount but much longer free financing. So Mark and I have been back and forth to the bed store, separately and together, five times in the last few days. We debated between beds ranging from the very nice mid-range "regular" sleep number beds to the ones with the way more expensive adjustable foundation, similar to a hospital bed. We would not have even considered the adjustable if it were not for Mark's back. In the end, we went with the least expensive regular flat one that we had been considering, and Mark's going to be on the lookout for a really nice massaging recliner for his back, since he's been wanting a recliner anyway. It's still a lot of money, but only about half of what we could have spent. The bed should be here in about a week.

Oh, and while trying to decide between the bed we got and the next model up, I made an interesting discovery. The next model up felt way better to me, but Mark actually didn't like it quite as well. Well, I hadn't noticed at first that they had different pillows on all the beds, so I grabbed the pillow from the bed I liked and took it over to the cheaper one, and it made a huge difference! Basically, the two beds felt the same to me, and it was the pillow on the cheaper one that I hadn't liked! And the funny thing is that the pillow I liked best was one of the firmest they had. I currently sleep with a big stack of very soft pillows, so it will be interesting to see if I still like it for sleeping once I get one here. The do have a one-time 30-day exchange policy, so if it turns out I don't like it, at least I have one more chance to find one that I will like.

Alrighty, I've rambled on long enough about the bed! LOL

In other news, the kids are on fall break this week. TOTALLY snuck up on us. As in, the kids got sent home free tickets for the state fair last Thursday, and I looked at the dates on the tickets, which are only good during the week, and I knew we'd used them last year but couldn't remember how we were able to go. So I went and looked at the calendar, then pulled out the school calendar and about fell over when I saw that this week was going to be fall break. I told Mark when he got home, and he let out an emphatic "no way – they've only been back in school a month". Actually, it's been nearly two months already. It's amazing how fast it goes! Anyway, we're not doing anything big. Mark doesn't have any vacation time, since his company's calendar for that sort of thing runs from the beginning of October to the end of September. And even with the free tickets for the kids, the fair still adds up to a lot of money between tickets for Mark and I, parking, food, games, etc., especially since we just went last year. So the kids and I are just hanging out and playing games and doing little stuff. Gonna bake some cookies, hit the library, maybe hit McD's play area for lunch one day, etc. Unfortunately, it's a really busy week for me with other stuff I need to do too, so I don’t have as much free time as I'd like. I got a lot done the last two days, but there are several more odds and ends for me to take care of, and we still need to finish getting the house ready for our guest magician this weekend. Maybe I should start planning for winter break right now, so we get to do something more exciting! LOL

Well, even though the kids are off, there's no guarantee that they'll let me sleep in tomorrow, so I guess I should head that way. G'night! :)