DREAMS AND McDREAMYThis

DREAMS AND McDREAMY

This morning, in the early morning hours, I had a strange dream which I can't remember -- all I know was that it featured Michelle Pfeiffer. LOL! In mentioning this to online friends, one of them said she had recently dreamed about her apartment complex's maintenance man, while another friend said she had dreamed today while napping about a total mishmash of things, including the same former religion that I used to be. Dreams are so funny! Do you have any that you would share?

As for McDreamy -- Patrick Dempsey -- he was on "Live with Regis and Kelly" this morning but I didn't watch it because Regis and Kelly have been getting on my nerves lately. I get the impression that Regis doesn't like Kelly very well but that could be entirely my imagination. I'd rather watch Bobby Flay on "Boy Meets Grill." LOL!

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I've been hearing a lot of gloom and doom these days. If what is being said is true, I am more concerned for my children and grandchildren than I am for myself. Yesterday, I saw a quote several places that originated from NASA scientist James Hansen, where he told Congress that if we don't roll back pollutants in the atmosphere to 1988 levels, in a couple of decades, "We're toast . . ." Scary!

I believe that God will provide ways for us to solve these problems, but people -- especially big industrialists -- will have to co-operate with those that are given the wisdom to guide us.

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I received kind of a funny e-mail from the IRS today. It gave me the option of having my stimulus check deposited in my bank account if I filled out a form they included and sent it back. Hello! I received my stimulus check yesterday! Hmmm, I wonder if it really was from the IRS?!

Speaking of funny e-mails, one came through from my friend Jackie the other day showing what was purported to be the diamond-encrusted Mercedes of an oil-rich Arab. Something told me to check it out on Snopes and sure enough, that wasn't true. (If you want to look, just do a search under "diamond Mercedes.") I sent the information to Jackie and she wrote back to thank me, saying she wondered if it was possible to believe anything that she received any more. I told her that she was one of the ones who had taught me to check out everything online. ;-) (Son J.D. is another one, and also my old on- and offline friend, Linda.)

CRAZY STUFFI have

CRAZY STUFF

I have been saving some items, mainly in the back of my mind, for commenting on later, and later is here. ;-) Some of them are pretty wacky.

First of all, there is the pregnancy pact being reported from Gloucester, Massachusetts. Girls in high school are trying to get pregnant en masse. I saw a blurb on the NW Newschannel yesterday quoting a source at the Gloucester High School as saying this was false, but the source I link to in this paragraph (Time Magazine online) says the girls kept going back to the school nurse for pregnancy tests until they came back positive, at which time the girls were giving each other high fives. Perhaps movies like "Juno" are partly to blame, but some in Gloucester have attributed it to broken homes and loneliness.

Next, there is a fellow ex-Mormon who has a very popular blog. I am not going to name her here, as I feel that ex-Mormons should stick together; however, her humor gets pretty way out sometimes. After an appearance on the Today show where she was on with Kathie Lee Gifford, she wrote that Kathie Lee was coming onto her. I know that she didn't intend for this to be taken seriously, but I wonder what Kathie Lee thought of that. It certainly does go under the category of "crazy", in my book.

Then there are dreams I have been lately, which have featured a man who was involved in probably the very worst mistake of my life, and people close to him. I hate these dreams! I don't know why I'm having them but they are just crazy!

I am not telling my own family (siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles) about my upcoming minor toenail surgery. My youngest sister acted like having had my right big toenail removed last summer was a punishment from God, and I don't need that kind of reaction again. (I wonder what she would think of the fact that it has grown back in beautifully and is what I consider a blessing from God.) I think this kind of negative and unkind belief, which really seems out-of-character for my sister, is pure wackiness.

So there you have my wacky items for the day. I imagine I will come up with more over time. Feel free to add your own.

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I have been eating Manwich sloppy joes off and on over the last 5 days or so, and I took this picture of what -- to me -- is the perfect Manwich meal:



I don't care for the taste of the Manwich with the hamburger meat alone, but I find it to be delicious when topped with a slice of Tillamook cheddar cheese. And paired with sliced tomatoes (the non-salmonella variety), it becomes a lovely meal!

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As for the cartoons above, I am glad that my cats who stay downstairs at night don't try to wake me up for food during the night or early in the morning. They are very well-behaved.

I love the Maxine! LOL! Patrick Dempsey, you've really made it big now that you are in a cartoon with her! Hee hee!

VIVID DREAMSI know

VIVID DREAMS

I know it is April Fool's Day, and the above Maxine addresses that fact, but I can't remember tricks that were played on me or that I played on anyone else on April 1st, no matter how hard I try. I guess that's a sign of my age. Nevertheless, Happy April Fool's Day to you; now I will go on to what I wanted to talk about here: dreams.

I have been having vivid dreams in the last few months, and my grief counselor has told me that sleep disturbances are normal after a major loss. Generally, I can't remember my dreams, but last night I dreamed about my dad and family members on his side of the family, and I actually remember parts of the dream. It had to do with my wanting to leave home and my father trying to prevent that. I am realizing today, due to this and one other factor that I just wrote my Aunt Joan and mentioned (the fact that I wear my hair long despite my mother having always wanted me to wear it short), that independence is an issue for me, even this late in life.

I had one extremely remarkable dream experience a few years ago while at the Oregon coast and staying in Lincoln City, where I got out there and realized I had forgotten my medications. I was quite upset by that as I knew they were needed and I toyed with the idea of going home to get them, but that would have been a 240 mile round trip and I just couldn't justify it. I went to sleep that first night out there with this concern on my mind.

During the night, I dreamed about my late husband Steve and he told me to go to the Newport Wal-Mart's drug department and ask them to call my drug store at home (which was fortunately where the prescriptions all were; now they are on my HMO) and give me just enough of the meds to last the 3 days I would be needing them out there. That was what I did the next day -- it worked out beautifully.

I felt very loved and protected by Steve and by God. That was, until my mom and I were out at the coast some time later and I told her about the dream. Being of a different religion, she didn't believe that I had had anything remarkable happen due to the dream and she said that she did that all the time when she was at my sisters Kathy or Jo's and needed more medication. Because of her doubts,I began to doubt my dream and did so for a while, but lately I have gone back to believing that Steve could be watching out for me from the other side.

It is always possible, I suppose, that the religious aspect could be removed and instead, it might have been my subconscious calling forth a solution to my dilemma in the form of a dream where Steve was the means of giving me the answer. However, I do like to think that there was a supernatural element to the dream, and that I will see Steve again and be able to thank him for the assistance he gave me.

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I mentioned yesterday that I hated waiting as long as I had to for the mail. It finally got here at 3:30 and there was nothing to speak of in it, other than a solicitation letter for funds from the American Red Cross. The other items -- a catalog and a flyer, I believe -- were all that was in my mailbox besides the Red Cross letter. I did enjoy my small spending spree while I waited. Hee hee!