Advice and Tres Leche Cake

The night before last I had an "advice" dream, featuring my pastor's wife and a few other church ladies.
In the dream I was watching one of the worship leaders at my old church, and talking to my pastor's wife about my involvement. She was telling me that I needed to step it up. I also had to get my friend Terese's shoes in the dream. And in the dream Terese was wearing all brown. In one book I read the author said brown signifies pastoral stuff, but who knows. All I know is that it's pretty clear that I need to get my act together this coming year and not be so apathetic about my "assignments".

Last night I had two dreams; one about an ex of mine (Shane) making Tres Leche cake and I was instructing him. I was also noticing his muscular build and his air force hair-do. (This is new in dreams, cause typically I dream of him the way I remember him from high school or college days, not the way he is now.)
I think the part about the cake has to do with me being on a diet after so many sweets over Christmas, so now automatically my brain goes to what I can't have.
At the end of the dream my husband and kids were calling me to get in the car and leave. I told Shane he looked good and gave him a hug. Then I commented that he smelled good too, (I had a brief naughty thought, and must have been shocked at myself, cause I woke myself up.) :-)

The dream before that is fuzzy, but I remember one part in particular where I had to use the rest room and couldn't find it,(a common occurrence in my dreams). I finally found a green house looking building that was the rest room and I went in.
I could see through the glass walls, but they were dark and foggy with vines and such growing up around the outside so I didn't worry about people seeing in. I sat down, only to look behind me and see at least ten other people. I decided to just look forward (through the glass) and not think about what the others may be doing.
It was an odd dream, but then again, so are all of my "potty dreams".

A Retreat, a Reunion, and an Animal Cruelty Documentary

The first dream of the night was about a women's retreat. I was there with tons of other church women I know. (I most likely dreamed of this because I was explaining to my sister last night how I met Kookye... which was at retreat.) In the dream we were staying up late (as usual) but in a totally new place. The cabins were like another camp dream I've had before that reminded me of a cruise.
There was a long line of sinks in the bathroom and bunk beds lining the walls of our rooms. I was the person in the group who was determined to stay up til morning. We had been running around goofing off outside and I had to go inside to pee. I found out I was on my period (which actually happened this morning), then I came out of the bathroom to a room of sleepy ladies about to go to bed. The clock said 3:00, and I said, "come on, let's go swimming!"
I went outside to some familiar pools (ones I dreamed of a while back in a dream about my ex-father-in-law and weight loss.) There was a normal pool and a hot tub, both very large. I jumped in the hot tub and thought it might make everyone sleepier, so I got in the cold one. I looked around and saw that no one joined me.

The dream switched and it was day time and I was in the pool at a reunion. (Another dream I've had before with Paul, if you remember. But the pool was still the same large square one from the dream about weight-loss.) This time the pool was again, mostly boys, and one came over to be my protector. He looked similar to some boys I've known in the past but not like one particular person. He was skinny and tall, and white with a pointy nose. He had on a leather jacket and jeans. I swam around with him for a while kind of backed up into his arms. Some other boy was trying to take me from him, but he was defending me. Then I got out. I rationalized with myself that I really didn't know him and he was never my boyfriend. Once I was out of the pool I walked around a stadium type place (again very much like the dream I had a while back that Guy and Mr. Leander were in). I saw lots of people and then out of the corner of my eye I saw Shane (another old boyfriend... my favorite from my youth). He had just arrived from being overseas (which makes sense because he's in the Air Force, and goes overseas fairly often). He still looked just like he did in 1989 with his long hair and glasses. He was wearing a black leather jacket that glistened like it was wet. He disappeared from my view, and I spent a few minutes trying to find him. Finally, I did, and walked over trying to get him to talk to me. I even put my hands around his neck, but he was determined to ignore me. Again, I was left disappointed.


My third dream started like I was watching a documentary, but shortly into the film, it was like I was there and being shown through the farm/factory.
The documentary was about the mistreatment of children and animals in Laos. (This idea popped up out of nowhere... it has no relevance with anything going on it my life... which is one reason it's so disturbing.) There was one small boy that the film followed through the entire process, but very quickly into the film. The mistreatment of the children and the animals went hand in hand, because he was the one forced to treat the animals the way they were treated. It started with him in a pin full of hay and mud like he had just finished taking the animals out, then the scene switched to a line of beheaded, de-footed, and skinned pig looking animals. They were still 'walking' in the line to get slaughtered though. The boy explained how he had to chop of their feet while they were still fluffy, and the imagery went to him bounding rabbits by their feet and chopping off their heads, then their feet, while still tied. The skinning was done by someone else. Even though everything had looked like pigs before, I got the understanding that this was a rabbit farm. The boy cried when he talked about how cute they were before he had to kill them with the machete.
I woke up quite disturbed.

So other than being disappointed after each dream, I don't see much of a relation between them.
Like I said, the Laos dream came out of no where, so I'll be thinking this morning about any possible meaning...

Reunion at a Water Park

I was texting my old friend Paul last night shortly before bed time... telling him that facebook doesn't give me "enough" of him. It's all so surface driven (which is good for the internet,) but I wanted to know more about where he was at in life.

When I was a teenager I often went out with guys just because they liked me. Paul was one of those guys that I never knew a thing about until we dated. It's a terrible method of dating and I preach against it to my daughter all the time, but that's what I did back then. If I found out they were "bad", or even if I knew they were beforehand, I hoped I would make them better. People call that missionary dating; I was queen of that method. Nothing ever happened to the boys I dated to make them better while I was in their life, but I have had multiple old boy friends tell me all these years later that I impacted them greatly. Few with stories of God, but most with stories of self-worth. I'm happy about that.

Well... last night I dreamed that I met Paul again at a reunion. The reunion was in a pool at a water park. All kinds of people from Aviano AFB HS were there, all swimming.
It was a deep pool with rocks on the sides and rivers trailing from it in a couple directions. The official reunion was only at that pool, though there were slides and other attractions all around. I was not aware of the other surroundings at the start of the dream... only the big pool with all my classmates.
I saw Paul and swam over to him. I floated my body up to the surface while we said our hellos and I took off something. Not sure if I had been fully dressed and was now in a swimsuit, or if I took off part of my swimsuit. I embraced Paul and then closed my eyes. He held me in a head lock and we talked. Only my head was above water now, with Paul's arm acting like a life preserver keeping me afloat. There was some "inappropriate" touching, and I asked if he should be doing that with all these people around. He laughed and said, "we're not there anymore", "I wouldn't do that in front of anyone." I opened my eyes and pulled away to find that we were now further down one of the lazy rivers that flowed from the pool. We continued down the river and on to multiple water slides, laughing and having a great time. After the third or fourth slide we went to get back into the lazy river but the entry stairs were over crowded with small children. Paul asked my what my intentions were. I explained to him that I had no desire to cheat on my husband and that I was very happy in my marriage. He was happy with that news. We stared at the obstacle of kids in front of us on the stairs and decided to try to jump over them. Right as I jumped the scene changed and I was no longer in the river or with Paul. I was now with my friends Shawn Kuver and the Rhodes sisters (Erin and Michelle), also from HS in Aviano. We were walking through a cruise ship type of hallway with red velvety carpets. There were trays of food and things nearby like we were at the back end of a restaurant. There was a piano sitting in the hallway and Shawn sat down to play, (well, goof off on it at least). One of my old youth group leaders, Jill, walked up to us and gave me a disapproving look. I took her queue and walked away.
Then I woke up.

Interesting dream, yes?
Water and pools etc. for me usually are about refreshing, cleansing, relaxing things. There was never a "bad" moment in the dream... even the inappropriate touch didn't feel "wrong". I think that with most dreams of sexual stuff the symbolism is more about intimacy than actual sex. (Of course, I could have been inputting my evening with my husband into part of my dream.) Anyway, I think that the dream speaks of having a private "deeper level" conversation with Paul (away from facebook... which is basically a reunion in itself), enjoying that, and both of us viewing our kids as obstacles that block that relaxing experience, the carefree life of when we knew each other.
As for the cruise ship part of the dream... I think it speaks of mischief. Shawn was most definitely one of my most troublesome friends. Especially given that Jill (a conscience symbol) snapped me out of it... I think that it was just a warning, still related to Paul... to not cause mischief.

Backwards

Well, as much as the new puppy waking me up at 5:15 is annoying, I will say it definitely helps with remembering dreams.

In my first dream I was watching Greta (the mother of my daughter's ex-boyfriend) vacuum my house. The vacuum she was using was so full of static that it was causing sparks which started to ignite half way through vacuuming the bedroom. The carpet starting catching on fire in little spots here and there. She wasn't even flinching about it, so I grabbed a piece of cloth and started slapping the flames with it. The fire would go out in one spot, only to re-ignite in the area she had just vacuumed. I went behind her putting out each fire. (She also, was backing out of the bedroom... so we were both 'backing up'.) Then one fire starting traveling up her arm. I slapped it as well. She finally took notice and watched as I slapped her arm with the cloth. It wasn't working as well on her arm so I told her to go put her arm in some water.
That was the end of that dream.

The next dream was about a feast. I was inviting my daughter's ex and his whole family to a dinner at my house. (It was like the house we lived in when my son was a baby.) The meal would be held outside and had been cooked on a huge grill. I was grilling the meat and had told my friend Mitzie to work on the salad. The meat and the baked potatoes were ready and the guests were about to arrive. The whole house had cooking things all around as if I had been catering an event for a hundred people. I wasn't terribly worried about cleaning it up because we would be eating outside. I looked over and saw lettuce all over the place in the entry room. I told Mitzie that they would be here soon, and the salad came first... "why wasn't it ready?" She said she didn't realize that I had told her to make the salad. I was pretty pissed off at that, and had to rationalize with myself that we could eat backwards. We would have the meat first because it was hot and ready anyway... then the soup... then the salad.

In the last dream I was walking in a city. I think it was suppose to be New York. I was in a 'not very nice' section. I arrived at a tall townhouse that was mine. All the houses on the block were just like it. They were all gray cement, three stories high, close together, on a hill, with a yard in 'back' surrounded by a retaining wall. Before I noticed the back yard I thought that living in the city would mean that I didn't have a yard.
I was waiting for my mom to show up so I could show her my new home. She came and we walked around the outside. I realized that the yard in 'back', was really the front yard, but no one entered that way. Mine was the house on the far right of the block, so to get into my house, you just came in the side door straight from the side street. The yard was empty.

Interpretation...
In all three dreams things are "backwards"; that must mean something. That is the theme I see. Remember, three dreams in one night with a common theme is a serious message. It's important that I get this.
In the first dream, Greta was vacuuming backwards.
In the second dream, I had to serve dinner backwards.
In the third dream, the 'back yard' turned out to be the 'front yard'.

I'm going to start with something I've dreamed before: yards.
Back yards typically have meant things that are private to MY family that no one else sees. Front yards are public. Things about me or my family that everyone sees.
In dream number 3, the yard was empty; It was big and it had a retaining wall. At first I didn't even think I would have one. So is it empty cause I'm new there? Or is it empty because it's empty?

There should also be something significant about my daughter's ex's family. I haven't dreamed about them since they broke up early this year. Even then, I typically dreamed of the boyfriend, not his mom. I suppose it could be because yesterday we were talking about going to Costa Rice again, and that is where both of our families went on vacation together.
If I take their family as simply symbolic of Costa Rica, then does that mean that going could cause fires in the bedroom? Or that how I envision the trip is going to be turned around, "backwards" in some way? If that's the case, how does the NY town house play in to that?

Last night I put the possible vacation to Costa Rica as my facebook status. I woke up to seven comments on it. One of which was my husband saying, "Wow... how does a f-a-m-i-l-y discussion became a F-a-c-e-b-o-o-k status update, that quick? There has to be some sort of protocol to follow. ...you hear what I'm screaming? :)"
This could be how the "back yard" became the "front yard". (That could also account for the "fires" in the bedroom. I don't think he was very happy with me.)
Another one of the comments was my best friend saying, "Wait till next April and go to Costa Rica when Lance and I may be there." Perhaps this is the reversal of the trip. (of course, that's just wishful thinking on my part.)

Remembering What's Best

Last night's dream...

I was in a play of some sort, but it was open air... not on a stage.

We were actually in an arcade, which was part of a carnival or board walk.

In the arcade I was with an old friend of mine who was married to me in the play. He didn't want me anymore and sent me away. I walked over to another couple and pretended to talk to the wife of that couple (also in the play). My "husband" whispered across the "stage" that he had forgotten to ask for my wedding rings. So I took them off and threw them across "stage". Not long after, he threw "cheap" ones back. But to me they weren't cheap. They were mother of pearl and opal. The band was even made of mother of pearl (not a stable material for that, but pretty). I started admiring my two new rings. I was enthralled with their beauty. Then a very handsome man (not in the play) walked by and asked if I was available, I quickly made a bee-line to my real husband who was playing an arcade game close by. I leaned on him and tried to get his attention.

I'm not sure if he went with me, but next I walked over to the farris wheel. I got on, rode and got off alone. I started exiting the wrong way and noticed I was in Italy. I saw my exboyfriend, Shane, standing not far away. I ran over to him and we kissed. I was very happy to be with him and was thinking of how much I liked his kisses, when I saw my husband. I thought about the thrill of a new romance and all the things I missed about Shane, but I finally ran to my husband instead and cried to him that I had forgotten that we had had good times there too. (in Italy). My mind went to some "real" times and some that I just made up. We walked off arm in arm.

I have to go to a Beth Moore Conference today... so I have no time to 'interpret'... I don't think it needs too much though. :-)

Ciao!

Times (numbers) in dreams

In the very beginning of my dream last night I was in a public rest room. It was all women and I had to go, but could not find an empty stall. Outside of the stalls there were beauty treatments going on and mud baths and such. I waited for a long time for someone to come out. When I finally got in one of the stalls I realized it was connected to the other two beside it, no walls, only the wall that separated them from the 'beauty area'. I didn't like that. I don't even remember ever actually going past that point, though I know I looked in various other stalls to find a suitable one. That dream ended (or morphed) and this one started...

I was on a school trip of some sort. We stopped at a convenience store to get some snacks. I was looking at bags of Japanese snacks that one of the boys said he liked and that they didn't have any... but I found them. It had a pink wrapper. There was a mini Arbys in the store and one of the nerds from my high school came over and asked if I wanted a sandwich. I said yes and he went to get me one. He came back shortly after, needing some money. The Arby's part of the store closed at 12:30 and it was just about to close (even though it was lunch time). The lady at the Arby's counter also came over and I had to figure out if he had ordered me a sandwich, fries and a drink or just the sandwich cause it was seeming a little expensive. I payed her and we went back outside. It wasn't like a parking lot anymore, it was more like a quad at a school and it led to a class room where some students were watching a film about the earth shifting. I sat down next to my ex boyfriend and started to lean into him. The nerd who had bought me the sandwich (kind of) got a little frustrated. I started talking to my ex about the end of the world. He didn't believe me. The video they were watching was showing that just in the past couple of days the earth's surface had moved many miles. We hadn't felt it. But the satellite camera had taken pictures and we were at that moment watching a part of the video that showed a harbor town with lots of personal boats all moving at once up and over what seemed to be a few miles. I asked if he believed me now. Then that part of the dream faded. 

In the next part I was at my house from when I was 8. I was with my family (mainly my mom and my Aunt Debbie) in the living room watching a movie. I had prom that night and was suppose to be there at 7. I had to car pool with some friends and I was going to pick them up at 6:30. I had not started to get ready at all. It was 6:25 when I realized what time it was. My mom and aunt had not let me look at the time... like they had me watching the movie to forget... or maybe I fell asleep during the movie??? Anyway I jumped up and they protested a little. I explained to them the time and that I had to go get ready. I went to put on my dress and when I got in front of the mirror to do my make-up I had what looked like sun burn blister-bubbles all over my face and chest and shoulders. It was horrible. But I didn't freak out as much as you would think. Instead, I started explaining them to the nerd that had been in the beginning of the dream.

And that was the end.

We've already talked about "potty dreams" in a different post, so I won't go back into that, just sufficed to say that this bathroom was dirty and unappealing, open and unsafe... not the place you want to be sharing your 'stuff'.

As for the convenience store part of the dream.  This is the third (I think) convenience store in my dreams over the past week or so... after possibly a life time of never dreaming of such places, so that in itself makes it interesting. Last time the convenience store was the place I went looking for help about the stolen swell sister car... with no luck. Another time recently I was stopping to get gas and some quick food with my dad, the place ended up repulsing me.

So here I am again in a fast food /convenience /gas station type place and things are not going so well. Convenient is not always the best choice... or should I say, hardly ever is. That goes for food as well as for life lessons.

This time there is a time involved. It is not typical for me to have so many numbers in a dream, or to remember them. In this dream they were all times: Closing time, starting time, time to go, 'oops I'm late' time. 

It seems to me that this being a dream that dealt a lot with time and even the end of the world that  the convenience store closing could have to do with the end of conveniences.  It could be for me personally, as I am trying to be healthier, or it could be grander than that. 

I'm not going to jump to any rash conclusions... this is just what jumps out to me (and of course what I've been studying for the past year now). 12:30 looks a lot like half way through the year '12... which is about the time I think 'conveniences' will end, due to the mass amounts of natural disasters up until that point. 

The dream moves directly from that 'closing time' to watching a video about a major shift in the earth (something predicted by many to happen in 2012). I am trying to convince someone I care deeply about. (I still care very much about my first love, just not in a romantic way. Plus I tend to dream of Shane when it has to do with matters of the religion, because we debate about it nearly every time we talk; him being Catholic and me being Protestant.) The nerd I mentioned in the dream (isn't a nerd anymore) and he is agnostic. I don't typically talk to him about religion at all, but my best friend does.

Prom (probably dreamed of because the Swell Sister's 2nd anniversary this weekend was an 80's Prom theme) being at 7:00, speaks to me of completion and the party at the end of the world. The seventh year, the beginning of the Thousand Year Reign of Christ. (Or for a shallower interpretation... that is the time that our Prom started, but we were suppose to be there at 6:30 to set up... I was 5 minutes late.)

Movies and I have a love/hate relationship. I love good movies, but I use them as an escape. Movies are the one thing that I will waste my time doing. I am getting better, but I relapse often. There are numerous things that I need to "get ready" for... things about my end times ministry... things that hopefully will "pick up my friends and bring them to Prom", but I get side tracked with things as stupid as movies. I pray that I am not "late"! 

I imagine that the blisters on my face, neck, shoulders, and chest were just another end time plague (Rev 16:2) that I was trying to explain to my non-believing friend. In the dream they were just like a sun burn to me, not painful at all, just blisters of air, like before you start peeling. I know this is NOT how they are described at all in the bible, but if we're being biblical about it, only those with the mark of the beast will have them in the first place. Perhaps it refers to the part that says we'll be scorched by the sun? (Rev 16:9).

Hmmmm.  Just a thought.

Who am I?

Tis the week of disturbing dreams, I have decided.

Last night's started with my daughter and I going to her first 'female exam'. It was in a college class room on a table. The room was very large and upstairs. The table was near a window. There were a total of three doctors, each came in one at a time. They were going to fill her "cavity" with some sort of mold making plaster substance. (I think this strange concept came from my husband's inner ear sound system molds that arrived yesterday.)  When the last Dr. came in he wanted to shave her and give her a "wig" made of the hair on her head... which was red in the dream. I told him not to shave her completely, explaining to him and her that it would itch like crazy when the hair grew back in.  He left the room and we escaped. We went down a corridor and some stairs and ended up at my home from my late teens ;(the home that my daughter was born at).

While we were there my dad was talking to me about laundry and a trip. I went outside and sat on the driveway with my two dogs: one from then, and one from now. Back then I had a small Cocker Spaniel mix, and now I have an American Stoffordshire Terrier, so they were quite opposite sitting out there with me. A lady with a stroller walked by and my small dog walked over to see her. 

My parents came out and said it was time for our trip, so I put the dogs away and we got into a van. I sat in the back of the van. We drove to the snow to go skiing. There were a few of us that didn't have socks, so when we reached to snow we had to stop and buy some. I already had on my ski boots when we got out of the van to go in the store. I feel on my butt directly out of the van in some ice, and again inside the store. The whole time I was walking to the store and even inside for part of the time I was texting my daughter's ex-boyfriend, Nick. The store was open on one side like it had multiple garage doors that were all opened that day. It was a packed store and very "costco"-ish. After I looked at a few things I made my way to some metal steps by the street and sat down. I feel asleep. Water rising up to my feet woke me up. I was a little girl, like maybe 6 or 7. I knew I had left my younger sister on another step, so even though I heard my dad calling me, I went back into a tower of sorts that had another metal stairway going down the center to get my sister. She too was down in some water as I pulled her up and we climbed the stairs together. She was blonde and about 4. (My daughter was blonde when she was 4.   hmmm.)

And that was the end of the dream.

Aside from the inner ear molds, there is nothing about this dream that resembles anything from the past few weeks, so it is most definitely not just a compilation of my thoughts.

I'm not sure I want to find out what it all means. 

For reoccurring themes... there's the laundry... and that's about it. hmmmmm. Again, I have to wonder if I was me the whole time, or if while I was texting Nick, was I my daughter? 

Anyway, I'll think about it. For now, I have to go get my kids to school.

"notes, prayers and conferences"

Last night was like dream central.

But, I only remember the last one.

I was at my best friend from childhood's house in a room with her mom and siblings. We were all talking, then Vanessa (my BF) pulled me into her room to look through some old notes. Her little sister Anne came in with some drawings she had done for me. (Anne is now totally grown up, but in my dream she was very little like I remember her.) I wanted to look at our notes, but Anne kept putting crayon pictures under my nose. There was a brass bed and white vanity in the room, all very girly.

Then I walked outside and on to a crowded Italian street. (We lived in Italy when I was a teenager. Vanessa lived there with me. We were both Air Force brats.) Vanessa was no longer part of the dream but other people from high school were popping up all over. I was headed up a set of stairs (ala Venice) and there were a few old friends heading down. I turned to follow them.

My ex-boyfriend Shane was walking with the group, along with his friends Kevin and Jay. Shane started to pray. I listened very intently (they didn't know I could hear). I was overjoyed at the sincerity of his prayer. Then Kevin prayed, his was a little less, but satisfied me none-the-less.  Then Jay prayed and made a big joke of it; saying, "God, did you see the bunch of $#&*$% nerds up there..." then faded into a laugh. Shane prayed again, and I continued following them into a sanctuary. Shane's sister was there, along with many many other familiar faces, and some non familiar faces.

I tried to find a seat, but no one would let me sit near them. I turned, and my husband was with me, so I took his hand and headed for the front. Towards the end I slid down the aisle on my butt and said, "weee". He was embarrassed.

We sat down and realized that the event was a John Bevere marriage conference.

The big screen came on and played a promo for what we were about to see. The advertisement started with a very boring lecture snapshot and a snapshot of an audience member yawning. Then it cut to John Bevere speaking in his overly zealous way, bouncing around stage. The voice-over said something to the effect of "you won't be bored here". 

Then to my right I saw one of John's traveling companions talking to the lady seated by her. The two women were slightly up in the tiered seating. She said, "well usually you won't be bored. I don't know what went wrong at our last conference; there wasn't much response."

 ...I woke up questioning the validity of the conference.

Perhaps the John Bevere part was suppose to remind me to take some DVDs to my pastor's wife today. I forgot anyway.

I'm hoping that Shane praying sincerely was a window into reality. I've been waiting for decades for him to take God seriously. Not to say that he doesn't in a small way, but not in a "change your life" kind of way.

Do you smell in your dreams?

I have created a monster; My dog loves to be under the covers when he sleeps, but he's not a real sound sleeper. He woke me up every hour (starting at 1:30 - ending at 5:30) to re-cover him in his bed. Uggg. How do you un-train a bad habit? It is cold at night, so I feel bad if I leave him uncovered. My husband says I should teach him to pull up his own covers.  Maybe I should get him a sleeping bag that is slightly held open by something; he can crawl into like a pillow.

Anyway, on to the dream...(that I remember)...

This isn't quite the beginning, but I can't remember the beginning:

I was walking in an area that reminded me of an indoor street... like at the NY NY in Vegas. There was a pub up ahead and I saw my very first "love". (a boyfriend of mine that I met when I was 13. He is still a friend, but in the dream he looked like he did at age 16.)  Right as I saw him and was going to go talk to him, his sister walked up and greeted me. It took me a moment to recognize her because she had dyed her hair blonde and had it cut like Guy's sister (you may remember from other dreams, who just happens to be the girl that my "love" went out with directly after me.). 

Anyway, right after she talked to me I saw my best friend from Junior High, Jessica, looking the same as she did in Junior High. She was walking with a boy and looking very chic. I ran up to her to say Hi, but never actually talked. They walked straight into a photo shoot with another old friend, Jay Gibbs. He was using an elephant as a prop and had a cane in one hand and was on stilts (or maybe just platform shoes). Jessica and Jay and sometimes the other boy posed for multiple pictures while I avoided the camera. As I was avoiding one shot my foot slipped in some snow. Then Insectosaurus (from the movie "Monsters vs. Aliens") made a tidal wave of snow that I rode all the way down the hill sitting on a boogie board. As I got to the bottom of the hill I noticed that my dance shorts were inside out. I sat in the snow and took them off to turn them right side out. There was a crowd of people all around doing a bunch of nothing. A yard duty lady came over to make sure I wasn't exposing myself. I pointed out my nude colored dance shorts that were under the purple and black ones I was wearing. As I pulled back on my black and purple shorts they ripped in numerous places. When I stood up I had a huge hole from my belly to my crotch that revealed my nude dance shorts which looked like control top pantyhose. (It was not a good look.) I was looking in a mirror in a gift shop, and I turned to face a perfume cabinet when my nose caught a whiff something yummy. (This is one of the only dreams I can remember that I actually smelled something. Generally my smelling sense is not present in dreams.)

The cabinet was beautiful. It looked straight out of a fairy tale. The shelves were glass and all the perfume bottles were dainty and intricately designed. My eye was immediately drawn to two with peacocks on them. (I collect peacocks.) I just knew that the good smell must be coming from one of them. I smelled the first one, but it had no smell. I put it back and grabbed the second one. I could barely smell anything with that one too. Then I saw one that said "Icy blue" that was in a frosted blue bottle, not half as fancy. (I wore Ralph Lauren's "Blue" for the past 3 years until last October.) I picked it up and recognized that this was the yummy smell I had turned to look for. It was much fruitier than my normal "Blue" perfume, but still a very clean and crisp smell. A sales lady came over to talk to me. She asked what perfume I wore now. I explained that I had been wearing Prada's Orange Blossom perfume this year. She said, "Oh, you'll like that one then, It's very sweet as well, but different enough from yours." I agreed. The smell was heavenly.

Then... my dog woke me up.

No, I don't know the meaning of the dream. I think it was a pretty random hodge-podge of thoughts going on lately.  My son was watching Monsters Vs. Aliens a few days ago. My daughter has been wearing short dresses a lot lately, so she has also been wearing a lot of dance shorts under them. My bottle of "Blue" is almost completely gone, but I've been wearing Prada since October. I recently thought about buying another bottle of "Blue" just in case I wanted to go back to my old reliable. I'm not sure why Jessica, Jay, Shane, or Felicia were in the dream briefly, but whatever.

The thing that is most interesting to me is that I could smell. For that to have been 'turned on' seems something special. Why out of millions of dreams was this random one blessed with a sense of smell... and only for the one perfume? I mean really, the other two perfumes had no smell to speak of... that's odd. The two that shouted, "Pick me!", were not good. What's the significance of that? hmmmm. Something to think on for the rest of my day.

Trickery

I woke up at 3:45 with this one fresh in my mind. I made a point to go over it a few times before I fell back to sleep since I haven't been remembering my dreams for the past few days. (I think the jet lag is making me have my main dream at a different time than normal.)

The setting was similar to Jerash (one of the sites we saw on our trip in Jordan). There were cobble stone streets, lots of rocks like steps to sit on and small passage ways people were going into and out of. 

We (my husband and I) were at a reunion full of people from my high school in Italy and some from my junior high in California. It almost felt like a cruise.

Anyway, there was a pairing off going on. I won't say mandatory, because the same thing has happened in other dreams of mine where I felt like it was mandatory, only to find out later that it wasn't, and my husband gets mad and betrayed. However un-mandatory this was I went ahead and paired off with a boyfriend I had in 7th grade named Dale. (Interesting that that is my professor's name, but other wise I see no significance.) I was with a girl friend of mine who was looking for a boy for herself. She saw one she likes, but I insisted that another one is better. She ate the one I pointed out (with one big chomp like a video game) and went to ask the one she preferred. He said, "No". Then I pointed out that she should have chosen the one I said, which made her sad. 

Right about then a bunch of us sat down and were talking about my old friend Guy. People had memories of him bragging about his possessions but that we never actually saw them. Guy came into the group and explained that his dad would give him things, then they wouldn't be usable at his mom's house. I few people thought he was lying, but it appeased the rest of us.

Then I saw my husband across the room twirling a camera like a pistol with a sly look in his eye. He was taking sneaky shots of people around the party. Right after we made eye contact he took one of Guy's sister walking up the stairs with a slitted dress on that when she stepped revealed her 'girls parts'. The photo was instantly visible by everyone there. Guy's sister was outraged. The my husband proceeded to take another girl's picture closer to me. Immediately after that picture was taken, it was exposed that they were are in collusion with each other to prank the rest of us. (Or maybe to get me back for pairing off with Dale?)

This whole mandatory/non mandatory pairing off thing has been in 4 or 5 dreams of mine since October. I think it has something to do with my inability to say, "no". Growing up, most of my decisions were made for me by my sister or my parents. Once I was peer pressure age I really didn't think I had a choice with my life's daily decisions. I went along with everything the group did unless it really went counter to my core beliefs. This often led to going out with guys I didn't like, even on occasions when the one I did like liked me back.  People like me tend to end up as doormats our whole life, or when we finally find our voice we speak it way too forcefully to make up for the years of abuse.  Some find a happy medium. I am striving for the happy medium.

I'm not sure why Guy is popping up in my dreams. He was in the "Cliff Climbing" one too. I do think the jabbing by my husband that surrounds my personality flaw is quite accurate. He can't stand my inability to say 'no', or my counter act of speaking my opinion too forcefully when I've reached boiling.

My ex who lived in Tex(as)

I'm almost embarrassed that this happened already. Two things really. Number one that I dreamed of my ex, and two, that I was over confident that I would remember it all.  I woke up in the middle on the night with the dream very fresh, and talked myself out of writing it down, cause I was sure I'd remember it.  But, as luck would have it, I woke up with only a few details of that dream and nothing from any that might have followed.

All I can remember is that we were swimming in a lake. (I think we even had life vests). At the beginning of the dream we were in a house with stairs and his wife was there.  We all talked. Then I took him away. The swimming was part of something with my extended family, namely my Dad and his parents. Later in the dream I was in a room at my grandparent's house with my husband. My best two high school girlfriends came to get me. I began to pack a suitcase. But somehow ended up hiding in another room in a pile of clothes/blankets on the side of a bed, from my dad, (who found me).


In deciphering any of this, it may be helpful to know that my dad is a preacher, and so is his Dad (Pawpaw). I attribute our legacy of faith more to my grandmother though.  But either way you look at it, I have come to always assume a spiritual meaning when I'm at my grandparent's house in dreams. In every dream of their house it is a mansion; sometimes with a business going on inside, and other times with many bedrooms for guests. I'd like to conclude that the guests of their house have become a part of their legacy. But that's just a desire of mine, I'm not sure if it's right.  
Anyway, the part about my two high school friends, I imagine, is just me looking forward to our 'girl's weekend' coming up in March. They both live in other states, so it is very rare that I see them, outside of Facebook. :-)
Hiding in the blankets on the side of the bed instantly reminds me of how I wake up many mornings. You see, my dog Knuckles sleeps in blankets right beside my bed and often whines for me to join him.  Which, being the pushover that I am, I often do.  So we can assume that I was hiding in a "dog's" bed from my father (who often represents my view of my heavenly father... and we all know you can't hide from Him).
I'd like to say that interactions with my ex during the dream were purely innocent, but often in my dreams there is still a spark between us.  It is encouraging though, to know that often what may seem to have sexual undertones (or overtones) in dreams really has nothing to do with sex.  It's often just symbolic of intimacy in talking, or in a common interest. In many of my dreams that involve him, our daughter is present, but in this one she wasn't. However, I'd like to point out that his wife was there, and had no problem with me taking him.  That in itself says that this was probably an innocent interaction. 


I know we didn't make a complete interpretation, but completion is not always necessary. (Plus I don't have all the other bits and pieces.) I think, for me today, it's enough to know that even in my subconscious I honor his wife, and that if I hide, God sees me anyway. 
I also wanted to point out that I don't believe this dream was divine in nature. There are self dreams and God dreams, and some that mix both. Even though this dream had God elements, I don't think it was from Him. I think it was just my own brain working out some issues. 
When I have "God dreams" they are typically very vivid in color and clear. Those are the ones to pay attention to! That's not to say that self dreams can't be helpful. They often reveal a lot about the issues you are struggling with, or excited over, or even the ones you are avoiding.


My last comment is to my 'comments'
Thank you all for leaving them. 
1. As for remembering dreams, pray or self talk to yourself that you will remember, that often works.
2. Yes, personal symbolism is the key... which leads me to...
3. Dream dictionaries can be helpful, but hardly dependable, because symbolism is so very personal. (personal culture, religion, family dynamics, fears, etc. all taint words for us, so that they don't mean the same to each person.)  Unless an interpreter is listening to God (or to a demon in many cases) their interpretation will be based on their own symbolism, or will be very general. Demonic interpretation may have elements of truth, but it will not be with your benefit in mind. Most profitable new-age dream interpreters have tapped in to evil spirits.  With that said, no, I don't think I will be using the suggested web site. (Maybe I will, to prove my generalization point at some time.)  The best way to interpret dreams is to know yourself and what things mean to you. (Of course, I'd add prayer too.)