is anyone out there???

The stuff dreams are made of.

What is it about dreams? They always seem so real. Sometimes I wake up and I must have a look in my eye. Brian will put his arms out and talk very slow in a soothing voice. "Remember it was just a dream. I would never do that in real life." He'll say things like that until my breathing is regular and he is no longer afraid I might leap over the bed and strangle him.

I know it isn't logical but dreams can be so unnerving. Brian knows if I have a bad dream and it somehow involved him, he will have to spend the rest of the day making up for it. I know it isn't fair.

Last summer when Heather was learning how to drive, I was sitting in the backseat and Nicholas was in the front seat. He was holding a large sign in the front window, "Student driver." We drove and the sign was so large we couldn't see out. I could hear "Thu-Thump, Thu-Thump" as we hit people along the way. I stuck my head out the window to yell for everyone to "RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!"

Heather didn't get to drive much that summer. I know it was a dream. But to this day, if I close my eyes when she is driving I can still hear the, "Thu-Thump" loud and clear.

Julie can attest to my irrational nature when it comes to dreams. The last time I was visiting her, I dreamed that one of my brothers-in-law shot me. It was 4:30am and I sat up in bed. My ears were ringing so loudly that I could have sworn it really happened! I looked out the window to see if there was anyone outside with a gun. I was so mad, I sat there for a half an hour ranting and raving about how loud his gun was and wondering what kind of gun could be so loud. Then it finally hit me! "How dare he actually try to shoot me!"

I spent the next several days feeling irate at the nerve of him for trying to shoot me! I even wrote an e-mail telling him about my dream and letting him know that he'd better not try to shoot me again. I realized how unstable it made me look and didn't send it. But just for future reference, I would prefer no one else shooting me either.

So, at dinner the other night Brian said I had been talking in my sleep about a monkey stealing my money. That's pretty random; I wonder if he made it up. I didn't remember a dream involving monkeys. However, just in case: if anyone sees a monkey, let me know. I'd like my money back.