pillow talk (no, really)

Can I share something with y'all? I.am.getting.old. And as an old person, I have become rather Set in My Ways. I'm basically a creature of habit, (despite by current bout of unemployment). I like things a certain way and if they aren't that way, then it Bugs me.

Case in point. Over the past several weeks, I have noticed some weird little puffy balls of fluff by the side of my bed. Upon close investigation, I discovered that they were coming from my pillows. From the gaping holes in the corners of my pillows, to be exact. I've had these pillows, oh, I would say at least since college (which was, yikes, 10 years ago!). They are Martha Stewart brand "Grandpa" bed pillows and I have two of them and I love them.

Now they are hemorrhaging cotton fluff, and I am faced with an immense dilemma: buying new pillows. Is it me, or did this used to be easier? You walk in, grab a bed pillow, pay for the pillow, go home, throw it on the bed, and you are cooking with gas, or more accurately, off to sleepy land with awesome new pillows. Right?

But now, you walk in, and there are all kinds of choices. There are pillows for side, back and stomach sleepers. They can be down filled or cotton fluff filled, or allergy safe, alternative whatever filled. They can be square or rectangular or full body sized. There are medium support, firm support or extra firm support.

I mean, really?? I have trouble making decisions on a regular basis anyway, but give me so many choices and it's like, impossible. Especially given the fact that this decision is so vitally important to my achieving a really good night's sleep. I love to sleep, and everything has to be just right - I have been known to get out of bed in the middle of the night and remake the bed because the covers have gone all bunchy and weird. I put my beloved pillows in the dryer every night so that they are perfect and puffy. I don't like squashy pillows. A little OCD? Perhaps. But like I said, I've become Set in My Ways.

I bought two new pillows. The first came from Target. It's an extra firm support and it is quilted (which gave me some worry, initially, because I thought I might wake up with quilt marks on my face?). Verdict? A bit bouncy but possibly workable.

The second is a Sealy, which I bought because they make mattresses, and should therefore know their shit vis-a-vis a comfortable sleeping experience. It's an extra firm with a gusset (wtf is with these pillow gussets anyway?) and this thing? Is like a rock. No way, no day.

So I am still on the quest for new pillows. The thing is, it's hard to know what they feel like until you're in your regular sleeping position, testing the thing out. Resting your head on it in the store is not the same thing. So I am afraid to get any others in case I don't like them. In the meantime, I've fixed the holes in my existing pillows (the Grandpa pillow, needless to say, has been discontinued) and will continue using them until they are nothing but cotton fluff balls.

Wish me luck!