Dream Update: Week 37

September 23:
My mom and I were trying to get to this restaurant to get some pizza. In order to do so, we had to first walk through a labyrinth of modern art in the basement of this building. At the end  of the labyrinth, we went outside where there was a pond surrounded by red rock. Metal railings all around formed lines leading up to the edge of the pond, like lines for an amusement park ride. We were the only ones there and while we waited, we speculated about where the boat (that we somehow knew was coming) would take us, because the pond was relatively small and we didn't see a boat or restaurant anywhere nearby. Then we noticed in the middle of the pond was a sink hole of water with a neon-light pizza sign over it. Some other people got in line behind us then and the boat arrived to pick us up.

All of a sudden we were in the restaurant. It had no windows and a sort of dark arcade-like atmosphere (which makes sense I guess since this restaurant was underwater). A dad and his son were a floor below us down the stairs, taking our orders and doing a sort of comedy routine. But then the son tripped and fell. He was hurt and crying, so they ended their routine early.

Then I was trying to watch a movie with my mom, dad and brother Tyler. It was a fairy tale retelling with Anne Hathaway and also involved Lord of the Rings somehow. We couldn't get the movie to start at the first scene, though - it kept skipping ahead to the middle.

Then I dreamed I tried to make a BLT sandwich, but was somehow constantly foiled by the fact that I only had bacon, lettuce, and tomato to put on it. I'm not sure what the problem was.

I dreamed I got a letter back from a literary agent I'd sent my book to saying she'd never be able to rep a "hookless story" (weeps). The letter involved a lot of illustrations and was super snarky but also somehow in the end encouraged me to resubmit. My query letter about my book included the line "Alice: +2 strength, +1/2 midi" (I have no clue what midi is supposed to mean).

September 24:
This dream was set in the world of a D&D campaign I'm playing in. In it, I was acting as my character Viska and was talking to the Lady of the manor, trying to explain why Viska did what she'd done (broke something very precious to the Lady). I also had a peace token to give the lady (I don't recall now what it was, and I'm not sure of what her response was to my attempted apology either).

Jenna, Matt, Zack, and I went back our to old apartment to finish cleaning for the check out inspection. The apartment still had garbage and stuff all over, and the porch was half broken and falling down on one side. I was sure we wouldn't be getting our security deposit back. After cleaning up, Matt and Jenna wanted tacos, but of course we had no food and no cookware at our mostly empty, and now very clean, apartment. I said we could get cilantro rice in microwave bag and do that. They were all impressed.

Then I rode a horse bare back across a field among a herd of other horses, elk, and cows.

September 25:
I was grocery shopping and ran into my friend Will as I was leaving the store. It  was snowing outside, but they still had plants from the greenhouse out in the parking lot for some reason. Will insisted on walking me to my car, but I couldn't remember where I'd parked, so we went up and down the rows looking for it. A few times I told him to go and that I was fine, but he insisted (always the gentleman). Eventually I found my car and we parted ways.

My parents sent me a postcard while they were on vacation, but we didn't get it until they were already back home and we were in dad's truck with him. The postcard warned us about weather that was happening currently. I asked why they hadn't sent a text or called about the weather instead. Then as our conversation continued, I explained to them that if a certain politician was elected, businesses would have to have layoffs because the politician would put into effect a requirement that businesses pay for extra insurance for everyone. I crunched a bunch of numbers to prove my point that the extra insurance would cost businesses and employees more in the long run.

Then I dreamed that me and a bunch of others were kidnapped by nuns and taken away to a nun camp. I tried to call and text my parents and call 911.  The call to my parents didn't go through, but 911 answered. I started explaining what was happening as were driving through remote forest in vans toward the camp, only to realize the Sisters had detoured the call somehow and I was talking to one of them. I got in trouble with the Mother Superior, and my hands were beaten with a rod. Regardless, as soon as we were on the road again, I was looking for a way to escape. I tried to plead with our driver (a man hired by the Sisters) to release us but to no avail. Then I tried to make him to drive off the road by diving at him and yanking on the wheel, but to no avail. So we reached our destination which was this really old stone church in the middle of nowhere. I refused to participate in the services and such, but everyone else did out of fear. I wasn't given food for my disobedience.

Then in a completely separate dream, I was at DGT, my childhood church, and my mom gave an announcement during the service about pet adoptions. There were kittens everywhere. I walked outside in my socks to give a black one to my cousins Stephanie and Jamie before they drove away.

September 26:
I was in a beauty pageant where we had to participate in a footrace. Whoever won received free foundation for a year and got to meet with this fashionista chick who was apparently awesome for some reason. Me and this girl ended up tying for first, and when we went to meet Awesome Chick, the other winner was flipping out while I was sort of "whatever" about the whole thing. I just wanted to prove that I could win the race really. It wasn't so much about the prizes.

I then dreamed that a short stout woman in a black and red mini-checked suit started working at UNW, only UNW was a warehouse instead of a school.

I dreamed that I painted my face with alcohol-activated blue face paint (I was planning my blue Mystique Halloween costume at the time!) but I didn't have the special remover yet, so I was stuck with a blue face until it arrived in the mail.

September 27:
I dreamed I was at Chester Park in Duluth and a dog was swimming in/being pulled down river toward the big waterfall. The young girls who owned dog were on shore calling and freaking out, but the dog couldn't fight the current to swim upstream and escape. The girls' mom was partially downstream from the dog on the bank of the river and calling as well, but if the dog went toward her, the mom just moved a few steps closer to the falls.

I was high up above the river with Zack, Jason, Steph, Kelsey, Aaron, Adam and Liz having a picnic. I called to the dog because to come to me she'd swim with current diagonally, which is the best way to escape (see how logical I am, even in my dreams?). Eventually, this tactic got the dog to dry land in the middle of river where some rocks stuck up above the water. I noticed then that the mom was still calling to the dog, trying to get the dog off the rock and back into the water. It was then that I realized she was trying to kill the dog.

I sprinted down this long path to the river (and I was actually able to run fast in my dream...usually I get stuck in that slow motion mode). By the time I reached the edge of the waterfall though, the dog had already gone over the falls and the mom was standing on the bank nearby holding a long, bloody knife. I jumped over the waterfall to find the dog, but I couldn't find her anywhere at the bottom no matter how many times I dove down looking. I realized at this point that the dog was Debra, Zach and Rachel's dog (though the mom and girls at the top of the falls are unrelated in real life). Finally, I found her, stabbed and wet, but alive off to the edge of the river. I picked her up and carried her out of the river along with a canister with firewood and a gun in it that had been hidden underwater.

I walked through the woods to the road where a military convoy was driving by. I hailed them and they stopped. I explained my situation and then set my canister down and walked a few steps back saying there was a gun inside. They all aimed weapons at me. I waited with Debra. Eventually they let me ride with them back to safety and got Debra all stitched up.

I dreamed that Zack and I were elves at a wonderful festival with fairy lights and music and dancing in the trees. Then orcs attacked. There was a great battle and Zack pushed me down to hide me away from the orcs. We won the battle and then returned to our dancing.

Dreamed Zack, this random guy, and me were making a song. The guy had a mini keyboard and kept the beat, I "played" a zipper on a duffel bag, and Zack sang.

September 28:
I was running Dungeons and Dragons for Zack, Hunter and Carter. I had created a list of what essentially amounted to nine different quest options, each with its own narrative flavor and associated reward. I started describing each quest, but Carter got impatient and said to just list the rewards so they could pick based on that. I was annoyed at this because I'd put in so much time on the story piece of it, but I quickly told them their reward options anyway.

I was driving on the entrance ramp from Snelling onto 694 when a police car a few cars back from me turned on its lights. I pulled over to let him by but he stopped behind me. I was shocked because I had no idea what I'd done wrong. He sat behind me and after a few minutes he just pulled away, going instead to a car stopped a few feet in front of me. The car had a woman and her young daughter inside. While the police talked to the woman, I got out and kept her child company/distracted. I went to a restaurant after where I'd been heading to meet with Zack, some old co-workers from KM, and Ryan for lunch. I told them how odd the whole police event had been.

The lunch crew was then all taking this engineering class together but at the last minute our final project/presentation failed. The teacher flipped out about how little homework he'd given us just so we'd have time to do this project and how he was going to start assigning all the busywork of chapter reading and response questions from here on out since we were so irresponsible, etc. etc.

September 29:
I dreamed that Zack and I were visiting a veteran's hospital and there was a soldier there who had lost her legs. President Bush was there and thanked her for her service. Zack did too. He cried and gave her a hug. She cried too.

Then I was part of this obstacle course mystery race thing. It was sort of a free for all, but with a time limit like those "escape the room" scenarios. It was set in medieval times, and we were trying to solve the mystery of the werewolf (Real or not? Who is it? etc). There was an obstacle with floating mat across a pond. I tried to sprint over it, but fell with my head in the water and feet caught up on the mat. I couldn't get my head out of water and was sure I'd die, but I got up eventually. The next bridge we came to had people going both ways across it. I let one person from other side go and was about to cross myself when someone else from the otherwise went. Then someone else. I got angry and told them they had to take turns. They let me run across then. I hid in this wooden structure like the old play front park in Duluth, back when it was super awesome, but one of the scenario's characters found me. He gave me a clue about the wolf and then got all panicked and said, "The wolf is coming!" I hid in a cabinet like the cabinets in our old camper, but I couldn't quite pull the door closed behind me.

I dreamed I went to a movie theater in Moose Lake that was super small, shaped like an I, and had mirrors on the wall. Apparently it was in the old elementary school gym.

Then I dreamed that I was back in college and went to class only to find that the only available seat was up front directly beside the teacher, facing the rest of the class. Class started and partway through Sarah (old volleyball teammate) and her sister Liz walked in very loudly with a bunch of shopping bags, disrupting the class. They say down and class continued (we were learning about fractions). Then Liz started playing the piano super, super loud (I have no idea where the piano came from). This was this poor teacher's first ever class, and she leaned over to ask me if this was normal. I said no. So, the teacher got Liz to stop, and I confronted her and Sarah, explaining that while they may be here to goof off, I was here to learn.

Dream Update: Week 36

September 16:
There was some event at my old church (VBS maybe?)....aaaand something about driving some sort of water/submarine type vehicle. It was all very hazy.

September 17:
I dreamed that I was getting married at an outdoor ceremony at a very oversized version of my grandpa's old house in Moose Lake. While we were all still getting ready prior to the ceremony, it started raining so the wedding party ran under a big white tent. I was fine with the rain and the sudden change of plans, but one of my bridesmaids was sobbing and freaking out about the day being ruined. We went inside to get her cleaned up. There we found my sister Nicole, brother-in-law Matt and their kids as well as Matt's sisters Molly and Carly. All of them were wearing Vikings pajama pants. After calming the bridesmaid down, I ran into my cousin Jamie. She told me she was mad because I didn't come to Thanksgiving the year before.

Later I dreamed I was on a helicopter tour flying over a city with a big river running through it.

September 18:
I was staying with my mom and dad in a fancy high-rise condo. I painted half a wall red so I could use it as a backdrop for a costume photo. Then I painted my face blue (I remember specifically with Snazaroo paint) and put on my Mystique costume.

President Obama showed up then and when I addressed him as such, he looked at me and said, "Call me Commander Chief Overlord." He gave me a hug and I told him I appreciate the tone and tenor of his voice, especially in light of the current voices we're hearing running for office.

Later (still at the condo) there was a baby and some others visiting. Everyone was sitting in lawn chairs in the living room. I watched the baby for a bit then gave her back to her mom. Baby crawled under a table and tried to eat some Legos that were left there. I saw this and ran over, getting the Lego out of her mouth before she swallowed it. Everyone blamed me that she'd gotten to the Lego in the first place, even when I tried to explain that I'd handed her off to her mom. The house also had a glass cage with a hamster inside...just an added random detail I guess.

September 19:
Zack and I got a new black and white cat. The cat didn't adjust well though, and pooed in the food dish and peed outside the litter box. Not the ideal situation.

Alyssa, Jenna, one or two others, and I were competing in a 5k mud run. We had to go down a giant slide at my old house and get past a certain line at the bottom before we slowed to a stop. We kept missing the mark and having to walk up the hill over and over again. The girls slowed down so I had to keep encouraging them to get them up the hill, which I ran up each time. When we were finally successful, we moved onto the monkey bar obstacle set up at my high school. It was late and dark by that time, but we went anyway because I was determined to finish no matter how long it took.

We found a baby in the swing at the school's playground, but there were no parents around, so we called the police. Alyssa and I played on the tire swing and took a bunch of selfies together.

September 20:
I dreamed that Zack woke me up at three in the morning to get ready for the Renaissance Festival. I was so excited that I couldn't go back to sleep. I was getting ready in a diner that hadn't yet opened for the day. The diner was built out of an old boxcar. There was a Grumpy's down the street where Matt and Jenna agreed to meet, but then Jenna wasn't able to make it and Matt didn't want to go since she couldn't.

Then I dreamed my house caught on fire. I watched from the street outside as the roof caved in and erupted in flames. My heart was pounding so fast I went to the hospital to get checked out. They had wheelchairs shaped like airplanes. I draped myself over the back of one and got to the counter to check in. The doctor used his stethoscope and took my blood pressure with it somehow (it was 113/70). He said in was fine. I said obviously not (although I'm pretty sure that's a perfectly normal blood pressure).

September 21:
I dreamed that I was driving to my old job at Knowledge Marketing and a light on my dashboard lit up. It said:  "no aux engine oil@" and also "reserve tank low." I'm not sure what "aux engine oil" light was, but the reserve tank was a smaller bonus tank of gas that your car would go to when it was on Empty. The tank cost double per gallon to fill (not sure how that worked). When I finally did get to work, no one knew how to train me in on the job and then they assigned me to train in the new person.

Zack and I had a lengthy discussion with the producer of a tv show similar to Project Runway about how our world is not setup to allow you to fail or be wrong, so everyone is always trying to be perfect but need really learning because of it. Instead, people experience shame when they fail, but they shouldn't.

I dreamed my friend Adam was counseling this young boy at a Disney amusement park. First he referred to the boy as "little boy" but then he quickly amended to "young man." Zack and I wanted to go on a Disney cruise but it was going to be way too expensive, so we didn't do it.

September 22:
I dreamed I was taking two newbies surfing for the first time (disclaimer: I've never been surfing myself in real life). We wiped out on this massive wave, and I tumbled back to shore. But they didn't. I searched the water frantically but never found them.

Zack was in a screamo band and, after his band did a show at this little pub that was not well received, he got back up on stage and started this song in response to the crowd's boo's. The song was just screaming over and over again, "All five songs of our main core suck! All 5 songs of our main core suck!! All 5 songs of our main core...suuuuuck!!!!" The crowd loved it.

Our friends Joel and Sarah went out with us for Zack's birthday. After buying us an expensive dinner and drinks, we decided to play some pool. Sarah asked if we could split the cost of the game but Joel looked at her like she was crazy and said, "On his birthday? I don't think so! We got this man." I said, "No really. We don't expect you guys to pay for everything. We're happy to split the cost." But Joel paid for it anyway.

I dreamed I was being held captive in a dingy medieval prison. The guards wore helmets with giant deer antlers on them (a la the huntsmen at the Manor - thank you current D&D game).

Twenty-Seven

For the last year, I have been recording every dream I had, every single day.

And let me tell you - I'm exhausted.

It's really tiring to have the first thing on your brain every morning be, "Quick! Jot some notes down before you forget!" Every. day. Every dreary Monday. Every lazy Saturday. On Christmas and the Fourth of July. On days when you just want to lie there and stare at the ceiling for a while to let the haze of sleep wear off slowly.

But I'm glad I did it.

And I'm glad I'm done.

Or...well...mostly done. I'm still working on compiling my months of notes into coherent enough snippets to post here for all to see, but tomorrow morning when I wake up, I won't be jotting more notes in my phone. I'm pumped.

But it's a new year - today I turned 27! And that means it's time for a new goal.

So here we go - my goal for this new year of life:

Write and send one letter every week.

I mean a real letter. A physical thing with a stamp and handwriting.

That's 52 letters.

Maybe they'll be to 52 different people. Maybe they'll be 52 letters to the same person (oh, you poor soul to have to read my rantings every week!) Maybe they'll be short or long or just plain awkward. The art of letter writing is on the verge of extinction; I know I'm rusty for sure. And in the age of digital communication, it's even more challenging. It's like you need an excuse to send a letter as opposed to an email or Facebook message or text or Snapchat.

So, here's my excuse: it's my goal for the year.

Watch your mailboxes, people! And I don't mean refresh your web browser. I mean make friends with your mailperson.

Now off to buy some stamps...

Dream Update: Week 35

September 9:
My friend Jenna was at our old apartment and wanted me to make some vegetable dish for dinner. I needed a couple things from the store, including bottle of dressing because, although I had some, it was old. So we hopped in my car and as we came to an intersection, Jenna reached over to adjust the radio. Somehow her doing this got in the way of my ability to reach the brake pedal. I swerved into the turn lane to give myself extra time to stop and managed to stop just in time, but then we were going the wrong way and got lost. She offered to just scrub the labels off my expired bottles instead...because that'll help.

My friend Anna came over and I was going to play wiffle ball with her, but she refused no matter how much I told her the balls wouldn't hurt even if they hit her. It was nighttime and dark out anyway, so I'm  not sure what I was thinking.

September 10:
I dreamed that Zack was running a D&D, but I was playing Viska. The whole party was inches from dying from this evil woman who was a cook at this sucky gas station diner. I told Zack that if Viska died here, I was still going to play her in our usual campaign because this wasn't canon anyway.

September 11:
I dreamed that I carried our cat Kahlua into the state fair. Naturally she was freaking out. I introduced her to my friend Will and his sister Rosa and all her kids, who greatly enjoyed petting Kahlua.

Then they all ate Taco Bell, but it was like a healthier version (whole wheat tortillas and fresh tomatoes and such). Then I took a ride down a lazy river on a motorized floaty air mattress. As I went down the river (which took on the feel of Venice at some point), people started thinning out until there were just a few of us left. Soon I was the only one on the river and there was no one on the sidewalks either. I ended up at a wall with a grate in it that the river continued through but the raft wouldn't fit. I got out of the water only to find myself face-to-face with this guy in a yellow t-shirt who I'd bumped into at the fair earlier a couple times. We were on a brick sidewalk among all these brick pillars and archways, lit only by a few orange streetlights since the sun had set. He approached me and I said hi and began walking toward the nearest building.

"I know you've noticed me a couple times today," he said, following after me. "But you didn't notice me at the cotton candy stand. Or when you pet the baby cows. Or when you rode the Ferris wheel."

Now I was getting freaked out, because I definitely didn't notice this stalker guy all day, but I didn't want to make him mad. So I tried to walk a little faster and casually said, "Yeah, I've had a busy day."

I was about to reach the doors of the building when he grabbed my arm and whirled me around to face him. He was holding a knife, but I wasn't scared so much as I was very, very alert. I was thinking, Where's my nearest exit? Does he look serious or just empty threat? Is he insane or level-headed about this? Can I stall long enough and hope someone else comes down this dead end lazy river path to help?

I don't remember what happened then, only that next thing I knew I was inside the building and walking toward little restaurant. It has all this decadent, albeit worn out, furniture strewn around it with antique lights and big potted plants scattered around. There was a small window to the kitchen and that area is all modern stainless steel and dark gray and purple paint. It was super clean and the chef was working back there getting things ready.

I started talking to the owner of the restaurant, this very nervous older gentleman, who came out to greet me. I told him that window should be larger since their kitchen is so fantastic. I argued that people would feel better about the somewhat threadbare furniture if they knew the kitchen was tip-top. As I moved into the restaurant telling the owner my other suggestions, I realized that the only customers inside were all women of around the same age - like mid-40s - and all very pretty and all very serious and all watching me. I realized too late that they were all vampires (not the owner, he just worked for them) and that they intended to make me one too. They brought me into this back room where there were all these dark velvet drapes and a big poster bed where I was supposed to rest after they'd bitten me. I don't remember what happened after that except I woke up in the bed later with blood all over my neck and the sheets.

September 12:
My friend Anna was going to the Regionals competition in Speech and was trying to figure out what to wear. She had on a skirt and blazer, but the skirt was a little too short. She said she'd just sew fabric on the bottom. Such a problem solver.

I dreamed I was at my old job at Knowledge Marketing and was going to happy hour after work. I had my cat Kahlua in the car all day though, so I took her into the bar with me so she could stretch her legs. I got a booth in the corner where she'd be out of the way, but then no one came to sit by me, instead opting to sit at a busy table in the middle. I had a drink alone and then left. I guess I have a subconscious fear that my cat will be my only friend.

September 13:
I talked to these women who had developed a fitness game. I had some issues with how the game was set up. They were offended at first, but when I explained my reasoning along with the things that I thought were good about the game, they became more receptive. One of them offered to give me a dental exam (why? I don't know) but when I got in the chair it became clear she was a cosmetologist and not a dentist. She had me swish with argon oil from an aerosol can and spit into a sink that had a hot curling iron in it. Yikes.

September 14:
I was hanging out in my office at work with Jenna, Adam and a guy from an RPG podcast I listen to. Adam was telling me about Magic the Gathering and how I really ought to give it a try. Meanwhile, as I was sitting behind my desk, I realized that I wasn't wearing pants and quick pulled a blanket over my legs before anyone noticed. Adam asked if I was cold, and I said yes. He thought that was weird, but Jenna caught on and helped cover for me until I could sneakily pull some jeans on. No one except her caught on. Whew!

I dreamed that Zack and our brother-in-law Matt were trying to get a photo by the ocean with a floating sun in the back. The sun kept disappearing just as I took the photo though so we never got the photo they wanted.

September 15:
I dreamed that we bought a house with all these half-step rooms (like where there's suddenly a "stage" a few feet up or down in the same room). My mom and I were discussing if we could use the glass from the coffee table to cover one of the "down" areas to make the room all level. There was a HUGE TV stand/shelving unit and a big sectional in the room to deal with too.

I dreamed that Zack and I went to Hawaii. While there, he discovered a Pizza Hut stand on the beach. He said it was "the last one left ever." He wanted pizza for breakfast, but I said no. Later, I struggled to pick out a swimsuit for the beach.

Dream Update: Week 34

Recording every dream I have for 365 days...
 
September 3:
I went to my parents house to find that my dad had all his camping stuff super-mega organized, but very thing else in the house was an absolute disaster.
I then dreamed that my niece Natalie sneezed like 29 times in a row and then refused to wash her hands.
My sister Nicole wanted forcibly dye my hair to "make me feel better" (though I'm not sure now what about exactly).

September 4:
I dreamed that I was a show manager on The Bachelor. The show was held at Northwestern, and I had to try to wrangle all the contestants and their drama. It was horrible. Basically just a lot of tears and girls trying to sneak out to see the Bachelor. One girl tried to crash his one on one with someone else!

Then I dreamed I was out and about somewhere and I ran into this guy who came up to me freaking out and saying, "No way! You're Viska!" (my D&D character). After he gushed for a while more, he asked for my autograph.

 September 5:
I dreamed that I was Viska (guess I was thinking about her a lot!) and I was in this impossibly tall old house (sort of like my sister's awesome historic home). I did a lot of sneaking around because I wasn't supposed to be there (very Viska-like). I then discovered that Vikings lived there. They were absolutely brutal. They'd taken prisoners and late at night brought them to this room. I crept along with the group to see what was going to happen, but the Vikings discovered me. They made me watch as they brutally executed each prisoner. I got word somehow that there was a prisoner who had drown herself in the pool upstairs rather than let the Vikings kills her. I thought that if I could get there fast enough, I could get her out and do CPR to save her. I took of, running up flight after flight of stairs and finally got to the pool, diving straight in and pulling the woman out. I started CPR and a moment later she spit out a bunch of water and started breathing again.

I dreamed I was in a big garage at my Uncle Todd's house. There were Great Pyrenees dogs running around everywhere, which was super awesome. Zack and I managed the office part of my uncle's construction business, but then the workers made Zack go help pour concrete in his office work clothes, and I had to help lay brick. There were worms under all the old brick we pulled up. It was horrible. One of the workers had long curly red hair that was tangled in a mass heap the dome of his hard hat.

September 6:
I was in my childhood home's living room at Christmastime. My friend Jenna was there because she wasn't able to go home for Christmas that year (we were in college at this time). Our Christmas tree was primarily decorated with fake birds.

Then I dreamed I was at an amusement park. My mother-in-law Carrie and I ate separately from everyone else in the Schlottman family so we could catch up. We ended up meeting this little boy with his distracted, texting dad. We ended up accidentally on a roller coaster with them (not quite sure how, since we both had agreed not to do big rides). The dad texted the whole time. Another girl on the roller coaster had a band aid fall off somewhere along the track, and they had to shut the ride down and bring maintenance in to find it.

I dreamed that an overweight woman got angry at me for wearing a bikini in the pool, saying it wasn't "appropriate swim attire." I reminded her that bikinis are common swimwear, but she continued to argue. Another larger woman got in the pool, also wearing a bikini, but the woman said nothing to her while continuing to berate me. I accused her of discriminating based on body type. If a bikini was inappropriate for me, then it was inappropriate for everyone, right?

Then I dreamed I was in the 80s, and this one spoon I have currently in real life was the most common spoon back then. I don't know why, but that felt so important.

September 7:
My niece Natalie drew a picture of herself, her parents, her brother Mason, my sister Tawnya and I. We were all pirates and had cool captain's jackets and swords. Nicole's jacket was red and black while Tawnya's was black and gold.

Dreamed that I was a child at attending the fair. At one of the exhibits, the ring leader guy asked for two male volunteers. I volunteered anyway. He said we'd be working with a scratchy pig, as if that would dissuade me. I said I was perfectly capable of that. The pig was mean and had big teeth. He charged one of the on-lookers who glared back until the pig left. The on-looker also had big teeth, but the ringleader told us that the pig charged because the man was "projecting negativity."

I dreamed my brother Tyler and I were trying to play Boggle, but he insisted on using the wrong board for it and a bunch of extra pieces from Monopoly and other random board games. After playing, we transplanted my little tree into a larger pot and added special soil that my dad gave us from the boundary waters. It had clam shells in it.

September 8:
I was attending Northwestern with high school classmates Anna, Ronne, Matthew and some others. Matt was in ROTC and was training a golden retriever named Max. Max didn't want to get in the car with us, but then Matt got a treat and Max jumped right in. Matt had diabetes and had to give himself insulin shots all the time. Anna said she had diabetes too, but the hospital refused to give her insulin for some reason.

Then Anna and I went to this half-bridge where you had to crawl under this little hinged slat to get inside (I'm not really sure how the physics of this worked...sort of like a room below the bridge but not one you could see from the outside). It was really hard to get back out, like one of those animal traps that only allow the creature to go in one way. We barely managed to escape.

Dream Update: Week 33

Recording every dream I have for 365 days...

August 27:
I dreamed I had my friend Kate's dog Kevin, friend Steph's dog Marvel and another fluffy white dog for the day (in hindsight -- Jenna and Matt recently adopted a fluffy white dog. Was this dream a premonition that they'd end up with him?). The dogs were great but as the day started winding down, I asked Zack how exactly they were all going to get back to their respective owners. He claimed it would be a short drive to drop them all back home. I reminded him that Kate lives in Medina (which she doesn't, but whatever) and it would be a long drive from White Bear Lake there.

I dreamed I was walking along this narrow, rocky path on the edge of a cliff. On my left was a tall, sheer wall of rock going way, way up and on my right was an equally long fall to certain death. I came to a narrow stone bridge with no railings crossing a chasm to a shopping mall on the other side. I started on the bridge and felt my feet sink slightly into what I had thought was stone. I jumped ahead just in time to see thin pine boughs snap below my feet and fall down, down, down to the rocky ground below. The gap they opened revealed leopards in the cavern, snarling and jumping up to try to get me. I realized then that there were pine boughs covering gaps in the bridge every few feet. They somehow blended in with the rest of the bridge.

After I made it safely across, I went into the mall where I took an escalator down to the lower levels. There were a ton of people in the mall, including a man in a motorized wheelchair. We were moving toward each other, and I moved over as best I could to give him space to pass me. Instead he turned his chair to get in my way again. I moved, but again he followed my path until we came face to face. He got mad at me for not moving for him. I told him he was a jerk who was using his disability as an excuse for being privileged.

August 28:
Zack and I were getting gas, and I accidentally put diesel in my car. It cost $107.07 and I was googling what to do but no one on Google was talking about it. (Also I realize that this is not my first dream about accidentally putting diesel in my car.)

I went to Duluth to visit parents, but in the old blue house I grew up in. They had a pet bear (who was also occasionally a very badly behaved 5 year old boy) who they hadn't trained at all. When he got aggressive toward me, I locked him in the hallway. I looked for my diffuser to spray a calming oil but then realize it was at home in the Cities.

 My mom and dad were getting a new couch from my Uncle Steve who had been working overtime to buy them one. I asked what they were doing with their old couch because I knew "someone" who might just want it in their basement family room. She don't seem to understand that I was talking about me. (PS: just the other day my dad texted me and said they're getting a new couch and asked if we wanted the old one! Whoa!)

I was swimming in Moose Lake with my cousin Jamie (who also sometimes became Tyler). When it was Jamie, she was wearing Nicole's old pink flower swimsuit. We got a dozen innertubes of various sizes and floated out to the raft in the middle of the lake. There were so many turtles and they kept trying to bite us. There was a photographer there taking photos, which was odd even in the dream. When we were about to come in from the raft, Nicole and Tawnya (as teenagers) came running down to the dock to join us. Tawnya wore her blue tankini and Nicole wore a black, peach, teal color-blocked zip up suit. We let them join us and agreed to stay out longer, but told them to watch out do turtles.

August 29:
I dreamed I was at a hotel and trying to park my and Zack's cars. My car was super crooked in the spot so when I parked Zack's car next to it, it settled and bumped my car. I drove around the block one more time and came to a hill in Duluth that was over 90 degrees straight up. The car flew off the top of the hill and fell and fell and fell but never crashed.

I dreamed Chelsea (freshmen college roommate) was at the hotel too and couldn't find her Finding Nemo themed room. I helped. The hotel had personal mini saunas you could reserve.

A band called Jump Fire (not Jump Five) showed up at our house. Zack had apparently said they could stay with us while they played some shows in Minneapolis but hadn't told me about it.

August 30:
I was at Tawnya and Robert's old house in the Cities. They were having friends over for a party. Mom and dad came and brought a bunch of excessively floppy mattresses with them since it was a sleepover and we wouldn't have enough otherwise. I left the gas burner lit on the stove accidentally. Sorry guys.

August 31:
 I was hanging out with my friend Alyssa and all these cowboys and cowgirls (is there a term for both? Cowpeople?). Anyway, we were wrangling wild horses and cows. My first horse I did fine with, but then she got tired so I got a new horse. This one wouldn't listen at all and walked into trees and backed up randomly all the time and was generally difficult.

I was at a restaurant and Mark (friend from elementary school) came up to me with his daughter. We caught up for a bit then got food. Jenna was there as well. For some reason she wasn't wearing pants and the people in the restaurant were very uncomfortable with that. I got my hand stuck in the side of my stretchy workout pants (apparently I was thinking a lot about pants). There were these nerdy guys at paint table painting miniatures who made fun of me. I had expected that they'd be attracted to a girl who games, but apparently not.

I broke into my childhood house and walked around seeing all the things the new owner had changed. Then the new owners came home and found me.

I had to write a history paper but had no internet. First I was going to have my topic be "the dictionary" (because the teacher would be impressed with how many pages were in the book) but they said I needed to be more specific. So I changed to the Civil War. Unsurprisingly, that was also not specific enough.

September 1:
My friend Anna and I were going to a conference together. I tried to drive there but got stuck behind all these barriers in a parking lot across the street, so we parked behind the building across the street and walked the rest of the way. On the way,  we stopped at the giant black mailbox to pick up our books for the conference which we had mailed to ourselves ahead of time. There were probably a dozen other packages in the box too, most them the size of ring boxes and from me. I couldn't figure out what I'd sent to myself, and then remembered that I'd mailed us individual starbursts for snacks. Anna got a package with two starbursts (orange and yellow).

My co-worker Karen and I were talking to two punk-skater students. I went on a tirade at them about how they needed to care about their reputation and show initiative in their jobs. I ended up swearing at them (but it was in encouragement!). Karen was shocked, and I was so sure I was going to get fired

September 2:
I went horseback riding with Alyssa, my cousin Jamie, and high school friend Matt. The horses were Tim Burton style with one like Jack the Pumpkin King from Nightmare Before Christmas, but a horse. I rode that one. It was black with white pinstripes and super tall and mega skinny. For some reason, everyone looked to me to teach them to ride and to lead the group. We rode through a land full of chickens the size of buildings eating proportionally sized worms who screamed for help.

Dream Update: Week 32

Recording every dream for 365 days...

August 20:

Dreamed I set my friend Jason and a girl from my hall freshmen year named Bree up on a date. Jason showed up in Aladdin pants and riding boots. He knows how to make an impression.

Then I dreamed I looked out my bedroom window in the morning and saw my neighbor and his older friend on workout bikes in their front widow just watching me. Not pedaling the bikes, just sitting on them...watching...

I dreamed I woke up and Zack wasn't home yet (he was gone on a trip to Milwaukee in real life). Then I "woke up" from my dream (in my dream) and he was there. He had the shower running and had baked three turkey breasts and carrots and potatoes for us. He said he would have made a whole turkey, but it was so hard to tell when they're done. Then I dreamed I woke up AGAIN (still dreaming, but now thinking "oh, all the stuff that happened before this was a dream but NOW I'm awake, surely") and he wasn't there again. 

I then planned to sew a ball gown dress for a Barbie and went on a hunt for cool fabric. I ended up deciding on wired ribbon so in could shape it into a big bell shape when I was done.

August 21:

I dreamed I was driving to a UNW dinner theater event had stopped at a red light. The second the light turned green, the car behind me started honking and swearing at me. I was upset. As we continued driving, I let the honker get in front of me and started honking back at them (real mature, I know). I then realized the driver was mom of one of the girl's from my volleyball team and her boyfriend...and that we were heading to the same event.

The theater part of the event turned into a concert of sorts and got quite out of hand and raucous (particularly for a UNW event). I was dancing like crazy and having a grand old time. Co-worker Karen pulled me out and told me I couldn't do that because I work in Human Resources. She also accused me of joining the band in trying to incite riot and that I was likely be fired. I got mad and went on a tirade about innocent until proven guilty and ran back onto the stage to plead my case with the crowd. Eventually they dragged me out and I returned to my car.

Outside, before I left, I was talking with my high school friend Josh and he was saying all the things he had to do winterize his house (plants and pipes and what have you).

I also dreamed that the mannequin I made of Zack for creating his RenFest costume somehow deflated and was useless and I was sad.

August 22:

My parents, brother and I were at my Grandma Jan's funeral. It was real sad. At the end, we went to the top of the building where there was a parking garage to get in the car. After circling the top of the building, we couldn't find the exit. My dad kept driving faster and faster trying to get home so he could be alone to cry. We ended up abandoning the car and crawling through these little tunnels on our bellies while holding onto this tubing rope to stay together. I thought I found the exit at one point, but I was at the end of the chain and by the time my message reached the leaders up front, we'd already passed what I thought was the way out.

So instead, we ended up abroad this spaceship, but my mom and dad were put in the back cargo area and a heavy locked door was between us and them. Tyler and I were up with the pilots, control panels, and two other passengers who were super excited. They had saved their pennies their whole lives for this flight. They explained that riding with the pilots was safer because they'd drop the cargo hold in case of emergency.

We couldn't even talk to or hear Mom and Dad through the door. I was banging on the glass trying to get to them but couldn't. I demanded the pilots let me back with them, but they refused. I tried messing up the controls to make them realize I was going to be a problem up front, but they still refused. Eventually my mom came and sat near the glass very calmly. She started doing the motions to a childhood song she used to sing with us about a river in the bottom of the ocean. We did the motions along with her, and we all cried. It very much felt like goodbye.

Then I dreamed I was on the UNW volleyball team. They all ate peanut butter bites. I didn't because I don't like peanut butter.

Finally, I dreamed that Zack and I woke up late for work (at 11:30 to be precise). We were in my childhood bedroom with pink walls and carpet. I had gotten the job at Faegre (where Zack works and where I had interviewed a couple years ago), and they'd left me message after message trying to figure out where I was. I tried to get dressed but couldn't figure out what to wear. The shower drain got clogged by rocks and the bathroom floor turned to mud. I didn't even know if the buses were running to get me downtown that late anyway. It was basically a disaster.

August 23:

Me, Tyler, and friends Anna and Shep were trying to climb this ginormous dirt/mud pile. We got maybe ten feet away from the top, but we were all so exhausted and the ground so squishy underfoot that we couldn't move anymore so we were just laying there trying not to lose ground. They all started saying things like, "Well, we gave it our best" and "Maybe next time." I looked down and saw the huge climb we'd already made and knew I couldn't give all that work up for nothing. So I got stubborn and made a mad dash to the top, leaping at the end to grab the peak like the warped wall on American Ninja Warrior and hauling myself up to the pinnacle. I guess I'm persistent like that even in my dreams.

I dreamed I had to do a math problem on a whiteboard for the class in school. I did it once but before presenting to the class I noticed I'd made a mistake. I erased the problem to start again but then I couldn't find a marker that worked. I must've tried a dozen.

Dreamed my sister Tawnya was talking about a surprise birthday party she'd planned for Mom when she was thirteen. Mom and my other sister Nicole were saying how Mom knew the whole time and went over all the details with Shari, our Sunday school teacher. Tawnya got offended.

August 24:

My friend Anna and I had just returned from vacationing with the H's (family from elementary school).  Nicole, who had been on the vacation as well, and I had ridden with Mr. H and it was terrifying. So, anyway, Anna and I were standing near the fence at my high school's playground while Tyler's classmates were putting on a play.

In the play, we all got delicious sugar cookies. Then Anna and I got extras because they used us as the "parents" in the play who the kids made cookies for. But I was so full I only took a bite or two of the second cookie before offering the rest to the rest of the class. I checked my planner for homework because I felt like I was forgetting something (this feeling will apparently never go away).

Mom, Dad, and I were camping near shore of Lake Superior. We saw the northern lights, only they were really close to us and sort of tangible, all gold and green and purple over the lake. It was gorgeous.

August 25:

My cousin Jamie and I had drive from the Cities together to visit my family. My mom made three dozen cookies and my dad made three dozen cookies, so there were a lot of cookies. On the second day of our visit, my dad asked if the cookies tasted more savory. We agreed that they did, whatever that means.

I dreamed about IVF. I had a little petri dish with the sperm and egg inside but couldn't decide what to do with it, or if we could afford it. As I carried it around, it started growing and was soon a small pile of pink flesh.

August 26:

I dreamed I was at Jenna and Matt's house only it had been turned into a shelter/barn for animals (this really doesn't seem too far outside the realm of possibility). They had probably a dozen cats, various dogs, a flock of large chickens, and a pony. One of the chickens was sick, and Jenna was really worried about it. She was trying to get it to drink seltzer water but the chicken was really mean and would chase us away and try to eat us.

Jenna had two ovens in her animal-crowded kitchen and was baking cupcakes in one of them. (Also PS: I just realized that I often dream about there being two ovens in the kitchen. Weird.) The cupcakes were done so I was going to pull them out but had nowhere to set them. I tried to clear off the top of one of the ovens, but they were covered in food goo. The cupcakes burned while I was scrambling.

I dreamed Zack and I had moved into our house and then he decided it was too much work. We moved back to our apartment, but still owned our house. "What now?" I asked him. "We still have a mortgage and now rent and all our friends and family are gone (yes, as in, they have left us and are no longer our friends) after helping us move twice in a row." He seemed to realize his mistake then and wanted to move back into our house but it was too late.

Dream Update: Week 31

Week 31 of recording every dream I have for 365 days...

August 13:
No recall! But, I get pretty epic dreams the next two days, so it's okay.

August 14:
Our neighbors had to sell their house and we were sort of excited because we hoped someone would move in who would take a little better care of the yard and not have so many kids running around and that the adults would be more social. Their realtor came over and gave us a whole laundry list of things we had to do to help their house sell (clean up sticks and sweep outside and mow lawn etc). We became less enthused about our neighbors moving then.

I dreamed I (as Kirsten Dunst from Bring It On) was doubled somehow. Me #1 was inside with my boyfriend and Me #2 was outside with my friends trying to figure out how to get in with my boyfriend without Me #1 noticing. Me #2 and my friends were sneaking up to house when Me #1 showed up out of nowhere. We fought. Me #2 ran inside into bedroom/dorm room (sort of both at once) where she couldn't figure out which bed was hers because both beds had somewhat male sheets and mess on them (chips and papers and stuff) which didn't make sense. Just then, my boyfriend came into room and started making out with me. The Me #1 entered the room. Our/my poor boyfriend was super confused.

I was then at my high school class reunion. Will was there trying to keep everyone safe from the wild animals that had been invited to the party for some reason. I was hanging out with some guys (not actual guys from my high school class, just some randos). They both had crushes on me apparently. We were hiking and they got into a verbal squabble (one started it and the other one ended up leaving us and going ahead alone despite the danger.) I was so angry at the one I was left with that eventually I went after that guy as well. I almost got eaten by a bear and fell off a cliff, but then I found him and we were both happy.

August 15:
I was in Dr. Light's science course in college but with my high school classmates. I sat by Lauren (a smart choice for a science class!). I arrived at class on Monday and found out we were having a test. I hadn't studied. I panicked. Lauren said, "This is a college level course! You didn't study?!"

While Dr. Light gave announcements, I asked Lauren if I could quick study her notes. She gave them to me but they made no sense. Before the test could begin, alarms went off and we were all evacuated to tons yellow school buses. They were parked out on streets and it was just students on the buses, but danger was near so we started driving, even without adults on board.

Soon we were on the crowded streets of Rome, trying to dodge people because the bus wouldn't stop. Students started disappearing off the bus somehow, one by one. I got off the bus (at a stoplight or something I guess? Even though it couldn't stop...I'm really not sure) and met these girls in the street. We talked for a second and they commented on my accent. The bus drove by then so I ran beside it, catching up and jumping back on board.

It turned into a van then and only seven people were inside. I was telling them how we couldn't keep disappearing like this and how we had to stay together. The back row disappeared then leaving only four of us behind. I grabbed the girl's hand who I was sitting by to make sure neither of us would disappear but then she got this horrified look on her face staring at me. I leaned to the front seat to see my reflection in the rear view mirror. My face was the face of the girl I'd seen in the street (trippy!). Then I disappeared too into a weird sort of passed out haze. (Even more trippy!)

When I woke up, I had no memory. My head was shaved and I was in a hospital gown in a science lab. The scientist led me through the halls to back room. "So, you're our swimmer?" he said. I didn't respond. I think I had forgotten how to speak.

He gave me a swimsuit to change into and I did. At first he tried to show me to a back room to change, but I was so robotic I didn't understand so I just changed in the middle of the room. Then he gave himself a shot in the back of the neck and came up to me with a similar needle (shaped like a seam ripper). He jabbed the needle into the base of my neck between two vertebra. I muffled a cry and slowly sank to the floor in pain. He followed with me, keeping the needle in until the injection was complete. Finally he removed the needle and apologized but said it was "necessary." I just laid down on the floor in pain.

August 16:
I was in a post-apocalyptic world with ramshackle houses and cabins, most without electricity and running water. I had to be careful because other people would steal my stuff if they knew I was there.

I dreamed I went back to work for Sandy and Colleen at Keller Williams. While I worked on writing a thank you note on one of their behalfs, Karen (current coworker) sat beside me and kept telling me what I was doing wrong. Eventually I got frustrated and exploded at her that I'd done this before for over three years and that I was perfectly capable of figuring it out.

My mom, grandma and I were at a pizza restaurant. My grandma liked the music and wanted to buy it but didn't know what it was. Mom was going to make her go ask, but grandma was too shy and got all flustered.

August 17:
I dreamed I was on this farm with tons of cats and birds (song birds, ducks, geese etc). My sister Tawnya was there helping care for the birds. There were also human babies everywhere just sort of...crawling around on their own and hanging out. I found one little girl dressed up as a pig.

I dreamed that Phoebe, Ross (yes, from Friends), and I had a group Halloween costume planned but we realized it was dumb and decided to stay in (it had something to do with rocks? I don't know). I also considered dressing as a vampire and spent a lot of time considering the best way to get realistic-looking fangs.

August 18:
I was chronically, terminally ill. My family and I were being given a special tour of this ancient Middle Eastern museum by some very high ranking government officials. Due to my illness, I got very tired walking around to all the exhibits so I had to drop out of the tour short, even though they'd arranged it for me.

While I went to find a bed, the rest continued their tour. The museum became a plane then, on its way to Egypt. When we had first entered the upper level of the plane earlier, there was a luxurious bed right in front of the door. My family said this was my bed, but I didn't believe them because it had the wrong number beside it. So, I explored on my own some more and found a wide trough of sorts running along both sides of the plane. It was lined with thin blue gym mats and passengers slept on the mats side by side. I had the sense then that this was where we were meant to sleep. I knew I'd be uncomfortable sleeping right next to a stranger (and two deep in some places!) so I asked the flight attendant how much longer it was until we landed thinking maybe I'd just stay awake after all. She informed me that it was two hours until our layover in London. I asked how long the layover was and she just laughed...so that was helpful.

After the plane landed in London, I explored a gift shop in the airport, misread the felt of a shirt (okay...this is what I wrote in my journal, but I honestly have no idea what it means now...sleep brain I guess? It must have made sense at the time?) and almost missed the next leg of the flight to Egypt.

August 19:
Dreamed my friend Anna and I were caring for this autistic kid. He was pretty low-functioning and had a lot of eccentricities. The guy who had been caring for him before was of a drill sergeant military mindset and basically had us all captive once he learned he'd been replaced. We decided to try to escape. We were held at a youth group game night only the whole night was staged because one of the youth had become famous. So a film crew was there and they made fake rain for drama and that sort of stuff. No one was happy. The kid and I ran into the forest but the rain hindered our progress and we were caught again.

Dreamed I was playing D&D with Paul (just Paul apparently). I was rolling really poorly until I rolled an "89" (no clue how I got that off a d20. I was definitely not rolling percentile dice.). I realized too late that there were giants were coming toward us, and I was low on hp. I had two spells left but didn't use them and just had to watch as the giants came closer and closer, coming to squash me. I was sad because I really like Viska (my character) and didn't want her to die.

Dream Update: Week 30

As one of my resolutions on my 26th birthday, I decided to record every dream I have for the next year. I blearily type notes into my phone each morning and pretty much just correct typos before posting here. My rules: I won't post something that would embarrass someone else (things I find embarrassing are another story). I only record dreams I recall upon waking up in the morning (no 3 a.m. bathroom break or post-nap recordings).

Without further ado, here's week 30:

August 6:
I was camping in my parent's camper with my parents, Zack, my siblings, and our cat Kahlua. I'd taken Kahlua outside in the morning when a ginormous black bear started walking toward our campsite. I tried to grab Kahlua to get her inside, but she was simultaneously trying to scramble under the camper.

As I wrestled with Kahlua, trying to keep hold on her, I yelled for those inside the camper to open door for me. Eventually I got her in my arms and ran into camper. My mom slammed the door behind us. As the bear walked by, I saw it was being ridden by a man with a big mustache and a cowboy hat, and the bear wore the flag of the campground draped on his back. Then they remembered that the bear was performing at a show in the campground's amphitheater. "I didn't know that!" I said, explaining my panic. "All I knew was, 'Black bear, black bear, black bear!!'"

We all piled in the car to go for a ride then. As we drove past a lake where people were swimming, Nicole and I saw an orca jump out of the water.

August 7:
I dreamed that I was in this closed down, abandoned hair salon. The previous employees had left bags behind in the back room and they were up for grabs. There was all this really great makeup in the bags, and I started collecting anything that was brand new. I got a set of bright fuchsia sparky eye shadows, blush, and mascara.

Then my dad, mom, and I were at a car dealership selling my grandma's car. We sold it for $6,999, but we'd originally wanted closer to $10k for it.

Then I was at target and they had all these cute armchairs for sale. I wanted one but, although they all looked cute, they weren't super comfortable or functional since they were "too long to sit in" (whatever that means).

August 8:
I was in my childhood home in the hall bathroom. My friend Anna was making her bucket list in red crayon. On it she had everything from going to the beach to traveling to other countries.

Then I dreamed I was a spy. Me and my team of operatives were running from bad guys. We had to be sneaky and used twisty halls, tunnels, and slides to get away. As I turned around a corner, I came face to face with a bad guy, but one of my teammates took him out from behind.

August 9:
I dreamed that my high school choir was on stage performing at this big competition. We were awesome in practice, but for the real thing everyone including me kind of lost their voices.

Then I dreamed it was summer. Zack and I were trying to sleep in, but we got too hot to sleep. We creeped into Shep and Andrea's apartment because they had a fan and slept on their floor. In the morning after everyone had woken up, 5-month old Finn was speaking in complete sentences and talking about a weed whacker...seems about right.

August 10:
I was at a crowded restaurant and ran into my friend Anna. She said she had great news. She'd been asked to speak at a church/chapel at a school/mega church. If it went well, they would offer her a 30-year contract, to increase to a 31-year renewal thereafter if all went well. She and I sat down to chat when I realized she was there on a date! She assured me it was no big deal and asked if I wanted to join.

So, me, her, Mary (her mom, who randomly appeared out of nowhere) and Anna's boyfriend Randy got in car together. Randy drove. We went right to the church where this young boy was the head pastor. It was really weird and kind of cultish and they had all this litany that they went through. Anna's grandma was there as well and told everyone I was going to be the musical director at Disney. They asked which shows were coming up. For some reason I just went along with this and said it was a big secret and they wouldn't even tell me yet. I told them that I guessed the new musical would be Monsters Inc because a new movie was coming out for it soon, then another musical with aliens and one other. One young boy said he'd been in a Disney play and the hair/makeup lady was really kinda crazy.

As we were driving back home in the dark, there were police cars all over. Trying to get out of way Mary (driving now) went down this street that had political signs across it like cones. The sign owners at the other end of the street got mad about us driving there.

August 11:
I dreamed that Zack and I had lived in this little blue house before buying our current house. We went back to little blue to get some stuff fixed before our lease was up there. We had two guys come out to give us quotes and accidentally had them arrive at the same time. One of the guys (there with his teenage son) got really defensive and belligerent about everything. I confronted him about it but it didn't really help.

While the contractors did their looking, I was down in the basement escaping the madness. My parents commented that the carpet should be replaced.  I said we weren't doing cosmetic updates yet, only the necessary ones. Tyler and Kyra said they'd do hardwood instead or carpet, or leather flooring. We explained that was silly because leather would get all beat up.

I dreamed that there was mouse that was also a dragon that could talk. I stepped on it but didn't kill it, so I put a Tupperware over it. It was pushing up against the Tupperware and almost escaping so I slid a piece of paper under it and flipped it up into the bowl instead of just resting the bowl on top of it. Welcome to my prison, dragon-mouse!

August 12:
I got stuck under a table with some guy named Tim or Tom (I don't remember which).

Then I was blowing bubbles with my mom, dad, siblings, niece and Papa Tony. I could blow three bubbles inside each other or just one giant one. I would walk around inside the giant bubble (yes, it really was giant!) but I couldn't breathe inside or it would shrink and pop.

I dreamed my family had to get this ramshackle house ready for "British law" to come out to evaluate it for government assistance. We made spaghetti dinner. My ex-boyfriend and I sat beside each other. My friend Chuck fed other friend Aaron cheese, which he was allergic to, so he started swelling up and going numb.

Dream Update: Week 29

As one of my resolutions on my 26th birthday, I decided to record every dream I have for the next year. I blearily type notes into my phone each morning and pretty much just correct typos before posting here. My rules: I won't post something that would embarrass someone else (things I find embarrassing are another story). I only record dreams I recall upon waking up in the morning (no 3 a.m. bathroom break or post-nap recordings).

Without further ado, here's week 29:

July 30:
I dreamed my mom told my siblings and I that our "biological dad" was very sick -- also, surprise! Apparently we were all adopted, and this was the first we'd ever heard of it. We went to the hospital to visit him and he died that night. A few days later was the funeral. I wasn't even planning to go (because I didn't know this guy anyway) but my mom came into my room in the morning and woke me up. She informed me that we would each have a chance to speak at the funeral. I told her I had nothing to say, and she looked surprised at this. I started crying then and went on this tirade about how I'd never heard of this man before - and he hadn't cared enough to send a card on my birthday or a gift at Christmas or attend my graduation or my wedding or anything. "I know nothing about the man except that he's a selfish bastard, and I certainly have nothing to say at his funeral!" I screamed. At the end of this tirade, all the lights in the room burnt out and we had to replace all the bulbs.

My locker buddy from high school Barbara left her notebook behind when she left the room we'd been hanging out in. I flipped through it, reading bits of stories she'd started and looking at some of her drawings.

My track 4x800m relay team failed miserably at sections - coming in seventh out of the eight teams there. We all felt like we could have run faster.

July 31:
I was hanging out around the back of my high school when this really tall, big guy with some mental disabilities pulled me aside. He said he had three problems he wanted my help with. It took him a long time to manage to get them out, but I waited patiently. Some other mean guys walked paste and taunted us about hanging out together ("K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"), but I ignored them. The guy's problems were: one - the teasing, two - trying to ask this girl to prom, and three - struggling to speak without stuttering. I gave him advice on how to handle these things, and he gave me a big hug in appreciation.

August 1:
I dreamed Mr. O (my volleyball/track coach and teacher) was teaching us in my old 6th grade classroom. He was telling us about Mac 'n Cheese (for whatever reason). Matthew (from my class) pulled a box from somewhere and shook it. When he did, the box then started singing this little jingle (sort of like the cereal boxes from Minority Report).

Then the whole class was in a Battle Royale-ish situation, and outside, creating pointed stick traps for other kids on this dark stormy island.

Suddenly we were back in the classroom and it was lunch time. I went with Lauren, Alyssa and Anna (friends from high school). They all wore their letter jackets. I said I'd have to find mine from storage at home. Barbara told me that my brother Tyler had said something mean to her online. I went over to talk to him about it. He was playing invisible Pokemon Go in the air with his friends Jericho and Mitch (I'm not sure exactly how this worked, but it made perfect sense in the dream). I finally got his attention and we went outside to walk so I wouldn't embarrass him in front of friends. But his friends kept following us. Eventually I asked them to leave and had a chance to ask him about what Barbara had said. He said he hadn't done anything and went back to lunch.

I went into this bathroom to wash up, but I got my shirt all wet when the sink spayed all over and didn't know what to do because my phone was dead and no one knew where I was. I tried to dry it out but no luck. Then I had this box of food I had to get rid of (I'm not sure why). I tried to squish it down the tub drain but it clogged it up and made the food all soggy and gross. Eventually I found an apron thing and put that on over my wet shirt and returned to class only a little late, leaving the soggy food in the tub.

August 2:
I dreamed that Ryan (guy I dated) showed up unannounced at our church. Zack was not particularly happy to see him. Ryan asked us if we could give him a ride to the airport that night. Zack said no, but I said I would. His flight didn't leave until 11, which was going to be a late night for me on a work night. I convinced him to run in the mud run obstacle course the church was having up and down hills that day after the service. The church had fake ice cream sundaes with all these crazy toppings. You were supposed to make one at the start and see if you could carry it all the way through the course. Ryan made fun of it and how easy it was.

Rachel (from Friends) bet Ross (also from Friends...obvs) that she could get more money than him begging on the street. At that point "the street" become LCA's hall, just outside the library. Rachel made a sign asking for change and every one just walked by her. She challenged Ross to do better. He made a sign asking for $2. He got it within seconds.

This woman who was pregnant and also carrying a baby in her arms suddenly went into labor nearby and handed her baby to Rachel and this middle aged couple who happened to be nearby to watch while she went to the hospital to have her baby. The couple had to take the baby down the elevator to do laundry. The basement was super creepy and abandoned and way lower than a typical basement level, but the washing machines were really nice and were in a long row with fancy gas stoves too (because apparently this was also a kitchen). A man from the apartment building cooked at the gas stove and talked to the couple while they did their laundry and watched baby. The baby-watching man admitted his one regret was not having one more child and now they were too old. The woman agreed. The chef gave them a salmon sushi roll to try. The man loved it. I became woman then, and the sushi was disgusting (because I don't like fish). Then the man and I decided to adopt, inspired by spending time with this random baby.

August 3:
I was driving from LCA back home going past the community center. My car was making all sorts of crazy noises and I was driving very poorly. This made me think, "Hold on. This can't be real. This has to be a dream," so I looked down a my hand, remembering that in dreams they say you don't have five fingers, always more or less. But I counted and I had five, so then I figured that this can't be a dream and must be real.

I looked down the hill and there was this mother and daughter sitting on the side of the road. The daughter had "muscular not-dystrophy." They had some long medical word they used, but all that stuck for me was "not-dystrophy". I stopped my car and got out, offering to take them to a clinic, but they said they'd walk. Seeing their state, I insisted. They came and got in my car then. Everyone was honking at me because I'd stopped in the middle of the road.

August 4:
I dreamed that there was this Asian family hosting my wedding rehearsal dinner in my old church basement. Will, Anna, and Matt D (all friends from high school) were there. Matt told me I couldn't be in any photos before I put powder on because my face was too shiny. I was sad because I didn't have anything with me so I knew I wouldn't be in any of the photos. Will kept teasing at being very un-gentlemanly to all us girls in dresses by stealing our chairs and not holding doors etc. but then actually being a gentleman and holding the door or getting us a chair or what have you.

Then I dreamed that I was an old bird watcher man in the library on my first day volunteering. I didn't know what to do so I was wandering around looking for a task. They called me out on the loud speaker and I was embarrassed.

August 5:
I was hunting with Sam from the TV show Supernatural. We came across this male vampire who I made run away after an epic fight with it, but I knew I hadn't killed it. Then it came back and I was like, "Really? I'll just beat you again." So we fought again, but this time he had gotten stronger. He pushed me into this desk and pinned me there, preparing to bite. I hit him just as I had the last time to make him flee, but this time the hit didn't phase him. I grabbed a pencil hoping to stab in his chest (wooden stake to heart, I thought) but it wasn't strong enough to pierce his skin. I pretended to pass out then, and he walked away looking for Sam, still not having bitten me. When it was safe, I followed after the vampire, hoping the surprise him and finish him once and for all. And I did find him. Except when I did, he was in this street dead-end alleyway, kneeling over his wife, who was currently in labor and about to have a baby. I didn't want to kill them then, especially not her and baby, but I also didn't want more vampires in the world. So I stood paralyzed watching, trying to solve this moral quandary.

Then I dreamed that I talked to my dad on the phone, but I don't recall the content of our conversation. I'm pretty sure it had nothing to do with vampires though.

Then I dreamed I was visiting a place where this girl had died recently. People left trinkets on the padlock holding the crime scene closed as tribute to her.

Dream Update: Week 28

As one of my resolutions on my 26th birthday, I decided to record every dream I have for the next year. I blearily type notes into my phone each morning and pretty much just correct typos before posting here. My rules: I won't post something that would embarrass someone else (things I find embarrassing are another story). I only record dreams I recall upon waking up in the morning (no 3 a.m. bathroom break or post-nap recordings).

Without further ado, here's week 28:

July 23: 
Mr. O (my high school volleyball and track coach) said he found a loophole that would allow me and Jenny (co-captain) to come back and play volleyball for one more season. He told Jenny he needed her because they didn't have someone to play outside hitter, and he thought she would do well in the position. He then told me that he already had a "big bad middle hitter," and I'd have to fight for my position. I was nervous because of how long it's been since I touched a volleyball. I don't know how that battle went in the end...I hope I beat out the current middle hitter and got one more season of game time though!

The Doctor (as always, 10th...that's my doctor guys...the only one who has EVER appeared in my dreams), my brother Tyler, myself, and a few others got sucked up onto this space ship that was run by Daleks. The whole ship was basically one giant pop can which the Daleks were planning to use it to reflect the sun down to earth to destroy it. We all ended up escaping and running to the shiny metal part that would be the bottom of the pop can and laying on it to cover it up and save the world. The Doctor worked some of his magic and made the ship slowly shrink until it was just a crumpled pop can back on earth.

July 24: 
I was playing volleyball and Sam P. (a kid a few grades below me in high school) was on opposing team. He served to us, but served his glasses over instead of the ball. Anna (volleyball teammate) missed the first serve and I encouraged her that she'd get it next time. Again with the apparently-legal glasses serve and another miss. And again. Frustrated, I went to the ref and argued that you can't play volleyball with glasses. The ref said she already had points down with them so it was too late to change now.

Then I was going to a wedding on the beach with some friends. We arrived late and had to walk down the aisle right behind the couple to get to our seats. Mark and Melissa (friends of my sister) were guests at the wedding as well.

Then I was at mall waiting to meet up with Zack and our friend Caleb (who I haven't seen in forever). While I was waiting, I bought a Dairy Queen ice cream cake. Zack and Caleb arrived and they ALSO had bought an ice cream cake. We grabbed forks and dug in. And yes, it was delicious in every way.

July 25:
I was at LCA (high school) and couldn't find my locker (I was looking for the one I had my junior year on left side of hall when coming from Spanish room). There were little half lockers lining some of the hall and then the regular full ones that are actually there. I knew I had a full one, but they were all empty so I couldn't tell which was mine based on what was inside. Eventually I figured out my number was 35. My friends Alyssa and Lauren were there as well helping me out.

Someone (I don't recall who) and I scaled the side of this steep cliff. About halfway up, this guy leans over from the top and shouts to us, "Why don't you use my sled dog team?" I tell him we don't need his team and were perfectly capable on our own (sounds like something I'd say). So we scramble to the top and he introduces us to all his dogs. They're giant and fluffy and mean, growling and nipping at us as we say hello. The man explains that every year he leaves one dog at the top alone for the summer. Then tells us story on how a miniature donkey become his lead dog, and was amazing at it, but then it was the donkey's turn to be left on the cliff for the summer and the other mushers, consumed with jealousy, came and killed it. After that, the man had a fox lead instead, but the other mushers didn't like that either, and they shot it during a race. Mushing's hardcore stuff.

July 26:
My dad and Papa Tony had been out working on my car and thought they'd gotten it fixed. Then my dad became Darth Vader and demanded I go out to look at my car right away. It was winter so I asked if I could get a jacket and shoes first. He consented. Outside, I took my car for a test drive and the brakes wouldn't work. I weaved through the neighborhoods, narrowly avoiding people and trash cans and things, and eventually ended up behind this school where a police officer was breaking up a brawl between two kids. The officer had his gun out right away, which I found odd considering it was just a little school yard tussle.

Eventfully the officer got the kids separated, but then one of the kids turned into an adult man. I switched between being the cop, the man and myself throughout the remainder of the dream. The man had been pulled over 441 times by the police but only ticketed 4 times. The gun made a lot more sense then.

Tawnya, Charlie and I watched a train go by. It had rubber tires for some weird reason and they squeaked against the rails uncomfortably.

July 27:
I was in DGT's (childhood church) parking lot when my little nephew Marek ran up to me and I picked him up. I held my niece Natalie's hand and went inside with her and Mason (my other nephew). Nothing really happened here other than that, but it was nice anyway.

I was at work trying desperately to get my a scanner to work. Eventually I figured it out but then I lost my debit card, which doesn't really affect the scanner at all, but it distracted me from my victory.

There was a fancy alumni dinner at UNW and one of the alum's snobby little daughters made me rub her feet. All the alums were watching a show sort of like Dear Reader, but it wasn't Harry Potter. It was a different movie with Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe in it. Afterwards the bad guys (I have no idea what I mean by "bad guys" here...apparently there were bad guys...) forced me to go back to my office instead of home. On the way, there was a car accident in the hall (yes, you read that right). A raccoon was bleeding out and the paramedics were trying to save him. A noble cause.

I finally got back to my office and continued looking for the debit card I lost but to no avail. Servant of King who ordered me there was being a jerk (okay, I clearly did not do a good enough job with my bleary notes after this night's dreams...I have no idea when a King came into the picture, but okay). I had to keep demanding he listen to me, but he kept not cooperating.

Matt, Nicole, Tyler, and I played this game involving a shop vac, a blue bouncy ball and a hula hoop. I was winning but then they all ganged up on me and in the end I lost. Go figure. I think there have definitely been times in real life where their goal has been nothing more than "make sure Heidi doesn't win."

July 28:
My niece Natalie was a toddler again and was looking for Nicole. I helped her find her. Nicole had this "French-designed" ear wax sucker. It was a long skinny tube attached to what looked like a red mini-wind-bed. It was also disgusting and sucked up so much stuff. Gross.

Kate and I went to yoga together despite her being very pregnant then met up with a group of friends she said were from her church.

Jenna and I were listening to an audio book about a teen girl who has something to do with spiders and bullying. I asked Jenna if she had to tell people what the book was about, what she'd say. As she started to answer, this van almost backed up into us and she got interrupted.

July 29:
There was an event held at UNW outside of Riley by all the pillars. They had some yard games set up, but it was really pretty disorganized. As people started heading inside, Drew (who used to work at UNW when I was a student there) asked me to try to coordinate a game inside instead. So I had everyone build a race track for a marble to go down out construction paper and tape. Then everyone raced their marbles to see who could make their marble roll farthest. My team with Alyssa and Lauren won. Then I had to work front desk phone (bleh) and a person who called couldn't hear me when I answered (this happens occasionally in real life when covering the front desk and you have to yell into the phone and you feel really pretty stupid).

I was at a high school class party with Anna, Will, Lauren and some random Asian chick. Asian chick was ignoring me, so I was sad. No one else would acknowledge that she was doing it though and they told me to get over myself. I broke down crying and Will have me a hug.

Dream Update: Week 27

As one of my resolutions on my 26th birthday, I decided to record every dream I have for the next year. I blearily type notes into my phone each morning and pretty much just correct typos before posting here. My rules: I won't post something that would embarrass someone else (things I find embarrassing are another story). I only record dreams I recall upon waking up in the morning (no 3 a.m. bathroom break or post-nap recordings).

Without further ado, here's week 27:

July 16:
I woke up and there were three snakes under the covers of the bed - one tiny black one and two larger black ones. I freaked out and told Zack to make sure they didn't get away while I ran through our very jumbled, mostly-in-boxes apartment looking for empty boxes to trap the snakes in. Instead, I found a teeny-tiny bottle (like the kind they put seashells in and sell on Florida beaches to tourists). Zack managed to cram the tiny snake in there somehow. The second snake I trapped with a large plastic bin. He hissed and then turned from black to orange, yellow and tan spotted. I flipped him up in the container so he wouldn't squeeze out the bottom then went for the third and now (because it grew somehow) largest snake. I missed my first time, landing the container halfway across his body. He wasn't happy about that. Then our cat Kahlua came to investigate. I narrowly pulled her away before she got bit. When I looked up, snake #2 was still in his container but was sitting up real high and pretty like a cobra. And I knew he could get out if he wanted to.

Two custodial students were washing UNW's indoor track so I couldn't run. Instead, I ran in the hall outside the racquetball courts. This mom and her two kids stopped by me. The kids did my cha cha abs routine with me.

July 17:
My mom, dad, Nicole and Tawnya all went to live with the West family (my sister's husband's side of the family). My parents built an expansion on their house and they agreed to live together to try to save money. I went into Nicole's room (which looked like her childhood room with mint green walls) and she had floor to ceiling closets on half the room just stuffed with clothes -- mostly sports jerseys. I asked her why she never wore them because I thought sports jerseys were super cool. She just kinda shrugged.

Then I was going on a walk with the fam and they said they'd moving out from West's after all. Apparently they'd had some disagreement about who they should have come out to fix the dining room table. West's wanted this old friend who was really slow and not responsive. I remember my dad saying, "Business is business."

The trail we were walking became very muddy then and my parents remembered they had moved the truck closer so we'd actually walked past it already. We turned around and trudged through the mud back toward the truck. This fancy red mustang (though it said Chrysler on the front) came down the path slowly. I tried to move out of the way but my feet were stuck in the mud. He ran into me, but super slowly, and I climbed up on his hood shouting about the mud. He still didn't stop so I grabbed a piece of his fancy car and ripped it off and then jumped off the side.

My friend Kate and I were meeting up for lunch. I met her at KM (my old workplace) and Beki (old coworker) was there. Beki wouldn't stop talking about this little pink flower she had in a tiny glass case at her desk. Kate was annoyed.

July 18:
I was at a Caribou in a Sam's Club with someone's mom. She was ordering drinks and I was going to wait in line to checkout hoping we'd sync up so that by the time she ordered, I could pay (apparently they had this two line system...sort of like the cut counter vs. registers at a fabric store). I got to the register before she was ready with the drinks though. I explained the situation to the cashier and they sent me to a secondary line. Soon others were joining that line as well. This strange guy ended up behind me and he stood uncomfortably close to me the whole time. Then I saw Alyssa in the line. We hugged and she cried. There was a brilliant rainbow in the purple evening sky with stars.

I was at UNW standing out on the campus green with a cordless drill in hand. There was a concert directed by my 6th grade teacher Mrs. Wright. High school classmate Matt D played a really crazy fast song on the piano. He missed a few notes but no one cared because it was so impressive anyway. I was trying to sneak around the event, but kept getting in the way as people entered/exited the stage.

Then I was at an outdoors class where they teach about how to handle emergencies by acting them out. So this overly obese lady pretended to fall on these rocks and everyone laughed. The guide said, "No, it's quite serious." Then an old lady was attacked by a bear. I'm pretty sure that was real and not a skit, but who knows for sure.

July 19:
At my childhood church at some sort of party. There was fried chicken and a bunch of my friends were there, only things weren't going super well. It was dark and rainy outside.

July 20:
Jill B (one of my mom's friends) met me in the hall at my old school LCA. She told me about the fire she had for my mom and asked that I "make a siren to give it to her" (I have NO CLUE what that means now..that's what I wrote in my notes). I had no idea what she was talking about (apparently I had no clue then either) but agreed nonetheless.

Later, Jill found me and again iterated how important this fire thing was. I again pretended to know what she was talking about. Later I met up with my mom who was pregnant and in labor (weird). We were in this parking lot and Jill came up to the car, surprised to see no fire on my mom. I explained that, "I figured you'd given it to one of my siblings and they got confused, so I didn't say anything because I didn't want to embarrass you." (This was perfectly logical in the dream.)

Jill then explained that the fire is a fake metal fire that you buckle around your ankle and it's supposed to bring you luck. Of course! And that would need a siren because...because...fire ankle luck...

Then Zack and I were riding in a car with Chelsea (one of my college roommates). We went to her grandparent's house and met her grandpa. Zack and I were whispering to each other about how he was a total Druid, or possibly Ranger, while he led us into the trees explaining along the way what they were and how to use them. He was frustrated that others didn't use the forest like he did and that they cut down all the food trees.

I was in Renaissance time with the Doctor (10th, obviously), and had a book I had to smuggle to someone. I scaled a castle wall on a rope like those chandelier ropes people cut and ride up in the movies. I then distracted a party by ordering drinks for everyone so I could sneak through them without anyone following me.

July 21:
At my childhood church again. There were various camps being held there (soccer, dance, etc). I was manning a station in the lobby with my co-worker Megan. Out of nowhere, this UNW lady comes over demanding to have three interviews scheduled for Kelly (other coworker) immediately. She already has times picked out, but Kelly has stuff on her calendar for those times already. I try to explain this and the women becomes completely indignant that I won't schedule these interviews for her. She's yelling at me in the lobby and telling me how horrible a job I'm doing. Then I learn that these three people have already been interviewed and she's just wanting Kelly's assessment back.

I dreamed I was a crazy person in a rehab center. I was about to graduate but was only tricking everyone into thinking I was sane. Our final project was using play doh and markers to write a sort of final pledge or message that would be handed to the main staff doctor at graduation. We all made ours and had them approved but after everyone had left the room, I changed mine to say something else that was less than kosher. Mwa-ha-ha-ha.

Finally, I dreamed I was going to marry this guy and I was wearing a highlighter yellow tube top an white tutu. At the last minute I realized I didn't love him and jumped in a taxi, asking to be taken to a thrift store that accepts fabric. The taxi dropped me at this seamstress's house where I have to climb flight after flight of rickety stairs looking for her. There are miscellaneous guns all over the place and random stuffed animals (like, taxidermy kind, not cuddly kind). Finally I came upon the woman. She agreed to buy my wedding attire from me, but first asked me to sit with her and watch the movie Babe. She had a ton of cats and was cleaning a rifle.

July 22:
I dreamed that I was a dog hanging out with all these other dogs and watching (sometimes live and sometimes on TV) America's Got Talent. A boy with some sort of mental disability came on and made spaghetti and meatballs while spouting various quotes from and about Porky Pig. We dogs argued about whether he should go on to the next round or not.

Then I was in this twisty parking ramp in Duluth. It was raining. Tyler was there too. I'm not sure where I was trying to go, but wherever it was, I couldn't seem to get there.

Dream Update: Week 26

As one of my resolutions on my 26th birthday, I decided to record every dream I have for the next year. I blearily type notes into my phone each morning and pretty much just correct typos before posting here. My rules: I won't post something that would embarrass someone else (things I find embarrassing are another story). I only record dreams I recall upon waking up in the morning (no 3 a.m. bathroom break or post-nap recordings).

Without further ado, here's week 26:

July 9:

I was at a party of some kind with my mom, her friend Gail, my aunt Robin, cousin Emily and some other ladies. Opening gifts took forever because all the ladies wanted to ohh and ahh over everything. Emily and I just wanted to go play giant four square in the yard (somehow chalk and 4-square on the grass with two people was going to work out super well).

Then I dreamed that I was taking my daughter to her first day of third grade at a new school. As we walked to her classroom, I realized that neither of us were wearing pants. Luckily, everyone else was in front of us. We slipped into the empty coat room in the classroom and dug through the bins and backpacks there. I found a pair of purple fuzzy sweatpants, and she found over-sized tan corduroys. People made fun of both of us for our pants, but we were just grateful to have them. 

At the school, three goody-goody girls in the class had written a sort of quiz book. The obviously correct and "Christian" answer was always the longest. I found it annoying, especially because the other answers were very short and all from other religions, and I wanted them to at least show respect by not oversimplifying other people's beliefs.

I was taking an eye exam and the doctor was doing the "which is better, 1 or 2?" thing. I couldn't decide though (which is very much like real life), so someone else who was sitting nearby watching kept telling me which was better. I was confused why they were deciding for me what I could see best, but I kept agreeing anyway and going with whatever option they chose for me.

July 10:

Some previous coworkers from KM (including Kay and Jochen) were at a company party. We were playing Catch Phrase, and it was my turn. The card I drew first didn't have words on it but instead had pictures and actions. They let me draw again. My second card had words, but they were really weird. One was "people taking other people's tests." A more normal one was "examination." When I started describing that one, the guessers turned into the cast of Friends. They guessed "exam" but couldn't remember what it was short for. Finally someone got it.

When leaving the party, Kay rode a bike and I drove. My car was totally out of control, and I kept running red lights, driving in the wrong lane and being incapable of stopping.

My brother Tyler was a little kid again (like 4) and had jumped in the pool. He came out shivering and cold. I gave him a big fluffy towel to wrap up in. Then he had something in his eye so I got a corner of the towel wet with warm water and held it against his eye. He kept trying to rub it, and I told him not to. When the corner got cold, I got a different part wet with warm water and held it on his eye again.

July 11:

I was trying to get to class at my high school, but was always late. 

I was at a Molly's (a girl who went to my church and school's) grad party with my mom and looked at my watch. It said 11:30 a.m. except the sky was dark and stars were out. I then learned that it was actually after 3 p.m. and my watch was wrong (not that it being 3 in the afternoon explains the stars either). Realizing I was late once again, I ran to class but couldn't find my locker, so my friend Barbara helped me find it (we had lockers next to each other all through high school). But when I got to my locker and opened it up, it was virtually empty inside. I couldn't find the right notebook and folder for Mrs. Eskola's science class, so I just grabbed a random one and ran to class. Then my friend Anna and I went to Burger King for lunch. By the time we got our food, we were late returning for Mr. O's class.

I dreamed Arden (my college dorm building) was on fire. Alyssa (friend and college roomie) and I escaped. Emily, Matt and Josh (all from high school) were all present as well.

July 12:
Zack and I were leaving this hotel room that we'd been living in for years. The hotel manager had never come to check up on it/us, and we were having trouble remembering what items were ours and which belonged to the hotel. Specifically some fake flowers and suitcases were cause for confusion. My mom and sister Tawnya were there helping clean as well. I talked to my nephew Charlie on the phone. He kept saying "I want to go to Grammie's house!" (which is definitely something he's said to me in real life...multiple times)

So, while they were finishing packing, I was trying to put on my makeup in a bathroom that looked just like the hall bath at my childhood house, but everyone kept interrupting me with questions.

Then I dreamed something about adolescent kids learning about their maturing, changing bodies and them being all giggly and uncomfortable about it.

July 13:

I slept very restlessly, so I ended up dreaming about not being able to fall asleep and checking the clock trying desperately to get to sleep before my alarm was set to go off. 

I dreamed about exploring this little town with my mother-in-law Carrie, siblings-in-law Emilee and Tucker, and Zack. We ended up at this really lame carnival with carnival and arcade games. You would win tickets which you could then use to get prizes. Emilee got some tickets, and I was trying to convince her to get Dove chocolates (raspberry and blueberry!) but she didn't want to.

I dreamed about our new house and trying to move stuff in. It wasn't going well for some reason, though I don't recall the details.

July 14:

I remember there was a giant velvet curtain, like the kind in old school theaters. Then I dreamed again about moving, and about trying to answer a child's question, "What does God look like?"

Then I dreamed about watching a ballet at the children's theater in Duluth, but then instead of ballet it was football. Two friends from high school, Lauren and Anna, were there with me. Lauren said she don't care one bit about football and was pretty sure Anna cared only if her team was playing.

July 15:

Dreamed they made a new Harry Potter movie for the "new generation." My niece Natalie was so excited to see it but was not allowed to until my sister Nicole had a chance to prescreen it. Nicole made the comment that Natalie refused to let her vacuum the house until she saw it (nervous about sucking up the movie I guess?).

I tried to toss a ball around outside, but it was all squishy and floppy, partially stuffed with cotton and heavy and weighted weird.