All I Have to do is Dream

This is a good song. I've known it for years. Music is amazing like that. It really sticks with us. I can't remember the last time I heard this song, but I can still sing all of it :).

I dream a lot. And I'm not talking about night-time in-my-sleep dreams. I have those a lot too. But usually they are very odd and don't make a lot of sense. My subconscious mind takes a million life experiences and throws them in a bag, shakes them all up, and then pulls some of them out and sticks them together. And the results are sometimes weird; sometimes amusing; sometimes disturbing; sometimes very realistic; but always interesting.

But I'm not talking about those dreams. I'm talking more about daydreams. The kinds of dreams I have a little bit more control over. Sometimes I feel like a teenager again, imaging what my life will be -- what I want it to be -- what I hope it will be. As my life changes, so do my musings and the life I create in my head. For example...

Lately I've craved a place of my own. Not because I don't enjoy living with my mom. But because, more than anything, I want a place that is mine where I can invite people over to play games and watch a movie. That simply isn't an option here, for a number of reasons. At least, it's not an option right now. I have plans in my head (more dreams) of how it could be a reality one day, assuming nothing else changes (though I sincerely dream of the possibility that other things could change and will change -- like maybe I'll get a job with which I can actually support myself in the not-so-distant future). So I have something in mind to hopefully make this a reality one way or another. But even so, I still dream of owning my own home. Which has me googling short sales and houses for sale in the area. And no, it's not even a remote possibility right now. It's not financially feasible. But it's still fun to look. And then imagine. And so I've been doing that today. Imagining. Dreaming. And then I tell tell my best friend in the whole world about my crazy daydreams, and then she dreams along with me! And together we dream about how I will get the house and she will come out here and help me decorate (because we all know I lack the fru-fru gene...).

Because sometimes daydreams are just an escape, you know? And sometimes you need that escape. Sometimes you need to plan out how great it will be when your best friend magically moves to Washington State (which will be even more convenient for when she helps you decorate your house :)). Or how you will one day work at your job, not because you have to, but because you want to because it's fun and flexible and you don't have to because you have a wonderful husband who has a great job and with whom you totally click and in the evenings you cuddle up on the couch together and watch episodes of some sarcastically funny tv show or some sappy romantic movie that he says he doesn't want to watch, but that he is secretly enjoying. Or how you will one day be able to host get-togethers for all the major holidays and any fun day in between with lots of laughs, games, and goodies for family and friends. And okay, so some of these might never happen. But some of them might.

And besides, according to the quote for the movie quote guess this week, sometimes the best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.... I think I hear my alarm ;).

Disclaimer: I'm not complaining. Just musing. Sometimes it's fun to muse.

Bowled Under

So as I mentioned before... I went bowling this past Saturday with several ladies from church. Let's just say I'm not a stellar bowler. I didn't break 100 on either game. How sad! I think only one person broke 100, and one person got exactly 100 on one game each. All in all we aren't terribly great bowlers, but we have lots of fun :). My two scores were 94 and 96. At least I was improving, right :)!? A couple more games and even I might have gotten 100! Anyway, here's a picture of us... And the reason for the bowling balls in the shirts on some of the ladies is that Kristin (the blonde holding 2 bowling balls) is something like 5 months pregnant! She's so funny. She's the Relief Society President in our Ward. Anyway, fun was had by all. It's always nice to just get out and hang with the ladies and do something different.

Going bowling made me think of Junior High School in Panama. For several weeks, at least in 8th grade, we had bowling as one of our gym classes. We boarded a bus every day for those weeks and went to the Curundu Bowling Alley. With going as often as we did, I actually got pretty decent. I never bowled a perfect game, but I think I might have broken 200 a time or two. Plus we had to learn how to score by hand. Now it's a lost art, because the computers score for you. On Saturday, we didn't even get to put our own names into the machine! They did it for us at the desk when we got our shoes. I guess everything gets more and more automated these days. But anyway, yeah. It was fun to think about those days in Jr. High when we went bowling. And the best part? Not having to dress out, since bowling doesn't really cause you to work up a sweat :).

Today we didn't have any rain!!! Woohoo! It was actually a really pretty day. Clear skies for the first time in days and days. With sunshine. Who knew you could miss the sunshine so much?

I finished Al Capone Shines My Shoes last night and have started on Ender's Game. I'm not far into it (like 3 chapters), but so far it's pretty good. I'm loving my reading time, though I don't think I'll be getting any tonight, since it's already 1 a.m. and I'm tired. That's what happens when you spend 2 hours talking on the phone, though... I'm so chatty.

Today at work, Mary, Sue, and I quoted from French Kiss. That's a cute and hilarious little movie. We were laughing so hard as we quoted that we got in a bit of trouble. Because we get loud. Sometimes they can hear us upstairs...

So, I got my two $25 gift cards to Best Buy in the mail on Saturday (the ones that I got as a reward for using my credit card). I promptly went to Best Buy to see if they had the good sales on the stuff I want to buy. Not so much. And then I went back today to see if that has changed with a new week... Not so much. So, I wait. There are some areas of life where I can have patience.... Now to cultivate that virtue in other areas of my life... I'll let you know how that goes :).

On Thursday, we have another Rewards and Recognition dinner at work. It's always somewhere in Seattle. I might go. I might not. Depends on who is going. If nobody fun is going, I'll probably skip it. I'm sure I can find other things to do with my time... like read :).

Yep, so I guess that's it. Just thought I'd throw up the picture from the bowling alley :).

Score!

Trust me, I'm as amazed as you probably are that I'm blogging two days in a row for the first time in probably a year and a half! But I had a really fun day! Full of things about which to blog! Woohoo!

First off, I was up until about 1 this morning reading Al Capone Shines My Shoes. It's cute. It's a sequel of sorts, the first one being Al Capone Does My Shirts. It's a young adult book for middle-school age kids, I would say. I loved the first one. It made me smile at the end. And I'm enjoying this one as well. Some of it literally makes me smile. I love books like this. Feel-good books. Anyway...

I woke up at 9 this morning. I set my phone alarm for 8:15. And yes, that's early for me :). I hit snooze on the phone (that is 3 middle-button pushes, by the way... I learned this so I can hit snooze without having to look to make sure I re-set it to sound again in a few minutes :)), so I woke up at 9 and got up. Because my mom and I had big plans to work on the pantry. I had a breakfast of toast with blueberry-rhubarb jam and strawberry-rhubarb jam. Two pieces of toast, one with each flavor. These are the jams I helped make with the then-Enrichment committee at church. It's not called an Enrichment committee anymore. But, I digress. Then my mom and I got down and dirty... quite literally. I usually overestimate my abilities and underestimate undertakings. I figured we could have the whole "cleaning and organization of the pantry" thing done in 3 hours. Wow was I off base! We barely scratched the surface! Some of that stuff hasn't been touched in probably 30 years. Which means it's dusty. And spiderwebby. Ick. Of course, please note that not everything in the pantry is this way. Just the stuff that hasn't been touched in eons. It's a huge pantry and storage area. One of the treasures I found are about 5 stickers from Birmingham, AL that have Vulcan on them and call Birmingham "The Magic City." They are circa 1981. How many people do you suppose have those?!? Apparently my grandparents must have made a stop in Birmingham back in the day -- probably for Square Dancing is what my mom and I are thinking. Anyway, we have a lot more work to do, but we have ideas for organization, and I think it will look great when we are done!

Before long it was time to get ready for work. Both my mom and I went in around noon, and I was pretty darn productive there, even though I wasn't feeling all "worky" today. Oh, and of course I helped Bob do the crossword puzzle. I like that ritual. Usually he will fill in a few and walk away when he can't think of anymore. Then I'll come check it out and fill in what I know. Then he'll come back and fill in some more based on what I've put in, etc etc. I find that I like doing the puzzles better this way than by myself. We tend to always finish the "warm-up" in the daily paper, and some days we succeed in doing the "hard" one too :). Oh, and of course there was tons of laughter with Mary. I'm not even sure what we laughed about at this point. I just wish I had a tape recorder some days.

After work, I got home and was thrilled with two items that came in the mail!!! One was a bill. Yes, I know. Who's crazy enough to want that? Well, me. Because! I wrote my pay-off check for my credit card! It goes in the mail tomorrow! Woohoo!!! I'm ecstatic, can you tell? I called the credit card company to get my pay-off to make sure it wouldn't go up with interest charges before they receive the check, and they said it wouldn't because of when they figure everything. And then they tried to sell me some kind of coverage so that I wouldn't have a minimum payment due in case I got laid off "in this difficult economy" or something. I said, "Look, I appreciate what you're saying, but I'm making my final payment, so I won't have a balance. Why would I sign up for something like that?" Yeah, no thanks. So anyway... I'm excited.

The other item in the mail was a package from Julie! Inside were the best friend journal -- it's my turn to write three memories :) -- an Office notepad for grocery lists, etc (awesome for 2 reasons: because it's The Office and because it's perfect for lists! :)), and a pair of 80s-style "sunglasses". I don't know what else to call them. You will see what I mean though. These were from Julie and her friend Randi, I believe. Julie had told me she was sending me a package and that something inside was from Randi. Anyway, totally awesomely 80s! Made me smile!!! And so now you can too! And don't make fun of my goofy 80s pose. It's the best I could come up with :).

In case you can't tell from the picture, they are those shades that have slits in them and no actual lens. So totally 80s :). Little by little I will have the whole 80s get-up. Now to just fit back into that jean skirt... So, thank you Julie and Randi!!! Way awesome surprise!

And then I went and spent money. Because I'm uber-frugal like that, right? Okay, actually, I didn't intend to spend money. Well, except for what it cost to get contact solution. Everywhere I've tried to get contact solution in the last week has either not sold it, been out of stock, or it was $10.99. I'm sorry. I'm cheap. I'm not paying 11 whoppers for contact solution when I know I can get it at Wal-Mart for like $3. So I finally gave in and just went to Wal-Mart. I know, Julie... Everywhere for you is like at least 15 minutes away. But up here things are more compact, so I have gotten spoiled :). And I hate the drive to Wal-Mart. It's on the other side of town ;). Whine, whine, whine. But anyway, so I went. And got 2 full-size bottles for less than $6. I think it was actually even cheaper than that. Oooo! I had to look, and it's even better! I got 2 bottles for $4.73 after tax. Yeah, so forget that $11 crap. It didn't even cost me $7 in gas to get to Wal-Mart :). And then I went to JC Penney -- a place I never shop -- and found some of the most awesome after-Christmas sales ever! I can't tell what I got, since they are all for Christmas 2010. I'm working on buying throughout the year -- especially when things are on sale -- so I don't get slammed at the end! And I got $180 (before tax) worth of stuff for $26 after tax! For you math nerds out there (like me :)), that's roughly 14% of what I would have paid had I bought them before Christmas! Gotta love a good deal. And simply can't pass it up -- especially if I have the funds and it's going to pay off in the end :). Woohoo! So, I have both "big girls" (as far as nieces go) bought for for Christmas!!! Wahoo!

And then I came home and showed my mom my scores :)! She was impressed!

So yeah. Today was a pretty awesome day. And on Saturday, I'm going to go bowling with some of the ladies at church, so that should be fun :). And even more fun, because I have that discount card, so I get 2 games for the price of one :). For up to 4 people, so I'm sharing the discount with 3 other ladies from church :).

Oh, and my mp3 player has some pretty darn awesome music! I love this thing!

Ho-Hum

I feel like blogging, but I have nothing interesting to say :). Go figure! So here's a synopsis of all things Nilla. Well, okay... Maybe not all things Nilla. But how about a few things Nilla :).

• It has been raining a lot here. I realize this is probably the norm. Or at least pretty close to the norm. But this round has been particularly annoying. And even people who have lived here for years are saying they are getting more aggravated with it this time than they usually do. Anyway, so far I have had two full-size towels reach the point of super-saturation on my floorboard. There's a third one in there now. That's a lot of water... Maybe I should implement Mrs S's tarp idea... especially now that I know to what she was referring :).
  
• I feel like I was pretty productive today. I got all the Christmas decorations put away, and this is no small feat. It requires me to be a contortionist to get everything into the small crawl space under the stairs in the pantry. I also got rid of part of a rug in the basement and washed my sheets and comforter. And tonight I made my bed, so I will be looking forward to a nice, newly made bed here in a little bit when I lay down to read. (Have I mentioned that I'm not a bed-maker? I think it's one of the most pointless chores ever. Though I have to admit, I do like getting into a newly made bed....). Oh yeah, and these were in addition to me going to work and being productive there :).
  
• Tomorrow my mom and I will be reorganizing and going through the pantry. Then maybe one will not have to contort oneself in the future...
  
• I like having a purpose and a goal. It does something for my psyche and my spirit. It is good :).
  
• I'm going to do something different on my blog, courtesy of Elka's ideas. Last week, I was bored, so I was blog-stalking myself ;). Hahaha.... Okay, so what that entails is just randomly going through old blog posts of my own. And some of them I'd forgotten all about! I was mentioning to Elka that I had forgotten some of them and that re-reading them made me laugh, and she said I should add a section on the side of my blog that has some of my favorite posts. I liked the idea. So, I have replaced Nilla Trivia with a section called "Glimpses". And there you will find links to some of the blog posts that have made me laugh or smile. I will change them out periodically. And maybe sometimes I will have a theme.

So, there you go. Nothing exciting. Just felt bloggy.

Self-Improvement

Yeah, so it's that time of year when everyone reflects on ways they want to make themselves better in the new year. I actually made a list of goals for 2010 a couple weeks before we reached the new year. I've since added other goals as well. Goals that are more spiritual than the ones I wrote down a couple weeks ago. Not that the ones from a few weeks ago aren't still valid and good. They are. I just decided that I need to set goals for all aspects of my life, not just temporal and physical ones. So, here are my goals, in category order :).

Spiritual
1. Liken the scriptures. I tend to read my scriptures superficially. I need to do better. I need to study them and learn how to do that better. That will be how I actually learn a lot more. And if I can liken them to my life -- well, that is how I find answers for my own life and my own situation. I have had 2 amazing experiences with this that really stick out in my mind. And the way I felt when it happened was awesome. And I wanted that again. Because I received answers to prayers -- guidance for my life. I think that, if I will study more thoroughly, I will have those experiences more often.

2. Attend the Temple more often. I had done pretty well with this in Tuscaloosa. The drive to the Birmingham Temple was an easy one. Driving to Seattle is a little more scary, and I'm a lot of a wimp. So, I have not gone to the Temple as often as I ought to have in the last year. I need to improve in that area.

3. Become more humble. I'm not saying I walk around thinking I'm the greatest thing since sliced bread. I'm certainly not. But I can be pretty stubborn and overbearing when it comes to expressing my ideas. I think I'm right, and that my way is right. And that's not very humble. And it's especially unwise to go up against Heavenly Father in this particular category. So, I need to strive to become more humble and more teachable.


Temporal
1. Build my savings account. I have already started this. I have set a goal to put $20 into my savings account each paycheck. No, it's not a phenomenal amount of money, but the old adage is true: "Constant dripping hollows out the stone."

2. Be debt-free. And I mean completely. I make the final payment on my credit card this month. This up-coming week, in fact. I'm so excited about this. I plan to then use my credit card for purchases that I pay off immediately. Because I want to earn the points on my purchases. I just claimed my rewards from everything I've spent since I opened the card, and I am going to get 2 $25 gift cards to Best Buy. Where I will buy 2 more seasons of Scrubs. When they are on sale. And then maybe I can get more than just 2. Who knows. The point is, I want to take advantage of the points thing. I just need to make sure I stay disciplined and don't charge more than I can pay. And then I start paying off my student loan in massive chunks. It will be gone no later than December 2010, if all else remains equal. And actually, I can probably have it done by August. But, I want to leave myself room for the unexpected :). My life tends to be full of that...

3. 3 months of food/necessity storage. I had this goal last year. I failed. I need to do better and just "bite off" pieces I can manage. Maybe just look at it a paycheck at a time and say, "What can I buy this paycheck that will help me reach this goal?" And then buy it.

4. Start gardening. No, I'm not going to attempt a massive undertaking of every fruit or vegetable I'd like to eventually be able to grow. That would be setting myself up for failure, and I know it. So this year, I'm going to try to grow tomatoes and cucumbers. I love cucumbers, and I can tolerate tomatoes. But we could also can the tomatoes for future use in soups, like the yummy garlic vegetable soup I love so much... So, that's what I'm going to try this year.


Physical
1. Walk. I started doing this last year and some weeks it was better than others. And then it really fizzled at the end when it got colder and got dark early. I need to try again. I liked walking with Heidi and visiting and chatting. And also with Sue.

2. Lose 20 pounds. Because that's how much I gained last year. Blech. I was so proud of myself for maintaining my weight loss in Tuscaloosa. I don't even know how I managed to do it, because I didn't actually try. So I want to return to that weight. I was happy with it.


Miscellaneous
These are just things I'd like to do this year. Whether they are things I want to obtain or things I want to do doesn't matter. They might not serve to make me or my life better, but they are wants, if you will :).

1. Trim apple tree for production. Okay, so we have an apple tree in the backyard. It's seen better days. It doesn't produce much, and what it does produce is pretty much useless. And that's because it needs pruning (and isn't this a lesson for life???). I am doubtful I would be able to get much of a crop out of it this upcoming summer, even if I did an awesome job pruning. But as I have no clue what I'm even doing, I'm just going to give up on the goal of actually getting production out of the tree and just cut it back because it needs to be cut back and pruned for aesthetic purposes and so it doesn't start smacking the house...

2. Get a laptop. And when I say this, I mean that I will pay cash for it. Or I will have the cash to immediately pay it off with. I have already budgeted it out as a line item in my budget :). But I may also use my tax return money for it. We shall see. Maybe I will feel motivated to start writing?

3. Accept that there are some things I cannot control. Perhaps this falls under humility above. I don't know. But sometimes it's not a matter of humility so much as disgust at things I feel are unjust. And sometimes I cannot control those things. And so, I have to let go. And not let it get to me.

4. Go at least one place (like a city or state) I've never been before. I think this is pretty self-explanatory.


So, those are pretty much my goals/hopes for 2010. I know that each and every day is a new day and a new chance to be better and to recommit (that looks like it's spelled wrong...) to improving myself. Last Sunday, one of the members of the high council bore his testimony and talked about setting goals and he suggested that perhaps Fast Sunday (the first Sunday of the month in the LDS church) would be a good time to set goals for the month. And that perhaps each Sunday would be a good time to set goals for the upcoming week. I think I want to implement that and see how it works for me. It seemed like a good idea and a way to make the big goals a little smaller, since you can take them a week at a time...

Well, that's all I've got for now. This post was mostly for Elka, since I told her I was thinking of updating tonight and she said, "Good!" :). Loveya Elka!

Oh and PS... I went to Wal-Mart yesterday and spent my $20 gift card. I bought Sixteen Candles on DVD, finally! It was only $9!!! I've never seen it really cheap, so this was a steal in my opinion. And I also bought Roxanne, which is another chick flick with Steve Martin. Cute.

And Elka -- you are way fast! I'd barely had this thing posted before you had left me 2 comments! And yes, I'm sure "more humble" is a scary thing to ask for. But maybe that's why I've been in "limbo." Maybe humility should have been my goal last year... ;).

My Floorboard Swimming Pool

So I drive a car that is now 15 years old. It's a good car. I really can't complain. Yes, it has some issues. None of the windows roll all the way down anymore.* (refer to the a later paragraph for humor). The lock on the driver's side door is sometimes finicky to the point where I can't get my key inserted. And sometimes, even if I can get the key in, it won't turn. So, sometimes I have to unlock the car from the passenger side. But overall, it's a great car. It runs. It's paid for. I plan to keep it until it dies. But one thing that has become more and more noticable as I live in a state that is very wet is that I have a leak somewhere. Now, there has been a leak in this car since I first got it. Because the first time I noticed it, I was living in Dothan and we thought it was the heater core. So, we had Jon (Julie's husband) replace the heater core for us. So nice of him to do it. I don't even know what the heater core is. We just heard that when there is water building up on the floorboard, that's what the problem is. Only, apparently not. Because it has continued to leak. And I've just dealt with it. Sure, my right pant-leg will get wet on the cuffs. But nothing too bad. Well, today at work, I happened to park on an incline with the front of my car facing downhill. So when I got in it tonight, there was literally a puddle on my floorboard. I'm going to have to sop it up tomorrow... As I drove it home, a lot of it soaked back into the carpet in other parts of the floorboard. Thankfully it only gets wet on the driver's side floorboard and not in the back seats. At least there is that. Oh, and the other downfall to this is that it fogs up the inside of my car in a major way. All that condensation... In fact, one particularly cold day up here last month, I had ice on the inside of my windshield. Hahaha... So yeah, I have a swimming pool in my floorboard. How many of you have that awesome feature in your car ;)?

*So, for some reason I have this weird fear of my car going in the water and I wouldn't be able to get out. Because, even if my windows did roll all the way down (which they don't, as I mentioned above), how much time would I have with an electric window to roll it down before the water shorts it out? So, I heard -- from my friend Virginia -- that they make these window breaking things. I had never heard of such a wondrous invention, but it seemed pretty darn smart to me! But then I never thought of it again. Until I saw it at RiteAid last month. But they were like $6. I am cheap. So I didn't buy it. And Christina was with me that day. She made fun of me for my fear -- and for wanting to buy one. Anyway, then they went on sale for 50% off. So, I bought one. Apparently, my life is not worth $6, but it is worth $3. Well, so I've already played with this thing (not on my car windows, just in case it works -- which I really hope it does). I tested it on a wall. And it seems like the wimpiest craptastic-iest thing ever. I don't know how it would ever break a car window. But, we'll just assume that it will and I can be happy. Because Christina is probably right... I'll probably never have occasion to use it anyway. And then, what Elka said is also true... Wait til the car fills all the way up and then get out of the car -- because the pressure should be equal inside and outside of the car. And okay, so that all sounds intelligent. But seriously... When you are a little freaked out about that, you just don't have time to think logically and buying the $3 escape thing is a good peace-of-mind tool :).

I started a blog last year dedicated to book reviews and the such. I didn't really do a great job of keeping up with it. I'm trying to do better. I figure I should pretend like I'm a librarian and do something techologically bookie :). If you are at all interested, you can check it out here. Like I said, I didn't do a great job of keeping up with it, even though I was reading -- at least a little bit. I think my grand-total of books read in 2009 was 9 books. Just call me the slacker librarian. How sad is that? I just found a million other things that occupied my time. I'm hoping I will do better in 2010. I'm off to a good start. I finished Critical Judgement by Michael Palmer last night and am a couple of chapters into Janet Evanovich's Plum Spooky. This should be a fast read. Her books are fluff, but they are a good laugh. Good for the soul :).

Well, there really isn't too much to report. Life is pretty much more of the same here. So maybe I'll go read a little. And work on adding another book to my "read" list so that I can cross off another one from my "to read" list :).

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

A couple of thoughts about this song title post (the song can be heard here)...

1. If my dreams are an indication of my heart's wishes, then my heart is just as crazy as my head ;).
2. Something tells me some of my dreams will never actually take place ;). Like the one that I'm about to share!


I had this dream about a week ago -- before Christmas. And it all took place in about 15 minutes of real time (between 8:15 when my alarm went off and 8:32 when I got a text). So here's the dream...

I'm sitting at a long table with a bunch of little chairs. I'm sitting amongst a bunch of 5 year olds in a classroom at Los Rios Elementary School (in Panama). At the table across from mine is another adult who I recognize as Mrs. Zapata, who was my 1st grade teacher (in real life). It is time to go around the room and introduce ourselves, so I stand up (a giant amidst all these kids) and I say, "Hi, my name is Hila. I'm 29 years old. Fifteen years ago, Mrs. Zapata was actually my kindergarten teacher, and now I'm back in her class!"

Commentary: Please note that that is bad math. And I'm really not that bad at math in real life. Let me explain... 1. Mrs. Zapata was my 1st grade teacher in real life. And I was not in kindergarten 15 years ago (though that could go one of 2 ways for me... I could either be 20 now with a whole heap of education behind me because I was so smart (not likely); or I could have been really really dumb and been in kindergarten at the age of 14 (more likely, but not true ;)). So yeah. Bad math in my dreams. Apparently that's not my subconscious strong-point. Math should go in the axis of evil according to "Dream Nilla". Hahahaha. Okay, enough. Back to the dream.

So at this point, I'm thinking: "How do I explain to a group of 5 year olds the concept of a bachelor's degree?" Because I start saying to them: "I got my bachelor's degree in English..." But I stop myself. Because what 5 year old knows what a Bachelor's degree is anyway? So, I mentally think this out and this is what I end up saying to my classmates (because, yes, I am in fact a student in the classroom at the age of 29)... "I went to school for grown-ups and I learned a lot about English. And then I went to more school so I could learn how to be a librarian, because I like books, and I like to help people find good books to read."

Commentary: Wow... I'm articulate in my dreams! (that was sarcasm, by the way).

Anyway, at about this time, my phone went off indicating I had a text message. So I woke up. But what a crazy dream! I mean, I was literally the age I am now with the knowledge I have now, but I was in kindergarten. And somehow it seemed perfectly normal to me and everyone else around me!

A couple of days later, I had another dream that I remembered. I was in Panama -- again the age I am now. I was at our old house in Cardenas. Christina was there, but she was younger, beecause we were sharing our old bedroom, and she was still asleep in the bed. I was getting into the upper right-hand drawer to get out socks. And I specifically remember I was getting my 2nd pair of toe socks (like the ones Le sent me for Christmas last year that I love for winter flip-flop wearing :)).

Commentary: I only own one pair of those toe socks in reality. Also, I wouldn't have a reason to wear toe socks with flip flops in Panama since it never gets cold there...

So, question: If a dream is a wish your heart makes, what does that say about me and my dreams ;)?!!! Hahahaha... I'm so crazy. Although I have definitely said a number of times that I wouldn't mind going back to being a kid with my knowledge as a 29 year old (because let's face it, my knowledge and experience has been hard-won). However, in saying that, I don't actually want to be a giant 29-year old in a kindergarten class :). I want to blend a little :).

And I don't know about you, but I'm starting off to an interesting 2010. Life. It's never dull, is it? Or is that just the "Nilla Life?"