An ode to my dog Luc

On the weekend I discovered Sears had a 50% plus more sale on mattresses.
Yesterday I ordered a Queen size frame, 2 sets of queen size sheets and a bedframe slipcover.
An hour ago, I called West Elm customer service to cancel my order and upgrade it to KING! And I feel 110% better about my decision.

I was encouraged by their sale, which was ending yesterday. I have spent a year and a half wondering if I should go for the QUEEN or KING ... I mean, not every living minute, I do have a few other things to do. But when I bought my home in 09/23/09 (closed on  my birthday), my extra treat to myself was to upgrade my 10+ year old full sized mattress to a KING. We spent a few weeks trying out mattresses throughout various locations in the city. And then returning to first store to re-try the mattresses on sale. A KING size all organic mattress does in fact feel MUCH better when it is on sale. Sleepful nights are sure to come. But I never bought a mattress.

I moved on to other things, such as a bathroom reno.

Occasionally I returned to the big dilemma, King or Queen. I wasn't sure what was causing the hesitation - I took measurements and  King would be tight in the room but could work. And I couldn't justify the upgrade and money spent for just an extra 6 inches that the would Queen offer. 

A few months ago I stumbled across a mattress survey on Apartment Therapy, I empathized with the couple.

The kitchen is gutted. The fridge and stove buying are being delayed, at the advise of the Sears Sales person. What else was I to do? I moved on to Mattresses again.

West Elm bedroom sale was ending yesterday and Sears was offering a HUGE savings on mattresses. I made a decision and made a purchase. I went with the practical Queen bed frame and linen and threw in a really nice bedframe slipcover to change the look once in a while. I gave myself a few more days to decide on a mattress. But when I woke up this morning I didn't feel happy about my Queen size purchase.  My kids sleep with me. Neither of us have much room on either side. And my lovable, loyal dog FINALLY figured out how to get on the bed the other night. I let him stay but quickly remembered the leg room issues this caused. He is little, but SOLID and hard to move.


Luc, the pug, had a seizure yesterday morning. My son and I watched as he convulsed across the floor. We were scared for his life. I was sure he was going to keel over after he stopped convulsing.  He didn't drop dead, but he sat still and paralyzed. He couldn't move his right back leg. My son was pleading that I take him to the hospital. I was still frozen in shock and waiting for him to die. He finally got up and headed downstairs, without even a limp. He used the basement floor to relieve himself and then asked to go outside. He almost seemed back to normal, so I packed up the kids and headed to school and then work. Sometime between arriving at work and phoning the vet, I made the West Elm Purchase. Live in the moment.

Luc guarding Lucy 7/10

Lucy and I left work, picked up Luc. (Phew he was still alive) and went to the vet. I almost canceled the appointment as he was a bundle of energy. Glad I went and discovered his heart beat is fine and that it was surely a seizure and not a stroke or heart attack. And that pugs are prone to seizures but rarely do dogs die while having one. The vet told me lots of information but I could only retain a bit as Lucy is quite efficient at crawling now and all over the floor discovering nooks and crannies. Luc, the pug, was alive and good.



Now, continue into the present but backwards with me.

Luc guarding Chaz 11/02

Funny thing how I ended up at the vet again this morning, for a scheduled cat appointment. Lucy in a stroller this time, falling a sleep.  And a cat instead of a dog. A schedule appointment instead of an emergency. And then back at home I started to question the Queen vs the King situation.  I got out my tape measure and started taking different measurements to see what I actually bought. 6 inches is very little; 3 on each side. What is the point.  Now lets talk 22 inches, 11 inches on each side. Now there is something worthwhile. Surely there would be some room to walk around in here. And with the new layout of my room, I could easily accept a King.  The only stipulation, it would only fit on one wall, the window wall. Unless / until I build the 4th absent wall. A window would make a nice "headboard" and even nicer once I replace them. I have until next fall/winter until the weather returns.



Back at work and no sooner did I open my work stuff, I was on the phone to West Elm (wonderful, wonderful customer service). I felt like a tool calling in the next day to cancel the order and upgrade to King.

The first woman I spoke was very helpful and friendly. I still wasn't convinced about changing my order and while she did some research on her end (sales prices had ended) and I quickly tried to upload a new shopping cart with king size bedframe, sheets et al, to see the price difference, but the site was not functioning properly. Things seemed to be working against me and other then learning that the slip-cover I ordered would not fit the frame I ordered, I decided to stick with my original purchase and switched the conversation to a sofa. And then we hung up.

And my gut gave me a huge kick in the throat.
No sooner was I back on the phone completely SURE of my decision. King was meant for us. Have a little fun.  I envisioned pillows in the air and sheets floating down and happy people frolicking on the sea of a bed. Enjoy the room while the babies are babies. Invite my aging dog back onto the bed for his last few years.   (He had been delegated to the floor when I was pregnant, back in the summer of '09, he was too solid to move and I was to pregnant to budge him). Even my aging sick cat was on the bed last night, and he has been out of the picture of many months.

Another wonderful customer service person. I felt mortified hassling them with my order change, but she assured me her goal was to make me happy. And although I couldn't get the sale prices (which were little on my mind, but they wanted to make sure I understood that they can only cancel the order, not change it), and the sheets were already on the truck for delivery she was able to cancel the bedframe order. Every step of the conversation felt right and made me happier with my new decision. I even gushed this to her several times, and that is way out of character for me.  In the end she took off 10% for not being able to completely help me out. 

Thanks to the order of events, we will soon be happy sleepers in a king size bed. That will fit all of us, three cats, a dog and three humans.

An ode to my dog Luc while listening to Neil Young - Old King

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIiAimqwCIE

Luc the watch dog. Nova Scotia 8/09

Better form Nova Scotia 8/09