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missroseroseAs some of you might have gathered, Sunday was a bit of a downer for me. I couldn't even tell you why - there wasn't anything particularly bad about it (quite the opposite). Brian thought it had something to do with the fact that I'd been basically moving nonstop for the entire two weeks prior, which is certainly a possibility. Whatever the cause, I was pretty noticeably depressed that day, to the point of nearly breaking down in tears in the middle of Lowe's for no discernible reason.
Fortunately, it was a pretty short-lived bout of depression, and by Monday I was feeling fine again, although I ended up sleeping through the afternoon and didn't get to do much exploring like I'd planned. I would have just attributed it to general laziness, except that Brian has been getting progressively grouchier over the last week or so, with his mood reaching a nadir Tuesday morning - air beds are all well and good, but just don't work well for sleeping two people, especially for more than a few days. "Something must be done," I cried, or would have done so had there been anyone to hear me but the cats.
Lo and behold, Craigslist decided to cooperate, throwing up an ad for a four-year-old memory-foam mattress for $250, in a town an hour away. We'd ordered a new one from Costco.com for about $680, but it was taking its damn sweet time to ship. So I called them up to cancel the order, called U-Haul to see if they had a truck available, and decided to go for a bit of a road trip.
Now, a bit of a confession. For all that I give off the impression of being a very competent and take-charge kind of person (and I am!), I went through quite a phase of nervousness when I was a teenager, especially pertaining to things that were particularly "adult" (like renting a truck), and especially-especially pertaining to things I'd never done before (like renting a truck and driving it to a town an hour away). And while I'm mostly over that, I do still occasionally have bouts of insecurity and nervousness, especially when I do things that are notably outside my comfort zone (like renting a truck and driving it to a town an hour away to buy a mattress from a couple people I've never met.) But I pushed through the nervousness and went on ahead, and I'm glad I did - the sellers turned out to be super-nice people, missionaries who were being stationed in Indonesia and needed to lighten their load. The mattress itself was pretty nice, too; showing its age a bit, but still plenty comfortable (and definitely better than the air bed we were sleeping on). I thought it was worth $250, so I gave them as much, and was a bit amused when the husband said "Oh, er, here, $200 is enough..." I guess they figured the buyer would try to bargain them down. Awfully nice of them, anyway - it meant the total cost for the whole trip (even with the $100 truck rental and $20 of gas) was less than half of what the new mattress would have cost.
I think it was a good experience for me in a number of other ways, too. I've never driven a large truck before, and I'd heard Brian complain often about how they were difficult to pilot, so the idea of taking one through Sierra Vista and to another town was a bit scary. But I ended up rather enjoying myself. Sure, the GMC Sierra I got from U-Haul wasn't the most comfortable ride (stiff suspensions + bumpy Arizona roads = Vibra-Truck!), but it was easier to handle than I was anticipating, and it had a pretty decent sound system with an Aux In jack. So I rocked out to the contents of my iPod as I went along on one of the first longish drives I've done in a while. The landscape was pretty, too, albeit in a very different way than Juneau is - mostly brown, but with some brush and brownish-red mountains that really look more like hills to my Alaskan-trained eye. It felt odd not to be anywhere near the ocean (pretty much everywhere I've lived in the past wasn't more than a few miles from the coast), but it was neat to explore a bit nonetheless.
It strikes me that the trip also helped me feel better because I did the entire thing (making arrangements, renting the truck, getting the mattress, bringing it back, hauling it into the house and setting it up) by myself. It's not that I'm against the idea of accepting help, but sometimes I start to feel like I'm getting too used to having Brian or my friends to lean on. While I certainly value the consistent help from those sources, I'm an independent enough person to feel vindicated when I do something moderately difficult all on my own. (Plus it meant that I could surprise Brian when he got home. It was really sweet, seeing how happy he was not to have to sleep on the airbed again.)
And, hooray! Now we have a real bed, and let me tell you - I slept pretty darn well last night (as did Brian, if his mood this morning was anything to go by). In fact, I think I'm going to go back to sleep right now and catch up on some of the hours I missed due to tossing and turning on that air mattress...
Fortunately, it was a pretty short-lived bout of depression, and by Monday I was feeling fine again, although I ended up sleeping through the afternoon and didn't get to do much exploring like I'd planned. I would have just attributed it to general laziness, except that Brian has been getting progressively grouchier over the last week or so, with his mood reaching a nadir Tuesday morning - air beds are all well and good, but just don't work well for sleeping two people, especially for more than a few days. "Something must be done," I cried, or would have done so had there been anyone to hear me but the cats.
Lo and behold, Craigslist decided to cooperate, throwing up an ad for a four-year-old memory-foam mattress for $250, in a town an hour away. We'd ordered a new one from Costco.com for about $680, but it was taking its damn sweet time to ship. So I called them up to cancel the order, called U-Haul to see if they had a truck available, and decided to go for a bit of a road trip.
Now, a bit of a confession. For all that I give off the impression of being a very competent and take-charge kind of person (and I am!), I went through quite a phase of nervousness when I was a teenager, especially pertaining to things that were particularly "adult" (like renting a truck), and especially-especially pertaining to things I'd never done before (like renting a truck and driving it to a town an hour away). And while I'm mostly over that, I do still occasionally have bouts of insecurity and nervousness, especially when I do things that are notably outside my comfort zone (like renting a truck and driving it to a town an hour away to buy a mattress from a couple people I've never met.) But I pushed through the nervousness and went on ahead, and I'm glad I did - the sellers turned out to be super-nice people, missionaries who were being stationed in Indonesia and needed to lighten their load. The mattress itself was pretty nice, too; showing its age a bit, but still plenty comfortable (and definitely better than the air bed we were sleeping on). I thought it was worth $250, so I gave them as much, and was a bit amused when the husband said "Oh, er, here, $200 is enough..." I guess they figured the buyer would try to bargain them down. Awfully nice of them, anyway - it meant the total cost for the whole trip (even with the $100 truck rental and $20 of gas) was less than half of what the new mattress would have cost.
I think it was a good experience for me in a number of other ways, too. I've never driven a large truck before, and I'd heard Brian complain often about how they were difficult to pilot, so the idea of taking one through Sierra Vista and to another town was a bit scary. But I ended up rather enjoying myself. Sure, the GMC Sierra I got from U-Haul wasn't the most comfortable ride (stiff suspensions + bumpy Arizona roads = Vibra-Truck!), but it was easier to handle than I was anticipating, and it had a pretty decent sound system with an Aux In jack. So I rocked out to the contents of my iPod as I went along on one of the first longish drives I've done in a while. The landscape was pretty, too, albeit in a very different way than Juneau is - mostly brown, but with some brush and brownish-red mountains that really look more like hills to my Alaskan-trained eye. It felt odd not to be anywhere near the ocean (pretty much everywhere I've lived in the past wasn't more than a few miles from the coast), but it was neat to explore a bit nonetheless.
It strikes me that the trip also helped me feel better because I did the entire thing (making arrangements, renting the truck, getting the mattress, bringing it back, hauling it into the house and setting it up) by myself. It's not that I'm against the idea of accepting help, but sometimes I start to feel like I'm getting too used to having Brian or my friends to lean on. While I certainly value the consistent help from those sources, I'm an independent enough person to feel vindicated when I do something moderately difficult all on my own. (Plus it meant that I could surprise Brian when he got home. It was really sweet, seeing how happy he was not to have to sleep on the airbed again.)
And, hooray! Now we have a real bed, and let me tell you - I slept pretty darn well last night (as did Brian, if his mood this morning was anything to go by). In fact, I think I'm going to go back to sleep right now and catch up on some of the hours I missed due to tossing and turning on that air mattress...
