Thursday, December 18, 2008

Thursday, Dec 18, 2008

I was on travel with RW (our old branch manager). For some reason I took J. Not sure why, but he was definitely there. And strangely, I wasn't sharing a room with J; I was sharing a room with RW. Maybe I was just IN RW's room. I'm not sure. But my things were there and I had a key to his room. (I'm not sure what this says about my relationship with J, but I think it just points out that Richard trusted me with just about everything and I felt the need to be there for him at any cost.)

I don't remember the first day of our training, but I know that it was behind us. Today was Day 2. I was in an elevator with RW and we were on our way to our training class. The elevator was moving and I was leaning on a railing. Not a railing that you find on the walls of the elevator; this one was right in front of the doors. We couldn't have gotten out if the doors opened because of this railing. And I was leaning forward against it, like I was looking through the doors. It was then that Richard came up behind me and held me close to him. I could feel his body touching mind from my head to my feet. (I picture him holding onto me like a three-year-old girl holds a very soft teddy bear or a non-swimmer clutching a life raft. I honestly don't know which is more appropriate. But don't think that something more sexually violent didn't cross my mind.) I asked him to let me go, but he didn't. I think he thought I was just being coy. So more forcefully, I told him that I didn't like it and wanted him to let me go right now. He didn't say a word and still didn't let me go. I finally yelled out that he had two seconds to let me go or I was screaming bloody murder. I then counted "One Mississippi, two Mississippi." He didn't let go immediately. So, I screamed out for help. Very loudly. This seemed to make the elevator doors open. The railing had disappeared and I was practically thrown out of the elevator. I don't remember RW pushing me out, but perhaps he did. (I equate this to RW's ability to toss us aside when we're of no use to him.) Thankfully, RW didn't follow me.

Now I was outdoors and naked. I don't remember being naked IN the elevator, but I sure was now. And I don't know why I wasn't in a hallway instead of outside, but I was. (I think this illustrates how absolutely vulnerable I was to the entire situation.) I quickly asked a couple of teenage girls if they had a jacket or something that I could wrap up in. They didn't, but turned to a teenage boy for his jacket. As I was wrapping his jacket around me, I remember staring into his face. Without saying a word, I conveyed a heart-felt thank you, but I also wanted to memorize his face so that I knew who to return the jacket to once I no longer needed it. I didn't recognize any of kids, but I remember thinking that they were so mature and grown-up, not pointing and laughing, but being as helpful as they could. I was touched. (I think this represents my need to have someone there who was 'good', kind to the core.)

The next thing I know, I'm back in the hotel heading up to RW's room so that I can get dressed and pack up my things. I even remember putting on black and silver striped spandex shorts under my pants. (I have no idea why!) Then I went to work…the office. In my dream, I didn't think it was strange that I could be on travel and that close to the office at the same time. I was sitting in 'the girls' cubicle (Wendy and Cheryl, of course). My plan was to vent about the situation. But they were hard at work on something and I didn’t want to interrupt them. Then Kim walked in. She was surprised to see me as I was supposed to be on travel. I quickly told her that I needed to get away from RW as he had accosted me. (That's the word I used in my dream.) Kim said that she'd handle it, but that she was working a hot issue with Wendy and Cheryl and would get to it as soon as she could.

I then was trying to figure out how to get back to my travel location, get my things out of RW's room and into J's room, and not miss my afternoon training session -- all without running into RW. While processing this, I realized that I was no longer in Wendy and Cheryl's cubicle; I was at my parents' house. I even remember thinking that even if I got back to where my training was, I wouldn't have a vehicle to get around in. That's when my mom reminded me that J and I drove out there. So, I'd have a car…but I don't think I know how to get from the hotel to the training class. About that time, a bus pulled up in front of the house. I just 'knew' that my friend Brandi was on the bus and for some reason I just 'knew' that she needed to head in the same direction as my training class, so I could follow her. So, I ran out to the bus to look for her, but the people on the bus told me she wasn't there today. (This is me feeling lost, confused, and overwhelmed.)

As part of a different conversation at my parents', my sister said that she thought that our older brother Alan was getting us little Angel game controllers for Christmas. I confirmed that to be true because I had actually seen them…small, round, fuzzy, and cute. My dad tried to quiet me from spoiling the surprise on Alan's gift. So, I tried to change my story, but it was too late. (I don't have any idea what this is all about…distracted by something shiny, perhaps?)

Eventually, I had to return to my travel location. So, my mom and my little brother agreed to help me get there. The three of us and J (I don't know how/when he got there) were in my mom's convertible with the top down and the windows up. My mom has no such vehicle. After a bit, we chose to take a left on a narrow street. (Wrong turn? Bad choice?) The car didn't fit down that street, so we had to walk. We got to one particular intersection where my mom pointed out that there were no traffic signs or lights. So, our decision to cross would be dangerous. But we did it anyway. Even my mom was running across the street. (Again, going against the norm, bad decision?)

The next thing I remember, I was in my cubicle. (When all else fails, just get back to work!) DW (our new branch manager) walked past and noticed that I was here. He asked me where the heck I'd been, that there was a lot to do and it wasn't getting done in my absence. He was sarcastic and angry, swinging his arms around, eyes bulging out, speaking loudly without yelling, telling me that I was totally dropping the ball. I just remember thinking that I was actually doing work things, just for a different boss…a boss that tried to take advantage of me and hurt me. (This is me feeling like I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't.)

Then my alarm woke me up so that I could go to work.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Wednesday, Dec 17, 2008

I was driving J to school. We were in a car that was the same color as my car, but not the same make and model. It was much sportier, a Camaro maybe. I just remember that I kept noticing the hood as I was driving. At one point, I was sitting at a stoplight, waiting to turn left. Jeff wanted to go over to the Burger King to get something to drink. So, while I was sitting there, he walked right over there, across traffic and into the restaurant. I kept thinking that the light was going to turn green before he got back. THEN what was I going to do.

Needless to say, the light turned green and J was still in the restaurant getting something to drink. I knew that if I turned left, I'd be going further away from him. So, I waited as long as I could, then I drove straight through the light, breaking a law to avoid upsetting J. Once I was through the intersection, I stopped…right there in the middle of the road…waiting on J. I knew I was not in a place I was supposed to be. But I figured there would be more chance that he'd see me there than if I kept driving. I just kept pleading for him to hurry up so that I could get out of the middle of the road.

Finally, he showed up in the parking lot. But he had to wait on traffic to get to my car. It seemed to take forever and I was getting very frustrated. I'm sure he wanted me to swing by and pick him up, but there was no graceful way to accomplish that. So, I waited…in the middle of the road. He eventually got in my car. The first thing I noticed was that he had the biggest possible cup of coke. Excess. J is all about excess.

My next goal was to try to get back to the school. This is where I started to lose it. I was over-reacting to everything, expecting the worst to come from every decision that I made. I just wanted it all to be over. Finally, I got to the correct road. But instead of slowly following the car in front of me, I started to come up on it, along it's driver's side. I shouldn't have. I knew I was doing something wrong. J knew I was doing something wrong. He even asked me why I was doing it. All I said was that I was trying to get AWAY from the other car. But I assure you, that's not at all how it looked…or felt.

Ultimately, I veered left across incoming traffic and into the grass, swerved around a couple of trees, just to get to the school parking lot. Because of a creek, I couldn't do that. J was so embarrassed that he got out of the car and walked the rest of the way. I then turned around and made my way back to the road. I fully expected to be pulled over and was already developing 'my story' in my head. But I wasn't pulled over at all. Instead, I was emotionally falling apart because of the whole situation.

That's all I remember.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Friday, Oct 3, 2008

At one point in my dream, I was in a car with Curt K. (a co-worker). I can't remember all of the details, but I think I went to pick him up because it was raining. So, I would have been driving. But I distinctly remember running around the car as if we were trading seats. I also remember that I wasn't wearing any pants, though that didn't seem strange at the time.

We drive by these three buildings. There were all on the same property, owned by the same company, and looked very much alike structurally. They could have been apartment buildings or office buildings; I could tell from the outside. But I took note that they'd been recently redecorated on the outside. The main entrances were on the short side of the building, opening to a long hallway the length of the building, with doors down each side of the hall. The new decorations consisted of a colorful, three-dimensional (like a pop-up book) flourish of color going from the ground and ending about ten feet above the roof of the building. It was the shape of billowing clouds. And they were different colors on each of the buildings.

In another part of my dream, I was getting yelled at by my bosses, four of them: David (my branch manager), Angie (my division manager), a guy that I recognize from television), and another person that I can no longer remember. They were yelling at me for ordering a $500 fishing pole. I kept saying that, as a contractor, I really only do what I'm told, that I don't question a government employee's purchase request. If they tell me to put in the paperwork to order it, I do it. I went as far as to ask them that if one of them would appreciate it if I would question or second-guess something they asked me to purchase. But instead of answering my question, they pointed out again that it was a $500 fishing pole, meaning that it was obvious that I should know better.

At one point, the TV guy pointed to the order form and spoke quietly to Angie that this is exactly the same way that Richard (my old branch manager) got these kinds of orders through. He was talking about the type of contract, not the fact that I did the paperwork.

Oh, I should mention, the order was given to me by Dan (a friend, not a co-worker that I would normally order things for). He's not a government employee either, though I'm thinking he was in my dream.

Ultimately, I got to leave the interrogation because I had another meeting. This one was in a large conference room with chairs lining the walls. I was not very happy after my recent butt chewing, so I was pretty much sulking in the back of the room. I asked someone where my 'stuff' was. They pointed to a small pile of things along the opposite wall. I went over and gathered my things (a Blackberry, a notebook, my phone, etc.) and returned to my chair. I proceeded to check my email and such. Mostly, I was distracting myself from thinking about the run-in with my bosses. I decided to send a message to my friend Dan that we had to talk. I wanted to warn him that he could be hearing about it from management about purchasing a $500 fishing pole through government resources. But I also wanted to give him a hard time for making ME order it for him.

Before I forget, I even remember my Blackberry screen. It was black with a jagged silver lightning bolt going down the screen, from one corner to the opposite corner. When I went to the option to send a message, there was the same black screen, this time with a pound sign at the top in that same jagged, silver font.

As I was typing up a message to Dan, a young girl who had no business being in our meeting, said to me that she was sorry that my friend died. I knew she was talking about Dan, but I didn't really believe her. I went ahead and sent the message to Dan and hoped to hear back from him right away.

JUST SO YOU KNOW:
I've never been in a car with Curt K. I don't think I've ever seen the remodeled buildings in real life. I don't know the significance of the boss that looks familiar to me from television. But I think it's interesting that I've forgotten the identity of yet another person in my dream…that's becoming a recurring thing for me. (I'm with three people, only two of whom I can remember specifically, etc.)

As for the purchasing thing… My previous branch manager had me do all of the paperwork for all of his purchases. I don't know the purchasing world and had a bit of heartburn with this. I was specifically worried about ordering something that didn't meet his specs simply because I didn't know what I was doing. But everything I did was signed off by a government employee, so it's not like I could do too much damage.

I checked, Dan is fine.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Sunday, Sept 21, 2008

I was cat-sitting three cats. One of them was named Secret; I don't remember the names of the other two. At one point, I was inside the house with one of the cats while this guy (someone I knew in my dream but can't remember now) was outside the sliding glass door with the other two. He wanted the cat that I had, so we were going to trade. But ultimately, the cat with me didn't want to go outside. So, I had two cats and he had Secret.

Later, I was at work. Peg S. was there, as were many others who I couldn't name now. I was making two large pots of soup. One was chili. I think the other was something with noodles. I was adding final ingredients and stirring. Then I returned to our main work area. That's where I saw Peg. She needed a 'flame' to heat one of the pots of soup. Strangely, the flame that was there looked like it was shooting out a laser beam. We knew that was too dangerous, but we found it very intriguing. The longer is was lit, the more intricate the beam became. It started out as a straight line, kind of jagged with pulsating energy. It was yellow, I think, reaching out until it touched something. Eventually, it was several colors and appeared to be a structure with many lines. Finally we stopped playing with it and got a working (safely) flame.

The next thing I remember, I was traveling with Roger W. (my elementary school art teacher that I see occasionally at religious retreats). By the time we were dismissed and allowed to travel home, it was going to take us until 4am the next day to get there. Ugh! I was NOT looking forward to the long drive.

At one point in the drive, we hit a quaint, well-manicured town. We stopped to rest. While there, we were inside a HUGE building, like a mall. Everyone traveled by way of skate board. I had a difficult time getting my skateboard up on the walk way and a young gentleman helped me.

We were at the point where we were going into this one room in order to eat breakfast. There was a young Amish mother trying to coax her little boy out of the pathway, but he wouldn't budge. I know she was trying to teach him, but I remember thinking that I'd pick him up and move him instead of holding up all these people.

Eventually Roger and I were making sure we had each other's cell phone numbers just in case we got separated on the road. Then another lady came into the room and made sure Roger's number was on my cell phone…but she thought it was HER phone. We tried to convince her otherwise, but she couldn't be convinced. She even referred to it as her Mickey Mouse phone. Lucky for me, she didn't take it with her. She sat it back on the counter and walked away. I quickly picked it up and put it in my pocket, saying, "Does this LOOK like a Mickey Mouse phone?"

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Saturday, Sept 20, 2008

I was driving my mom's old '72 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme and Jeff was with me. Jeff wanted to drive, so I pulled over to the side of the road, left the lights on, and got out of the car. But instead of just walking around the car and getting into the passenger seat, I started walking as if he couldn't have anyone else in his car with him.

Hours later, I was in a very large house watching television. It crossed my mind a couple of times that Jeff still wasn't home and I was concerned about it. But even more, I think I was hiding from someone and sometimes thankful that I didn't have to hide Jeff too.

At one point, my Uncle George walked into the room with his hands in his pants pockets. I said hi, as did he. I was surprised to see him there. It was then that I noticed that my Uncle Joe was already there. I felt kind of bad for not noticing before, so I said hi to him as well.

Then the violence started. There were several men firing weapons. I don't think they were firing AT us; we just happened to be there. The first incident was only a few shots and a bunch of guys running around. The second incident was much more involved - more people, more gunfire, and it lasted much longer.

At first, we just tried ducking and hiding from the bullets. Eventually, I found a great hiding place in a walk-in closet. I turned off the light and hid behind a bunch of low-hanging clothes. Again, I was worried about Jeff because he probably wouldn't be able to find me either. At this point, I hoped that he DIDN'T arrive until after the gunfire had stopped.

JUST SO YOU KNOW:
My mom really did have a '72 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. I recently saw my Uncle Joe at a funeral, but my Uncle George wasn't there. This home didn't look familiar to me at all.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Thursday, Sept 11, 2008

I witnessed an incident (couldn't tell you what it was) along with several other people. In our attempt to report what we knew, we were told to go to a particular building. In doing that, we waited in line with our pieces of evidence. I was carrying a shirt and jacket. For some reason, only one of us could enter the building at a time. The rest of us were waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

As it came our turn to go in, this very kind, young lady told us exactly where to go. But for some reason, I couldn't get through the half-doors at the top of the stairs. I was trying to push my way through them and should have been pulling. I was resigned to simply stepping over them (they were just over knee high) when the kind lady noticed my struggles and helped me out.

I followed her instructions as best I could remember, but got a little lost. I ended up near the room where the perpetrator was being interrogated. Another lady quickly guided me out of his line of site. She sat me down and asked me to do a written statement. As I was doing that (I couldn't tell you what I wrote), this lady began defending the man that I was writing about. Ultimately, she told me that I should just drop the whole thing. I began to wonder if she'd even hand in my written statement. So, I asked for it back. She became very protective of it and said that since I'd already turned it in, it was against policy to allow me the opportunity to change anything about it. So, she wouldn't give it back to me. It was then that I insisted at least on the opportunity to sign it.

She seemed very upset that I wanted to press charges against this man. I told her that I wasn't, that it wasn't me, that I was just providing a statement about what I'd seen, per the request of someone in charge. I then told her that I wasn't the only one...that there was a whole line of people behind me, just waiting for their turn to do this exact same thing. And whereas I only brought in a shirt and jacket,t he person immediately behind me had 'the table'. Apparently, this was like the smoking gun of evidence in this case.

JUST SO YOU KNOW:
I have NO IDEA what this dream represents in my life.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Wednesday, Sept 10, 2008

I was sitting at the kitchen table in my parents' house with my mom and one other person (I don't remember who...again!). There was a knock on the sliding glass door. It didn't scare us, though I would have expected that. It was light inside and dark outside, so I couldn't see through the window, just saw my reflection. So, I put my face against the window with my hands cupped around my eyes, trying to determine who was knocking on the door.

There were two teenage boys there, dressed in dark pants and white shirts with ties...missionaries. So, I let them in. They started describing their faith while we all sat around the kitchen table. Eventually though, there were several tables in a much larger room with many people there. And others got to do their presentations as well.

At one point, it looked as if all was about to be done. So, I got up to start cleaning up. I got a wet wash cloth and started wiping down the tables. I went from one table to the next until I got to this piece of machinery that desperately needed to be dusted. So, I started dusting it. It looked shiny and new by the time I was done.

Getting ready to go, there was a congregation of people near the door, but I can't remember why. It was like a bunch of people were waiting for the doors to open or something.

The next thing I remember, several of us were in MY bathroom...my real bathroom in my real house. And we were drinking shots. The young missionary boys are gone by this point. The only other person I remember now is Ron W. (from work). He sat his denim cap on my washer, drank his shot, and then had to go. I asked him if he wanted his cap. He said that his wife was used to seeing him without it, so he'd get it back later. As we left, I noticed a full shot glass sitting on the shelf and wondered who didn't drink theirs.

The next thing I remember, there was a competition, a King of the Mountain type of game. I can't remember if I was once a competitor, but by this time, there were only three people left...two women and a man. They were playing tug of war, trying to knock their opponents into the pool. One of the women pulled the man into the water in a way that defies physics as far as I'm concerned. I remember even thinking that during my dream. There was the pool, the guy, and then the woman. In that order. But somehow, by pulling on her rope, the guy ended up in the pool.

The next event was the two girls enduring pain, a beating actually. They were standing 6- feet apart. Between them was another woman who was a very fast, martial artist. She was throwing body parts all over the place, hitting and kicking the two female competitors from head to toe. It was unbelievable how long they endured this beating. I don't now who won that round.

Somewhere in my dream - now sure when - I was in church. It was very crowded and I was sitting with three other people. I normally attend mass with my family, but not this time. I know that I knew them, but I can't remember how I knew them now. At least two of them were guys - the other was a girl, I think. It came time for communion. Instead of waiting our turn, we got in line early. I got the impression that we were hiding from someone, trying to get lost in the crowd. I would have thought that us joining the line early would have been confusing or annoying to the other parishioners, but it didn't seem to even be noticed. As we were returning to our pew, the guys darted out the exit and the girl ducked into a pew sitting with someone else. So, my head was racing, trying to decide if I should live, sit with strangers, or simply go back to my seat. I think I went back to my seat, though I can't remember exactly.

JUST SO YOU KNOW:
I rarely invite strangers into my house, even if they're on a mission for the Lord. I have only done 'a shot' maybe once in my entire life.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Monday, Sept 8, 2008

We were finishing up today’s religious education class. One of the boys in the class has brought in snacks that we’d be having for the next class and wanted to leave them with me. Not sure why he brought them in a week early, but it didn’t seem strange in my dream. So, I packed them with our school supplies to make sure they didn’t get lost.

For some reason, our next class was going to be held in a different building…the church rectory, I think.

Although I thought I was the teacher, I was specifically asked if I would be available to teach the next lesson. I thought about it for a moment, referencing my internal day planner, then replied in the affirmative.

Later, I was in a large room with several people. I don’t remember what we were doing there. But my memory of the room was like our old cafeteria in elementary school, built long before any of us were alive. Old, musty, monochrome. While we were arriving and settling in, it dawned on me that I was to be on travel the following week and would NOT be available to teach the religious education class. So, I started asking the people around me if they’d be interested in filling in for me. Tina G., an old classmate of mine, said that she’d have to check with her husband, but that she thought she could. I started to tell her about the basket of supplies and snacks, then told her I’d follow up the next day (after she spoke with her husband).

Then I remember being concerned that I forgot my trip the following week. I started wondering what else I might have forgotten. Or what else I might have planned because I’d forgotten my trip. Why was this trip so “back-burner” in my brain?

JUST SO YOU KNOW:
Just this past weekend, there was a notice in our church bulletin about a meeting for the religion teachers. I have taught 7th grade religion for the last five years, but intend to take this year off. I’ve mentioned that to one of the Directors of Religious Ed, but not the one that’s in charge of the older grades…mostly because she just inherited the post. Also, the last year that I taught, I did every other class with a friend of mine. So, perhaps that’s why I was asked if I’d be available the following week. Also, I have a trip planned in just over a month. It’s not specifically for the project that I’m working on and I’m not all that thrilled about going. Not to mention, I’ve been totally covered up by other aspects of work. So, perhaps this dream is a reminder that my next trip isn’t really on my radar yet.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Sunday, Sept 7, 2008

I was at work (not my current office) helping the new guy (no one I currently know) with UNIX commands. I wasn't the best with UNIX commands and probably wasn't the best person in the office to help him. Nevertheless, I was. We got through it. He was patient with me not knowing the answers off the top of my head.

When we were done, I went to the break room to get a can of Pepsi. I put a dollar into the machine and got back a TON of change, all silver coins... and two large football collectible coins that one might get out of a cereal box.

At one point I was talking to a girl with curlers in her hair. I don't remember when or where or even what we were discussing. But she had three pink curlers for her bangs and only one more on each side for the hair that hung down by her face.

JUST SO YOU KNOW:
I have NO IDEA what this dream represents in my life.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Saturday, Sept 6, 2008

I went to a swimming competition. At first there were only two women set to race. It was a relatively small pool, not many spectator seats, walls relatively close to the pool edge. We watched the race by standing at the railing around the pool and looking down at the swimmers.

Everyone was talking about how the first race was going to be a blow-out. But more amazing, the woman that was supposed to win didn't effectively kick. Ultimately, her arms did most of the work. Everyone was amazed at how fast she could swim without an effective kick. I remember watching her kick as she swam. Sure enough they were right. AND she won by a large margin. They only swam one length of the pool, so the race went very quickly.

The next event that I remember had more swimmers and the pool was bigger. But it also required other people in the pool. Several women got into the pool to judge or maybe guide the competitors. Two of these women were in the three middle lanes, one in front of the other. And they were meticulous about spacing themselves so that the spectators could still see when each swimmer touched the far wall.

The stroke that the competitors were swimming was very strange. I've never seen anything like it before. The girls were swimming on their backs, but they were bent at the waist, putting their knees near their faces. The moved through the water by contracting their stomach muscles, which moved the lower half of their bodies (the part out of the water) up and down. This movement apparently was enough to force movement through the water. I remember thinking that it was the strangest thing I'd ever seen.

The next thing I remember is being able to do hair...in a very unique fashion. Four, maybe five, young ladies were sitting in chairs along the wall. I think we were still at the pool. There were instructions somewhere that told me what I could change about each woman's hair style.

The first lady was LENGTH. As her hair got longer, it was also fuller, bigger. It grew in much the same way as those little play-dough toys. But unlike the play-dough version, if I got her hair too long for my taste, I could dial it back a little to make it shorter again.

The second lady was COLOR. I remember wanting to make her a reddish blond color. Getting it perfect was a challenge. I kept going back and forth between this much red and that much red. But I finally pulled it off to my satisfaction.

I don't remember the last two to three girls specifically, though one of them was CURL. I just remember that as I gave her more curl, sometimes her hair would get longer too. All of the hair came out twisted together. I had to pull it apart with my hands. Then it would be very curly.

I remember that in order to change the amount or intensity of the feature that each woman's hair offered, I do it NOT by turning a knob or using a remote control, but by adjusting the location of a tiny rubber band near the end of a braid. I think it was attached tot he wall or maybe the seat each was sitting in, NOT part of her hair.

I also remember that one of the girls had quite the attitude. I don't know if she was always like that or if it was just a bad day for her.

Finally, we were in the dorms and one of the girls was telling us about how they were a 'controlled community' to some extent. It was a conscious decision by either them or their parents to put them in a school that monitored their actions as far as what they watched on television or activities allowed in the dorms.

Everyone was specifically taught to respectfully answer the door and the phone. One of the reasons is because it could be the dean of students just as easily as one of their boyfriends.

Also, there were two different hallways: one for those who were messy and disorganized and one for those who were neat and orderly. And they respected each other's space enough to NOT to change the people in the opposite hall way.

I remember telling them that they needed a high-tech sign when the dean or someone like that was calling...like all the lights flashing in a blind person's house. I just thought that since they were so consistent and dedicated to following all of the other rules, they deserved to know when the 'big guy' was calling.

JUST SO YOU KNOW:
None of this dream relates directly to anything going on in my world...as far as I know. But as I was writing the last paragraph, my head was filled with the bible verse about not knowing when the Master will come. Mark 13:32-37

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Tuesday, Sept 2, 2008

I was at a dance tryout, kind of like the dance squad that I was on in high school. For some reason, initially, a handful of us didn't thing we were eligible to try out. So we weren't really paying attention. We were watching, but not really learning. But eventually, we were called down to the floor to learn the dance. We were all a little stunned, but more excited than anything else.

Instead of spreading out across the gym floor, we were sitting in folding chairs. One of the instructors teaching the dance said that if we were pointed to, that meant that we were doing better than the person in the chair in front of us. At that point, we were to trade places with that person. The ultimate goal was to 'blaze a trail' to the front row.

While we were learning the routine, I couldn't decide if I should watch the lady on the stage, who was facing us while doing a 'mirror image' of the routine (if she pointed to her right, we were to point to our left) OR if I should just follow the person in front of me. I opted for the latter, but quickly realized that I would never be better than she was if I was only doing what she was doing.

After going through the routine a couple of times, we were free to practice on our own or in groups for awhile before the official try-outs. At this point, we were outdoors. My friend Jackie H. mentioned that she was going to call my cousin Carrie G. for help. I was wondering how Jackie could get Carrie's help in time for the try-outs, but I didn't press it. I just asked if Carrie had experience on a dance team. Jackie said she sure hoped so.

Just before grouping up, it was announced that an entire team was withdrawing from the try-outs. They were mostly guys, dressed in purple outfits with glitter. I got the impression that they thought that this was a training camp and not an actual try-out. They didn't think they were good enough, so they bowed out.

There were a couple of others that I remember being there: Chris W. and Bobbi H. So, I went up to their group to practice with them. I remember thinking that I knew the routine, but I really needed to work on my pops (popping each pose...not like we ever called it that, but I did in my dreams). As I was approaching them, there was one lady in a turquoise green colored leotard who was totally stressing out about this try-out...to the point of hyperventilation. I grabbed her hands, looked her straight in the eye, and said, "Let's stick with what we already know. First of all, you are beautiful. They'll LOVE that. Second, you look like a dancer. That's definitely going to help. Now you just need to practice. You'll be fine."

She completely stopped crying and said a heartfelt thank you as she took a deep breath.

The only other thing I remember is that instead of playing the music for our practice time, we were trying to sing the song. Some people were counting, some people were singing, some people were actually calling out what steps came next. Each little group was doing this on their own, so it was a lot of chaotic noise all over the place.

I don't remember ever trying out. I was still in practice mode when I woke up.

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Sunday, Aug 31, 2008

I was working on a craft project with my family, though I don't remember who all was there. I just remember that we had laid down a towel, folded in half, on the floor. The fold of the towel was wet and we were putting various colors of dye along the fold. But we were having a hard time because the towel was sometimes too wet or too dry. When it was too wet, we had to wring it out, let it dry a little bit, and start over.

It just seemed like we weren't making much progress. Everyone was a little frustrated with the whole thing. I'm not even sure why we were doing it. I think we were using that wet, dyed towel as our ink palette and pressing either material or paper along the different colors. But I'm not positive.

Ultimately, everyone else went to bed and I said I'd work on it a little longer on my own. That's when I remember looking outside. There was a breeze and I half expected snowflakes to come down, but I don't think they did. It was then that I overheard a conversation, on the TV I think.

A man and his adult son were discussing their latest job. Apparently they owned a home business where they appraised people's homes. The son was telling his father that he had made several phone calls and couldn't learn anything about this older lady's home. He was ready to just make something up. The story that he came up with was that the home was previously owned by a man who inherited it, so he didn't actually have to pay for it. Hence, it was unknown how much it cost.

I just remember thinking that they were being deceitful. Just something about their tone made me think they weren't being completely truthful with the old woman. Then I tried to figure out what benefit there would be to them to lie to the woman about the value of her home.

I don't think I ever returned to our craft project.

JUST SO YOU KNOW:
I have NO IDEA what this dream represents in my life.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Saturday, Aug 30, 2008

I usually pride myself on all the details that I remember from my dreams. This morning, I only remember two things from my dream. My mom was there. And there were little baby chicks. (Is that redundant? Baby AND chicks?) Actually, we kept calling them baby chicks until we finally discovered they were baby ducks. That's really all I remember.

JUST SO YOU KNOW:
I have NO IDEA what this dream represents in my life.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Thursday, Aug 8, 2008

I was going over to Sandy's house with friends. I think I was dropping off kids for her to babysit for. I couldn't stay long because I had to get to church; I was the canter. But while there, Sandy wanted to show me the changes she made to a banner she was making for me.

It was approximately 2 1/2' by 2 1/2', mostly light blue in color. It had words across the top, though I don't remember what they said. And along the left side, there was a white piece of material with white letter stenciled on it. It was very subtle but noticeable. There was also red material and gold glitter on the main body of the banner.

Sandy said that she hoped I didn't mind that she copied from my website a little, but instead of having the words on the white panel appear vertically, it might be better if they were horizontal. I apparently asked that they be displayed vertically along the left side of the banner. Sandy tried that, but couldn't get everything to fit just right, so she removed the lettering…leaving the shiny, white residue that we could see now…a very interesting feature. As she was telling me this, she was using a small ruler to 'scrape off' the old letters and flatten the banner. I agreed with her assessment.

I then went to church. I was whining (jokingly) to someone (I don't remember who was with me) that I couldn't believe Mom had left without me. She was the lector for the same mass that I was the canter for. I got to the church RIGHT before mass started. And I was showing my friend to her seat, when I noticed that the organist was leaning over the side of the choir loft, looking for me. So, I immediately made my way upstairs. The organist was Sandy. It never crossed my mind to wonder how she got there before me.

In another part of my dream (or perhaps a different dream), I was in a house that wasn't my own. And I wasn't alone. I think we were house-sitting, but perhaps we were just visiting. I decided to take a nice, long, hot bath. Unfortunately, I could only find a shower…and even that was difficult to find. It was in a closet. I opened a door, walked past clothes hanging on both sides of me and there was the shower in the back of this fairly large closet. The only reason I found it there was because I heard the water running. I don’t know why the water was running. The shower was large, a deep mulberry color, and had a bench seat. I figured out that once I closed the drain, the front wall of the shower came up out of the floor and sealed, making a deep bath tub. Ahhh, I was going to get to take my long, hot bath after all. But since all of this took me so long, as I was filling up the tub, the homeowners came home and I had to quickly stop my bath time plans.

JUST SO YOU KNOW:
I am scheduled to canter at mass this weekend and Sandy is the organist that I'll be working with. But I've never been to her house, couldn't even tell you where it is. I don't have kids that she could babysit for and don't even know if she babysits. Her twins are in the same grade as my son, seniors in high school.

I have no idea what the symbolism of the banner or its coloring is. I'm also at a loss about the whole shower scene.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Friday, June 11, 2008

I was working with Nancy S. (former teacher) and a couple of others I don't remember in a large warehouse kind of building. At one point, we had to move a very tall ladder from one end of the room to the other. It was difficult to move because of its height of about 30 feet or more. We kept hitting the ceiling. Once we got it set up, it was like a carnival ride. I was sitting on the ladder with several other people. And I was clinging to Rick B. (a co-worker). Then the ride began. It went around and around. And as it picked up speed, it went higher off the ground. It was really fun, but a little scary too.

After that, Sue D. (from my hometown) was polishing my nails. She poured a white powder on them and then used a heat tool to finish the process. It was like me heat embossing greeting cards. Although the powder was white, the nails turned out a bright reddish-pink color. And they were huge!

At this point, we weren't in a warehouse. I was sitting in a beauty shop. Sue did nails and hair. But in the same room was a bar/restaurant that Sue was in charge of. At one point, I heard her tell one of the waitresses to tell Adam A. (son of a friend) that he had to leave. I’m not sure why. And I don’t remember Adam ever leaving. I also noticed that all of the staff was wearing baseball caps.

When Sue was done with my nails, she told me how much I owed her and I went out to my car to get my checkbook. I had to walk through the bar/restaurant. I noticed that no one was actually working. They were all sitting on the lounge chairs just hanging out. It was difficult to tell who was an employee and who was a patron. Anyway, I went out to my car, got my checkbook, went back in, paid my bill, and left.

This time, my car was in a different place, in a lined, paved parking lot instead of a gravel lot. I also remember wanting to sneak into the baseball field. So, I started walking that way. Just before I got there, a car was coming. So, I threw myself to the ground and rolled under my car in order to hide. In no time at all, I found that I was hiding with three other people, all also wearing denim shirts. I actually saw their reflections in the chrome parts of my car before I actually saw them. One of them was Larry A. (an old boss). Apparently we all wanted to sneak into the baseball field. We had just started discussing if we were still going to do this, now together instead of individually, when I woke up. I don't remember anything after that.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

I had another dream where I was trying to pay my tab at a restaurant and I couldn't seem to accomplish that simple task.

At first, I was at a craft show of sorts. I remember that Mom had a couple of antiques that she was trying to sell and they were marked down really low. They looked to be worth something. But when we asked her about it, she said that she never expected to get out of them what they were worth. So, she was okay with getting at least something for them.

Next I remember talking to Michelle (my sister-in-law) about a mutual friend's home business...still at this craft show I can't remember who the friend was though. But this friend was also at the craft show selling her merchandise. And Michelle kept trying to get her to be more driven, more ambitious. This friend was doing a pretty good job making sales. But she wasn't being very fast. Her customers were waiting for her constantly. Michelle offered to help her, by showing her ways to be more efficient, but our friend wouldn't (or couldn't) adjust. At the end of the day, our friend was satisfied with the money she made, but Michelle was convinced that she could have made 2-3 times what she did.

Then we went to get something to eat. At this point, I was with Mykle and Terri (good friends of mine) and one other person. (I've noticed in my dreams that I'm regularly forgetting the identity of one person.) We asked for our meals in ‘to go’ boxes. It took awhile to get them and we just chatted about things while we waited. But as soon as our food came out, we felt rushed to get out of the restaurant. Our ‘to go’ boxes were delivered to us on trays. So, we went to put the trays in this bin and leave. After taking our food out to the vehicle, I realized that I hadn't paid for mine. I'm not sure how or when the others paid for theirs; we were together the entire time. But when I went back into the restaurant by myself to pay for my lunch, I couldn't get anyone to wait on me. I was part of a long line (much like my previous dream about checking out of a restaurant) and we were roaming around trying to find someone who would allow us to pay for our meals so that we could leave. We even went up to two different cash registers, only to be told that they couldn't help us.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

In my dream last night, I was voted homecoming queen.

I remember that I was on a dance team, like the ones that dance during halftime of high school basketball games. (By the way, I happened to be on just such a team when I was in high school. Oh, and I wasn't even NOMINATED for ANY queen!) But in my dream, I wasn't going to get to dance unless I lost 40 pounds...as if that could actually happen during the course of one basketball season. But because I was voted homecoming queen, I didn't have to worry about losing the weight right away because I wouldn't be dancing. They also told me that I couldn't tell anyone until it was announced at the game. I'm not sure why I was told ahead of time. But I remember thinking that everyone was going to know think that I wasn't dancing because I couldn't lose the weight, NOT because I was the queen. I wanted so much to tell people the truth, but I wasn't allowed to say a word.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Friday, February 22, 2008

The first thing I remember was I was walking down the hall at work. John W. was standing in front of the door that leads downstairs. And he’s whispering loudly for me to hurry up or I’ll miss it. So, I hurry to where he’s standing and see his kids playing on the stairwell. In my dream, I remember thinking that we had just talked about how I’d never met his wife and kids before, so it was ironic that I had this opportunity so soon after that conversation. I also remember thinking that these kids didn’t look anything like the pictures on John’s desk.

I asked John where his wife was. He said that we needed to go pick her up. So we (me, John, and his son and daughter) all go down to John’s car to leave. I knew that John needed to pick up his wife, but I was hoping that he’d drop me off at my car first. But that didn’t happen. I just kept thinking that I needed to get to my car. At one point, I remembered that my duffle bag was sitting next to my car and might get taken by a stranger. When I mentioned this to John, he told me not to worry about it, that it would probably be fine.

The next thing I remember is walking up to my desk in a classroom and seeing my duffle bag there. I was so thankful that it wasn’t lost or stolen, but wondered how it got there and wasn’t with my car. Ultimately though, I was just thankful that I didn’t have to go back and search for it. I opened it to make sure that all of my stuff was in it. I only remember seeing a four-pack of children’s glasses, colorful plastic frames with black, reflective lenses. I remember imagining which color might look best on me.

After class was over, some of us decided to go out for happy hour. I was now wearing a dress and all decked out for a nice party. The room we were in was more like an airport terminal. There were lots of people sitting in chairs waiting for something when we walked in. Because there were no chairs left, we stood with our drinks and snacks, dancing to the music and talking and laughing. I remember I was holding a small bag of chips. I offered one to anyone that was talking to me. And everyone was taking them, but the bag of chips never seemed to be empty. Then Jackie H.(a friend and classmate) went to take a chip out of the bag and got a big bunch of them. She kept trying to put some back, but they seemed to be connected by a string. Every time she pulled away from the bag, all the chips came with her.

The next thing I remember was that Jackie was taking me back to my car. But we had to take the ferry to get there. And this wasn’t the huge ferry like I’ve been on between Bainbridge Island and Seattle. This was only for people, no cars. When we got to the place where the ferry would pick us up, Jackie told me to grab the leash for the dog. I didn’t even realize we had a dog with us until she said that. AND when we got out of the car, my parents were there to wish me off, like I was going away on some long trip. My brother questioned whether we were on the right dock for my ferry and Jackie, while playing with the dog, said that she was sure we were in the right place.

I don’t remember much else after that. But I do remember having a conversation with a woman while on the ferry. She was busy doing something and I was just sitting in my seat. She kept talking about an old boyfriend of mine, Darren G., in the past tense. (In my dream, I knew that she was the woman he married, but she didn't know that I was his ex-girlfriend. In real life, I've never met this woman and don't even know what she looks like.) Finally, I got up the nerve to interrupt her story and ask her if Darren was dead. She said that yes, he had passed away when one of his patients shocked him. Apparently, that patient had a history of doing such things, but Darren thought he would be okay. I just remember thinking that it was so sad for someone that young to die that way. I also remember wondering when Darren went into medicine; he’d always worked in computer support when I knew him.

I don’t know where this part falls into my dream sequentially, and maybe it’s a completely different dream. But I remember that four of us from the office were traveling together. I remember Richard and Mike (co-workers) being there with me, but I can’t remember who the fourth person was. We parked our cars together prior to traveling and now we were returning to pick up our cars. All four of them were totaled. They were still in their parking spaces exactly where we left them. But they were completely mangled, doors gone, windows broken, dents and scratches everywhere. Strangely, I remember my car being the orange VW Bug, though that’s what Richard drives in real life. I remember wondering if my car was at least good enough to drive home. Richard thought that was ridiculous and said that he was spending his day shopping for a new car. And Mike was sitting on a bench, counting his money to decide if he had enough money to get another car. I just remember thinking that I wasn’t going to worry about buying another car today without doing any research. I just needed to be able to get home in my wrecked car.

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Saturday, February 9, 2008

The first thing I remember is driving down an old country road with a car full of kids. But we had to take a detour because at one point in a small town, there was a congregation of Amish people having services in the middle of the road. A woman was speaking to the crowd of both men and women (would THAT ever happen?) about the correct roles of each gender in a marriage.

After our detour, we ended up at an Amish home. I'm not sure why that was our destination, except that I think it was for a religion lesson. We weren't Amish, but wanted to learn more about their religion. I don't think we were there very long. But I remember Brenda and Linda (friends from my church) being there, both with whom I've taught 7th grade religion. And we took attendance. We were missing one student, Wayling, a girl. I don't know anyone named Wayling, but I have two Waylon's in my class this year, both boys. Anyway, I remember thinking that if you pronounce her name with the accent on the second syllable, it sounds Oriental, Way-LING.

Before we left, we discussed starting up a Relay for Life team for the kids. I remember asking Linda if we should start that in March or April. After going back and forth a couple of times, we decided on late March.

Before I forget, the walls in the house were purple, much like my bedroom.

As we were leaving, one of the girls started crying and ran ahead to the car. I told the other kids to sit together on the grass and I ran after the crying girl; I can't remember her name. When I asked her what was wrong, between sobs she said, "While walking down the driveway, I was seduced." (This is not the word to describe what happened to her, but in my dream that was the word she used.) I told her she'd be okay and I'd deal with it.

I spoke to the group and learned that it was Dustin who was the culprit. He said he grabbed her read-end. I told him he was grounded for a month and that he needed to apologize to her.

The next thing I remember, we were having baseball practice in the school yard and my mom was hitting balls out to the kids. They weren't too bad considering their young age. I just remember thinking that we looked pretty disorganized and I was trying to decide how to rectify that. (Uhhh, I couldn't tell you the last time my mom his a baseball.)

The next thing I remember was that we were at my parents' house. Most of the kids had already been picked up, except Dustin and Kyle. (I don't know Kyle, but I used to babysit for Dustin.) At one point, I thought they were going to spend the night there because there was an extra mattress on the floor in the spare bedroom. But Mom mentioned that maybe we should call their parents. I had a difficult time finding their numbers in the phone book, but one at a time, the fathers showed up without me making even one phone call.

First Dustin's dad came. He was also a good friend of my dad's. Mom told me that I really needed to tell him about the incident with the crying girl. She assured me that he was a great father and always dealt with Dustin really well about such things.

Next, little Kyle's dad showed up. At one point, Kyle comes running out of the house to tell me that his dad was tearing up the kitchen and that he was sent out by MY dad to come and get me. Once I ran inside, the kitchen actually looked fine, but my dad seemed to be tending to Kyle's dad. My dad yelled for us to get out of the room.

So, we went back to my parents' bedroom where we found my mom. I asked her what was going on. She said that Kyle's dad had really bad coughing spells just like my dad. So, my dad was seeing what he could do to comfort him. I got the impression that things weren't going well. I don't remember anything after that.

Later the same morning, I had a dream about being in my yard with a few of my neighbors. Ironically, Linda and her husband were there. We were talking about the remodeling I'd done and what I still planned to do. I remember showing them around, even in the garage. Though it didn't seem strange at the time, there was a square patch of grass in the middle of the garage, about 4' by 4'. I couldn't explain it; I just remember noticing how green the grass was and how perfectly groomed it was.

The next thing I remember was playing football in the yard. A bunch of guys were playing, but someone got hurt. My brother's team was going to lose because they didn't have a quarterback. So he asked me if I'd fill in. I told him that I hadn't played in a long time because of my shoulder. So, I could play, but I didn't think I'd do them any good. After throwing around to warm up, my confidence level increased.

Also in that dream, there were several young boys who were doing some kind of performance. I just remember they were all wearing the same outfit, had to be quieted and corralled, lined up on the stage for something, and then all came off the stage and down the hall to wait for their next task. The only reason I remember it being the same dream is because the little boys were upset that they couldn't play football with us.