LOTS OF DREAMS

I've been dreaming a lot the last couple of nights. I was blaming it on the Nyquil that I have been taking for this cold (which has lasted since New Year's weekend), but I didn't take any last night, and I still had a vivid dream.

Last night, I dreamed (dreamt? dreampt?). Let's start over. Last night, I had a dream about my cousin Sarah and her husband, Brian. In my dream, they were not married. They weren't married, because Brian was still married. His wife was "missing" and he had come to my boss for a divorce. The divorce was in process so that he and Sarah could get married. They, however, got tired of waiting, and went ahead and eloped. I couldn't believe what they had done! I was really reading them the riot act. Then they told me they were buying a house. I told them that they absolutely could not do that, because if they bought the house while Brian was still married to his missing wife, it would be marital property, and the missing wife would be entitled to one-half. After Sarah laughed it off, while flaunting her huge 6-carat diamond wedding ring, she said, "Not to worry. We found her. She's dead." This is very uncharacteristic of Sarah--as she is a very, very, very caring person. Apparently, the Sarah in my dreams had been temporarily blinded by the love of her man and her diamonds. Anyway, we all then went to visiting hours for Brian's now-found dead wife. I remember that Alice was there and she had brought a cheese ball with her to share with everyone. While we were at visiting hours, we all made plans for Sarah and Brian to renew their vows so that they could have a legal wedding.

The night before, I had several dreams. I'm not sure if they were separate dreams, or somehow tied in together. One involved Grammy's house and Gretchen. I don't remember anything else about it.

Dream #2 was not pleasant. It was about my Dad. In my dream, Dad was alive, but very sick. We (the entire family) had all had a dream about his upcoming death, and we all knew the day he was going to die. None of us would leave him. At one point, he stood up, but fell down soon thereafter. It was heartbreaking. Dad's eyes were always open, and it appeared that he understood everything we said to him, but he didn't speak. When I woke up I was really shaken up by the whole thing. I ended up crying and going back to bed with Dwane for a little bit so that he could give me a hug. And, Bill, I replayed that dream in my head over and over to see if Dad had said anything, but he didn't.

Dream #3 was about Melissa. She lived on Sesame Street. She had allowed Sesame Street to be in great disrepair, and to get into the buildings (Gordon & Susan's townhouse), you had to go up very rickety stairs, and you had to have great balance and coordination to get inside. When I finally made it up the stairs, there was an African American baby (maybe a year old) sitting on her kitchen counter. This baby had a full head of curly locks, and Melissa was putting geri-kurl (or some sort of styling gel) in the curls.

MY HAIR HAS BEEN CUT OFF!!!

Actually, it's quite a good thing, I think. Mom, Sue, Julia, and I went to Reflections Salon today, and we all had hair cuts. We decided to take Mom as a treat for her birthday. I have put pictures in the Flickr link so that you can see the end results. I can't believe how curly my hair is! I knew it had some wave to it, but the hairstylist (Mary Ellen) got tons of curl just from the cut and a blow dryer diffuser. We had a lot of fun.

I also put in a couple of Eben's basketball and geography bee pictures, as well as a picture of a fairly complicated afghan that I made.

TEN THINGS -- TAGGED BY AMY

Amy has tagged me. I am going to try to play along, but don't know how successful I will be. I have to list ten things that I have done, that perhaps no one else has done. Here goes:

1. I have been bar-hopping and had nothing to drink but Diet Pepsi. (Since Ronda and some of my other friends were with me, I know they have done this too, so maybe this won't count.)

2. I broke my ephithysis (cartiledge in the ankle) while pretending to be a horse and unsuccessfully jumping over a plastic block. (I was in 5th grade.)

3. I have been the State of Maine Typing Champion, and then placed in "Beginning Typing" for my freshman-year of college. (After much protesting on my part, they moved me to Advanced Typing, where I got an A+).

4. I have been crowned Ms. Maine FBLA. (Future Business Leaders of America)

5. I participated in the Maine Sea Goddess Pageant in 1986, and the unique part about it is that my Navy Escort still contacts me from time to time.

6. While roughing it with Alice in Jonesport, I peed in my shoe.

7. I had two whammies against me during the birth of my first son: the placenta was "misplaced", making delivery difficult, and my son was born face side up, which is unusual, and makes delivery even more difficult. (I made it through over two hours of pushing with only 1/2 dose of pain mediation.)

8. I have never been drunk, and I have never even tried to smoke. (Does that count as two?)

9. I met my husband during a vacuum cleaner demonstration. (Alice was involved in that one, too.)

10. I have worked in the same profession for over 20+ years, but I still don't know what I want to be "when I grow up". (I don't want to be a paralegal.)

KOOKAMUNGAPHOBIA

I used that word this morning. Dwane asked me if I made it up. I didn't. Where did it come from? A Saturday AM cartoon? Help me think, please...

I just googled it. Apparently, it's a Cookie Monster saying. He diagnosed Ernie with it one day. I guess that would make it "Cookamungaphobia."

MEDITATION

"...A beautiful smile to hide the pain."
from Wind Beneath My Wings

That's all.

DREAM ABOUT DAD

I had a dream about Dad last night. I found that somewhat odd, as it was my brother who so desparately wanted a dream...

My dream started with me in bed. I wanted to somehow communicate with Dad. I went and got my alphabet stamp set, and went back to bed with it. I started to stamp out the message "I love you" with teal ink. As I was doing this, I remember that I was praying that God would forgive me if I was doing something wrong. I felt that it was almost "Ouija-ish", but I just wanted to talk to Dad. Suddenly, the teal ink turned into a powdered teal eyeshadow--it wasn't cakey, it was very much a fine powder. (Like Bare Escentuals, for any of you make-up buffs out there.) It had a glisten to it, and it covered the page. Then there was this breeze that started to blow the powder around gently. I heard "The make-up I like best is when it's on your mother." In my dream, I'm not sure if this was audible or not.

In my dream, I then stood up and went to the bathroom. Things were like swirling around me. I remember that the towels were moving. I think there's a commercial where a woman is like standing in a whirwind with the phone and the cats and her kids all whirling around her. It was like that, only it was very peaceful, and I loved the experience. I knew it was Dad letting me know that he was all around me.

The next night, in my dream, I brought Mom and Ma to my room, and we started the process with the rubber stamps again. I remember telling them that we had to be very careful, that we wanted to make sure that we were not having a demon pretending to be my Dad. We were very prayerful about it. Things started to swirl again, and I woke up.

Bill--I'm not sure if there's a message in this dream for you or not...Does it give you anything you might have been looking for?

BAD BLOGGER?

Even though I don't feel like I have anything to say, I fear Aunt Ginny's Bad Blogger List. Therefore, I will tell you this: This weekened I bought the Disney Edition of DDR for the Playstation. I have used it 3 times so far, for an hour each time. Yesterday, I burned 440 calories, and today I burned 450. I've been adjusting the settings to get just the right workout. There's a fine line between making it difficult enough to get a good workout, and making it so difficult that you can't move your feet fast enough. I think I got the right adjustments this morning.

Got a scrapbooking Open House tonight to introduce the new catalogs and the new stuff. Hope it will jump start my business. It needs it.

For TV viewing, I'm watching Biggest Loser, American Idol, Dance War (which I don't think I really like), Project Runway (love it!) and Celebrity Apprentice. I still miss Heroes.

TASTE IT: EBEN'S MP3 LIST

I'm sorry for the repetition here, but Eben thought this was so much fun, he wanted to do it too. (See below for an explanation as to what this is all about.)

1. IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY?
What You Need by INXS

2. WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Ballroom Blitz by Sweet

3. WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GIRL?
Fancy by Reba McEntire

4. HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
You Make Me Feel Dancing by Leo Sayer

5. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
She Works Hard for the Money by Donna Summer

6. WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
You're My God by Jaci Valasquez

7. WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
You Are the Music in Me from High School Musical

8. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
I Can't Take My Eyes Off of You from High School Musical

9. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
My Town by Montgomery Gentry

10. WHAT IS 2+2?
Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson

11. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
I'm Every Woman by Whitney Houston

12. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE GIRL YOU LIKE?
Our Lips Are Sealed by The Go Gos

13. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Little Rock by Reba McEntire

14. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Stay With Me (Big Brass Bed) by Josh Gracin

15. WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE GIRL YOU LIKE?
Red High Heels by Kellie Pickler

16. WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Shine, Jesus, Shine from WOW Worship

17. WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Disappear by INXS

18. WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Don't Change by INXS

19. WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
I'll Be Believin' by Point of Grace

20. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
My Redeemer Lives from Women of Faith

21. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Lay Your Hands on Me by Bon Jovi

22. WHAT SHOULD YOU POST THIS AS?
Taste It by INXS

BEFORE HE CHEATS, A/K/A FUN IPOD THINGIE

I stole this from Amy's blog. I have two playlists that I use exclusively, so I answered each question twice--once for my secular playlist, and once for my Christian playlist.

Instructions:
1. Put your music player on Shuffle
2. For each question, press the Next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER WHAT

1. IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY?
Secular: Honey, I'm Home by Shania Twain
Christian: All Things Are Possible from Women of Faith

2. WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Secular: Barracuda by Heart
Christian: Stomp by God's Property

3. WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY?
Secular: Kerosene by Miranda Lambert
Christian: Shine, Jesus, Shine, from WOW Worship

4. HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Secular: Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson
Christian: Keep the Candle Burning by Point of Grace

5. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
Secular: Queen of the Night by Whitney Houston
Christian: The Great Adventure by Steven Curtis Chapman

6. WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Secular: Red High Heels by Kellie Pickler
Christian: Liquid by Jars of Clay

7. WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Secular: You Give Love a Bad Name by Bon Jovi
Christian: When I Get Carried Away by Ivan Parker

8. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
Secular: How Will I Know? by Whitney Houston
Christian: I'll Be Believing by Point of Grace

9. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Secular: Stay With Me (Big Brass Bed) by Josh Gracin
Christian: Celebrate Jesus from WOW Worship

10. WHAT IS 2+2?
Secular: Good as Gone by Little Big Town
Christian: God by Rebecca St. James

11. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF ALICE?
Secular: Ballroom Blitz by Sweet
Christian: Freedom by Wayne Watson

12. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF DWANE?
Secular: The Runaround by Taylor Hicks
Christian: Faith, Hope and Love by Point of Grace

13. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Secular: Walk On by Reba McEntire
Christian: Trading My Sorrows from Women of Faith

14. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Secular: Last Dance by Donna Summer
Christian: Everything Changes by Kathy Troccoli

15. WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE DWANE?
Secular: Pop by NSync
Christian: All Things Are Possible from Women of Faith

16. WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Secular: Gotta Be Something More by Sugarland
Christian: Flood by Jars of Clay

17. WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Secular: Man! I Feel Like a Woman by Shania Twain
Christian: Big House by Audio Adrenaline

18. WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Secular: My Town by Montgomery Gentry
Christian: My Redeemer Lives from Women of Faith

19. WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Secular: Miss Independent by Kelly Clarkson
Christian: Gather at the River by Point of Grace

20. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Secular: Taste It by INXS
Christian: Talk About It by Nicole C. Mullen

21. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Secular: I'm Every Woman by Whitney Houston
Christian: Sometimes by Step by Rich Mullins

22. WHAT SHOULD YOU POST THIS AS?
Secular: Before He Cheats by Carrie Underwood
Christian: Nothing I guess. That was the end of my Playlist.

BITS & PIECES

I am tardy on posting about Eben's basketball game on Saturday. He scored two baskets! I jumped right out of my seat and cried! I think other parents got a kick out of my excitement. I just couldn't control myself. I was so excited! (So was Eben!)

Eben is taking his geography test as I am typing this. I pray he does well. We were told that the test was VERY hard. He has been studying every night, but there's only so much geography you can learn in 5 days! He really got a kick out of quizzing me. I was getting all of the US geography questions right, so that was boring him. Dwane told him to try the World Geography questions instead---that I wouldn't even get one of those right. Well, just so you know...I got 8 out of 10 questions right! Probably because none of them were about Finland!)

Of course, with the New Year, I wanted to diet. I weighed in on January 2, but didn't really try to do anything until Monday. As of today, I have lost .9% of my body weight. Not much percentage, but pound-wise, it was pretty good for only 2 days of really trying. I am cutting way back on calories for breakfast, lunch, and snacks, then eating what I want for supper. I know it should be the other way around, but one step at a time. I am also doing 1 hour of DDR each morning. This morning, I burned 367 calories in that one hour.

Let's see...Is there anything else to tell you? My boss is back from her month-long vacation. I spent 1 1/4 hours on the phone with her this morning, and now I have plenty to do. She is really seriously thinking about retiring, or at least taking a winter-long "vacation" every winter. That doesn't sound too good for my job. If anyone hears of something I can do at home come December, please let me know! Of course, I'd love to get into the school system, but we shall see what God has in store.

Seems like there was a lot more I wanted to say, and now I can't think of it.

Oh--Amy did this really cool I-pod thingie on her blog, and I really want to try that. Hers really cracked me up. I may try that when I get back from picking Eben up.

Until then...I love you all!

EBEN WINS SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY BEE!!

I know. I know. I'm being proud again. But Eben won the School Geography Bee! He went up against 9 other students: 1 from the other 5th-grade class, and 8 students from the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. The runner-up was last year's school champion.

Eben will take the state-wide written test on Wednesday after school. That is supposed to take an hour. If he scores within the top 100 of the school winners, then he'll go somewhere to compete at the state level. If he wins that, then he goes to DC, where the national event is hosted by Alex Trebek. While I'm doubtful we'll be headed there, we will study hard nonetheless. It never hurts to learn!

SUE'S YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING MI-5

Sue says: "The questions this week come from another book I purchased at Julia's school book fair called,"You've Got To Be Kidding!" It is a book full of "crazy, mind-bending 'would you rather' questions." One rule: you must choose one of the scenarios, you cannot answer "I don't know" or "neither." You can explain your answer if you wish."

1. Would you rather: Not be able to sleep for a week OR Not be able to eat for a week?

Well, I love both, that's for sure. I think I could do better without sleep than without food. Maybe I've never really been THAT tired to know what it's like to feel truly sleep deprived, but I know that it gets to be physically uncomfortable when you're hungry. (Not that it's happened to be often, and I don't think I've ever really been seriously hungry. Just inconveniently hungry.)

2. Be the person in the circus who stand still while the knife thrower throws knives at him OR Be the person who puts his head in the lions mouth?

Since I like animals better than flying knives, I'll stick my head in the lion's mouth. I'll trust that God will take care of me like He did Daniel. I know he could protect me from knives, too, but for some reason, I'll just pick the lion.

3. Live next door to a haunted house OR Across the street from a cemetery?

I'm not sure what I think about haunted houses. But I do know that cemeteries don't really creep me out. In fact, I'd almost enjoy living across from Ocean View Cemetery, so that I could keep an eye out on the graves of so many people that I love (Dad, Father, Grammy, Nanny, Papa, etc.).

4. Be a boy named Muffin E. Sims OR A girl named Caspar P. Jasper?

Hmmm. Gotta think about this one. With a name like Muffin, everyone would assume that you had a "real" name, and that "Muffin" was the pet name youre Mom gave you. With a name like Caspar Jasper, you've really got two whammies going on: a rhyming name, and a name that sounds like it belongs to the opposite sex. I guess I'd rather be Muffin. On second thought, if you included the middle name, like "Caspar Penelope Jasper", that doesn't sound so bad. Maybe I'd go with Caspar, and have my friends call me "Cassie". Yeah, that's what I'd do.

5. Spend the rest of your life in a space ship OR The rest of your life in a submarine?

Double yuck to this one. I think there might be a little more room in a submarine, so I'll pick that. Also, a submarine can only go as far as the bottom of the ocean, which is quite a bit closer to home than thousands of miles in space. (Not that it really matters, since I'll be there for the rest of my life, but I needed to give a reason.)

A CALL FROM EBEN'S TEACHER

The moment every Mother dreads---a call from your child's teacher. This was a good one, though! Eben won his classroom Geography Bee. Mrs. Martin thought that perhaps Eben forgot to tell me. Oh, yeah! He forgot! Tomorrow is the school-wide Geography Bee at 2:05. (She thought I might like to go.) First the Environmental Calendar Contest and now a Geography Bee. I'm now guilty of committing that awful sin---PRIDE!!!

On another note, I met Gina a/k/a AZA at Pizza Hut today. She heard someone mention my name, and then noticed that I looked an awful lot like Billy Rhythm. (She works with him.) I'm so glad she introduced herself! It's nice to put a face to a name. Now, if we could just get Amy here so I could meet her, too!!! (Don't you wanna come to the New Hampshire race, Amy?)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I just knew that you guys were absolutely chomping at the bit to know how I spent my New Year's Eve, so here it is!

I woke up at 7:11 AM yesterday. I mention this because it was the latest I slept the entire Christmas school break. Only until 7:11 AM! Sometimes I wish that I could sleep a little later.

Dwane had been up since 4:00 AM. He hadn't been feeling well the last several days and had spent quite a bit of time in bed. I think his body was screaming, "Would you please just get out of bed already!" So when I woke up, he made me some toast with scrambled eggs and American cheese. It was very good.

I spent most of the morning doing legal work. Year end wrapping up sort of stuff. Contacting clients that we hadn't heard from in a month or so.

Dwane had to work at the Samoset in the afternoon, so I took a nap. I had had a dry cough for the last couple of days, so I didn't know if it was my blood pressure medicine (a dry cough is a potential side effect), or if I was coming down with the cold/crud stuff that Caleb and Dwane had/have. I have really weaned myself from those afternoon naps, but I thought it was the perfect day to take advantage of a little nap.

When I got up, I made a Chocolate Truffle Pie to take for dessert at Mom's tomorrow. This was a pre-made chocolate graham cracker crust, sprinkled with crushed pecans, drizzled with melted caramel squares, and topped with a layer of chocolate truffle stuff. Looks really yummy. After that I made a loaf of bread for Caleb and I to eat for supper. (Eben spent the night at Nana's.)

Dwane made it home for about 1/2 hour before he had to go drive the Taxi for New Year's Eve. I didn't know if he was going to make it home, so I hadn't even prepared a supper for him. He settled for a can of beefaroni.

After Dwane left for taxi, and I had eaten my bread, I prepared 6 scrapbook pages. Two pages still need to be embellished, but maybe I can crank those out today.

I went to bed at 8:00 PM. Dwane called me at midnight to wish me a Happy New Year, but he didn't get home until after 4:00 AM. Exciting New Year, huh? Sue was a Gig Widow (with no kids). Alice was a Snowplow Widow. I was a Taxi Widow (with only 1 kid). We should've gotten together to scrapbook. The weather, however, didn't really cooperate, as we had about 8 inches of snow earlier in the day.

I imagine that Dwane will sleep this morning right up until the time we leave to go to my Mom's. (Prime Rib and Pork Roast on the menu.) Then the snow starts again. We're supposed to get a foot today to add to the 8 inches we got yesterday, to add to the 4 or so inches we got just prior to the weekend. (I think that's when it was.) I think we got more snow in December than we normally get all year. I heard a weather forecaster chuckle this morning that before long, we'll be able to use the snow as insulation for our houses, and maybe we'll save a little on those outrageous heating bills!!!

Hope you all have a great 2008! My love to all of you!