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Y'all come on in!

Monday, June 29, 2015

My Pillow...

For the first part of the trip we took a few weeks ago we played the old "did you remember" game. I was so proud of myself. I could nod or say, "yes" to every single questions that Mr. B came up with. I even had the new insurance verification in the glove compartment. Okay, so it had a smear of sour cherry candy on it. I didn't know they melted when closed in a tight space if the temperature was in the triple digits. The state police in the seven states we would be crossing wouldn't give me a ticket for a messed up insurance paper, would they?

When we reached the first motel, I was feeling right smug. I had even packed a small "motel" suitcase so we didn't have to drag everything out of the truck every single night. One look at that motel bed and I knew what I'd forgotten. Smug was kicked to the curb!

Pillows! I had forgotten my very own personal, cheap pillow that has the mold of my face and right ear firmly implanted into the fiber filling. Mr. B just shrugged when I whined. He'd make a terrible poker player because his expression said that he would suffer through the night without his feather pillow but it would be far worse than a root canal.

Those giant hotel pillows were wonderful when it came to propping up against the fake headboard and reading until I got sleepy. Maybe I'd over reacted and Mr. B was already snoring so evidently he didn't need a fluffy white cloud to sleep on.

I snuggled down and decided that I wasn't so old I had to have my own pillow. I could sleep very well with the hotel pillow and tomorrow I'd wake up ready to get on with the trip.

One hour later, I awoke with a Charlie horse...only it was in my neck. Not my leg. One can not stand up on their neck so I took out my frustration and pain upon that pillow. I beat on it for ten minutes but the foamy stuff in the middle kept springing back to life. I considered driving a stake through the middle of the thing but I couldn't find any wood and I figured the hotel might charge me extra if the desk leg was missing when they came in to clean the next morning.

Finally, pure exhaustion set in and I slept. For one hour! At that point I threw all three of my pillows at the wall, wadded up a blanket and pretended it was my pillow.

The next night when we stopped I was so tired I could have slept on a park bench and used the cast iron arms for a pillow without whining. Just guide me in the direction of the bed and I would not whine.

They did not have vampire, zombie pillows but what they did have was old enough to qualify for a senior citizen's discount over at the Braum's store. I told myself that wine was better the older it got, that my pillow at home was insured as an antique and this was fine. At least they weren't the size of Mt. Everest.

An hour after we went to sleep I awoke with another Charlie horse...this time from my neck to the top of my toes. My right ear felt as if it were resting on a rock. Another lump had put my neck in a kink that was guaranteed to put my chiropractor's children through medical school...all eight of them. Another lump beside my cheek bone was trying to pop my eyeball out into the floor and a four one I'm sure is the sorry culprit that gave me ten years worth of extra wrinkles on the right side of my face.

Next time we travel, I may forget the insurance papers. I may forget vitamin pills, toothpaste, an umbrella and even my favorite hair brush, but I will never forget my pillow again!!

So tell me, what very important item have you forgotten on a trip?

10 comments:

  1. I have a favorite pillow too but most of my lengthy trips are on a plane, and I won't pay to check a bag. I have to cram a lot in a little space. I've kept a packing list for several years and check it over and over to make sure I don't forget anything. Then the night before the day I leave I seldom sleep because I'm still reviewing that list.

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    1. Me, too and I always, always forget at least one thing....thank goodness for the Walmart stores scattered across country!

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  2. I'm with you Carolyn. I have to have my pillows. I even carry an extra suitcase with my 3 pillows and my hubby's 4. Yes we have 7 pillows. We have a sleep number bed and we keep 2 between us because of the cold draft that comes between the two beds put together that makes a king size dual adjustable sleep number bed. He sleeps with 2 under his head and one between his knees( after 3 back operations). I have to have my two under my head. So off we go with the extra luggage and the only comfort from home.

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  3. Well, now! That makes us even better friends! LOL! I'm so glad to hear that other folks need knee pillows. I thought I was the only one that did that!

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  4. The last time we redid our living room, I kept one of the no longer matching throw pillows. It was still in decent shape and was good enough for all those naps on the couch, so I decided to keep it in the trunk of my car. The size isn't so big that it's in the way for everyday use, but it's great to have on hand for long car trips or hotel stays with less than desirable neck support.

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    1. I keep an old neck roll pillow in the car for naps in the car!!

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  5. Oh no Carolyn, there are a lot of us pillow lugging people out there! I don't leave home for vacation or a stay over night at a family member house with out it and now that I have the issue I do, I also take my heating pad, when I over do, it is my best friend in all the world. When we were growing up my Mom and Dad scrimped and saved all year to be able to take us on vacation, one year one of the men that my Dad worked with offer us the use of their beach down the shore. Mom told me to put my suitcase in my sister bedroom so Daddy could take them out together. The girls much younger then me had a box of toys they were taking. We were about 10 minutes from the beach house when Mom says to Daddy I can not believe you got all that stuff in the trunk of the car. Food, as we would not be going out to eat for all meal, no way! Mom and Daddy suitcase, my sister suitcase, my suitcase, their toys and the bag with all of our bathing suit, beach shoes and beach towel. Daddy turns and looks at Mom and says I didn't get any suitcases out of the girls bedroom, all of our clothes were left at home, thanks to my sisters dragging their box of toys out to the living room, We wouldn't want to forget the toys! We ended going to the store and get one pair of pj, two or three short outfits and under garment for the week. I had my purse and my bag of books, tapes and other things I was taking with me. After that we never left on vacation again without Mom going through the house and checking to make sure that everything that was suppose to go WENT!

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  6. Hm,at the moment can't remember :D

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