Tsunami

Last night was really unpleasant.  I haven't been feeling quite right lately.  I felt achey and I had a low fever.  On top of that, I had the most terrible dreams back to back.  Like, waking up out of breath and needing to calm down...

I started in a beautiful resort.  I was in an open, no walls, dining room.  You could look down and out to the ocean and a beautiful white sand beach.  Josh and I were eating food and I said, "We should go down on the beach when we are done eating... we'll play in the waves... not too far though... just standing in the water sounds nice."  So, we finished our meal and started to get up when we heard a few surprised screams.  We looked out toward the ocean and saw that the waves were crashing up on the dining room area.  People on the beach were getting hit hard with the waves that were coming farther and farther up on shore.  


Josh and I watched, stunned, at waves that were crashing on the dining room.  People were getting up and starting to leave.  I remembered that my family was there at the resort too and my sisters were on the beach.  I went to go down there in between big sets that I could see rolling in.  (As a kid, I spent lots of time at the beach with my Dad and listened to him talk about how "sets" of waves would roll in.  He loved to surf and told me how those sets would bring in good waves to ride and if you watched the ocean you could see them roll in.  Came in handy in my dreams... )  Well, I ran down to the beach to find that my Dad, Dana, sisters, and brother were down on the beach struggling to get to higher ground.  Dana and Dad were trying to hold a tarp over our heads to help us have air so I helped hold the baby while Josh helped my sisters and hold the tarp.  The waves completely engulfed us a few times but we still kept going.  The waves eased up for a moment and we all walked up the beach.  We walked up some steps to the main area of the resort and talked about how it was not normal.  Josh and I had a view of the ocean from our room so everyone went up there and watch the ocean.  We knew that if we saw the ocean start to pull out there would be a tsunami.  


Josh and I talked about needing to be prepared.  Just then, I saw my uncle Al and my grandpa walking around and I told them they should be careful and keep a watch out.  Suddenly I noticed that Josh was gone!  I started screaming for him and didn't know what to do.  I looked down at the beach and just then noticed that all of the water started pulling away from the shore.  I started to panic while looking for Josh!  Just then, he showed up fully dressed, wearing a trench coat with a cup with matches and a fire or something.  I said, "Where did you go?!"  and he said, "Preparing!  I wanted to get some stuff together just in case something happens!  I'm ready!"  (This is not far from real life at all.  Josh is very into emergency preparedness.  I think I also laughed in my dreams cause he was so sweet and prepared.)  Just then, I thought about my family.  I realized that they were still up in the room and we needed to get them too. I also started to panic that I didn't have anything but a bathing suit and a cover up on me and that I needed shoes and my phone and other things.  Suddenly, I realized Josh wasn't there any more.  He had taken off running again and I really began to panic.  People were running past me up a hill to get to safety and I wouldn't leave without him.  Just then, he emerged with my family with him.  I said, "Where did you go?!"  and he said, "To get our family of course!  They were at the room and I got them to come with us!  Lets go!"  


We started to run and I woke up...


I don't normally find meaning in a dream... they just seem to be whatever they are but this was was different.

-  The fact that my Dad, Dana, and Josh are holding the tarp over our heads means something.  They each mean a lot to me but they are also the people that I look to for advice and comfort.  I know that all 3 of them protect me and my sisters from a lot.
-  I thought in the dream that it was weird that I was holding my brother and that Dana wasn't but I remember the feeling I had in the dream- I wanted him to live so badly.  I would have given my life to protect him.  Even though he and I are so far apart in age, I have an unexplainable amount of love for him.  I absolutely adore him.  I wish he was able to come from heaven sooner.
-  When I have a dream with my sisters in it, they are ALWAYS in their 3 to 5 year old selves.  They also look just like they did when they were young.  I am also usually protecting them.  I have had lots of dreams where danger is approaching and I pick both of them up in my arms and run as fast as I can.  The fact that they are their 14 and 16 year old present selves, makes me feel... better.  My Dad and Dana were protecting them and although I was there helping, I didn't feel the pressure of doing it on my own.  I feel that way in real life too.  They have both grown up to be strong and intelligent.  I also know that Dad and Dana keep a close watch on them to protect them from life's heartaches.  I know that Josh frequently worries about them also- from their grades to what boys they like to what they are in to.
-  I have never felt so much panic in a dream.  I knew in my dream that Josh didn't leave me because I knew he was trying to help me.  But just those moments of being without him... wow.  They hurt!  When I woke up from my dream, Josh was next to me and I kept telling him that if he was going somewhere, I would go too.  Even if it was dangerous, I'm going too.  This dream can't even express the measure of love I have for Josh.  He means everything to me.

Although it was a hard dream it was happy in some ways.  It emphasized the fact that I love my family and I know I can count on them.

FLB Jr.

Last night was a particularly hard dream... I don't remember many of the specifics... maybe because I was traumatized.

All I remember at this point is that I was sleeping with Josh in a strange room when my grandma woke me up.  She told me my grandpa had died.  I asked how and she said he had died in his sleep.  I immediately started crying and I don't remember too much but its as if time flashed forward-

I was talking to my uncles and they weren't upset.  They said had lived a long life and didn't care.  I then started yelling at all of them that this was my GRANDPA we were talking about and their DAD.

Time then flashed back and I was back with my grandma and Josh.  I started shaking Josh to wake him up to tell him the news and I must have been trying to wake him up so hard that I woke myself up.  In the dream, I was tangled in the blankets and when I woke up, I was also tangled.  I started kicking at the blankets in the dream and also kicking them in real life.

Josh started talking to me and said, "Wake up.  It was only a dream... everything is ok..." (He's no stranger to my intense dreams.  I tell ya, being married and having someone with me sure helps me get through it.)  I don't remember anything specific happening after I woke up but just that I cried for about an hour straight.  I was frustrated that no one cared or was sad about my grandpa and I was crying because I felt that I had lost him.  Even typing this, I'm tearing up just thinking about how much he means to me.  He has always been a source of wisdom and fun.  I don't know what I'd do without him.  I just can't imagine it.

So now... what does it all mean???  I've dreamt of various family members dying and it is always hard.  They haven't come true... nor do anything in my dreams come true... I have been meaning to call my grandpa for about a week now... I guess the only meaning that I can pick up from this dream is that I need to not forget to call.  I need to talk to people and show them how much they mean to me.  So, for all of you readers (which are family and friends), I love you!  I called my grandpa and he is alive and well.  He was out mountain bike riding with my uncle Al.  Yay!

The picture is of me and my grandpa in Scotland.  We were on a boat on Loch Ness looking for Nessie!

Monkey

This is the dream that kicked me in the butt to start a dream blog. I dreamt this on 1/10/11.

I was at a small college that I heard was giving away t-shirts. I went to get a shirt but they tricked me and said that the only shirts they had could fit a child under 4. I told them to give me a shirt anyways cause I could give it to my little brother. It was blue and had bulldogs on it. Later, I met my step mom Dana and my little brother Cash that we call Monkey on the top of a double decker bus and we put the shirt on monkey and he really liked it. He was clapping his hands and I said, "Do you want to dance, Monkey?" and he said in a very clear excited voice, "Okay!" This is particularly cool because he hasn't started talking yet and Dana and I were shocked. We stood up and started dancing crazy. Dana was watching us dance and laughing hysterically. Then the bus started driving somewhere and Dana said, "You guys are crazy!!! Be careful!" We were dancing and stumbling all over but having fun. I woke up while we were still dancing and giggling on the bus and I woke up with a jolt so I giggled before I realized it was a dream. I immediately welled up with tears wishing it was real and that I was with both of them. It was a lovely dream...

Today I have been thinking about bulldogs and they seem familiar to me. I looked up the college where my grandpa went to school and I found out that... the mascot is a bulldog. I don't know how my brain makes those connections but it is quite touching.

This is Dana and Monkey during Christmas...