No wife. Sleep where I like. They say that I snore. Doesn't bother me. Last time I slept on a couch (a quite comfortable one)... was when son and I overnighted at daughter's place, in a smallish apartment in a rather big, expensive city last year. Taigen, Don't apologize for what you do, please - you arrange your life in ways that suit you, so, as long as you don't cramp the style of others, or be detrimental in society, (or cause the security crowd to get excited) ... what's to apologize for? fly on a wall, Hey, how be you just fly away, huh? Choose to never occupy a couch till you draw your dying breath, if that suits you ... ... but if I want to occupy one, whether here or at daughter's, or wherever ... how does that inconvenience you? Sue used to say that I could sleep any time and any place. Clear conscience, maybe? pattico, What kind of contamination does a few hours of a human body lying on a couch inflict on it, anyway, can you tell me? Most folks sleep on a bed thousands of times without causing it any appreciable detriment ... don't they? ________________ Sue and I had a couch/pull-out bed in our living room in Iri City, Korea - where three of the agriculturalist's family's four girls had slept when they lived with us for a few months just after our marriage (but we didn't have the couch, then). We arranged two of the girls' beds into bunk beds. I'd slept on the couch-bed a few times when Sue or I were ill, and it was quite comfortable ... I think that I'd have been content to have slept on it for an extended period. We'd bought it from some Southern Presbyterian (i.e. Presbyterian U.S.) missionaries in a city about 12 miles away. Bruce was born, of necessity by Caesarean section, in a hospital that they ran over there, so it was fortunate that good quality medical service was available: if not, Sue, whose birth canal was way too narrow, and the little one that came to be called Bruce, would both have died. When Sue's Mom, a teacher in Des Moines, came to visit in '62, a year before our return on furlough, we situated her in the couch/pull-out bed in the living room. On the first morning, when she came out to breakfast I don't remember there being much discussion about the comfort of the couch but she was wondering what on earth had been going on - scurrying about above the ceiling for a substanial part of the night. Oh, that was just the rats having a game of football (or was it baseball?). Poor Mom-in-law was somewhat mortified. But she did summon up courage to stay there, nights, during the rest of her stay - of about 3 weeks?? Didn't have a heck of a lot of choice, apart from giving her our bed, for there was room for both Sue and me on the couch/bed ... though we might have been able to have arranged for a bed for her at the two women missionaries' house across town, or at the agriculturalist's house, but that would have been a bit improbable, as Sue and Irene weren't the best of friends, following their sojourn at our place just after their arrival and our marriage, before their newly being-built house was ready. The Koreans thought that Sue's Mom, probably a bit shy of 60 at the time, must have been Sue's sister, she looked so well preserved, for many Korean women in those days looked pretty old and worn, at that age. When my same-year-arrived, first in 17 years(1) colleague had renovated the house after the mission purchased our little demonstration farm, he'd installed some lowered ceilings of veneer panelboard in some of the rooms. Once in recent years after Bruce and I had overnighted at the agriculturalist's home in Alberta, when we came away, he said that they were nice people. I agreed that they were really fine people, and that, as he knew, his Mom was, too ... but that they hadn't got along too well after being confined for those few months in the same small Japanese-style house, with the sliding, paper-covered doors, just after their arrival in that strange country. I've felt sad about that - but there wasn't much alternative. If I remember correctly, I think that I may have suggested that perhaps Sue go to Seoul to go to language school for a while ... at which she sort of bristled, saying that she hadn't come this far to get married ... and then run off to a distant city to go to language school. Maybe it would have been better if she had! What this has to do with sleeping on a couch ... ... is more than I know! Interesting, isn't it, the chain of memories that a simple little reference-trigger can set in motion in our minds? Hope you all enjoy a week with some challenge, adventure and experiences interesting enough to be recorded in your journal in it. ole joyful 1. During that 17 year period the world had suffered under World War II, and the much smaller Korea "Police Action" - but no less devastating for the people involved for three years. Some missionaries of our liberal Protestant church had gone to Korea after World War II, before the Korean War, but they had not returned after the Korean War. The guy who renovated the house and I were appointed just as the war was winding down, the first two new arrivals in that 17 year period among those eight resident at that time. o j

linley - Thanks for the link! I couldn't find the reviews before, but now I see them over on the side. les - I would have never guessed that Martha Stewart headboard was an old door. It's gorgeous! That being said, I'm not a crafty person, and with all the overtime I've been working lately, I just don't have the desire or energy to be creative right now. I'm going to measure the room and if the double will fit, I'll let Justin decide if he'd rather have the bigger bed or extra space. dilly dally - I've always been such a matchy matchy person, which is a habit I'm trying to break. If I got that bed in the cherry, would I get a chest somewhere else in cherry or would I need to get a different wood? I'm just worried about making it look right. What if I went with the black bed? Do you think it would look okay if the chest wasn't the same shade of black? Laurie

I just wanted to show you what we decided to do. As we are still in the midst of decorating the living room (furniture is on order), we went ahead with the used futons on CL. We did air them out and check them out for any "bed bugs", but so far they seem fine. BIL and family will sleep here--if the futons are not comfortable, we figure they can put the cushions on the floor to sleep. Then in Jan/Feb when my new furniture is in, I will either resell on CL or donate. All total it was $150 for the pair--we purchased separately, but they are matching. I'm actually rather pleased how they look and being able to use my living room for the holidays even tough it's not "fancy." We will be a houseful of 11 (6 adults, 5 kids) and plan to have a party with other friends and family one day so it will be great to have the use of both living and family room. We did purchase a sofa bed from Calico Corners that has a built-in air mattress topper to make the matress go a full 9" deep.

In my adult life, I've slept in a king, a queen, both alone and with my husband, and now an extra-long adjustable twin that's actually part of a "split king". I've liked them all at various times and for various reasons. We got the adjustable split king (2 extra-long twins) from Costco several months ago for a couple of reasons (and BTW, it's expensive!). My husband now wakes up several times most nights from leg cramps or to go to the bathroom, and at least one of those times would wake me up and I couldn't get back to sleep, so I'd have some rather unproductive days. So going back to a king, or the split king were the choices we considered. Even though expensive, the split king won, because I have GERD and veinous insufficiency, and he has acid reflux. I'd tried several different slanted pillows to raise my head for several years, but I didn't sleep well, since if I relaxed I'd slide down the pillow by morning and be almost flat, which made my esophagus irritated. And raising my legs by putting a pillow under them didn't work. Having both my head and feet raised to about the zero gravity position have totally solved the problem. The bed has a memory foam mattress with a pillow top over it, so it's very comfortable. My husband and I are able to stay in the same room, I can get a good night's sleep, and he also likes his head raised. This position only works if you have medical reasons, or like to sleep on your back--on your side doesn't work well. I understand it's also good for those with sinus or asthma problems, and possibly sleep apnea. I'm mentioning this here, because you can also buy just a twin that is adjustable, and because the info might help someone else who might have the same issues I do, or might need an adjustable bed as they get older for medical reasons. All it takes is money! We're retired, and decided to skip taking a couple of trips to buy the bed instead. Great decision! Anne