non-lucid

Yet another dream where I seen to be stuck in my childhood, even in my childhood home. I still can't understand why I don't have dreams about the beautiful new condo I just moved into.

Dad enrolls my younger sister in an after-school program and wants me to take her there. I drive there ahead of time to scope it out, and it turns out to be a day care for kids too young for kindergarten! (For context, my "baby" sister turns 40 this year.) I go home… to my childhood home, that is, and try to explain to Dad why this nursery school is all wrong. I'm standing in the garage, looking out at a snow-covered driveway. I walk out to the driveway and there's a car parked there, but it's not my car. I look back into the two-car garage, where my car appears to be wedged between another car and the garage wall at a 45˚ angle. It can't be car, can it? It's not driveable at the angle. Maybe I left the car at the nursery school. I try to get someone to take me there to look for the car.

Superman's mom lives in a fancy Park Avenue apartment and is hosting a bunch of girls, including me, for an overnight stay. It has something to do with the scouts and it's required. I don't mind, because the old lady gives out used bits of designer clothing if you impress her. Apparently she gave me a sweatshirt last year. This time, I manage to impress her by demonstrating how to put together baby bottles with drop-in liners. My coworker Angie is sitting next to me and she's grumbling that "this is b---s--- that I have to spend time away from my kids" as Superman's mom is talking. I'm only half-listening to Angie because Superman lives with 4 different women and has kids with each, and I want gossip. I do have a vague sense of disappointment that we're talking DC characters and not Marvel.

Massive missed opportunity for the Task of the Year if Superman's mom is handing out clothing!

I'm on my street, except there's no houses, just empty lots partitioned by fences. There's a crazy woman named Betsey that lives two lots away. She comes over to tell me that she's getting married and moving away, although she only seems to head to a lot across the street. After she walks away, a group of neighbors congregates on my lot to talk about what they want to build. Somehow, the whole group decides they need to see my basement. There's a staircase that appears that leads down to the basement. The rest of the group heads down, with me tailing behind them. The staircase has a really low ceiling. Actually, it's so low that I can't walk upright. I end up crawling down the stairs on my hands and knees. Even when I reach the bottom, the ceilings are still low enough that they're just inches above my head. I make a joke about how it's bad when the shortest person barely fits, and everyone laughs. While most of the basement is finished, there's a door that leads to an unfinished room. One of the women in the group breaks off and checks out the room. She returns with a lot of things that she says were left behind by the contractor. They all seem to be stickers, but there's also some kind of document in a sheet protector. As I read it over, I find that it's a birth certificate for my younger sister. I'm shocked that it lists Betsey as my sister's mother! There are other strange details, like Betsey being bored because she was unemployed.

I'm working with several others to get tags for a lot of untagged merchandise so it can go back to the sales floor. We seem to be working in the dark in an empty storefront, which is a much larger space than the small security desk that I'm used to. We're also working in the dark, which doesn't faze me. What does get my attention is that I'm having equipment troubles trying to print tags, but miraculously, I find the right tags on the desk. The phone rings and I try to answer it since I'm the closest person, but I can't figure out how the system works. There are so many buttons! I hit one and accidentally answer on speakerphone -- or so I think. One of our assistant managers is on the line and praises someone on our team. Then another person comes over and points out that I'd put the call on the PA system so it was broadcast throughout the building.

One of my team members needs to be treated by a doctor, and I join her husband in the waiting room to give some support. The doctor tells us that they'll have to amputate the woman's foot. He gives me a folder with some more information on recovery from amputations. I start leafing through it and notice that it's full of jokes! I'm somewhat in shock, wondering who the hell put this together and thought it was appropriate to add the jokes.

I step outside and see a restaurant that I want to try since I'm not always in the downtown area at lunchtime. It's a strange set-up. I enter the building on the ground floor, but the dining room is apparently in the basement. I head down a flight of stairs but don't see a host stand to wait at to be seated. I start moving towards the back of the room and find myself in the kitchen. There's a pale guy wearing a suit, and I realize he is the owner. He ignores me, but I don't linger in the kitchen too long. I head back to the stairs and see there is a large line snaking around the staircase. The owner comes over, and it turns out that he is working double duty as host. He tells a couple in line that there's a two-hour wait to get a table.

I head outside, irritated that I'll have to find someplace else for lunch. I find myself wandering around a parking deck, trying to find my way back to the street to look for other restaurants. Somehow, I end up back in a car. I start driving down the road, but the car seems to veer towards crowds of people lining the right side of the street. I panic, wondering why the car is heading straight into the crowd, and it veers suddenly to the left.

I'm now in a hospital room where my sister is in bed. She is complaining about how she contacted a childhood friend about her illness, but her friend never responded. I tell her it doesn't seem likely since we've had a falling out with the whole family. There's a bar(!) at the side of the room and I offer to fix her a drink(!). She points out that she can't have too much caffeine but "8 oz of Coke should be okay." I'm trying to measure out 8 oz. when I hear her talking to someone. I turn around and there's the mother of the ex-friend, yelling at my sister to that we'll never hear from her family again because our dad insulted them. I start to argue back, wanting to protect my sister, but I wake up.

Interesting to note that this non-lucid dream incorporated the action I had planned to try while lucid.

I'm driving down the highway. There's a pair of guys with me, and they're brothers. I think they're both band members who are on tour for the summer. We stop off briefly to get gas, and when I get back in the car, I notice that the seat doesn't quite feel right. I fiddle with the adjustment, but the next thing I know, the brothers and I are walking down the hallway of a motel. We must have stopped for the night. One of the brothers pulls me into a room. We start making out on the bed. He says something about how our relationship isn't proper since we're related, but he can't help the way he feels about me. I think I recognize him as the guy I've been interested in lately (who is definitely not a relative).

Dad and I are at a hospital to visit his friend HD. We spend some time in a waiting room without actually seeing him. We head to the elevator to go down to the lobby. There is a patient room right across from the elevator. We get into the elevator and while waiting for the door to close, I see HD is in that room. He reaches out and I can't tell if he's trying to wave at us or reaching for us to come back and see him.

The elevator turns into a monorail car and shuttles us off to -- North Korea? I'm not so sure that this is a good idea. Hopefully we don't stay around too long. To my relief, we don't stay long. The monorail doesn't even make any stops.

The next thing I know, I'm on a cruise ship off the coast of Alaska. I'm watching a group of killer whales from the deck. Somehow, I can see what is happening under water as well as on the surface. The whales have odd markings on their bellies with black dots where they should be all-white. I want to get a picture of the whales, but I can't see to figure out how to take a picture on my iPhone. The ship docks and I get off at some kind of scenic overlook to try taking pictures. It's kind of a weird set-up. There's a two-story building with a McDonald's on the lower level and a viewing point on the upper level. Once again, I have trouble trying to take a picture.

I am watching a documentary that shows sweeping vistas of a house on the shore of a lake in Sweden. The camera zooms in, and suddenly I am standing in front of the house. It's a cute split-level ranch that looks completely unassuming, but then I spot the plaque near the door: "The Private Residence Of A Queen." Then Queen Silvia of Sweden steps out the front door. I wonder why she needs a private residence when she has a palace. Or maybe this is where she lived before she married the king? I'm startled to notice that there are Starfleet insignia details in the brickwork, which instantly makes the house so much more interesting.

Then I am taken to a private reception with the King of Spain and the crown prince. We are offered some special cheese from northern Spain that has all these raisins in it. The king wonders how they started making cheese like this, and I started giving a lengthy explanation of the history of the town where the cheese comes from. The king seems delighted with my command of history. Actually, the look on his face implies that he finds me delightful, too. His son, the crown prince, immediately moves to shield me from his father's attention.

I was at this cute little chapel meeting Dad. It seemed odd that he would come to a church so different from the one he normally attends. Most of the congregation seemed eager to meet me when they realized who my dad was. They were having some type of bake sale, except they were selling salads instead of baked goods. I purchased a potato salad just to be nice. As I was leaving the chapel, I took a look around and thought about how it would be a cute place to get married.

Once I was outside, Dad started criticizing me for buying the potato salad. He kept going on about how it had been sitting out for too long and would give me food poisoning. I threw it away and climbed into my car, eager to get away.

The exit to the parking lot apparently went the wrong way down a one-way street, so I made a right turn into an unfamiliar neighborhood. On my right was a playground. There was a lot of snow on the ground and I could hear children playing, although I couldn't see any. That seemed a little odd, and I worried about hitting a child if I couldn't see them coming. I pulled over at this house on the left. There was an older woman named Helen who lived there, and apparently she was a friend of mine. There was a corner of the house where there was no roof, and she was complaining about how snow somehow kept coming into that room (because there's no roof, duh!). I was about to suggest that she hang some sort of tarp and install a floor drain so that the water had somewhere to go when the snow melted.

I was contemplating a work issue and hoping to get some new ways to deal with it from my dreams. I'm not quite sure I could see the answer from this one.

I can hear the sound of an ice cream truck, so I grab my money and head outside. The truck drives past me at first, and I'm disappointed, but then it comes back. Dad appears and asks me to find out if they have sugar-free ice cream. There's a crowd forming around the truck and I ignore his question for now. I'm shouting my order to make sure I get it. I'll ask if there's anything Dad can eat once the crowd settles down.

I find myself quite a long way from home and I want hand lotion for some reasons. I walk into a warehouse that has several display counters. I locate a counter that has the lotion I want and approach a salesperson, who takes me to a completely different counter. Then I leave the warehouse. I bump into a woman who appears to be Harriet Roberts from the show JAG. She hands me a red bag with the name "Worthington" on it and congratulates me. Inside, I find what looks like a license and test results from the bar exam. Apparently I passed the bar exam. I feel a swell of pride, even though there's a voice in the back of my mind reminding me that I've never taken such an exam. I go around telling people, "I passed!" because I'm so happy.

Two friends and I dress up as nurses and persuade the concierge at Benedict Cumberbatch's hotel that we're here to take him to a private clinic for treatment. As we're waiting for Benedict to come downstairs, I try to sign the register using the name "Kit," which is obviously a fake name. Benedict quizzed me on whether or not Kit was short for something, and I came up with "Katherine Isabelle," which he told me was a very pretty name.

We went to sit down in an adjacent lounge while the other girls got our van-turned-fake-ambulance ready. I felt like something was off with one of my shoes. Looking down, I noticed that I was wearing combat boots that weren't fully laced. I took the boot off and discovered I also had an ankle brace underneath it, but it was also unlaced. I removed the brace to re-lace it, and found yet another ankle brace underneath that one.

Somehow, I find myself outside to see my parents getting into a cable car. I join them, but then a set of glass doors close over the sides of the cable car. They're inside the glass and I'm left outside, clinging to the car so I don't fall off. The cable car takes us to the airport. Dad and I talk about how complicated it is that I'm flying to one city with them and then taking a second flight home. We stop at the ticket agent to see if we can get me booked on a direct flight home. There are all sorts of complications and I'm not sure it can be done. Not sure of where I'll be flying to after all, I head for security. I put my suitcase on the belt to be x-rayed. On the other side, there are glasses of champagne coming out of the x-ray, but the belt does not stop when the glasses reach the end. I'm frantically trying to catch each one.

I was riding in an open carriage through the countryside, possibly somewhere in Denmark. There was a woman sitting next to me, and she leaned over to whisper, "I heard your stepmother tried to cut you out of your father's will. Do you need help?" I turned to face the woman and realized it was the Queen Mother. I also noticed that my sister and my (now former) stepmother were sitting across from us, which is why the Queen Mother was whispering. I reassured her that all of my father's assets were put into a trust before he remarried and my ex-stepmother could not change it.

I returned the fancy house where I was staying. It seemed that it once belonged to a wealthy aristocrat who had died and my family may have been distantly related, so they were evaluating us to be heirs to his title. The staff at the house showed me to my room, which had some fancy bed. I laid down for a while but quickly realized that I had gotten my period and leaked all over the sheets. The staff was horrified; apparently the bed linens were also priceless antiques. I was told that this was probably going to count against me in the evaluation.

I went down to the kitchen, which seemed really crowded with furniture. There was a breakfast bar with seating, something that I've considered adding to my current kitchen. However, I couldn't figure out why there was another table shoved right in front of it that kept me from getting to the bar.

Continuing my explorations, I found that the house had a second kitchen. Now I was really confused. What was the purpose of having two kitchens in one house? I moved onto the living room, where there was a party in progress. I spotted the actor Brent Spiner sitting on the couch and had the brilliant idea that I should try and take a selfie with him.

I left the house and made my way to what seemed like a convenience store, except it was full of space posters and NASA administrator Charlie Bolden was working behind the counter. I looked at a poster of an astronaut posing in front of the space shuttle and decided that I should get ready to go into space.

Two girls at work persuade me to put on a red sparkly bustier. I complain that it's too tight and I want to take it off. But they tell me they can't take it off right because they're too many people around. While I'm waiting for the two girls to help me undress, I have an idea. I send one of them to go get a boy that I used to have a crush on because I want to him to see me wearing this sexy top.

Somehow I find myself wearing a sheer white nightgown with a black bra. I started running around looking for someone but then I realize this gown is way too see-through. I grabbed a plush white hoodie and put it on to cover up. Before I can zip up I run smack-dab into a guy. We collide and he has to grab me so I don't fall over. I can feel his hands through the sheer material.

According to my sleep tracker, it took me 13 minutes to fall asleep. I slept for a total of 8 hours and 53 minutes. I had brief awakenings at 1 AM, 3 AM, 4:30 AM, 6 AM, and 7:15 AM. There was also an extended period of restlessness about 20 minutes before I woke up.

Supplements: I took one melatonin (because I haven't been sleeping well) and two menthol cough drops (because I've had a sore throat)

First dream: I was trapped at my friend Katie's house, though Katie wasn't there. I gathered up my stuff and put it into two bags. One was a backpack, and I wondered whether it was worth it to lug this heavy bag around while trying to find my way out. I also had a strong sense that the room next to the one I was in had a garage. I could almost picture the cars inside. I wandered out into the hallway and found myself in a banquet hall. In the entrance was a ticket booth, but instead of tickets, they were selling paper plates. I got a plate and tried to find to find the buffet in the maze of hallways. I found a room that seemed like a private party room. I started examining the light switches on the wall, and the next thing I knew, I found myself in my own bathroom at home. But there was a strange woman there giving her son a bath in my bathtub. I felt awkward for interrupting them. I turned to leave, but I noticed a row of hooks on the wall, just about the light switch. They were mounted on a black plastic panel. Part of the panel had broken away. Initially, I thought there were only 3 hooks, but as I looked closer I saw a fourth one. I couldn't remember installing this panel, and I couldn't understand why I would keep it if it was broken like this. I went to shut off the lights to the sink area, but instead the lights went out near the tub. I turned around and apologized to the woman, explaining that it was too complicated to keep track of which switch controlled which lights.

Second dream: I was going through piles of stuff in the office nook of the kitchen. Dad asked me why I was going through things instead of just throwing them out. I told him that I was looking for photos from a trip to Florida when I was a teenager. On that trip, I had taken photos of space shuttle Columbia landing at Kennedy Space Center about 5 years before it was destroyed. Dad said he remembered the photos, but he never made the connection between the two events until Aidan explained it to him. (Note: Aidan is our dog!) He told me he had the pictures framed and that I could find them "by Verizon, under summer photos, about two years from now." I didn't understand his directions, but I went upstairs to check his bedroom.

I was staying in a fancy hotel suite in Las Vegas. Two of my coworkers were there with me. One was enjoying the oversized tub in the bathroom. The tub seemed to be in a strange location. There were large "steps" carved into the wall and the tub on was one step. The next "step" had a jacuzzi. I nearly missed it at first because it was just above eye level.

I ran out of the bathroom to tell my other coworker, "Hey, we have a jacuzzi! I can't wait to use it." She was busy getting a massage and suggested that I get one as well. A massage therapist showed up to give me an in-room massage. Her massage table was in pieces, and she brought her boyfriend and a bunch of kids to carry all the pieces and set it up for her. The table seemed awfully long. I could probably take up just half of it. The massage therapist showed me this awesome raspberry-chocolate moisturizing cream she was going to use on me (it looked and smelled like a dessert I had a few weeks ago).

Finally, it was time for my massage to begin. The massage therapist suggested that I should take off my clothes before getting on the table. I was just wearing a tank top and panties at this point. I reached for the hem of my tank top, but then I realized that the room was full of people and all of them were staring at me. I felt really uncomfortable getting undressed in front of them.

I ended up skipping the massage and heading up to the roof. The view was amazing, and it reminded me of taking a cruise to a Caribbean island touting itself as the new Las Vegas. (So I was in Las Vegas and comparing it to a place trying to imitate Las Vegas?) There was a sign for Harrah's Casino just in front of me and I decided to take a picture of it. But every time I looked in the viewfinder of my camera, a Paradise Road street sign kept obstructing the view. Funny, that street sign wasn't visible when I wasn't looking through the camera lens. Then I noticed that there was film coming out of the camera. It had been so long since I used a camera that required film. I wasn't sure if I had to manually rewind the film. I remembered that there was a one-hour photo place nearby and made note to take the film to be developed. I had no memory of taking any other pictures and really wanted to see what else was on that roll of film.

It appears my mantra of "Don't dream about work so much" had the opposite effect. It's a a shame I missed the opportunity to do the Task of the Month.

My workplace had added a new gym and spa and I decided to try out their fancy showers. But first, I was having trouble locking the door of my shower stall. The door kept opening even after I thought I had closed the deadbolt. Finally, I managed to slide the bolt a lot further than seemed possible. Confident that the door was locked, I took off my clothes. But then someone outside bumped the door to my stall. Then the door disappeared completely, leaving me exposed to everyone passing outside. I grabbed a black t-shirt and and held in in front of me as I looked outside. It seemed that the doors to all the stalls were gone.

I carefully ventured outside, still trying to cover myself with the t-shirt, when I spotted my boss. I told him about the missing doors and he thanked me for bringing the issue to his attention. His attitude puzzled me since it should have been obvious that none of the stalls had doors. I told him I really needed it fixed because I needed to take a shower after my workout. Funny, I don't remember working out. My boss told me that there was a private shower area restricted to employees, and he gave me directions.

I started making my way to the private showers, but I was having trouble finding them. The directions my boss gave me didn't seem to make sense. After finding myself at a basement entrance (that doesn't exist in reality), I found my coworker Angie. She directed me to a far corner of the basement, where I found a weight room. The dream ended before I finally got to the showers.