Oh where? Oh where has my pillow gone? Oh where? Oh where could it be?

I know you have all been sitting on the edge of your seats waiting to hear about our Christmas and wondering when I was ever going to get around to posting about it.  But what I really am more interested in finding out about is: Where is my lost pillow?  I guess I better start at the beginning so you will understand.   The first thing you need to know is that I am not one of those people who likes to spend money.  In fact I get sick to my stomach when I spend money.  Especially if I am spending that money on me.  The last couple of years for Christmas we have really spoiled our kids.  Even though it made me sick to my stomach to spend the money I justified it because it was for the kids.  Plus we found really good deals in the past that we just couldn't pass up.  But this year finances have been a little tighter.  I have been warning the kids for months that they were NOT going to get much for Christmas this year so that they wouldn't get their hopes up.  I always start planning for months in advance trying to buy little things and tucking them away for Christmas.  I am always so stressed about how much to spend, what to get, and if the kids are going to like it.  My husband always leaves things totally up to me to do.  This year I kind of got upset because I just didn't want to go through all that stress again so I told my husband and the kids that dad was in charge this year.  I figured this meant that we really weren't going to have Christmas at all.  My husband would most likely wait until the night before Christmas before even thinking about going shopping and then all the stores would be closed.
The day after Thanksgiving, my kids all decided they wanted to go shopping on black Friday.  I figured that since they weren't going to get anything for Christmas, this might be a good idea.  I took them all to the store and told them they had $35.00 to buy what ever they wanted for themselves for Christmas.  This way they would pick out the right size, color and style of gift and on Christmas morning they would actually be happy with their gifts.  Yeah!  No more standing in return lines after Christmas!!!  This actually worked pretty well.  Richard and I even picked out some gifts for ourselves.  We all got what we wanted and the best part was that Christmas shopping was done the day after Thanksgiving.  Well, so I thought!!!  As I mentioned before, I have a really hard time spending money especially if it is on myself, but my husband does not.  He didn't stop buying.  He really got into the Santa Clause thing.  Every day he would come to me and say, "Hey, what about getting this for so and so?"  I was shocked.  He came up with some great ideas and of course we kept buying more and more.  I didn't realize that he was also buying gifts for me.  I was totally shocked on Christmas morning to find that he had bought me a new video camera, a crock pot, and MY PILLOW.  Now you may say,  "A pillow?  But this was not just any pillow.  This was a latex pillow that I have been dreaming about for years.  It is the best pillow ever made.  Once you lye on it, you will never want to get up.  It also has a very pricey price tag.  An $80 price tag.  Yes, you heard me right.  An $80 price tag.  That is why I have been dreaming about it for years.  I am not crazy enough to spend that much money on a pillow.  But my husband bought it for me.  At first I wanted to kill him for spending that much money, but once you have slept on a latex pillow, thoughts of murder vanish away.  Needless to say, I really loved my pillow.  Yes you heard me right again.  LOVED!  It is gone.  Oh where?  Oh where has my pillow gone?  Oh where? Oh where can it be?
Well, a week after Christmas I decided to go with my sisters on a trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico to my nephew's wedding.  Of course I took my pillow because once you sleep on it you can't even consider sleeping on anything else even if it is only for a few days.  It was a 10 hour drive.  Half way through our trip we stopped for lunch and then continued on our way.  After we had driven for about 9 hours, we realized that there was a cool draft coming in through the back.  We stopped the Suburban and realized that the back hatch had not been securely closed when we had stopped for lunch and it had popped open.  My pillow had been right in front of the window and was no longer there.  We frantically search the vehicle to see if anything else had fallen out and realized luckily that my pillow was the only thing missing.  Everyone climbed back into the Suburban whispering  thanks that it was only a pillow that had fallen out.  I on the other had was speechless.  MY PILLOW!!!  It's just a pillow they all said.  But it wasn't just a pillow.  It was an $80.00 pillow that I would have never bought for myself in the first place.  It was a pillow that I should have just left at home where it would have been safe.  It was a pillow my husband was going to kill me for when he found out I had just lost.  It was his gift to me.  I was devastated.  My husband was actually very supportive and comforting when I phoned him and told him about it that night.  On our long ride home everyone in the car had their eyes peeled on the sides of the road in some hope of finding the pillow.  My eyes grew tired not from driving, but from searching for 4 hours along the roadside for something blue.  Everyone had faith that Heavenly Father would help us find that pillow.  He is capable of anything, even helping out a desperate women who is devastated about the lose of a stupid pillow right?  My prayers were fervent, please help me find my pillow!  But with each mile my hopes got lower and lower.  Finally we started coming up to the spot we had stopped at for lunch.  It was my last chance to find the pillow.  It had to be here or all hope was gone.  I started keeping a extra sharp eye certain that this had to be the spot where the pillow had fallen out.  But suddenly on the side of the road I did not find a pillow, instead I found a homeless man walking along the way.  A mile later another homeless man and a mile later yet another homeless man.  My heart suddenly changed and I got a lump in my throat.  I suddenly envisioned these homeless men freezing when the sun went down and quietly trying to find a warm soft place to lay down to sleep.  I envisioned them praying for not much, maybe just something soft to lay their heads upon.  Suddenly, I realized that my prayers and faith about finding my pillow were insignificant compared to the simple prayers of these homeless men.  And then the peace came.  I was not going to find my pillow.  It was gone and it was ok.   I am sure that my pillow has given some kind of comfort to some poor lost soul that has not been as blessed as I have been.  I am not sad anymore for the loss of such a wonderful gift but grateful that I was able to give an even greater gift.  This year I gave the greatest gift I could have ever given..... my pillow!  Pillow, Pillow, where art thou pillow?  I hope you are giving comfort to someone who needed you more than I did!

Oh, here are a few pictures of our Christmas just in case you wanted to see them also.

This is the stuff Santa left us.  Santa had heard that all the family were tired of sleeping on uncomfortable beds and decided to get everyone memory foam mattress toppers, blankets and pillows.

Here are our Christmas stockings!!!

Valorie's loot!!!

Christopher's loot!!!

Jenny's loot!!!

Katie's loot!!!

Richard's loot!!! Notice the awesome PJ's we found for him!

And my stash!!!

Yeah!  I think I won out on Christmas this year.  Maybe we'll  put Richard in charge again next year too!

"By the way, we found a latex pillow online for half the price and I now have a wonderfully comfortable pillow to rest my head on again."