Sweet dreams are made of this

So here's my recent dream:

I'm showing a house to a client (I'm a realtor) and I notice this really fabulous a cappella vocal jazz playing.  I wonder over to this old-school console stereo/record player and see an album is playing.  The music is really good, I'm totally getting into it, and absolutely forget about my client.  Then I see on the other side of the console a folder with sheet music sticking out of it.  As I look at the sheet music I see that its for the same songs that are playing.  This totally excites me!

Next I hear someone enter the room and turn around to find a chunky, ethnic-looking man probably in his mid-60s.  (Note that this is not the client to whom I'm supposed to be showing the house.)  The man walks over to me and says "I'm ready to do your manicure now" and smiles at me.  I think for a second that this is weird, since I've never had a manicure before, and that this man who looks like a character from "The Sapranos" is the manicurist, and that I'm about to get a manicure in a house that I'm supposed to be showing to a client.  Not withstanding all this, I pause for a moment and reply to the man "OK".

The man points to a small stool in front of the old-school console stereo so I sit on it while he walks behind the console and gestures for me to put my hand up on the console.  I do that, and he begins touching and examining my hands.

"Your name is Mark" he begins.  

"That's right!" I reply, more than a little surprised, since neither of us had exchanged names and I certainly don't remember having made an appointment with him.  He looks at my other hand and feels the length of my index finger. 

"You have a long-term boyfriend, like 25 years, who is in the construction industry..." he continues.

"Um, no..." I reply.  I'm a little disappointed at this 'miss'.  Then I wonder silently "Is this a manicure or a psychic reading?"  The man looks up from my hands and smiles at me again.  My heart is racing because I anticipate that he is somehow reading my energy through my hands, or something similar.  I can hardly wait for what he'll say next.

And then I woke up. I tried to go back to sleep to continue the dream but it didn't work. 

I don't believe dreams 'mean' anything.  My dreams are often a mixture of real life people and events jumbled up with TV show characters and plots.  I really hoped I'd get to continue this one though.

Fantastic dream

Last night I had a fantastic dream!
 
I was walking down the sidewalk on the street where I grew up.  Suddenly I became aware of a scary presence and a feeling of dread.  To try to get away from it I began walking faster and faster until I was running.  The sky became dark and I was running as fast as I could.  I was running so fast that my face down and I could only see directly in front of where I was running.  Just in front of me was a black flowing fabric, like a cape.  It kept the same pace so that it was always just a few inches in front of me.  I was really scared! Suddenly the thought occurred to me to grab hold of the flowing cape, have faith, and stop running.  So I did.

Immediately the cape lifted me up into the sky.  The longer I held on the faster my ascent upward.  I was ascending at such a fast rate that the wind peeled my clothes off.  I felt like I was being carried into outer space, only it wasn't dark.  There was brightness all around me and I wasn't scared at all, despite being lifted far up into the sky.  Then the thought entered my mind to let go of the cape-like fabric, so I did.  I immediately stopped ascending.  I heard a whistle sound followed by a pop, just like the fireworks you hear on the 4th of July.  

Just after the whistle and pop I looked out into the sky and saw a series of images that resonated with me deeply.  It was if I were looking at a slide show projected on an enormous drive-in movie screen in the sky.  The first image was Bill Murray when he was a cast member of the TV show 'Saturday Night Live'.  A few seconds later I saw Gilda Ratner, also from 'Saturday Night Live'.  Then I saw my school picture from 11th grade, circa 1980, wearing a brown print button-up shirt and aviator glasses.  I looked at my arm and saw that I was now wearing the shirt in my school picture.  Then I saw my first car, a pale green Chevrolet Chevette.  These images from my life brought me great joy and happiness!  I used to love watching 'Saturday Night Live' back in 1980 when that school picture was taken and I learned to drive in that Chevette.  I felt very much at peace and not at all concerned about my rapid ascent into the sky.  Am I in heaven?  There was an all-encompassing feeling of joy.

When the giant slide show ended I looked down and realized that I was standing in the isle of a huge outdoor stadium.  As far as my eyes could see there were stadium seats full of people looking up at the sky where the slide show had just finished.  Then coming down the isle to greet me were my father, mother, and my aunt Mary as they looked in 1980.  At this point I realize that I am my current age (49) but they look just like they did in 1980.  We embraced and said hello, although I don't remember any other conversation between us.  Then the 4 of us sat down together in the stadium to watch the next slide show.  The feelings of love and joy continued.

Again I heard the whistle sound followed by the pop like a firework and the next slide show began.  First a grainy, vintage picture of horses in a meadow.  Then 2 dogs playing together in someone's front yard.  Next a vintage red metal tricycle, and then a 1965 Chrysler convertible.  All the images seemed to be from the mid 1960s.  I didn't recognize the images but I felt a deep sense of happiness and joy.  Since the first firecracker sound seemed to announce my arrival and was followed by happy scenes from my life, I assumed that these 1960s images were happy scenes from someone else's life who had just arrived.  But arrived where?

Maybe I was in heaven.  This thought did not make me either happy or sad, although if it were true then I must have died.  Then I silently asked myself if this was heaven, why were my parents and aunt Mary here with me and not with my siblings or with their siblings?

Once again I heard the whistle sound followed by the pop of the firecracker.  I looked back up at the slide show in the sky and saw images I recognized.  They were scenes of happiness for my friend Billy.  I saw his cat Fluffy, then he and I in our matching wool trench coats, Billy making a crazy face, and Billy with his sister.  All of these images seemed to be from 1992.  As if an answer to my silent question, I realized that I was present in the slide show of my happiness in 1980, but I also existed in the slide show of Billy's happiness in 1992.  So this must mean that although my parents existed (sitting next to me) in this stadium, they potentially existed in the happiness and decade of several other people too.  For some reason this was a real comfort to me.  If I were in heaven, then heaven must not be just one thing.  Instead, each person's experience is unique and full of specific joy and happiness for them, while they also exist in the heaven of others.

Yes, I thought to myself, I must be in heaven.  Yet I had no recollection of dying nor any feeling of missing loved ones.  I only felt complete joy and happiness; the opposite of anxiety and worry.

And then I woke up.

The dream was so fantastic I quickly replayed it in my head so I wouldn't forget the details by morning.  Once secure that I had it, I began to wonder why I'd had this dream.  Most scientists say dreams are synaptic firings in the brain that often mesh real life details with unrelated people and places, and that dreams hold no real meaning.  But was there something I could learn from this detail-rich dream?

My first thought was that perhaps the dream was God's/The Universe's way of getting this agnostic skeptic to reconsider a possible belief in heaven.  Having been raised as a Jehovah's Witness I was taught that heaven was a place where angels flew around in white robes playing harps.  Yet the heaven I experienced in my dream was nothing like that, and was far more interesting.  The peace and joy were indescribable.

Next I wondered if the dream was really a metaphor for the dramatic life change I chose.  Maybe the running and being afraid in the dream was the way I ran around constantly busying myself in the JW faith so I wouldn't think about being gay, and the fear that someone would find out.  Maybe grabbing onto the cape, having faith, stopping running, and being lifted up from the darkness and fear into the light and joy symbolized my decision to leave the oppressive religion and choose a life of authenticity for myself.  Maybe the slide show of happy excerpts of my life was a reminder that although I went through a difficult journey, there were still happy times back then that I can reflect upon.  And maybe my existence in my friend Billy's heaven was a confirmation that I had been a good friend to him, and that being good really matters.

Or maybe it was the sinus medicine I took just before I went to bed.  

I'm not sure, but it was a fantastic dream!  And whether or not the dream was a lesson from the Universe or a metaphor of my life choices, I decided it didn't really matter.  I'd never really know for sure one way or the other.  

But isn't that the way it is with so many challenges in life?  We can take them as lessons, metaphors, or simply as entertainment.  

As long as we hear them.

I had a dream...

I had a very unusual dream.

I was inside a very large factory with metal floors, walls, and ceiling; not big wide open space like a typical factory, but lots and lots of hallways with doors. I wasn't frightened at all, but I was trying to find my way out. I kept walking down corridors and opening doors, only to find more corridors and doors.

The next thing I know, I run into a couple of my colleagues from work. I tell them I'm surprised to see them, and ask if they are trying to find their way out too. They say yes so we decide we'll stick together. However, after walking down several corridors and going through several doors together, I look over my shoulder and the colleagues are gone. Again, I'm not alarmed by this, and I continue on my way.

Then I meet this guy whose ethnicity I can't quite figure out. He could be Indian, Middle Eastern, Italian, I'm just not sure. The ethnically ambiguous guy (EAG) is very gentle and friendly. I explain that I'm trying to find my way out of the factory and he says that he's sure I'll find my way. I thank him for his kindness and continue on my way.

Again I encounter others in the factory that I know; friends I know currently as well as some from my past. I confirm with them that they're also looking for the way out of the huge metal factory, and we agree to work together. Some of them offer suggestions and we easily agree which direction to continue on. Again after going done several corridors and through several doors, I look over my shoulder to find myself alone again. I continue on until I finally see a window with daylight shining through.

Just then EAG shows up again. I excited point to the window and tell him I think I've almost found my way out of the factory. He smiles and nods his head. I tell EAG that I'd met up with both the colleagues from work and the current and past friends while trying to get out of the factory. I tell him how we shared ideas and agreed to work together, but that all of them have disappeared. EAG suggests that perhaps I got what I needed from them so they were no longer needed for my journey.

Now, if the dreamed had ended then I probably wouldn't have found it to be so unusual. I would have thought of it as being just another of those crazy dreams that make no sense. But instead, the dream continues.

I note his use of the word 'journey', and feel it is the most accurate description of what I've been going through: a journey to get out of the factory. I look at EAG and he smiles back at me. He knows that I'm starting to understand.

"The colleagues from work and the past and present friends..." I say to EAG, "they're all me, aren't they? That's why they left, because I was able to find my way to the window." EAG tells me that I already had all the answers, and that the colleagues and friends simply helped me have the confidence to follow my own direction.

EAG and I walk down the final corridor and open the final door to the outside. The sunlight is so bright that its blinding. I shield my eyes with my hand, then look back to make sure EAG is still there. He is, so I say to him "And you... you're me too, aren't you?" I ask him. He smiles. "So now that I've found my way out, I guess you'll disappear too, won't you?"

I accidentally move my hand and the bright sunlight blinds me again. I readjust my hand to shade my eyes again, and sure enough... EAG was gone, and the dream was over.

This is the only time I can remember where my dream's symbolism is actually explained in the dream. I didn't wake up wondering why I'd dreamt that, it was clear. I knew what the dream meant.

Dream

The 1st night we stayed at Spouse's mom's (over the holidays) Spouse was snoring a lot so I slept in a different bedroom, and had a strange but enjoyable dream.

Before I go any further, I just want to say that I don't put any stock into dream content. I've had many crazy dreams, and I don't believe dreams predict the future or allow you to play out deep-seated fantasies. Nor do I believe that all the characters in a dream are just different facets of you. Instead, I believe the scientific theory that dreams are the simple consequence of neural oscillation.

So, on with my dream...

I dreamed that while I was sleeping in the other bedroom I was awakened by the squeak of the bedroom door opening. I opened my eyes to find one of my blogger friends (whom I've never met in person and do not have a crush on) creeping into my room. His hair was tousled and he was wearing only underwear, as if he'd just woken up from a disorienting dream. He closed the door and then slipped into my bed without saying a word.

At first I thought "What is [Blogger] doing in Spouse's mom's house?" But after that initial thought, his presence there no longer seemed to be an issue. Since he'd slipped into my bed and quickly fallen back asleep I assumed he must have had a disorienting dream and may not even realize he'd gotten into my bed. Oh well, no worries. I went back to sleep (within my dream).

Next I am awakened (within my dream) because [Blogger] has snuggled up behind me and is getting into the spoon position. (See #4.) "Um... okay", I think to myself. "[Blogger] must really be sleeping well and thinks he's in bed with his husband." I decide to let it go and do not wake him up or tell him to roll over.

But before I can fall back asleep again (within my dream) I feel that [Blogger] is getting excited, and I don't mean 'enthusiastic'. [Blogger] has become aroused and slowly begins to press his hips against me.

Record scratch...

WTF??? At 1st I attribute this action to [Blogger] being asleep and possibly dreaming. "He probably thinks he's in bed with his husband" I think to myself.

The slow and gentle pressing of his hips (and other things) increases to a full-on grind. I can hear him breathing now, and can feel my heart rate increasing. I'm getting really turned on and that is not good. "Okay, I really should wake him up now" I thought to myself, "before he wakes himself up and wonders why I didn't wake him up." But it felt so hot and sexy and naughty and good, all at the same time.

The details get a little dim at this point and I don't know exactly when I realized that [Blogger] wasn't asleep anymore. But for sure, he wasn't asleep anymore because we wound up doing the dirty. And it was good. Really good. The kind of good where you can barely keep quiet. Yeah, that kind of good.

When we finish he gets up, puts his underwear back on, and leaves the room without a word. I immediately feel guilty for the indiscretion, knowing [Blogger] and I both have husbands. In fact, the guilt of my unfaithfulness after 13+ years with Spouse seemed to fall on top of me all at once like a ton of bricks. I'm mortified and cover my face with my hands, not just within my dream, but in reality.

That's when I woke up. I woke up with my hands over my face. It was then that I realized the entire thing had been a dream, I felt an enormous sense of relief that I had not been unfaithful to Spouse. The other thing I felt was proof of just how good that dream had been!

Crazy dream, huh? So, any guesses on who [Blogger] was?

Crush du Jour: Manuel Romero

Friday fragments

I could swear that on last night's American Idol results show, the contestants were lip-syncing during the Motown medley. Did anyone else notice this? Then I saw this.

For the last few weeks I have been having extremely vivid and vibrant dreams. One had me & Spouse experiencing the detonation of a nuclear bomb in the US. Another had me (without Spouse) in a 3-way with a beefy, hairy-chested porn star with body image issues. (I know-WTF, right?) See how fun it is to be me? I seem to wake up after each dream, just long enough to tell myself I need to remember it for later, then fall back asleep. Not sure if there's any connection, but these vivid and vibrant dreams seem to have begun around the time Spouse & I began working out at the gym.

As I've posted before, I'm trying to live up to the motto "Reuse, Reduce, Recycle".
We recycle a lot, but I've been looking for ways to 'reduce'. Recently I've tried not automatically turning on a light when I walk into a room. For me its been more about habit than need. As I'd walk into a room I'd flip on the switch whether I needed to or not. But with my new awareness of this, I've found I can easily stop turning on the light switch unnecessarily. For instance, all of our bathrooms have windows in them, so during the day there is no 'need' to turn on the light. There is sufficient light from the window to take care of business. So I challenge you to look for ways to reduce your energy usage, too. Try NOT turning on the light.

A while back I went to a free 'introduction to yoga' class. It was nice, but included a whole lot more talking (history, different theories, etc.) about yoga and not enough doing. Then Spouse & I joined the local gym and I discovered the gym offered 2 different yoga classes. On Tues evening I tried 'Yoga Fit', the one better suited for beginners, and really enjoyed it! There were only about 6 others in the class and several were new to it like me. I had no advance knowledge of any of the poses, but it didn't take too long to pick them up by watching and listening to the instructor. I plan to do it every week. Anybody else besides Lewis doing yoga?

This week NH voted for marriage equality, as did VT. However, the Governor can nullify the legislation by vetoing the bill. The Governor of VT has already stated he will veto the bill in his state because it is his 'belief that marriage is and should remain between a man and a woman'. Apparently his personal beliefs are more important than the beliefs of the majority of the VT Senate. Hmmm, so much for "government of the people, for the people". More details can be found on Bob's blog.

A few weeks back Spouse & I discussed the purchase of a new rug for our foyer. The one that is currently there was purchased 2 houses (approximately 10 years) ago for under $200. and is looking a bit 'long in the tooth'. We've cleaned it several times but it just looks dingy. We agreed that we'd gotten our money's worth out of it. Well, my husband loves him some home shopping channels, so last Sat he told me that one of them was going to have an area rug clearance on Sun evening. So we watched it together and decided to order a very nice looking 100% wool area rug, clearance priced at $150. with free shipping. We were told it should arrive by April 5th. It arrived on Wed!

I couldn't believe how quickly it got here. We unrolled it last night and are very happy with it. Spouse really enjoyed the fact that we watched the presentation together, selected something, and that we are quite happy with the product. He feels this is a validation of his love for home shopping channels.

Earlier this week I got a call from the body shop, letting me know that Big Ella's paint job was complete! Naturally I was eager to see my big girl in her new dress right away, but since the body shop is an hour away and only open until 5pm M-F, we weren't able to pick up Big Ella without both of us taking off work. So, tomorrow (Sat) morning we are headed to the body shop! Photos to follow.

Again this week I showed no weight loss for all my efforts. Steven offered an interesting reason for this. He suggested that I am converting fat to muscle due to all the extra gym visits, and since muscle weighs more than fat, it appears I'm not loosing weight even though I'm loosing fat. Well, that was good enough for me! Seriously though, it makes sense, and it keeps me from loosing hope.

Have a fab weekend, everyone!

Crush du Jour: Javier Beltran

Dream

I had a dream that left me a little disturbed and a lot baffled.

Normally my dreams include people and places I'm familiar with, but often in odd combinations. You know, a friend from high school joins you for Thanksgiving at your parents house. Only you haven't seen your parents in 15 years, they don't even celebrate Thanksgiving, it isn't their house, and the friend from high school still looks 17 even though you're both 44 now. That kinda stuff. Those dreams don't disturb or baffle me, but last night's did. Here's the dream.

SCENE 1
I am my current age, 44, but I am working at the men's clothing store in the mall where I worked when I was 24. My boss is the same man who was my boss then, only he hasn't aged 20 years as I have.

I find a wallet in the store and open it to see if it contains ID. A man in his 50s sees me with his wallet and thanks me for finding it. I look at his photo ID and understanding the wallet belongs to him, I give it to him, smile and say "No problem".

This causes me to think that perhaps I should remove my wallet and keys from my pockets for fear of loosing them in the busy store. I reach over the sales counter and place my wallet and keys inside a drawer adjacent to the cash register. I see the credit card processor spitting out a charge receipt for $1,561.13 which I think to myself as a 'really good sale'.

As I'm leaning over the counter I feel a hand on top of my head, with its fingers extending down my forehead. Obviously the body connected to this hand is behind me. Instinctively I reach up and remove the hand by the wrist and say "Excuse me???"

But before I can even turn around to confront the invader of my personal space, the man wraps his arms around my arms and torso and begin to squeeze me. Its kind of like a bear hug, only he's behind me. I try to free myself, but he is taller and stronger than me so I stop. Where is the employee who entered the sale into the credit card terminal???

"Please remove yourself from me right now" I say politely but firmly. Out of my peripheral vision I see an African American woman witnessing the situation with a concerned look on her face. I don't know if she is my attacker's wife/girlfriend or if they've ever seen each other before or not.

The man does not release me so I say louder and more firmly "I said take your hands off of me right now!" He presses his body up against mine and says "Now you're gonna get to feel my hot breath on your neck". Under very different circumstances, this would be a real turn-on. But in this circumstance, it is not, so I struggle again to free myself but am unable to get loose.

"If you don't get off me NOW" I shout, "I'm going to yell for help." Instead of letting go, the man begins grinding his pelvis against my ass, and I can feel that he is getting excited by this. Again, under different circumstances I would be like "Yeah!" But in this situation, I call for help.

"SECURITY! SECURITY! HELP - I'M BEING ASSAULTED! SOMEONE DIAL 911 RIGHT AWAY!" I yelled at the top of my voice. Calling for security was just a tactic to scare my attacker, as I knew our store had no security guard. But I could see shoppers in the store retrieve their cell phones from their pockets and purses, and I assumed they were calling the police for me. I figured the 911 dispatcher would contact the mall security who would surely come to my rescue before the police could, coming from somewhere else.

Meanwhile, the woman I could see from my peripheral vision is still standing there, next to my attacker, looking concerned, but doing and saying absolutely nothing. I wasn't really frightened, but was more annoyed than anything else.

I try one more time with the man. "The police will be here any minute, so you'd better get off me before I press charges." The man doesn't let go, and continues to grind himself against my ass, while holding my arms and torso tightly.

SCENE 2
The sleazy store manager (my boss) is standing next to me, and the police officer, my attacker, and the African American witness are standing opposite of us. This is the first time I've seen my attacker, as he was always behind me. He looks like a linebacker, and I feel much better about why I was unable to free myself from his grip. Obviously the woman is with him.

My boss has suggested that I not press charges since I "wasn't hurt", and I ascertain it is because my boss was the employee who rang up the $1,561.13 sale and that my attacker was the purchaser of all that merchandise.

I say to my boss "I am pressing charges. This man assaulted me. I asked him, then demanded he let me go, but he wouldn't. I am pressing charges."

My attacker is smiling the whole time, and then begins to chuckle at my words. I feel obliged to continue validating my actions to my sleazy boss. "If I witnessed him assaulting a customer of this store, I would surely have tried to intervene and then would have called the police. I'm sure you wouldn't try to dissuade the customer from pressing charges."

I look at the police officer and restate my position. "I AM pressing charges."

Despite my refusal to give in, my attacker continues smiling, looking up at the ceiling, down at the floor, and chuckles again. I am imagining that he is a minor league football player and believes the team's lawyer will get the charges dropped. I don't want that to happen so I go in for the kill.

Looking directly at my attacker I say "I see your erection has gone down, now that the police officer is here."

Then, looking at the officer I say "I don't know if this affects the way he'll be charged or not, but you should know that he had an erection while assaulting me, and really seemed to be enjoying it."

With that, the officer handcuffs my attacker and reads him his Miranda rights. End of dream.

What a crazy dream, eh? Knowing that the content of dreams usually comes from fragments of one's life, what baffles me is where this dream came from?

I'm never concerned about my personal safety or being attacked or assaulted, so why was this the central theme of the dream?

I don't recall ever being truly fearful of being injured by my attacker. I wasn't afraid, I was annoyed. That seems odd.

And what's up with that woman with the concerned look on her face who witness my attack but never said a word, either during or afterward? Was she mute?

I don't know, but I'm certainly not going to obsess over it. It was a dream. It wasn't very pleasant, but its over.

Especially for my friend Tony G, I leave you with today's Crush.

Crush du Jour: Alex Baresi

Wonderful weekend until...

Ron & James and Mike & Clark arrived Fri afternoon and I knocked off work early. We sat in the living room and talked for a while, then we migrated to the kitchen so Spouse & I could finish the dinner preparations and still be in the conversations.

We had everything ready so that when 'the usual suspects' arrived at 7:00 we simply set up the food (buffet style) on the peninsula. There were 13 of 'the usual suspects, plus our 4 visiting friends, plus Spouse & me, totally 19 for dinner. It went off without a hitch, thanks to our keeping the menu simple, but tasty. Since we were celebrating 3 birthday and all 3 are different ages, I decided to re-use the '3' and '0' candles we'd used for The Newlywed's 30th birthday and suggested to everyone what a coincidence it was that all 3 birthday boys were all turning 30. Everyone laughed, and we sang 'Happy birthday'. Everyone said the food and cake were great, and our visiting friends mixed seamlessly with 'the usual suspects'. I believe everyone enjoyed themselves.

'The usual suspects' left at around 9:30. Spouse & I stayed up talking with our visiting friends until almost 1am.

Sat morning we had a simple breakfast of bagels, little fruit-filled pastries, juice and coffee, then sat around discussing everything and anything. It was so nice to get updates on many of the folks we knew from the church where we had been members from 1997-2004. Ron & James and Mike & Clark went to this church too.

We had chicken salad sandwiches and chips for lunch, then went to the beach. There was a fantastic cool breeze coming off the water that made our time at the beach practically euphoric. It was 12 degrees cooler at the beach than at home! We had a great time checking out the 'scenery', walking, and talking with the roar of the waves in the background.
Once we'd returned home everyone showered and dressed for dinner. We still had time for cocktail hour before our 7:00 reservation. I made Blue PomeCosmos for everyone.

Then we walked the 2 blocks into town for dinner at Beseme. Spouse & I had never eaten there before, but Ron had gotten a recommendation for it from one of 'the usual suspects' so we decided to give it a try. The name Beseme ("kiss me" in Spanish) made us think it might be a tapas place, but the food had a distinct French influence. There were many crepe specialties which you don't often find in other restaurants. I had Ropa Viejo, a spicy Cuban pulled pork dish with rice and plantains. It was delicious! Spouse had plantain encrusted Mahi with saffron rice and chunky mango salsa. Everyone seemed to enjoy their meals, and Spouse said he would definitely return.

On the short walk home we decided to take advantage of the warm but breezy summer night by going for a walk on the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk. Since none of us ordered dessert at the restaurant we felt no shame in stopping for funnel cake and Kohr Brothers frozen custard along the boardwalk. It was really delightful to be at the boardwalk, seeing all the happy people enjoying themselves. There's an amazing amount of positive energy there. It was nearly midnight when we returned home but we sat up until 1am again talking and laughing.

Sun morning Spouse made a delicious sausage/egg/cheese breakfast casserole and oatmeal blueberry pancakes for breakfast. We lingered over our juice and coffee until almost noon when our friends decided to pack up their stuff and head home. When they left Spouse & I tidied up the kitchen a bit and then met Rick & Nick at the beach. Again we enjoyed a fabulously warm but breezy afternoon at the ocean. I didn't want to come home.

I made nachos for dinner and then Spouse was on the computer while I watched Design Star. I liked all 3 contestants' rooms but did feel like Trish's was a little too predictable and bordered on boring. I wasn't sure she'd be eliminated though because she seems to have the strongest hosting ability. But in the end the judges chose design over hosting ability and Trish went home.

It was truly a wonderful weekend, until we got ready to go to bed. As I was brushing my teeth I heard this 'clink' sound, looked down at the vanity, and saw that a huge filling and fallen out of my tooth! Its my #1 tooth on this chart:

I noticed some sensitivity over the last week or so, then last evening I thought it felt like my teeth didn't quite come together when I chewed like they used to. I had no idea that gigantic, old filling was about to fall out. So this morning I checked my insurance and then found a local dentist who was taking new patients and made an appointment for this afternoon. The dentist was on vacation last week and is busy this week so the lady who scheduled the appointment said the dentist would probably just see me today to determine what needed to be done exactly, and that I would likely need to come back for the actual re-filling.

The fact that this happened last night just before bed caused me to have a difficult time falling asleep. Once I finally got to sleep I had a crazy dream about moving our previous house to a different location. The truck pulling the huge flatbed trailer with our former house on it was being driven by these 2 young (21-23 year old) girls and I kept telling them to slow down and be more careful. Of course they didn't, and the trailer containing our house came loose from the truck and sailing down the street. Needless to say that although I was asleep, I was certainly not resting. This morning I felt like hell, so knowing I'd have to take off for a dental appointment anyway, I called him sick today. This is only the 2nd time in 6 years I've called in sick so I don't feel guilty at all.

Crush du Jour: Robert Buckley

I had a dream...

...but not THAT kind of dream. My dream was about meeting the Divine Miss M herself, Bette Midler!

Maybe it was because this post was still lingering in my mind, I don't know, but I dreamed I went to Las Vegas to see Bette Midler perform at the Colosseum.

Now, I know the Colosseum is a large venue capable of seating thousands, but in my dream it was about the size of a school classroom. Indeed, in my dream it was as if we were all sitting in those chair/desk things with the lights turned off, watching Bette perform while lying on a sumptuously upholstered chaise lounge with a single spot light trained on her. I mean, we were all so close we could see her sweat. Only she wasn't sweating because she's Bette Midler.

When the show ended the 'classroom' lights came on and everyone began filing out the 'classroom' door. But I decided instead to tell Bette just how fabulous I thought the show was, so I made my way from my chair/desk thing to where she was standing, next to her chaise, in front of the chalkboard.

I told her how I'd seen and loved every one of her movies and concerts, and then piled accolade upon accolade, sometimes in multiples, until it seemed there were no more adjectives left in the dictionary, even the abridged one. When I finally finished gushing, she put her hand over her forehead and did a fake 'I'm going to faint' kind of gesture, and then thanked me for all the kind words. Then she smiled with that smile that makes her eyes squint so much you wonder how she could possibly see out of them and said to me "Well, aren't you just the sweetest." Realizing how totally star-struck I must have appeared, I became embarrassed and didn't know what to say.

Then she stuck her hand out at me and said "Come with me." I took her hand and she lead me threw the remaining people who had congregated outside the 'classroom'/concert hall until we walked down a dimly lit hallway that opened up into a larger, lounge-like room. The lounge room had several over-stuffed sofas and chairs, and there were people drinking and nibbling from plates of appetizers. I perceived this to be the VIP party, to which I'd neither purchased nor won tickets. But Bette walked me in and no one looked at me suspiciously.

When the VIP party guests saw that she had entered the room they offered her a round of applause, while trying to balance their drinks and plates on their arms. She threw them a large, sweeping kiss and then plopped down onto one of the sofas. She looked at me again with that squinty-eyed smile, patted the sofa cushion next to her, and said "Here, sit down."

I sat down, right next to Bette, and tried to keep myself from doing or saying anything stupid. Then she asked "So... what was your favorite part of the show?" and I froze. How could I possibly pick my favorite part when I think everything she does is fabulous? All she needs to do is stand there and I'd applaud.

And then I woke up.

Crush du Jour: Thomas Jane