Warming a cold, winter bed

Shawn has been in Boston, but he's coming home tonight.

In the past, I could never sleep when he was gone, and even if I could get to sleep, my neck and back always went out so that I was crippled in pain by the time he'd come home.

It took me forever to figure out why this was, but I finally figured out it was two things:

(1)  I could not get warm when I was by myself in the bed.  

I figured this out first, and I began taking a hot water bottle to bed with me, thrusting it down to the mysterious bottom of the bed, by my feet.   The problem was, it only warmed a very small part of me, which ultimately led to the second issue...

(2)  If I could get warm at all, I could only warm the exact, immediate area where I was lying, and if I moved even an inch, I would be in Cold Sheet Territory.  This caused me to sleep still, in one crunched position all night long, which made my neck and back go into spasms.

So... he stopped traveling.

I wish.

No, he did not stop traveling.  He bought me an electric mattress warmer.

You put this on the bed over your mattress pad and below your fitted sheet.  It's better than an electric blanket because heat rises.

If you leave it on high all night long, you wake up feeling rather like a crispy raisin.

So you really need to turn it on before you get into bed, and then turn it off.

Except, when I am all by myself (lacking that other body, the one that can actually produce and radiate heat), if I turn off the electric mattress pad, then halfway through the night I am once again stranded on my exactly-body-sized island of warmth.  Out go the neck and back, again.

But... I found a solution!  Our electric mattress pad has dual controls for each side, so...

•  I turn both sides on while I am getting ready for bed.
• After I get into bed, I turn my side off, but I leave Shawn's side on all night.

This has been the most marvelous solution.  The heat emanating from Shawn's side of the bed makes it almost, almost feel as though he is here at home.  Except, I have The Whole Bed To Myself and I can stick my legs wherever I want and roll whichever way I desire at any time during the night!

I suppose the radiation is a potential carcinogen.  You have to weigh your consequences:  sleeplessness and guaranteed neck spasms vs. potential cancer...

Short term certainties are hard to bear for the sake of long term possibilities.