Just a thought… I will defend the importance of bedtime stories to my last gasp. [J. K. Rowling]

First, a postscript to yesterday’s journal: at some readers’ urging, I am making steps to cancel my Visa purchase of those clothes I ordered from China back in January. When I clicked on the tracking number it showed that my order doesn’t exist. So…we’ll see what happens. This may just have been a lesson that I have to pay to learn.

One more thing: for Father’s Day, I ordered Rob eight pairs of his favourite undies from Mark’s. One pair arrived yesterday. Apparently another pair – one pair – is coming today. Is this going to be like Hanukkah? A gift a day? I have no idea. But he laughed when I told him they were half off – and that is not how I want him wearing them.

Rob’s gift to me for Mother’s Day (unexpected, as we don’t usually mark those two days) was a little electronic device that slips into my pillowcase. More on that in a bit….

Do you ever have an idea that just keeps percolating, nudging you to do something about it? I’ve been experiencing that every night. And here’s what it’s about.

I’m a huge fan of the site AtlasObscura.com – it tells stories, bizarre and touching, informative and fascinating, about places in the world. From a taxidermy museum to the tunnels beneath a well-loved city, this site explores (through its readers’ experiences and submissions) spots we would otherwise not know about. It even includes information on locations, admission prices – everything you need to know if you just have to see the world’s biggest ball of gum wrappers or something.

Why am I thinking about AtlasObscura at night? Because that’s when I turn off the light and choose a story from my Calm app to lull me to sleep. From fairy tales to train rides through the countryside, I’m often asleep by the time the “happily ever after” arrives, or it’s time to grab my virtual suitcase and embark on a new adventure.

So I’ve been thinking about how wonderful it would be to narrate some of these stories. Calm is far too big an operation for me to try to join; occasionally auditions come up on the site I subscribe to, with a chance to work with them, but so far I’ve not yet been considered. That’s okay – why not try to start something new?

I reached out to AtlasObscura.com and, while I’m expecting a “thanks, but no thanks” or “we have no budget,” I don’t have my hopes very high. But I had to ask, right?

Now, to my Mother’s Day gift. Rob came up with a neat idea and did a ton of online research (what he does best: find something and then read all the rankings and ratings) and found this:

I slip the little disc speaker inside my pillowcase and under my ear. The speaker comes in a soft blue sort of clam shell (it looks like an ear muff) but it would make too big a lump resting atop my firm enVy Pillow. Without that padded cover I can still feel the hardness of the little disc, but it’s a big improvement over struggling to find the right volume from my bedside speaker so that I can hear the narration and Rob can’t.

(I saw a set of headband speakers online last night that might also be a good option, but one reader noted on Facebook yesterday that she ordered one from China and it never arrived, so….)

So, while I’m still adjusting to using it and some nights it’s a bit more troublesome than simply listening to a speaker on my night stand, I think this is going to be a welcome addition to my sleep sanity/hygiene.

I’ll be back with you here tomorrow – have a great day and sweet dreams tonight!