Near-Death

I went to some sort of play, and as I walked in, I saw a few of my guy friends, but instead of sitting with them, I sat in the back so I could take pictures.

Later on, I was with my 180 students, and small groups were taking turns doing something- putting on some kind of act or something. Afterward, we all took a bus somewhere. For no good reason, we were all wearing gas masks on the bus. Suddenly, the good reason came... a hijacker on the back of the bus opened a smoke bomb (I think I called it a "gas bomb"). It wasn't just something that would be a nuisance, it would actually kill all of us. Everyone started to panic, and the photographer that was on the bus with us started to cry. She had no gas mask, and she thought the whole bus was doomed; I pretty much thought the same thing, and started to cry as well. But that didn't mean I wasn't going to fight for my life. I started to feel light-headed, and tried to hold my breath as much as possible. Then I thought, "why don't we just pull over and get off the bus?!" So I quickly ran up to the front, where my old school bus driver, Mr. Griffin was driving. I told him someone had just set off a gas bomb (he said he knew) and why don't we stop so we can get fresh air. He told me he didn't care; it was a good way to get rid of some of us, so he didn't have as many to haul at next pick-up! I was appalled!! I said, "you WERE my favorite.... WERE." The bus stopped, and just before I got off, I decided to run back and grab my bag and the big present I had with me. I don't think everyone else died, but only my friend from high school, Wayne, and I got off the bus. We looked around at the mess we had to clean up that our 180 kids left. I said gratefully, "I lost a few brain cells, and probably some of my health, but I'm alive!"

Eat N' Run

I was helping to lead something for kids. It was kind of like babysitting, but it was some kind of program. Toward the end of the day, the activity got a little weird: The middle-sized kids were supposed to eat as many of the little kids as possible. (Not for real, but like a computer program....only not.) And I got points for every little kid I fed to a medium kid. All I had to do was start to eat one- bite the head, bite the arm... kinda like a mama bird chews up the food for her baby birds. So I'd kill a little kid and feed it to a medium kid. Unfortunately, I recognized  some of the kids in my dream!

Later on, I was with my old high school cheer coach, Janelle, helping her with something [outside, along the road]. Her daughter had been at the event, so she had come to pick her up. I had planned to run home (8 miles, very ambitious), because I didn't have a car there. I helped Janelle so long it got dark, and I started to wonder how I was going to get home. I didn't want to impose on anybody, so I pulled out my phone to change my fb status- maybe somebody would respond to that. Then I realized Janelle didn't live very far from [my parents], so I asked her to give me a ride. She said she would, but only to the corner (aka- I could ride w/ her to HER house, but I'd be on my own from there...how considerate). Once again, I was going to change my fb status, but I kept messing up on my phone. Then I finally just said forget it, I'll just call my mom to come pick me up at Janelle's. 

Thrilled

I was doing the Thriller dance with some other guy. I think I had just met him, and when I found out he knew the dance, we practiced together, saying the words of the motions aloud as we went.

Milo, the Worm

I took my friends somewhere out east to celebrate my birthday. There were about 6 of us, and we stayed in a hotel. We were going to go hot-tubbing, but the hot tub at this hotel was about the size of an upright shower (high walls and all). For some reason, all I packed in my overnight case was my swim suit, so I had no clean clothes to change to the next day, just my jeans and sweatshirt. I was really wishing I had brought more/nice clothes, because after the birthday celebration, we met up with a bunch of other people for some conference, and one night was a fancy banquet. We rode on a bus, but there were a lot of parents driving separately, as well. My seatmate was my friend, Addison. We actually got the opportunity to do some shopping a couple times, so I was looking forward to finding something to wear for the banquet. When we first walked in this huge, fancy mall, I said something to some British guy. I'd been in this "mall" before in another dream, but it was in a different city this time, and was more like a parking garage or something before. Later on, while waiting for people to get ready (I didn't have to get ready, because I didn't have any other clothes or personal care items, even though I was wishing I could brush my teeth), I was standing near this area that had TONS of worms. This was where the worms were kept; it was like a worm bath. That grossed me out a little, except I had a pet worm of my own! He was pinker than most of the rest of the worms, but I dropped him or set him down, then lost him! His name was Milo or something, but my brother kept calling him Robbie (he was MY worm, but my bro thought he was ours). I kept looking for Milo, but to no avail. I had to leave him, because everyone else was ready to go... or so they said. Until they walked out the door, I kept looking. Some of the worms I could have sworn were gummy worms, but gummy worms don't move! I realized then that we were not in some hotel room, but in the room of my high school band teacher! They were finally ready, so instead of riding the bus this time, I crawled in someone's station wagon. Before long, I found myself back on the bus (I don't remember how I got there). I was sitting with my friend, Addison again, but she wasn't paying any attention to me, despite my trying to converse with her. The seat across from us was empty, so I moved over. Pretty soon I started looking at something on my iPhone (that I don't have) and Addison saw and made a comment. I was grateful that she wasn't just ignoring me completely.

New Year's HotSpot

Two friends, Darlene, Anita and I went to this huge club for the New Year's Eve celebration. Some of our guy friends were going to meet us there, but wouldn't get there until later. We got there kinda early (7-8ish), so there were very few people, and no music playing yet. It cost $25 to get in, cuz it was the BEST SPOT to be on NYE. Darlene and I thought the guy at the ticket booth screwed us over though, b/c she paid $40, because she was paying for part of mine, and I paid the full $25; we had him count it twice, but he said it was the right amount. When we went in, we started to look around to see what there was to do. Upon getting farther in, I realized there's TWO rooms connected! This place was HUGE!! In the far back, there was the biggest bean bag ever!! It would hold probably 20 ppl at a time.

Colorado: My New Home

My family and I moved to Colorado. We didn't take everything with us, though; we were going to come back for the rest of our stuff (less important stuff) in about a month. 

Out in CO, I unpacked some of my clothes (I only had a suitcase at this point), and found that I'd packed some jeans that were pink on the front, and looked like they would be way too small for me, along with a pink shirt. At first i couldn't remember why, but then was reminded that there was going to be a walk/race/ride for the cure sorta event. Dad asked if I wanted to ride along on his motorcycle, and I said "sure." 

The first night out there, we all went to some sort of party. I met some girls about my age and hung out with them. At one point I spotted my mom across the room as I was glancing around. Since I looked at her and looked away quick, she said she thought I was trying to avoid her in public, but then I looked back at her and acknowledged her or pointed out my friends, so she knew I wasn't. 

The thing about the town we were in that freaked me out a little was that everyone carried guns around outside. I'd look out the window and someone was holding a gun, or inspecting one, and a couple times I saw guys look down the barrel of their gun, which I thought was pretty stupid, because I knew they hadn't unloaded it first. I don't remember hearing a lot of gunfire, though. 

Another weird thing was the announcements. It's like the town was a radio program.... the announcer would tell us when events were going on, or if they were looking for someone (sorta like being called to the office when you were in school). 

Toward the end of my dream, I told my mom about this dream that I was still having. I said, "we moved to Colorado," and she replied, "yeah, I love it here because there's so much activity going on." And I said, "and this room (a huge room that we were in) was my room, even though it was kinda like a hotel at first (because we were all in it), and the rest of the house wasn't as nice." 

Upon walking away, I saw a ledge with some old pendants laying there. I figured they must be Mom's, because I recognized them, but hadn't seen then for years. So I started to study them to pick one out for me. One was a little pearl oval with metal over it; another was a car. The car must have been a key chain or something, because it was about 3" long. It was neat, though, because everything was operable: the doors opened, the windows slid back and forth, the steering wheel moved, and there were three little old-fashioned outfits hung over the back window.

Go West, Young Man

I was headed west (who knows where) with a friend, and we rode along with this gal named Amy. I remember she was wearing a red dress and was dancing, and she was really good. When we headed back, she dropped us off at our cars. As she pulled into the parking lot, there was a huge drop-off and the lot was all muddy. Just before leaving, I saw a guy (that "worked" there) walking by and I asked if he had any beef tips for me to eat, somewhat jokingly. Then the Amy that drove us asked if we got her disease from being in her car... it was called something like apiphtha, but she called it apip for short. She said in order to check if we got it or not, we needed to take the elevator up to the 36th floor and use some kind of ledge (that was IN the elevator) to check our legs. So my friend and I headed up the elevator. We couldn't remember for sure what floor she said, so we stopped at a lot of them- 24, 25, 26, 30, 34, 36, as well as some lower ones when others got on the elevator. By our 2nd to last stop, my friend was making fun of me for believing her. He thought she made up the whole disease thing and having to check for it on the 36th floor. But I wanted to check my legs anyway for any abnormalities. Fortunately I was wearing shorts, so that made it easy. Then we saw an old woman (80's) who was heading back downstairs, so I said I'd walk with her. Instead of taking the elevator, though, she wanted to take the stairs. I knew going down stairs is much easier than going up, but at age 80-something, I figured it'd be elevator all the way. When we headed toward the stairs, there was a big open room with tables set up along one wall and people standing behind them. We spotted a table with a plate of meat on it (like pork rinds or something), and a table next to it with cheese (American cheese slices like you might use to make grilled cheese). I grabbed some pork and started gnawing away at it- it was good! Shortly, a whole ton of kids came out to this lobby area- they'd apparently been in some sort of Sunday school. Then from a distance, I saw a bottle of lotion I recognized. I walked over to it to use some. There was a different flavor on each table- coffee caramel was one, but I don't remember the others. I couldn't remember how I recognized it- was it an edible lotion I'd seen before? had I owned it in the past? did my mom ever have some? I couldn't remember. But I put a small amount on my hands (and did not eat any of it). 

In another dream, I was at some kind of school/zoo, and was looking for a place to leave my study materials so I could go for a run. I climbed up some rings by the monkey cages, and continued through. Then I went through another building (can't remember what kind) and ended up leaving my stuff in a cafeteria. Turns out there was a locker nearby, but I never found it. I met up with some people I know, Ginger and her husband Kevin and their friends. We walked back to where I came from, and now the cafeteria was FULL of old men, so my books were sitting on the floor and were in the way. So I grabbed them. We were trying to brainstorm how to get back through this little tunnel we had crawled through before, so I tucked my books into each other so they were all "attached" and Kevin did the same thing. Then he figured out he could push other books/binders aside and walk through instead of hoisting himself up to crawl through (picture a water tunnel under a road and it being full of books and binders). Before we started through, we were trying to get from the west side of the tunnel to the east. After we passed through, we had gone from the east side to the west. I hollered back to the rest of them, "hey guys, this is definitely the easiest way to do this" so as to make sure they saw how we got through so easily.

Quite the Travel Adventures

I was in Utah for convention. I drove back by myself in my mom's car. I took a few days to get back. The first time I stopped, I stayed at a hotel. I slept, then changed back into the baggy, mesh shorts I had on with my tank undershirt (like I was ready to wear something else over it or change). 
I hit the road again, and most of the way back I was traveling "with" a bunch of Illinois people. I wasn't actually with them (I didn't know any of them), but I kept seeing them on the road and at the stops I made. 
The next time I stopped, it was to shower, because I hadn't done that at the hotel. Once again, I saw a bunch of Illinois people there (they all wore orange shirts with red pants) and once again, I put the same outfit back on. On my way back out to the car, I stopped by the moving sale that was going on outdoors. I looked around a little and didn't find anything. I did meet some people, though, who were distant relatives of mine! One guy's name was Mark Schneiderly. I told them as I left that I would tell my parents I met Mark Schneiderly (and each of the rest of them chimed in "and Carol!"... "and Tammy!"... "and Susan!" even though I knew I'd never remember all their names), and I left my business card. 

My next stop was in Helmhill, Wyoming (NOT a real place). I remembered as I drove in that I hated it, because I had gotten turned around so easily in it before. I stopped on the side of the road to change clothes. As I parked the car (alongside the freeway), I noticed a city fire truck backing up the hill (perpendicular to me), and I thought about how I had to do so much backing up before and that "even the FD has to back up!" I changed into an aqua-colored robe-dress that belonged to my friend, Tiffany, and got back on the road.

180 Retreat

My friends and I were in my bedroom (at my parent's house), and they decided to rearrange it. They put my bed at an angle to the wall, but after they left, I wanted to move it back because I didn't like it. Then out of nowhere came a scorpion, and I screamed for Mom. A spider I could deal with, but a scorpion was out of the question, even if it was only 1 1/2 inches long. It moved quickly, and crawled up onto my bed, and right by me. I was freaking out. I managed to get away from it.

Later on I heard about a guy that had a stroke, then [got sick?], then died. Whoever said it couldn't tell me who it was, so I was afraid it was my dad. 

Then it was time for the 180 retreat. Vanessa, my parent coach, and I stayed in the same room with our girls, except the "girls" weren't the usual 7th grade girls, but rather my friends from high school. We had a HUGE suite to stay in! I walked in the first room and there were 3 beds, two side-by-side, and one off in the corner; I claimed the one in the corner for myself, because I liked the idea of having my own space, even if it was a tiny little twin mattress (actually more like the size of a kid's bed) on the hard wood floor. I kept walking through the room to find another room with some beds in it, and yet another room beyond that with one bed in it. As I looked out the window of the suite, I saw the trailer pulling up that was carrying whatever 180 stuff we needed... and the truck pulling it belonged to my friend, Nicholas, who I had a huge crush on. I was both excited to see him and bummed, because I knew I couldn't go out with him. 

Later on, I went to the store to pick something up. Not a grocery or convenience store, but some kind of rummage-type store. I parked next to a woman I recognized, Mary Bradley. I watched as she walked around her car toward the store, because she had left her driver's-side door wide open. I can't remember if she saw it on her own or if someone stopped her, but she came back and closed the door. As I was about to get out (it must have been a British car, because I was driving from the right side of the car), it started raining. I pulled out my umbrella, and caught Mary's attention to say hi and see if she recognized me. She didn't have an umbrella, so I was going to share, but then some woman in the parking lot was passing out items to hold over your head to block the rain, so Mary got a red pom-pon. We walked in together, and then she basically demanded I stay with her, even though she was browsing and I was only going in for one specific thing. 

While at the store, I somehow managed to walk away from Mary, and I found my [7th grade] 180 girls. They were all in my friend, Lana's room being disruptive, so I sent them into the hall and pulled the new girl (who was the size of a 3 y/o) aside, picked her up and cradled her in my arms, and told her how much I love her and wish she would pay attention instead of being disruptive. When I put her down, she went back to the group, and I peaked in Lana's room to see what it was like. The motif looked like she was going from pink & black to blues. I thought the blue tones looked more like her. She had 2 beds (which I didn't think was odd at the time), one was in a normal spot, the other was IN the closet. What was even odder was the corner, ceiling hammock (that a girl would usually put stuffed animals in) was full of underwear and hanging over the foot of the bed. So if she got kicky in the middle of the night, she'd have undies falling all over her. 

I returned to the girls for a bit, only to find that they were being just as disruptive as they were before, little new girl included.

I left the store and went back to the retreat. It was now the last day, and they were showing a slideshow. I saw parts of it, but not all.

Another day, another place, I was with 3 others and we were headed somewhere. I offered to drive, but then realized we all had bikes we needed to take, and I could barely fit MY bike in my car. The guy that was with us immediately took charge and had me stand up on top of my car (which was now more like a truck) and he handed me one bike at a time. The truck was more like a flatbed trailer, though, because it didn't have sides. As he handed the bikes up, they appeared to be more like skis, except round like tubes. After all 4 "bicycles" were on my "car," we put the sides of the bed back up to hold them on (the sides were more like flexible bars, and the skis were like rubber as we forced them up).

Twin City Skiing

I went on a ski trip to Minneapolis. Not only is there no skiing in Minneapolis, but it was this time of year: October. Not sure what kind of snow we thought we'd find in Minnesota. It was warm out, too. We took 2 buses, but they weren't really buses... they were more like extra-large Ford Excursions. The driver of my "bus" was a partner in Max, Evan Ringwold. Around tight corners, he would ask me how my dad would handle the Excursion (since that's what he drives) so he knew how to take it. We were singing worship songs on the drive (Evan included). When we stopped for lunch, however, I sat at a table with 3 friends and we all ordered beer. Not just one each, but 3 beers each. Apparently I felt like I needed to get boozed up before hitting the road again.

Variety is the Spice of Life

My two friends, Genevieve & Amber and I had caboodles like when we were kids. We kept some polished rocks and food in them. When we left the spot where we were at, everything had to be packed up, so they left behind what didn't fit in a caboodle. Genevieve and Amber went to go eat, but I didn't want to eat with them, so I went down the hill to a shaded spot and sat on some tree roots that formed a "seat." There were some people in the park doing flips on the jungle gym, and other people roller skiing up the hill. When I looked across the road (more like a large sidewalk), I realized I'd sat directly across from my friend, Calvin. Amber and Genevieve found me later and asked me to go do something, but I said no, I didn't feel like it. I watched them head where they were going and saw that they ended up going with someone's dad, who payed for most everyone, so they only paid $1 each to get into wherever they went.

Bull.

I had a pet spider; it was fairly good size. It wouldn't get off me, so I had to shake violently to get it off.

Later on, I went to a dolphin show with my friends. We were sitting in the bleachers. At one point there was a small break, and all my friends decided they wanted to go sit in the front row (actually poolside), but I didn't want to, because I knew they would get wet sitting that close. Then I noticed there was a bull looking at me, and he was about ready to charge. I got scared and got out of the bleachers and headed toward one of the [double-wide] trailers they had used to haul the bull in.

Everything's Bigger in Texas

My family and I were on vacation and we stopped in Texas. We went out to eat at this fancy Italian restaurant (because there were no other options). It was a really expensive restaurant, like each person's meal was going to cost about $25, and with a family of 4, $100 is a lot to spend on one meal. I was thinking "everything's bigger in Texas... including these prices!" Somehow, my mom got to wait on us, so we saved a little money that way by not having to tip a waitress.

Later on, we were in a new house, like we were moving in. As I was looking around, the first thing I wanted to do was hang a key holder by the front door so we always knew where the keys were.

Hamster Mania

I was setting some hamsters up on a picture of a house. It was supposed to be artistic or something, but after I set each one down, they actually stayed in place...miracle. I had to "fish" them out of this cupboard-type thing where they were hoping to escape my reach, unsuccessfully. As I picked up one of the tan colored hamsters (it looked the same as my first hamster, Tidbit, from when I was little), I got the feeling it peed on me. Since I grew up with hamsters, I knew they did that a lot. So I grabbed a paper towel and headed to a mirror, and sure enough- I was right. It had "peed" on my head (except it was the consistency of pudding), so I wiped the two spots dry. As I wiped, I noticed my hair was much sparser than it is in real life... more like a 40-y/o man.

That Road was Toe' Up!

It was a Max event, and I realized I was finally getting to meet my business partner, Fred, for the first time! When I saw him, he was a she. Fred was a 70-year-old woman. Anti-climactic. Well, a small group of us were wasting time before a large-group late lunch at an Italian restaurant. The other woman with Fred was too hungry and couldn't wait a couple hours before she ate, so we went to get pizza instead. 

Later on, I found myself in some sort of stall (think bathroom stall) except it was very narrow-- my head barely fit in it (no problem fitting the rest of me in though). For some reason I kept sticking my head out to look around, then back in, then out again. As I moved my head, I noticed the stall walls kinda smelled like urine. Pleasant.

Later still, I found myself at my parents' house was some other people. Two others and myself were standing in the driveway and we decided to do some shots. Four to be exact. Different ones too- one was vodka, but that's all I remember. I said, "I don't feel anything yet, but in a little bit I'm REALLY going to be feeling it!" thinking I was going to be slurring and stumbling. I went to my old bedroom and put on winter clothes to play in the snow (that wasn't on the ground a minute ago). I put on tan Carhartt pants first, then my regular snow pants so I would be nice and warm.

I was at Perfect Games in the middle of the day talking to the cashier, who was a girl I know. She asked if I wanted to start doing the register during the day. I thought, well, it would probably be slow and boring, but I could get a lot of reading done, so it didn't sound like a bad idea. Then my friend, Mary Goodrich showed up and said she had a guy friend on e-harmony that I should go out with. I wasn't particularly fond of the idea, but I thought I'd hear her out. So I followed her to her computer, where I thought she was going to show me a picture of him. Instead, my friend Cody showed up to give me a ride home, and I thought he would maybe take me to him, but he wasn't going to. 

Next thing I know, I'm in the back seat of the minivan Cody's driving and his friend, Luke is in the front seat. We're heading south out of Waterloo, toward my parents' house. We were following some other crew guys that Cody and Luke had been working with that day. There was a pickup, then a pickup with an 18-wheeler trailer hooked up to it in front of us. Apparently Cody thought they were driving too slow, because he tried to pass the truck/trailer. That driver wasn't very thrilled about the idea of getting passed, so he started swerving. Then Cody started swerving, too, but not because he was losing control. There were big divots on the very edge of the shoulder, so I was getting kinda freaked out that we would swerve off the road and get stuck in one and get thrown off the road. We were crossing the overpass where highway 21 crosses over hwy 20, except it wasn't an overpass, it was a bridge... with water underneath it. It had been flooded recently, so there were still signs of that and the water was still really high. The bridge was undergoing serious construction work, and in real life there would be no possible way of crossing. Cody then said the brake behind his front brake (aka, the rear brake) had gone out. We continued across the bridge in the minivan, driving right through this completely torn up concrete, without a problem. Then we got to a different part of the bridge, where it was as steep as the streets of San Francisco! And the concrete of the road looked like an earthquake had gone through! We got to the top, then a worker helped our van over by pulling us forward with his bare hands (kinda like an adult picks up a toddler). 

After that, we got out and walked- there was some kind of congestion in the road. I hopped on Cody's back for a piggyback ride, and we called to Luke to let him know we went around (around as in, OFF the bridge... where the water should be). Since the water was so high at this point, I could reach out and touch the water, and there was mud over the road. Suddenly, for a second, it was like I was being pulled across the bridge instead of riding piggyback. Then I said, "it would either suck or be a really great day to work at McDonald's, Hardee's, Wendy's, etc." Because now instead of "the Waterloo bridge" being out of commission it was like "the Waterloo burger joint" was out of commission!

Wait a 2nd...

It was the first day of school. For some reason, I went back....to 2nd grade. I was still an adult, however. It was on a college campus. And there were a lot of people I knew. My brother was there, and he helped me find my class and the cafeteria. I had a map, but I think I lost it. The president of the "college" told people we weren't supposed to walk around campus for leisure because it wasn't a safe neighborhood. We were only allowed to walk between classes. It was a beautiful campus though- looked like a 'rich' neighborhood- so I was kinda bummed about the "no walking" rule.

On my way to class, I got really warm; I was wearing dark blue jeans, a yellow T and a yellow sweater...and it was 80 degrees out. I thought about taking off the sweater, but I knew the classroom would be cold.

I finally found my way to my first class, English- my favorite. I was a little late, but I felt like the teacher liked me...even though it was the first day. I guess I just knew she was going to like me. My mom was there, along with other adult friends, like my friends Matthew & Tracy. It was hard to find a place to sit because the room was so full, and some tables had newspapers laid out where people had gotten up but were coming back. The front of the room had individual desks, like we sat in as kids, and the sides and back had lunch tables- the long kind with flip-down benches. I finally found a spot in the back of the room at a table. I was carrying my sleeping bag with me, because I needed it for my dorm room, so i must have been going straight there after my classes. 

After class, we were messing around, and one guy stood up and told the drummer from the classroom across the hall to start playing/rapping so he could dance. The drummer was the lead singer from Limp Bizkit (only it was more like Vanilla Ice or something) and the dancing guy just said "Hey Limp!" and "Limp" knew to start playing/rapping so he could dance. We all kinda thought he was dumb.

Just before we left, there appeared boxes of apples in the room. Some apples were red, some were more greenish, so I took some good ones with me, because that's what they were there for. The apples kinda represented the people in my class, and I was rearranging them so that the redder ones were together (as they represented the people I knew, and I wanted us all to sit together). 

It was my friend, Tracy's birthday, so her and her husband decided to go out and celebrate after class. They were going to head to a hotel to have a party. Since I didn't know the area and they hadn't yet decided on a hotel, I wanted them to wait for me so I could follow them. But they didn't. Typical, considerate friends. So I was going to call Tracy to see where they ended up. I was carrying with me a bottle of liquor. It was clear like vodka, but I think much stronger. I took a swig of it, but didn't cringe at how strong it was. It was more like drinking slightly flavored water. Then my phone rang.... except it wasn't a phone, it was the bottle of liquor! THAT was my "phone!!" I didn't know how to answer it (how do you answer a bottle-of-liquor-phone?!), so I kept rotating it to see if there were any clues. I asked the woman close by, she had no idea. I took a swig, that didn't answer it, then finally found a type of button that answered the phone! It was like a "counter"-- the number went up each time you take a call; I actually hit it twice, so it went up to 4. It was Matthew calling to tell me where they went.

White Trash Weddings

I went to a basketball game with two other people, and we sat in the nosebleeds. We were there for some little boy... can't remember how- maybe we took him with us?? Anyway, we each carried our own large cooler (by large, I mean mine was the smallest at 28 quarts) full of ice and beer. How I carried it up the bleachers, I haven't a clue. Instead of getting schnockered, however, I had to leave early for a wedding (I don't remember ever taking anything out of the cooler anyway). The wedding was just outside of La Porte City, close to where I grew up. It was a fairly formal wedding, even though this really fancy venue was on a gravel road. The bride's name was Lindsay, I think, but can't be too sure. And her last name WAS Stutter, and would now be Stoddard. I thought it was odd how close the two names were. But what was odder, there were two ceremonies, about two hours apart! The first one, which I was in attendance for, was like a party, the other was an actual wedding ceremony. You might think it sounds like the reception was before the wedding, but that wasn't the case at all. Everyone who came to the first ceremony was truly expecting a wedding! So during the "party ceremony," I hung out with bridesmaids who were wearing black dresses. I don't think I knew any of them. In fact, I don't think I knew the bride or groom, either! As if this scenario wasn't odd enough, it was actually like the same bride was marrying two different grooms at the two ceremonies! It made no sense to me. At one point, when I was standing inside the church (which at this point looked just like the foyer of the church I grew up in), I saw my friend, Gertrude's husband, James in a tux, as if HE was one of the grooms! But that thought didn't last long, because somehow I knew that he wasn't going to marry this Lindsay girl. 

Well, since I had time between ceremonies, I guess I decided to leave... but I didn't have the basketball game in mind. I was going to head back up to Cedar Falls, though. I didn't know for sure how to get home, so I pulled to the side to punch it into my Garmin. I pulled onto a side road and turned to face the road I would continue down, and as I sat there (uphill), the "Resume" button on my cruise control acted as a Resuming parking brake without having any brake on! 

*PAUSE... while I wake up and write down my dream...*

I was back at the wedding. I never did sit through a wedding, but I hung out w/ the wedding party and guests later. We were surrounded by water, and there were small springboards (think sideways diving boards- sorta like a skier platform on the back of a boat, except w/ springs) off the edge of... whatever cement platform/ground we were on. So we kept jumping off the ground, onto the diving board and into the water. And there was some kind of network of cables above our heads, so I would climb up on those and sit and do flips and somersaults off of it. None of us were dressed for the occasion (of playing around), but we didn't care. I at least wasn't wearing anything too fancy... a part-white shirt, maybe like a baseball T, but it was brand new; I was grateful that my shirt wasn't ALL-white like one of the other girls (because I thought there's no way she's getting that shirt clean)! Next thing I know, we found mud. It was right where the water used to be that we were jumping into. This was the best mud you could imagine for playing in, sliding in and throwing... so that's what we did!

Flying Machine

I was at some rich couple's house. The man was not there, so I was talking to his wife. They had a very  "uppity" look about them... think yacht club style. She showed me this contraption that they used to fly with. To get going, I had to jump. It didn't get off the ground the first time every time, but when it did, I was up above the clouds in five seconds! It was incredible! The woman told me about how often they went up flying. Eventually she figured out that I was not any kind of "royalty" or a wealthy background and that I was a poser and she kicked me out, right about when her husband got home.

To the Strip Club!

It was the same crew I was out in California with, except my mom was there, too. As part of the bachelorette party, all the women went out together. We did all kinds of things, but at the end of the night, they were all planning to go to the strip club. Personally, I didn't really want to have to pay to do something like that, so I was thinking of opting out and heading home early. The mother of the bride didn't like the idea of me "missing out" and my mom offered to pay for me, so I felt obligated to go. My desire to NOT go was still legit, however! Fortunately, I woke up before any strip club action.

New Puppy!

I went to my parents' house to learn that they had bought a new puppy!! He was so cute! I thought to myself, "now I'll have to change my facebook status to: ...has a new puppy!" My mom had already named him. Chunce. That was his name. What a DUMB name. He was still cute, though.

Hitchin'

My mom and I were driving home from somewhere, when suddenly I had to use a restroom. Not sure what businesses in town would have a public restroom, I had her stop where I'd been before with a friend- an auto mechanic's shop. However, I distinctly remember the owner of the shop saying he really didn't like people using his restroom.... but I had to go. Well, in most of my other dreams, my version of a "toilet" is usually some sort of chair/stool... my subconscious failed me not! I climbed the stairs onto this stage-looking area to find two stools next to each other and a light overhead (and it was dark out, so it was kinda like a spotlight... did I mention there were no walls?). One of the stools had some women's clothing on it- pink shorts, tank top, hat- so I moved them and sat down. I thought to myself, "I'm going to leave a puddle on this guy's stool!... oh well, I have to go!" I was afraid the shop owner was going to come up from the back and catch me, which he almost did, but only came out halfway, then went back.

When I was ready to leave, I moved the clothes back to where they were and started walking out with my clothes... because all of a sudden I had two big arm-fulls of laundry! Right as I stepped outside, I looked to my right and saw the owner's assistant standing there. I looked away right as he glanced my way and kept walking. He saw me, he knew I used his bathroom, I was now carrying a huge pile of laundry, and he was determined to stop me. I proceeded up the hill- my mom had parked the car at the bottom of the hill, but I didn't want her to get caught, so I pretended I didn't know her, figuring she would pick me up a ways up the road. She backed the car out and headed my direction. I put my thumb out as if to be hitchhiking and as if I didn't know her, but she DIDN'T STOP!! She looked at me and kept driving as if to say "I can't stop NOW!" The mechanic kept following me a ways up the hill, calling out to me- I never turned around though. It was clear that I could hear him, but I ignored him nonetheless. Fortunately, he only walked- he never ran after me.

Hi-Ho, Cherrio!

It was cherry season. And I was in the place for picking cherries! But there was something special about these cherry trees... they had a mute button! Apparently cherry trees can be very noisy, so to make your experience around these trees more enjoyable, they were muted (more like the volume was turned down). With the push of a pedal, they were un-muted. I walked around looking at all the cherries, not sure if people were allowed to eat them or not. When someone said you can pick and eat them, I started going to town. They were delicious!!

Here Comes the Bride...

I was getting married in two days. The invitations were out..... but not a THING was planned! I didn't have a dress, I didn't have flowers, I didn't have a caterer, I didn't have a venue for the reception, and I didn't even know what church I was going to get married in! (Apparently there was a groom involved somewhere, but he never made an appearance in my dream.) I was in PANIC MODE!

I was with a friend, and a bunch of other people I didn't know at a venue up a ways north of Ames, when I realized the big day was only 2 days away. I started brainstorming what I needed to do. I would go to Hobby Lobby to buy silk flowers to make bouquets. But the reception venue... where in the WORLD would I find a venue so last minute?!?! So my friend went to find the lady in charge of the place we were in at the time. It was small, but nice, and a little older. I started to wonder to myself if I'd really want to have it there if it was available (which is funny, because with the wedding two days away, I really didn't have time to be picky!). I decided I wouldn't mind. My friend came back and told me about how people always complain about their pricing, because it's an extra $25 ON TOP OF the standard booking rate (but...what's $25, really?)! I asked her, "so are they available?!" She said no. Great. Now what? So we continued to sit around on the floor in this common area where a bunch of other people were when a random guy walks by and says, "Are we watching a game??" because the flat screen on the wall donned a soccer game that had JUST started, so he assumed that we were all sitting around to watch the game. I told him "no, we're wedding planning." And he walked off.

Snow Skiing in Okoboji

I was staying in this huge house along with tons of other people. I woke up in the middle of the night or something and walked downstairs. The guy that owned the house was a big guy, and I saw him coming downstairs at the same time as me. I saw one of the other girls, Janice, that I met in Salt Company back in college laying on the ground... or should I say, in the ground. She was sleeping on a grassy area (in the basement), and was sunk into the ground! I asked if I could help her (I was thinking, I could share my bed) or at least get her a blanket, but she said she was fine. She showed me that she would lay down and nestle in, and would just sink in, so earth and grass were up around her. 

I walked to a different room, and when I walked back (the way I came), I saw TONS of black bugs covering the floor. I thought to myself, "Did I walk through these before?!" Then I noticed I had some on me, too, so I quickly shook them off. Gross.

As for the rest of the dream, I remember having my [snow] skiing gear, so we must have gone skiing at some point, and my parents were there, but we were at Okoboji. They asked someone for permission or clearance to be somewhere, because they'd been married so long..... not sure what that was all about.

Elderly Midget & Gorilla Glue

I was on my way home from somewhere hours away. At first, someone else was following me as we tried to get on the correct roads we needed to to get home. I missed mine (which was R38-- an Ames road), so I had to turn around and go back. I waved at my friend as they continued on.

A little ways down the road, I stopped at someone's house to take a break. I don't think I had to use the bathroom or anything, I just needed a break from driving. Then when I went to hop on my bike to leave, I saw the old couple that lived there sitting out on their back porch. I felt bad for trespassing and not seeing them, so I went up and introduced myself as I left. For some reason, they told me their son's name, Jim something, and I recognized the name! I think he was some kind of relative or friend of my parents. They also pointed out the spectacular view that they had from their porch. I had been sitting down the hill a ways, so the view wasn't the same. It was all mountains, and I saw wildlife running; it didn't look like real-life mountains, however, it looked like a picture. It was beautiful, though!

Further on up the road, I came to my great aunt's house. I had already had 2 stops (not sure where the 1st one was), it was 8:30 at night, getting dark, and still and hour and a half or so drive to get home; I had already been driving for a couple hours, so I didn't want to stop, but I felt like I should. So I didn't. But instead, for some reason, I came back later. I went through the fence to the backyard, picked someone up (carrying a elderly midget?) and ran across the backyard hoping to not be seen by my great aunt. Meanwhile, my parents were narrating the situation-- watching through her windows (from the outside) to tell me what she was doing (cooking... "skipping the potatoes, so she may be coming to the window!") and help me get through without being seen. Well, I made it.

I don't know if I ever made it home, or made any other stops, but later on, I was back at my great aunt's house. Except now her grandson (my 2nd cousin), Kyle lived there. I saw through the window that he had replaced the old deck, and it looked really nice. He took us (my parents and I) to another part of the house, and I made a comment about the deck, so he took me to go see it.... instead of looking nice this time, it had fallen through, was all different heights, and made mostly out of old railroad ties! There was a spot about 6square feet that was new, but that was it. He had a bird bath on the deck railing and all kinds of birds and insects swarming around that area. It was kind of creepy. I saw something that looked like a tarantula at first, but then I realized it was a bird. This bird was blue, and literally the size and shape of a baseball. I went in and told Mom (cuz she loves birds), and we thought it may be an Indigo Bunting (which, in real life, is not shaped like a baseball). 

My cousin's house then became a grocery store. And I was going to work there, at least for the day. I was having trouble finding everything (it was actually a grocery/clothing store), and apparently others were, too. The manager called all the women to the back to discuss "female things." The discussion, instead, was about bandaging wounds. He had me grab a paper towel and he put a bit of antibacterial ointment on it, but this wasn't your basic ointment. I was more like gorilla glue that would expand. He said "you have to put it on quickly or it will dry." Then everyone went back up to the front of the store. I decided to use the ointment he demonstrated with on a cut on my arm, so I put the paper towel to my skin, thinking it would be too dry already, but it adhered right to me like superglue, then I put a bandage over the paper towel (I tore around the ointment so I didn't have a full-size paper towel on my arm).

Movie Madness

Mom and I went to see a movie. We saw my friend, Annie there, so we decided to sit together. The theater was pretty full, but Mom picked out only 2 seats next to each other. I was like, "what? we need 3!" Annie sat at the opposite end of that row, so I sat by her instead so she wasn't alone (Mom's own fault that she didn't find 3 seats together). The movie was horrible. Not just a bad movie, but raunchy as all get out. (Although I don't actually remember seeing anything beyond the previews.) Before it started, I had to go to the bathroom. Apparently the bathrooms in this theater were crappy, (a pun I realized in my dream), so I went next door-- where there was ANOTHER theater. I had taken my curling iron to the bathroom with me to fix my hair- I took out my ponytail and started to curl it, not realizing it was all for naught, because my hair was really dirty/greasy, so it wouldn't look good anyway. I used the restroom and came back, and was a little irked, because now instead of spending $35 on a movie(!), I spent $55, because they charged me $20 to get into the restroom!!! The previews were still going, so I left one more time (I said it'd take 10 minutes but actually took much longer) to make a sales call (like I use to with my last job) at the Taco John's next door... or maybe a different biz next to it, I can't remember what I decided. I forced myself to go on the sales call because I really didn't want to, so I knew I needed to do just one to get the first one out of the way. I went back to the movie, and the previews were just finishing up (LONG previews!). Apparently, ever since the theaters started allowing people to bring bikes and unicycles into the movies, that's what ppl did during the previews. My friends Sam and Rhonda were riding unicycles, I believe, toward the back of the theater. It was pretty chaotic.

Later on, back at my parents' house, we were getting ready to go...somewhere..."home"? Mom had to go to the bathroom; I poked my head in to see if she was in there, saw what she was doing, and saw ANOTHER toilet next to her with my curling iron sticking out of it! I yelled at her "you better not have put my curling iron in the toilet!!!" That was supposedly the toilet I had used, and may or may not have flushed.... she wanted to cool it off faster so we could pack it up. She came out into the living room and handed me the curling iron; the cord was all wrapped tightly around it, and I didn't like how it was wrapped (because part of the cord was under the curling 'lever' thing), so I started to undo it. Then I realized it was damp. I smelled it, it smelled like toilet, and I so SO MAD. I SCREAMED at Mom for putting it in the toilet. 

Later on, I came to enough to realize the dream I'd just had, so I started typing up the notes on my phone... in my dream. When my alarm went off and I ACTUALLY woke up, I realized none of those notes were actually written/typed anywhere, so I grabbed my phone and started typing in notes.

Grandpa, the Sailor

At the end of a dream, I walked up to my grandpa to ask him a question. He was wearing clothes that made him look like he was part of a yacht club, or like someone who owns a sailboat (think blue and white stripes, red and yellow anchors... nautical theme). Also, he looked much, much younger. I asked him, "where are you from?" His answer told me that either he didn't know who I was, or he thought I didn't know who he was. So I rephrased the question, calling him grandpa this time.

Another snippet of a dream:

I was referring to my bicycle, and instead of saying I needed "air in my front tire," I said I needed "front air in my tire."

Dolphin Show

I was staying in a condo- one side was facing the beach, the other side had a pool inside. The pool had a volleyball net set up, and someone was wearing a dolphin costume (which actually looked like an Orca costume), and was jumping around in the pool like a dolphin. 

Later on, my friend, Nancy and I were riding in our friend, Charlie's truck. We saw my friend, Hannah (who was apparently friends with Charlie, as well) and Charlie called out to her and waved. Hannah barely acknowledged me, which I'd come to expect from her. Charlie was mad that she's never around anymore and I responded, "you're one to talk."

Rollin'

Mom and I were driving in Dad's truck at night. She got out to go up to a house, and left the parking lights on. She didn't actually park the vehicle, just left it in the middle of the street. I turned the lights on and let it start rolling slowly down the street. I have no idea why, but I wanted to move. Maybe since it was in the middle of the street, that way there was still a 'flow' of traffic. I got worried that Mom wouldn't be able to find me, since the truck was not where she left it, and it no longer had just the parking lights on; I kept watching in the rearview mirror for her. Next thing I know, she's climbing back in the driver's side.

That Bugs Me

I was covered in little, black bugs. C O V E R E D . I shook them off as much as I could, then had to brush them off. Ew.

Aren't Chew Glad it was only a Dream?

I tried chewing tobacco for the first time. It was DISGUSTING. I had a huge wad of it in my lip (bigger than normal), and the texture of it was more like someone else had chewed it first. Vomit. And I about did. I was gagging, and eventually couldn't take it anymore and spit it out-- in the sink, of all places. My friend, Evan, was there (who is a chewer in real life), and he wanted me to "hide the evidence"...from what or whom, I'm not sure. Apparently he could have gotten in trouble. 

Later on, I opened up the fridge, turned around, and was apparently about to pee in it. But I didn't.

Big, Big House with Lots and Lots of Rooms

I was staying in this huge house with tons of rooms. The attic had a banquet room with tables all set up nicely and a bathroom (you had to go through the bathroom to get to the rest of the attic). The upstairs also had tables set up, but not as many, because there was also a bedroom and bath. 

Other than the house, all I remember from this dream was that I changed into some old, colorful sweatshirt mid-dream (think 80's).

Tattle-Tale

I was in some kind of gym for something, and a group was meeting there. I can picture the gym, but can't really describe it. All I remember is there were ski racks on one side, designed to allow skis to dry out nicely. Someone couldn't find the way, so the guy that gave them directions fessed up to giving poor ones. I took it upon myself to rat him out. So I walked to his parents' house. I walked right in to find his dad sleeping on the couch. He woke up and was shocked and slightly embarrassed at the sight of me standing there in only a towel. I told him his son gave wrong directions to the gym. I was kinda waiting for him to ask me why it was so important that I tell him, but was really hoping he wouldn't, because I knew that it was stupid for me to tell on him! Then I realized that the guy I was telling on was the brother of a girl I didn't care for.

Ah, Rats!

I was living in my parents' house by myself, and had them and a few others over. We're sitting in the dining room, and next thing we notice is a couple small mice under the living room window, scampering along. One was grey and one was brown. I started freaking out a little, cuz there's mice in my house, then all of a sudden a whole bunch more appear- we counted 10!! So I have nearly a dozen brown and grey mice (more like rats because they were rather large) running around my house, and we're trying to trap them, step on them, kick them, anything. We didn't get a single one.

Later on, I was riding in a car with someone after it had rained, and I told them about how I saw a brilliant rainbow earlier that night (there really was a beautiful rainbow last night). Then I looked out the window and saw the brightest rainbow I'd ever seen in my life- like it was straight out of a coloring book!! It was gorgeous! And just as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared, then came back only faint.


Talk about dreaming in color!

Rice

My first dream was something about a bag of rice. A BIG bag. I remember opening it, and that's it. Rice.

In my next dream, I had to take a test that was really hard. Everyone kept consulting with each other for answers. The teacher gave us two answers. The classroom was a motley combination of people, no idea who. We were all in this big, old house. Later on, I was practicing something, and to do so, I had to kill spiders. One guy had them on a string, and I... ripped the legs off or something, not really sure. I wasn't creeped out by it (thank God!), but it was weird. It was almost as if I was practicing killing people... hmmm... I received a phone call from a guy. The phone I was on was a cord phone, and big and bulky (telephone booth style, but with a longer coil cord), and I was grateful for that, cuz it made it easy to hold on to. The guy on the phone was some congressman that I'd been trying to get in touch with. I didn't quite believe him when he told me who he was- said his name was Ed something, but I thought it was my friend, Dave, whose name was actually Robin (but not really). He kept asking me about the bathrooms on the UNI campus. He was pretty concerned about there being enough. I told him there's probably about as many as ISU campus has. (We were talking about OUTDOOR restrooms, so this detail was a little odd.) And this conversation had nothing to do with politics or him trying to win my vote; he just called. That's it.

Quite the Party...

I wanted my middle school bf to ask me out again, even though I knew in the back of my mind that if he did, I'd have to say no. Throughout this dream, I kept taking pulls of vodka, meanwhile others were taking pulls of something much stronger (moonshine? everclear?). One of my friends, Terrence Brooks, was streaking (not running, however...just walking casually. Like a nudist). Next thing I know, all my friends are over and I'm hosting and consulting my own Norwex party! I went into detail about why the microfiber cloths are so amazing and how they trap dirt and germs. Everyone was in awe. 

PS- You're welcome, Norwex.

No More Max?!

I don't remember much of this dream, but it was so very whacked out.

On that note.... I was somehow pregnant (it must have been an immaculate conception sorta thing), and was telling my mom about it. She was being very supportive, but I was crying... because I remembered at that moment that I'd have to quit taking Max GXL! That was the part that was most upsetting to me! (And why wouldn't it be?!) 

I was on a team for something, but no idea what. One of my teammates was wearing a speedo, and I was in a bikini.... and I may have had a naked teammate... but I can't say for sure.

Unpreparation

I went on a ski trip with my family. There were also a lot of other friends out there, as well, though. I found that once I started getting ready for skiing, I hadn't done such a good job packing-- I put absolutely no thought into it. I did not have my snow pants (luckily, Mom had some hanging in the closet... not sure why she had a closet of their clothes where we stayed). I did not bring my hat (luckily, I wore a pink hat the day before that would work... I definitely don't own a light pink stocking cap). I did not bring my skis/poles/boots (luckily, I was able to rent those). I did not even have a decent pair of socks to wear... all I'd brought was my ISU socks that are so worn down the bottoms are like "netting"...which wasn't going to keep my feet warm! I was lucky I even had my COAT with me! Prior to leaving the hotel/condo for the day, I was hanging out with my friend, Gayle, and her family. I had apparently made a video of some sort for her dad, Monty, so we were watching that. Then when we were about to head out (early enough to catch our flight...  despite being only a few miles away from the slopes), my friend, Kasey, was there, and she said she'd give us a ride in her car, so we didn't have to leave quite as early. We were going to meet my dad and brother at the slopes.

W.W.I.A.F.T.M

I went to a party with my friends Shelly and Kasey. I was really surprised to see my brother at the same party. Next door and up the hill was a car lot. It looked like a classy car lot. You know how car lots always have something to draw your attention? Well, I saw them setting up inflatable dinosaurs. Huge dinosaurs... 10 feet tall, 20 feet long! Funny thing is, at first they didn't look like dinosaurs...they looked like Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Men! :) 
WACKY WAVING INFLATABLE ARM FLAILING TUBE MEN! WACKY WAVING INFLATABLE ARM FLAILING TUBE MEN! WACKY WAVING INFLATABLE ARM FLAILING TUBE MEN!

Mwater Parkall

I went to eat at this restaurant. Well, it wasn't so much of a restaurant as it was a clothing store in the mall. But I went to eat. I drove in and parked my car, and my waitress was fairly nice, but kinda short with me. Towards the end of my meal, she got kinda bossy. After I was finished and had my check, she told me she was off in an hour. I told her that would be plenty of time for me to pay my bill and leave. (How rude!) She came over later and asked me to "fix" her shirt somehow. I don't know what was wrong with it, but she wanted me to test it by spitting on it. I told her I wanted to wait, because I'd just eaten orange candy and didn't want to stain it. I took her shirt and left mine as a collateral (she wouldn't trust me for the world). At that point, I remembered I had left a pair of shoes that weren't mine at the water park (IN the mall). So I drove away to go get them. I left the waitress' shirt behind to let her know I'd be back, but then was suddenly wearing her shoes- black, high-top Chuck Taylors. I drove through the mall and back to the water park. Once I got there, I had to swim across a pool to get to the locker room. The water was murky, and I was still wearing the Chucks. As I headed back to my car, I walked past my high school gym teacher, Gus. It was at this point that I realized that the Chucks were the only thing I was wearing, so I got nervous. I reminded myself that it was no big deal; it was like wearing a swim suit... sorta like that was the standard. I got in my car and drove back to the clothing store. On my way, I got a phone call from the waitress' dad. I thought it was really odd, but he was very nice and we chatted for a couple minutes. I don't know how he got my number or how I knew he was her dad, because he didn't say anything about her. I parked outside this time and walked in to hear my name called over the intercom. My spastic waitress had left already (it had not been an hour), so another store clerk approached me carrying the shirt (not sure which one). She began to point out clothing items hanging on the wall that my waitress wanted. I somehow 'owed' her at this point....? Unfortunately for her, the shirt was only worth $5, so I don't know why she was pointing out all these clothes that cost more than that.

Job Security

I was working for this company that was then taken over by a bad guy (not a criminal, just not a good guy). I was afraid I was going to lose my job, which was a high-up position. Fortunately, I still had my own apartment with all my stuff (it was apparently a live-in job). Most of the other employees lost all their belongings, including the president of the company and higher-ups. 

One woman who was in charge wouldn't let you touch her at all, but being the physical touch person I am, I tried to get her to warm up to me by putting my hand on her shoulder or arm... it didn't fly. As she walked away, I said  "I'm sorry" [that you're not a hugger... i.e. "you're missing out"]. I asked the other guy in charge, who fortunately was much nicer and actually liked me, if there was anything else I needed to know. As he said no, he put his hand on my back. I then leaned in and touched his shoulder with my opposite hand (we were side by side) and said, "I'm glad you're a hugger!" and went home.

On the way back to my apartment, I passed by Wal-Mart, which was on the top floor of a building. I noticed that someone had formed letters out of sticks. There were a couple spots that they'd spelled out "NLN" and in one spot spelled out "PCP" (which in the case of my dream, was not referring to drugs, but probably someone's initials. A friend of mine, Nancy Louise Nottingham, had left the first set of initials- she used to live on the ground floor, so she must have been sent home with the rest of the employees who were let go). I decided to head upstairs for a better view to take a picture of the sticks on my phone to send to my friend. 

Upon arriving home, I found that the electricity had been shut off. I thought to myself, "I can still stay here, because I want to keep my own space." I figured I'd make it work. Shortly after that, I figured out I could actually turn the lights back on myself (something along the lines of a cord being unplugged). I shut my curtains so no one could see in, because people were jealous that I got to keep my job and my things. Then I headed back upstairs to Wal-Mart. 

Later on, my friend, Arlyss, was preparing dinner. She was upset over something and was crying. I wanted to help out, but she yelled at me for plopping food (enchiladas) on the wrong plate; that plate was being saved for someone with a special order: my cousin. There were no other plates clean, so I had to take one out of the dishwasher and wash it.

Ode to Firemen

I was watching firemen drag some little girls out of a burning house as I drove by. I was in a hurry, because I was trying to catch up to some guy with funky black-with-white sunglasses. The guy driving behind me yelled out, "hey! do you like your job?" to the firemen. My first thought was, "duh" (they get to save lives, so who wouldn't love that??); they responded, "we love it."

Mad Driving Skills

I was back with a past boyfriend, but I knew it didn't feel right. I took him and a friend to work. The friend made fun of me for having an ugly phone. My response to him was "I'm dreaming this, so I get an ugly phone!" He wasn't convinced at the time. I pulled out an envelope for scratch paper and wrote down points of my dream to blog about. (And yes, this was still in my dream!) I don't think I was fully convinced that I was still dreaming at that point, just because it seemed so realistic!

Then I drove home in my conversion van. The van was hard to figure out; it was surprisingly high-tech for a conversion van. I couldn't figure out how to get the doors closed. I finally learned they were automatic. The button labeled "coach" was for the side door. My mom was riding with me, and then the rest of the family showed up. When Dad got in, he first got in the front seat and started the van. He complained that I had everything on high (the fan was turned up), but that wasn't how I had left it. Driving along, suddenly the roads were bad. As I neared the bottom of a hill and a stop sign, snow covered the whole road. I couldn't stop, so I swerved around other cars in front of us. At the stop sign, the van went straight, but we turned right (tell me how that works!). I was still controlling the van, however. It was like it was radio controlled. Dad and Mom said "way to go" (sarcastically), but I was surprisingly calm as I kept us on the road and watched as I kept the van on the road as well (still swerving around cars, though). A little ways past the stop, there were some doors at an angle to the road, and I eased the van through one of them into a banquet hall type room. After getting turned around, we found ourselves in a parade. We stayed as far to the side of the road as possible to stay out of the way, and headed back to the van. Upon entering the banquet hall, Mom saw someone she knew taking pictures so she had her take ours. 

Later on, my family and I were in my apartment building and were wanting to test something. It was sorta like a stereo system. So I went around and locked all the doors to the apartment (because that's how you sound-proof an apartment...) except the door nearest one neighbor's door, so that he could still get to his apartment.

Later I learned that my friend, Nancy, was set to marry a guy, but she didn't hardly know him. She told me the wedding would be in June. I looked at her hand, and she wasn't wearing a ring. I thought the whole thing was weird, because I think the guy was married for starters, and was a little older (maybe 10 years). Plus I didn't think she would agree to a marriage without dating the guy first. 

This next dream was either after waking and falling back asleep, or was a different night....I have no idea. I jotted down notes from it, but I cannot for the life of me actually REMEMBER it! So here are my notes.....:

My brother and I rode into town on bikes. We were in a hurry, and we missed our turn. We ate at a hotel, and saw a delinquent. [something to do with] swimming... then I saw a business partner. I brought Christmas decorations for someone.

No one ever said dreams had to come true...

Best Dressed

I was expected to perform a skit by myself. I could choose what skit to use, and I had made my choice after seeing it in a magazine at my old manager's house (where her and another old manager were hanging out...with me). Before performing, I watched other friends and strangers perform. One group of four friends from high school did a parody of a song... I recognized the tune, but can't remember what it was. I remember thinking their singing was mediocre (...I'm so sweet). 

When it was my turn, I took some time to set up on stage; I had all my props in my backpack. Some of the props included a little stuffed cow and a pink, plastic pig. There was a table and chairs on the stage, so I placed the backpack on a chair. I had apparently been wearing pants earlier, but decided to take them off (I had shorts underneath). But then I realized that wouldn't work, because I had knee-high nylons on underneath slouch socks with tennis shoes. So I had the brilliant idea to roll the knee-highs down into the slouch socks. Unfortunately this created too much bulk. Instead I pulled them back up and pulled the socks up as well, which then became leg warmers! I flaunted them for a minute, because HOW COOL is that?!?! I looked like I was straight out of the 80's! Then...I realized that wouldn't work because magically the leg warmers turned into swishie pants and now the pants were hanging down around my knees, so I couldn't really walk. Not so cool. Back to pants. 

My skit started off with a song; apparently a lot of people knew this song, so I had a sort of choir of people standing down in front of the stage singing the song....I, however, could be found at the back of the room... not singing. I used the magazine in which I found the skit to read out of. When it was time for me to start the skit portion, I couldn't find the page of the magazine that I needed. Someone had torn it out and handed it off to someone else so they could both sing in the "choir" (not sure how that works out...) and it was lost. I was freaking out for a minute, then apologized, said I would be attempting to do it from memory (despite having NO part of it memorized), and began. I mumbled for a few minutes, then remembered I had copied the skit down onto paper that was still in my backpack! Saved! So I pulled that out and asked if I could start over. Fortunately for me, they could have cared less; I wanted to get a good grade, though, so I asked to make sure. The first line of the skit started out narrating a farm couple in the year 1830.

Dreams don't have to come true...

Indecent Exposure

I walked out my apartment into the hallway. My landlord was outside the front door to my apartment building and he rang the doorbell. (Mind you, the front door to my building has no doorbell.) I couldn't actually see him from where I was, because there was another door between us, but I knew it was him. I got nervous, because I walked out in jeans and nothing else, (I guess I wasn't worried about neighbors), but I was holding sheet music to Bile Dem Cabbage Down (the piano part). Holding the music up to me to "cover" myself, I let my landlord in; I knew my neighbor closest to the door would not do it. I'm not sure what I had to do to let him in, but we never actually saw each other...therefore my  "exposure"  wasn't really exposed. Thank God....

Many Vehicles

A group of friends and I went horseback riding. But we split up into two groups; one group actually went riding on trails, the other never actually got on the horses. Instead we were standing around these giant gears that were parallel to the floor, at about floor level; the floor had an opening where the gears were. For some reason, I stuck my bare foot out towards the gears (while they were moving) and got GLOBS of grease on me. So then I was trying to balance on one foot so I didn't get the grease all over while someone grabbed a cloth to clean off my foot. The floor around me was covered in manure. Balancing on one foot lasted a few seconds, but then I lost balance and caught myself with my hand... which is now also covered in manure. Then I had an itch on my face, and instead of using my left hand (the clean hand), my reflex was to use the right hand, and in turn I got manure in my mouth! GROSS. I'm not one to swear (in my dreams OR real life), but at this point, I felt the need to say "Well, I've had my share of $*** for the year!" The people around me chuckled with me.
Down the hall from there, my mom and aunt were visiting my grandpa. A bunch of my friends, some family and a business partner that were gathered around that area were talking about the house we were standing out in front of (which was, yes, down the hall from g'pa). The house belonged to my friend, Evan, and apparently he owned multiple houses; this surprised me, especially since he just celebrated his 26th birthday. This particular house was for sale. 
Later on, I visited my brother. I hung out with him for awhile, and had taken an extra sleeping bag and lots of blankets in case he invited me to stay overnight. He was sleeping in his car in our parents' driveway, so it would be freezing at night, and I wanted to make sure I was prepared. He did not invite me to stay, because he figured I would be cold. So thoughtful of him. So, I left.
Later on, I was in my own car parked somewhere when I saw my friend, Jim walking home from work. I cracked my window open (about 3 inches) to talk to him quick. He continued to head home...it was about 20 miles, and he didn't have a bike, but rather a radio control helicopter to get him home. Not sure how it would make a difference in getting him home, though. But then it started to downpour. I honked at Jim to get in the car. One of his dress shirts/slacks outfits was hanging on the hanger hook, so I grabbed them as he climbed in my car so that they wouldn't get soaked. Starting up the road, there were some boys playing in the street (the rain had apparently stopped already). I honked my horn as hard as I possibly could. I was frustrated that they were in my way, and even when one backed out of my way, he was still RIGHT next to my car. I decided to reach out and push him as I drove past. I looked back at Jim and he was frightened by my road rage. I told him "the more you honk, the more you honk," meaning if you honk your horn once, it gets in your blood and makes you want to honk more! 


*This is the point in my dream when I woke up to my alarm to wish my mom a happy birthday!*

*****YAY!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!!!!*****

Upon falling back asleep, I recall being crammed in a van with my dad, a strange man and his daughter that we were giving a ride home, and 3 other girls, all around the age of 10, and my friend, Jamie. The guy kept arguing with my dad, and I knew Dad was getting annoyed. The guy insisted that we stop at this street sale to see his family's small heirloom photo that was there. I got out briefly to see what he insisted on stopping for (I didn't think it was worth it). Before getting back in the van, all of a sudden my mom was there and she said I had called her and complained while I was in the van. But it wasn't me. My purse w/ phone inside was under the seat. So I knew exactly who it was; it was Betty, one of the annoying little girls in the back seat. Now, I started to get worried that I wasn't going to get all my possessions back. We had apparently all had fancy hairdos at some point, because all us girls had tons of bobby pins. They were all sizes and colors. I tried to get them sorted out so everyone had their own. There were regular color, purple, standard size, and quarter-inch size.

Then began my new day....

Music Class

It was my second time to this place, and this time I was driving myself instead of riding with someone. I remember taking the off-ramp. It was sorta like school. Everyone went to different classes, but only 3 of us went to music class: my friend Sally*, her boyfriend and myself. But it was the first week of class, so the teacher talked to us for a few minutes, then left us alone, no singing or anything. It seems like we just sat there with our heads down for the rest of the time. 

As we were leaving, I headed towards the stairs (it was in an attic-type room) and saw that Sally's hair had changed. It was in funky, swoopy french braids! They're hard to explain, but the braids curved down over her ears then back up to her head. And the braids acted as a reminder for all of us of something earlier in the dream (unfortunately, I can't recall what). Then as we were leaving, the teacher made a weird comment to Sally about her shirt being see-through (she was wearing a beige tank top). But I was like, "it's not see-through, you're fine."

When we got back downstairs and met up with other friends, we told them about our lame, non-musical music class. 

At another point in the dream, I remember being at something like a makeup counter in a department store. Not for any reason, I just recall seeing it.

The rest of the dream is a blur, but I remember being around a lot of friends.

*remember, names have been changed to protect identities!

Great Purpose.

Yeah, ok, so this blog isn't really that purposeful. It's really just a place to log the crazy dreams that happen in my subconscious night after night. It was a long and drawn out process of creating this blog... many months of planning, surveying and preparing...... ah, who am I kidding, I thought up the idea yesterday and decided to go for it today!

As much as I would love to be super-dedicated to blogging everyday, I'm just not. I never have been. But I'll do my best to keep this updated frequently. And keep in mind, although I remember my dreams, that doesn't mean I remember them in their entirety! So, often I will remember only bits and pieces, but I'll give ya whatever I can.

Another note, since I'm usually dreaming about semi-real-life stuff, real-life people show up. Therefore, any names will be changed, and occasionally content will be edited. Just sayin'. 

Hope you enjoy dreaming vicariously through me!