We'd been putting it off for years -- 13 to be exact -- but the ache in our backs demanded that the hubby and I bite the bullet, open our wallets and spring for a new mattress and box springs.

As the delivery guys from John V. Schultz hauled out our old mattress yesterday I realized just how old it was. There, in the wood of the box springs, were claw and teeth marks left by our yellow lab pup, Cassie, 13 years ago. She was frightened by a storm and had shredded the underside of our brand new box springs.

Our new mattresses and box springs didn't look that big in the J.V.S. showroom on upper Peach Street. Only when they set the bed up in our room yesterday did I realize how much mattresses had grown over the years. It is positively enormous. It dwarfs our headboard, my cedar chest and both nightstands. I, literally, laugh out loud every time I walk into the room and see that mammoth bed.

The only thing funnier is trying to get my 5-foot-2-inch frame up on the bed. I feel like the princess in the story of "The Princess and the Pea."

Only...I'm not a princess and my "pea" was a Crayola crayon left behind by my daughters who spent the entire evening playing atop the plush, pillow-topped mini-mountain.

Unlike the Princess, however, I had a great night's sleep.