Recurring Dreams: The Shower

Last night I dreamed I was trying to take a shower.

The shower dream is one of my recurring dreams and always leaves me feeling a little stressed out when I wake up.

Here's how the dream goes.

I need to take a shower but obstacles continuously present themselves and the shower ultimately never happens. I spend the whole dream (which in the dream is usually a whole day) just trying to take a shower so I can move on with my day.

Here are the various obstacles that present themselves.

No Privacy
Sometimes the shower is in the middle of a dining room while a dinner party is in progress. Of course guests assure me they will not be disturbed by the noise or the steam rising from above the shower curtain and encourage me to take a shower, but I don't ever take them up on it.

Other times the shower is in a room where one or more of the walls are floor to ceiling windows. Usually the view is stunning and I consider showering just to enjoy the view.

The short shower stall always presents another privacy issue. This shower is usually outdoors, in an area where lots of people are coming and going (think Grand Central Station.) The stall is tall enough to provide adequate coverage for a person of average height. But of course, I am not a person of average height, so the shower stall would leave me exposed in ways that would certainly make me very uncomfortable.

Shower Occupied
Another shower dream obstacle is the occupied shower. Sometimes the person is just taking an extra long shower and I have to wait. If I leave for one second, that person will finish and another person will jump in. It never fails.

When it finally is my turn to dream shower, the hot water has run out due to the excessive length of all the other showerer's showers. So I wait for the water to warm up and then, guess what?

Someone else gets in the shower before me.

Unable to Remove Clothes
This is without a doubt the most disturbing part of the whole dream because now I've finally gotten into a private shower and it's my turn. The shower can happen.

Except I can't remove my clothes.

Sometimes I can take off clothes, but more and more keep appearing underneath as if I've layered everything I own onto my body. I keep stripping off shirts, only to see another shirt beneath it while a big pile of shirts grows on the floor next to me.

Ahhhh!

Then I wake up in a panic and spend the next 30 minutes doing calm breathing and trying to relax.

I suppose I've had to wait to shower in real life. I've lived in college dorms after all.

But I've never had to wait all day.

And once I saw a shower that had a wall (more like window!) that was floor to ceiling clear glass. But I was not invited to shower in it.

I just don't know what to make of it, other than I'm uptight and concerned about my modesty.

Hello Spare Tire

Yesterday I was completely out of sorts. I discovered a big roll of flab right around my waist that wasn't there the day before. I swear it wasn't. The flab roll was an annoying presence every time I sat down or bent over or went up the stairs.

I was so discouraged, yet still managed to purchase a giant container of butter toffee covered popcorn with almonds and cashews from Target. I became even more discouraged when I noticed just before dinner that I'd snacked away two-thirds of the entire container.

Right before bed I had a very significant and happy realization.

It had been laundry day. Everything was dirty. I was wearing paint stained sweats and an old t-shirt. Even my, how shall I say it, "unmentionables" were from a dark corner of the drawer that rarely sees daylight. It suddenly occurred to me that my underwear was a smaller size than I normally wore. It wasn't me that had grown, it was underwear that was too small.

Wooo hooooo!

Of course I soon admitted to myself that I'd fit quite comfortably into that stuff just 2 years ago, but still, a flab roll appearing over 2 years time is much less disturbing than a flab roll that appears over night.

Today the laundry is done, and I've got the right size. Happy day!

You Did What?

This morning...

Ethan: Mom, guess what I did last night.

Me: What?

Ethan: I organized the socks in my sock drawer by length and softness.

Me:

Ethan: Hey Jonah, check it out--mom just fainted.

(OK, kidding about the fainting part, but the rest of the conversation is 100% accurate. And I'm still slightly in shock that the words, "I organized" came out of Ethan's mouth. I never want to forget this day.)

Rebel With an Update

A few of you wanted to know how Jr. Great Books went with my contraband book, "Christina Katerina and the Box."

The short answer: Great

First, the book had pictures. This kept my group focused on the story.

Second, it was a great story about a little girl's creativity and her friendship with the boy next door. There were plenty of things to talk about and discuss with the story. The kids had fun drawing pictures of what they would do with a big box.

Third, I had fun sharing the story with the kids which made it more fun for me and I think, more fun for them.

The next book I'm planning to bring, "Pickle Chiffon Pie" by Jolly Roger Bradfield.

I'm Super, You Can Be Super Too!

Check me out! I'm a super hero! "The Spectacular Charitable Philanthropist!"

You can transform yourself into a superhero here, at the Hero Factory and don't worry, there are plenty of other accessories you can choose from besides the "grocery bag of pain." (Who knows what weapons of misery lurk in the "grocery bag of pain!")

(Although with a name like "Charitable Philanthropist" the grocery bag is probably just filled with canned goods for the food bank.)

A nice touch to the hero factory website is the song, "I need a Hero" by Bonnie Tyler plays while you create your superhero. I found it very inspiring.

If you need to feel a little super today, I highly recommend making yourself into a superhero.

Rebelling

At the beginning of the school year, in a moment of misunderstanding, I volunteered to help in my children's classrooms with something called Jr. Great Books. I believe the e-mail that snagged me came from my son's teacher and said something like this:

"Do you love reading? Do you love sharing great books and stories with kids? Do you want the love and admiration of all those around you? If you answered "yes" Jr. Great Books is just the thing for you."

(She had me at "love reading.")

At the training I realized that Jr. Great Books was going to be a little bit more of a time commitment than I was interested in making. I tried to back out, but the teachers worked with my schedule and my special needs (can my 4 year old come?) and eventually I could not say no.

So I'm a Jr. Great Books volunteer. I have a "teacher's manual" filled with stories and questions and activities to do with the kids to help them learn to think critically about literature.

Either the kids don't like Jr. Great Books or they don't like ME. It's entirely possible it's me. But it could be that the stories are not that great. And the activities make me feel like I'm beating a dead horse.

I'm a rule follower. Always have been. Except the speed limit. (Sorry, sometimes I just can't drive 55.) But I can't help thinking that I have lots of stories that would be waaaaaaaaay better than the ones Jr. Great Books has in the teacher's manual.

I've tried to follow their plan, but today I'm rebelling. I'm bringing my own story and making up my own questions and activities and it's going to be GREAT.

"Christina Katerina and the Box" by Patricia Lee Gauch was one of my favorite stories as a kid and as an adult, I love reading this aloud to my own kids.

Hopefully the Jr. Great Books kids in 1st grade will love it too.

I'm a little nervous about breaking the rules and hope that no one notices my contraband book.

For the first time in a while however, I'm looking forward to volunteering for Jr. Great Books.

Sunday Scribblings: Lost

I got on the “Lost” fan boat during the first season. I watched it faithfully, turned away visitors if they wanted to come when it was on, called my friends during the commercials to ask, “can you believe it?” and dreamed about the show at night.

The next day I would check “Lost” message boards, form theories and e-mail all the people I didn’t call during the commercial breaks.

Season after season I watched “Lost” and tried to piece together clues. I scrutinized screen shots and browsed Oceanic’s fake website.

One year “Lost” didn’t come on in September. I had to wait until February. But there would be no repeats, no skipped weeks. It would be OK.

I hung on the proverbial cliff for 8 months once again and watched in February for yet another season. There had been a writer’s strike which meant fewer episodes and skipped weeks.

I began to feel that “Lost” was asking too much. I was giving, giving, giving and “Lost” was only taking.

The final blow to my relationship with “Lost” came this January, a month before the 5th season started. Our family switched from Dish TV service to the free “rabbit ear” television service. Without a DVR, TV just seemed like too much work.

I told “Lost” I would probably check it out on the web. At my leisure. But the first episode was 2 hours long.

2 hours.

That seemed like a big commitment to make, sitting in the uncomfortable office chair in front of my computer. Watching a show. I had other things I could be doing with that time.

I just wasn’t that into “Lost” any more. I didn’t want my time to be lost to “Lost.”

Letting go of “Lost” has been liberating, really. Even though I’ve been told by my old “Lost” friends that if I don’t tune into “Lost” soon, they won’t know what to do with me. “It will blow your mind” they say. “You have to watch.”

I know “Lost” will always be there for me if I decide to come back. If not at abc.com, then at Blockbuster or Netflix. We’ll just have to see.