Our DAMN Tweets!
Happiness will never come to those who don't appreciate what they already have #quote #truth6 hours ago
RT @LoriMoreno: You cannot love what you do not appreciate, and FEAR MAKES APPRECIATION IMPOSSIBLE. ~ A Course in Miracles9 hours ago
@CathyWMDA Thanx for the follow! You can LIKE us on Facebook too 'Santa Clarita Info - http://t.co/rGJMpD7C'. Keep Up the Good Tweets!1 day ago
Dear #sacramento TU for supporting business in #california and making this state such a desirable to live #failure on so many levels :(1 day ago
15 Things to Make you Happier
Published April 5, 2012 | My girlfriend sent this to me and I cannot tell you how so many of these struck a very deep cord! WOW when I read through them I felt like I was being smacked upside the head and well truthfully I needed these “in your face” reminders. Hope they help you as much as they helped me 
Here is a list of 15 things which, if you give up on them, will make your life a lot easier and much, much happier. We hold on to so many things that cause us a great deal of pain, stress and suffering – and instead of letting them all go, instead of allowing ourselves to be stress free and happy – we cling on to them. Not anymore. Starting today say to yourself “I” will give up on all those things that no longer serve me, and “I” will embrace change. Ready? Here we go:
1. Give up your need to always be right. There are so many of us who can’t stand the idea of being wrong – wanting to always be right – even at the risk of ending great relationships or causing a great deal of stress and pain, for us and for others. It’s just not worth it. Whenever you feel the ‘urgent’ need to jump into a fight over who is right and who is wrong, ask yourself this question: “Would I rather be right, or would I rather be kind?” Wayne Dyer. What difference will that make? Is your ego really that big?
2. Give up your need for control. Be willing to give up your need to always control everything that happens to you and around you – situations, events, people, etc. Whether they are loved ones, coworkers, or just strangers you meet on the street – just allow them to be. Allow everything and everyone to be just as they are and you will see how much better will that make you feel.
“By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond winning.”Lao Tzu
3. Give up on blame. Give up on your need to blame others for what you have or don’t have, for what you feel or don’t feel. Stop giving your powers away and start taking responsibility for your life.
4. Give up your self-defeating self-talk. Oh my. How many people are hurting themselves because of their negative, polluted and repetitive self-defeating mindset? Don’t believe everything that your mind is telling you – especially if it’s negative and self-defeating. You are better than that.
“The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive.” Eckhart Tolle
5. Give up your limiting beliefs about what you can or cannot do, about what is possible or impossible. From now on, you are no longer going to allow your limiting beliefs to keep you stuck in the wrong place. Spread your wings and fly!
“A belief is not an idea held by the mind, it is an idea that holds the mind”Elly Roselle
6. Give up complaining. Give up your constant need to complain about those many, many, maaany things – people, situations, events that make you unhappy, sad and depressed. Nobody can make you unhappy, no situation can make you sad or miserable unless you allow it to. It’s not the situation that triggers those feelings in you, but how you choose to look at it. Never underestimate the power of positive thinking.
7. Give up the luxury of criticism. Give up your need to criticize things, events or people that are different than you. We are all different, yet we are all the same. We all want to be happy, we all want to love and be loved and we all want to be understood. We all want something, and something is wished by us all.
8. Give up your need to impress others. Stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not just to make others like you. It doesn’t work this way. The moment you stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not, the moment you take of all your masks, the moment you accept and embrace the real you, you will find people will be drawn to you, effortlessly.
9. Give up your resistance to change. Change is good. Change will help you move from A to B. Change will help you make improvements in your life and also the lives of those around you. Follow your bliss, embrace change – don’t resist it.
“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls” Joseph Campbell
10. Give up labels. Stop labeling those things, people or events that you don’t understand as being weird or different and try opening your mind, little by little. Minds only work when open. “The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about.” Wayne Dyer
11. Give up on your fears. Fear is just an illusion, it doesn’t exist – you created it. It’s all in your mind. Correct the inside and the outside will fall into place.
“The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.” Franklin D. Roosevelt
12. Give up your excuses. Send them packing and tell them they’re fired. You no longer need them. A lot of times we limit ourselves because of the many excuses we use. Instead of growing and working on improving ourselves and our lives, we get stuck, lying to ourselves, using all kind of excuses – excuses that 99.9% of the time are not even real.
13. Give up the past. I know, I know. It’s hard. Especially when the past looks so much better than the present and the future looks so frightening, but you have to take into consideration the fact that the present moment is all you have and all you will ever have. The past you are now longing for – the past that you are now dreaming about – was ignored by you when it was present. Stop deluding yourself. Be present in everything you do and enjoy life. After all life is a journey not a destination. Have a clear vision for the future, prepare yourself, but always be present in the now.
14. Give up attachment. This is a concept that, for most of us is so hard to grasp and I have to tell you that it was for me too, (it still is) but it’s not something impossible. You get better and better at with time and practice. The moment you detach yourself from all things, (and that doesn’t mean you give up your love for them – because love and attachment have nothing to do with one another, attachment comes from a place of fear, while love… well, real love is pure, kind, and self less, where there is love there can’t be fear, and because of that, attachment and love cannot coexist) you become so peaceful, so tolerant, so kind, and so serene. You will get to a place where you will be able to understand all things without even trying. A state beyond words.
15. Give up living your life to other people’s expectations. Way too many people are living a life that is not theirs to live. They live their lives according to what others think is best for them, they live their lives according to what their parents think is best for them, to what their friends, their enemies and their teachers, their government and the media think is best for them. They ignore their inner voice, that inner calling. They are so busy with pleasing everybody, with living up to other people’s expectations, that they lose control over their lives. They forget what makes them happy, what they want, what they need….and eventually they forget about themselves. You have one life – this one right now – you must live it, own it, and especially don’t let other people’s opinions distract you from your path.
An Open Letter to the Occupiers from Generation X
Published January 23, 2012 | I am very fascinated with the occupy movement and love hearing all the different viewpoints ~ explanations for why they are feeling this way…
Here is another interesting perspective on the Occupy Movement this time from a Generation X’er… Do you agree with her thoughts or disagree??
This article follows another post that we did on the occupy movement from a Mother Perspective http://www.wheresmydamnanswer.com/WP02/occupy-movement-from-a-mothers-perspective/
To the Occupy movement:
I know some of you mean well. I even share some of your concerns. The dismal economy has made it difficult to find a good job with benefits. Meanwhile, the government is bailing out the wealthy banks and mortgage lenders that helped precipitate this depressed economy.
I hear your frustrations about student loan debt. Generation X has a lot of student loan debt too, with little relief available. The older generations have indebted our generations for years down the road, and with the rising costs of school tuition, we have double the amount of debt. Social Security is expected to be insolvent by the time my generation reaches retirement age. We have been warned not to rely upon it. We are in the same boat as you. In some ways we are even worse off. Most of us have families, children and mortgages now. Losing a job hurts us much more than when we were 25 and single.
But where you are off base is demanding too much. There isn’t enough money to go around for government to solve all your problems. We live in the wealthiest nation in the world. We are overindulged, not deprived. Americans are fat – one-third are now obese – and suffering from an increasing number of illnesses because we live a sedentary lifestyle too lazy to cook, subsisting on unhealthy processed fast food as we drive instead of walk everywhere.
Your generation has been raised by helicopter parents who catered to your every whine, and praised you constantly in order to get you to be quiet instead of teaching you discipline. You have grown up thinking you are more accomplished than you really are. You expect to have it all at age 25 – what my generation has worked for 10-20 years longer to achieve. My generation worked in fast food restaurants and low-level jobs in high school, college and shortly thereafter when we were your age. Most of us didn’t have benefits and we didn’t complain, we were just grateful not to work hard labor in the fields.
Author of this article Rachel Alexander who is the editor of the Intellectual Conservative.
Happy 2012
Published January 9, 2012 | Happy 2012 everyone!~ I know that many people at the first of every new year feverishly write down resolutions for the year.. Personally I am not a resolution person, I look at the new year with huge excitement as an opportunity for change!
So here is my DAMN question: What opportunities for change are in your 2012 Future???
Christmas Poem by a US MARINE ~
Published December 15, 2011 | My friends Daughter has just deployed to Afghanistan and she sent this too my self and many others in hopes that we would spread the word and share this wonderful Marines words. As the Wife of a Marine things like this just strike me to my core!
Christmas Poem
~ TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
HE LIVED ALL ALONE,
IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF
PLASTER AND STONE.
I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY
WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,
AND TO SEE JUST WHO
IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.
A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,
NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,
NOT EVEN A TREE.
NO STOCKING BY MANTLE,
JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,
ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES
OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.
WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,
AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,
A SOBER THOUGHT
CAME THROUGH MY MIND.
FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,
IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,
I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,
ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.
THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING,
SILENT, ALONE,
CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR
IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.
THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,
THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,
NOT HOW I PICTURED
A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.
WAS THIS THE HERO
OF WHOM I’D JUST READ?
CURLED UP ON A PONCHO,
THE FLOOR FOR A BED?
I REALIZED THE FAMILIES
THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS
WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.
THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE
A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.
THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM
EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,
LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.
I COULDN’T HELP WONDER
HOW MANY LAY ALONE,
ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE
IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.
THE VERY THOUGHT
BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES
AND STARTED TO CRY.
THE SOLDIER AWAKENED
AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,
‘SANTA DON’T CRY,
THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;
I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,
I DON’T ASK FOR MORE,
MY LIFE IS MY GOD,
MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS.’
AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,
I COULDN’T CONTROL IT,
I CONTINUED TO WEEP.
I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS,
SO SILENT AND STILL
AND WE BOTH SHIVERED
FROM THE COLD NIGHT’S CHILL.
I DIDN’T WANT TO LEAVE
ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR
SO WILLING TO FIGHT.
THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,
WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,
WHISPERED, ‘CARRY ON SANTA,
IT’S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE.’
ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH,
AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.
‘MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,!
AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT.’
This poem was written by a Marine. The following is his request. I think it is reasonable…..
PLEASE. Would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our U.S. service men,women, and Canadian Forces for our being able to celebrate these festivities.
Let’s try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us. Please, do your small part to plant this small seed
Student Athlete Branding – The Internet … a blessing and a curse
Published November 18, 2011 | 
It’s no secret that Ron and I have a talented student athlete. Our son plays basketball and is driven like nobody I’ve ever known.
Being a student athlete is no joke. When I was a kid, it meant that you were good at sports and that maybe, just maybe, you could play at the next level. Grades were not really that big of a deal if you were a student athlete … and I even met a baseball player one time in college that couldn’t even read.
Those days are LONG gone though.
As early as middle school, these kids are vying for a spot on one team or another, attending camps, clinics, workshops, etc. It is very important to further the growth as an athlete, but today, to truly play at the next level, you must also excel in the classroom. The term, “Student Athlete” has “Student” at the beginning for a reason. If you can’t make it in the classroom, you will not be in serious contention for college scholarships.
A lot of athletes learn that it will take a lot of sweat to get where they want to go. They know that grades have to be a big part of the equation and they hear it from coaches all the time that like it or not, people are always watching … but there is one lesson that I feel they are not getting on the field (or floor) and it’s a very important piece for them to master.
Branding!
Yes … I know you are reading this thinking … branding? That’s what “I” have to worry about with my business … now I have to worry about it with my kid too? You do if your child wants to play competitively in college and sometimes beyond. College and professional sports is a business and therefore, branding of their incoming players is important to them as well.
With things like Facebook, Twitter, Myspace (although that’s less relevant these days), Instagram, Flickrr and other social media sites, it’s harder for these student athletes to “keep their noses clean.”
I have personally seen some kids get into serious trouble with Facebook this year. I’ve seen bullying, I’ve seen kids impersonating others in a hurtful way and I’ve seen photos that make kids “appear” to be doing something that they aren’t with a simple click of a cell phone camera.
I don’t think that kids understand the true ramifications that come with being THAT exposed. Especially when they are student athletes with a bright future ahead of them.
I think that the best way to control the environment for our student athletes is to create one from the ground up. An area where they can interact with friends, share photos, put up schedules, videos, etc. A space that they can call their own, but one where they can control what is shown and shared a little easier.
Having the experiences that we are with Zac made us realize that we could help other student athletes as well. Through RKN Studio we can help them develop a place that they can call home online. A place that will allow them to start managing their own brand – their name! If you want to check out some more info on that, you can GO HERE.
We created a website for Zac that showcases his resume to coaches, sports writers, scouts, etc. If you’d like to check out the finished product of Zac’s site, you can CLICK HERE. Before we truly launched it, we sought out advice from college coaches that we know, AAU coaches, parents and players. It allowed us to get a good combination of athletics and academics. We also had Zac design it so that it has “his” spin on it. In fact .. the student athlete packages that we’re selling are all designs that Zac created with the sole intent of helping other student athletes.
We also got Zac set up on Twitter – which has honestly been a ton of fun for him … and for me. I like seeing him interact with everyone like this. His friends are all asking him how his Mom has so many followers … and then ask how did YOU get 45 followers in 4 days – hahah. Twitter allows him to show a little of his character where photos on a website sometimes can’t truly do justice there.
I guess one confirmation that I’m doing the right thing by working with the kids is that I was asked to speak at a local high school to their football team about the dos and don’ts of social media when it comes to trying to be a college athlete.
… and apparently that was a success because they are now asking if I’ll do the same thing for ALL of their programs 
. That makes me happy. If I can help one kid realize their dreams … why not help more?
BRANDING … IT’S NOT JUST FOR BUSINESS ANYMORE!
How you know I’m not Hungarian
Published May 11, 2011 | The three readers we still have left on this blog may know that Hubunit and I have been trying to adopt a child for over a year now. I submitted our first applications on February 1st of 2010. We ended up deciding on an International adoption of a toddler aged child from Hungary. I actually had to find Hungary on a map and it took me more than 30 seconds. That is your first clue.
Well, to catch y’all up to speed, since I’ve already discussed the finer points of the adoptionoscopy and how long and well, long the wait was, in previous posts, we are now in Hungary (thank god the pilot knew where it was) and have immersed ourselves into daily life in a foreign country. Here is a quick rundown of the top 10 reasons why Hungarians know I am not one of them:
10. Cleavage is a valuable accessory here and I forgot to pack mine.
9. My pants are neither sweats nor painted on my body.
8. I am squeamish about showing my stomach in public.
7. There are many beautiful women here and I am not one of them.
6. I threw away all my acid washed jeans.
5. I actually play with my kids at the park instead of standing outside, looking over the fence while I smoke a cigarette.
4. No matter how many times I tell myself I’m not going to do it again, I still smile at everyone I pass on the street.
3. I speak at a decible louder than 1. More like 11.
2. I am too weak to wear high heels, painted on pants, all the makeup the store sold, dangle a cig from my lips and still carry 2 heavy bags of groceries to my apartment.
But the number one reason Hungarians know I am not one of them, is when my new, tough guy child runs up to me at the park and yells: ”Hey crazy American Lady, I’m thirsty so I’d like something to drink now. Oh and after I have something to drink I’d like to have a nature pee on that tree over there. You know, the one by the really busy street and packed sidewalk.” And I just smile and say: “Sure tough guy, whatever you just said in a language that I don’t understand is fine with me.”
So yeah, we are now the proud temporary parents of a beautiful and audacious four year old boy, whom I call Tough Guy. Because Gangster was already taken. The temporary part is only temporary. In another month or so, it will be permanent.
This is a family adventure and we are all here for oh, six weeks or so. Two of those weeks are now behind us and the other four streeeeeeetch in front of us. The first week was spent mostly in a van, traveling to various appointments and to visit Tough Guy every day at his foster home.
Oh, oh, here’s a tip about hurtling along, in a van being driven by a nice young man whom you don’t know, while sitting in seats that have no seat belts: Make it a point not to look out any window. Especially the front one. In the first five minutes you will be convinced, at least ten times, that you are going to die. Or someone else is going to die. Or everyone is going to die. Then, after it occurs to you that maybe you shouldn’t look out the front window anymore, you glance out a side window, only to be greeted by the sight of a man driving another van at a high rate of speed while casually reading an entire newspaper. Just get dark sunglasses, or a paper bag large enough to fit your head into, and leave the driving to the nice guy you don’t know. He’s actually really good.
After five days of visits, Tough Guy was able to come stay with us in our apartment. Thankfully he and Monkey are becoming fast friends on the road to brotherhood. Because they are roughly the same size, Monkey is having a hard time computing that Tough Guy is actually 18 months younger than he is and also grew up on a farm, not in a Lego store. There have been some tense moments between the two of them, a few tears, mostly on Monkey’s side and yet, somehow, throwing pillows into a pile and jumping on them transcends language and those pesky 18 months.
Oh yeah, and guess what my new son’s favorite thing in the whole, entire world is? (dangling thingy there, i know, move on) Templom. Yep. CHURCH. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
I’d like my light to turn green now, please.
Published September 7, 2010 | The road to happily ever after is a long one. Think Harrison Ford looking at Anne Heche in Six Days, Seven Nights and breaking it to her that they are likely to be stranded on a desert island for, ya know, a LONG time.
Along the way, in amongst the easy, no potholed roads that wend their way thru fields of flowers, there are some treacherous, mountainy (probably not a word, but forgive me anyway), sheer drop off kind of roads. Some roads have lots of turns, mostly U turns as my Navigation system enjoys reminding me because I’m an idiot and keep forgetting how to shut that floozy up. Possibly a fender bender where you cause SIX THOUSAND DOLLARS worth of damage to your car without even spilling your cup of coffee, or a fullblown multiple vehicle incident that can change your life forever. But, that’s a post for another time.
Currently, Hubunit and I are at the adoption mile marker on our road. And the adoption thing is like that road in San Francisco that is impossibly bent. I know. That road seems an improbable route to happily ever after, but still, we are on it. Mostly because it’s worked for us before. Which, to a sane person, would seem to imply that we should count our lucky stars and leave well enough alone. But, never having been accused of being sane before, why start now . . .
Yeah, except I’m tired of waiting. I’ve done my part. After all, I convinced Hubunit to jump on board AND we’re still married. I spent hours, days, weeks, months poring over the internet, researching countries, ages, glimpsed photos of waiting kids and built entire lives for them out of the figment of my imagination. I returned over and over to the Guatemala government’s adoption page and stared at those spanish words, willing them to miraculously scream, we’re open again. I slowly adjusted the dream and started to find myself drawn to Hungary. Well, first I had to find it on the map and then I daydreamed about it alot. I looked at more photos of kids with medical issues, cleft palate, missing fingers, club feet and knew in my heart that we could accept a child like that into our hearts and our lives. I filled out reams and reams of forms. I bared my soul to the social worker, well, and the fingerprint person. I emailed, photocopied, faxed, scanned and FedEx’d till my head exploded.
And now? Now it’s hard for me to understand that Europe takes August off. Oh yeah. The whole continent closes up shop and goes on holiday.
Huh. Don’t they care that Monkey tells everyone he meets that we are trying to get a new baby brudder or sister? That he is saving his toys in a pile for them to play with since he’s convinced that even a baby sister will already love Pokemon. Or that he was saving left over food for the new little one, cuz who doesn’t want half of a three month old PB&J?
Surprisingly, I am not a patient person. I really need to work on that. In the meantime, if you have one of those thingymabobbers that can turn a red light green with just a tap of the button – you’re my new best friend. Seriously, you need to share that thing now. It’s good for your soul.
Do Fun Stuff (or why bother)
Published August 31, 2010 | 
This is my motto for the day!
One of our friends, Ryan (that some of you probably read – and if you don’t, should) has been working on an AWESOME project. I mean not just a little awesome … BIG FAT INSPIRATIONAL AWESOME! REALLY!!
I’ll stop yelling now, but seriously … did I mention … it’s awesome?
He has put together one of the best kid/parent/adults albums with some great bands and as if the music wasn’t fun enough to stand on it’s own, it’s got 100% of the proceeds going to a very worthwhile cause – Smith Magenis Syndrome (SMS). It’s call Do Fun Stuff and can be found on iTunes. Yesterday it hit the number one spot in the childrens music genre on iTunes and was battling with Yo Gabba Gabba for that spot throughout the afternoon.
I can’t get the widget to show up on our blog, but I can link to Ryan’s entry (Pacing The Panic Room) where you can listen to the songs and read the story behind why he did this project. Also here: dofunstuff.net
Here is a link to just one post that sums up why I love Ryan (his writing and his family). You’ll hear his voice as well as see a video of Cole, LB and Tessa that will truly melt your heart and make you want to have every person you know buy a copy of this album.
I have been reading and watching LB grow up for the past couple of years and have no reservations in buying this cd right now in order to help start some case studies to learn more about this disease. Ryan and his family are a shining example of what love in a family can do and I’m jumping on their band wagon with both feet.
I hope you’ll enjoy it enough to hop on with me too.
Click the image to the right in this post to go to the iTunes page where you can purchase your copy TODAY! I thank you in advance .
Princess and the Pea
Published July 18, 2010 | I am 42 years old and have never had to shop for my own mattress. Can you believe that?
When I got married the first time, my Mom and Grandma took me out and said, we’re buying you a mattress … we picked one out and brought it home and it was done. I don’t even remember laying on them to try them all out. Poof … it was just there.
Ron and I did them math and it was 17+ years ago that the mattress we were sleeping on was purchased. No wonder my joints hurt when we were sleeping … there was nothing left to the springs. It felt like we were sleeping on something like this … :: pointing to photo on the right ::
So we decide this is the year for us to bite the bullet and pick out a new mattress. OMG what a pain in the ass THAT is. I had NO clue!
We started at the big box companies (Ortho Matress and Sit and Sleep) because their commercials told us that after 8 our mattress should be replaced because of the dust mites. At 17+ years old, I’m sure that our dust mites needed a cane so they probably were not as scary anymore – haha. We tried every bed that they hadl … we did the computerized test to see what you were supposed to be sleeping on, we were tired just from laying on all those beds. Oh and the price tag – YIKES.
So I come home and do what I do best … research. I looked up reviews on every single mattress and every one of them had some kind of negative feed back on them – they sagged quickly, they were not comfortable, the manufacturer didn’t stand behind the product, etc. I then expanded my research to include “how to select a mattress” because I figured that surely I was missing something. That is when we came up with an article that suggested buying direct from a smaller local manufacturer that you could actually go tour to see how they were really making your bed because some big box companies throw all kinds of left over foam into your mattress in order to save cash. They also do the single sided thing for the same reason now … all about the almighty dollar and not our comfort … figures.
The first manufacturer I found was in Ontario, CA … then the next I found was Custom Comfort Mattresses in Orange County. I went to both websites and was impressed with the Custom Comfort Mattress because they offered tours … and then I watched a video on their site that explained that they made mattresses like they did 20 years ago … but better. They don’t make them single sided … they are double sided so that you can still flip them and get more life from such an expensive purchase.
The kicker was that I also did the same research that I did on all the other mattresses and what was a little weird was that I didn’t come up with anything negative. I dug some more and the only thing I saw was something about a lawsuit against the brother to separate stores … families in business have issues … I’m ok with that – it’s their deal.
So Ron and I decided to make a little stop on the way back from San Diego. If there was something we liked, we figured we’d go to the one that is going to be opening in Pasadena next month. We got to see samples of a lot of the beds that we were trying out from the big box stores and let me say … holy foam scraps bat man! Literally … that’s what it looks like in there.
We explained how far we lived away and that we were ok with waiting until the Pasadena, CA store opened and they said, no problem they were not charging us for a delivery fee and they also would take our old bed away! BONUS!!
We ended up getting a mattress that is double sided with a double sided pillow top and the pillow top is detachable so we can flip that more often and we could even replace just that if we needed to for some reason. I also dug the fact that this mattress isn’t using foam like the others out there … they use latex and it helps keep the bed a little cooler – ANOTHER BONUS!!
They delivered it a few weeks ago and OMG … I never knew how much of a difference it would make in my sleeping. The first few nights I figured it was just the newness and maybe I was making more of it than it was, but honestly, I actually sleep through the night on most nights now. Oh … but there is one thing that we didn’t count on … it’s MUCH higher than our old bed (it seriously comes up to my waist now) … like so high that I have to jump and roll into the bed each night and THAT makes me giggle like a little girl each time.
So for those of you out there that are in the frame of mind to start shopping for a mattress, before you just jump at a name brand because you recognize it (or your Grandma says it’s good), I suggest you do what we did and find a smaller manufacturer in your area, go look at their facility, ask a bunch of questions and see how the bed you will spend 3/4 of your time in is made. THEN once you have done ALL that, lay on each one and find the one that your body likes best. It will save you lots of grief down the road.
You can thank me and my “mad research skills” later 
.
Of COURSE Jodycakes is HOT – DUH
Published June 16, 2010 | The Houston Press wrote about our very own Jodycakes this week. Click the photo to read the interview with her after she found out she was dubbed one of “Houston’s Hottest Chefs”. Be sure to leave her a comment on their page too .
We sure do miss you in Los Angeles Jody … but it makes me happy to see that you are thriving there (like I knew you would).
Jodycakes
Recent Comments