Crazy Dreams

I've had some really crazy dreams lately, and a good friend (Hi Trish!) said I should write a book. I'm not sure anyone would pay to read my craziness, so here it is for you to judge.

The first dream features said good friend. I'd been texting her off and on and she wasn't responding. I wasn't really upset about it. We both have busy lives with husbands, kids, jobs, church commitments, animals and homes. Texting is fabulous because we can "talk" in spurts whenever we've got a moment or two. Apparently Trish's work had been really busy so she hadn't answered me.

My subconscious apparently came up with reasons why and it was a doozy! LOL! In my dream, I got tired of not knowing what was going on, so I went to visit her. She was divorced, without telling me, and she'd moved. She was also head over heels in love with someone else. In addition, her husband's mother, who is wonderful, had turned mean and crazy, just like Trish's husband. he'd hid the crazy meanness for two years and then unleashed it on Trish, who divorced his butt and then fell in love with someone else. All without telling me!! I had to go visit to find all of this out.

As if that wasn't enough, she'd bought a new house that was really cool. It was almost a treehouse, and, upon waking, I found that my dream-Trish-house reminded me of what I think of when I read about ekeles in Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar books. Seriously, the treehouse house was AWESOME!

Oh, and Trish could fly. Like Peter Pan, without wings, kinda swimming through the air.

And I couldn't. *frowny face*

A few nights later, I shared the crazy dream love with another friend/classmate. I haven't seen this gal in at least a decade as I don't recall if she made it to the reunions or not. I'm FaceBook friends with her, so I "see" her life there, but that's really the only contact I have with her.

In my dream, this classmate joined me at a Creative Memories convention. I have no idea why as she's not a CM Consultant, but whatever. Maybe she should be?

At the convention center, there was a bank, like the banks you have at grocery stores. Just a small branch, though larger than what I usually see around here, with a small waiting area, a coin counting machine, and maybe four tellers behind a counter. So my classmate goes into the bank, and the bank promptly gets held up. My classmate was then kidnapped by the bank robber. I could see this happening from a window outside, so I snuck into the side door of the bank and told one of the tellers to pull the money trap which would set off a silent alarm. Why the tellers were oblivious to the hold-up/kidnapping is beyond me, but they were, and no, I have no idea why they hadn't already set off the alarm, but there you go.

The alarm locked the bank doors, so the robber couldn't get back in, though he tried. Why? I don't know. So he went out the back of the convention center with my classmate. I followed them, as the only person in the entire convention to even notice there was a problem. The bad guy got away, but I couldn't find my classmate. Finally I found her in a hole, like dug in the dirt. She couldn't get out, but she was waving a construction sign and that's how I found her.

I guess I needed to be the hero?

In the latest crazy dream, I was starting my new subbing job, but when I got to the school, while hanging out in the teacher's room before school, I decided that another teacher needed my help, so I went to her classroom instead. In the dream, this was a perfectly reasonable thing to do as there was an aide or something in "my" room. But then the regular teacher showed up at school, still pregnant, and was wondering just what in the heck I was doing. She even said something like "Well, I was positive you could handle this, but now I'm not so sure" as we walked from to her class. Her kids had been unsupervised for a couple of hours, and were diligently working away on their math, bless their hearts.

That one was a bit easier to decipher it's meaning.......

Couponing Is Paying Off

I've been using coupons this year, and I've been tracking my coupon savings. Bruce points out that this is NOT the only way I save money....I LOVE sales and I adore those pretty little "manager's special" tags at my local grocery store for things that are discontinued or nearing their date or whatever.

But I can only track coupons.....

So far, this year, I've saved $221.93.

It takes me about an hour per week to clip, file, and sort them. So, 13 weeks into the year, that makes $17.07 per hour I'm earning/saving!

Me like my coupons!

A Conundrum

I play Words with Friends on Facebook and my phone. I really enjoy the game, and I love that it's portable and I can play when I have a moment. And I love the puzzle of it.

My sister and I were playing for awhile, and I realized pretty quickly that she was using the app to find good moves and words. My nephew texted me and told me she was cheating, but I already knew that. My reaction was not what DN expected, to say the least. The conversation went like this:

DN: She's cheating
Me: She wouldn't be the first. Did she download the app?
DN: An app
Me: Well, so far, she's not coming up with anything too off the wall
DN: You should pretend to be mad at her.
Me: Um, ok......tell your mom I'm mad at her for cheating.
Me: And I saw you roll your eyes
DN: HOW?!
Me: It's a mom thing. ROFL!

He really was expecting me to be mad. But really, it's just a game, and I knew she was using the app because her game-play style changed. And I still beat her. I think anyway. It didn't really seem important.

Now I'm playing with another friend. Our first game, I whipped her. Without using an app or a website. So, our second game started, and about halfway through, it became *very* clear that she was using the Words With Friends app. This app essentially looks at the game board and finds the very best move possible, including where to put it. It's not just a dictionary or word finder. It basically plays the game.

Seriously, what is the point? So she won. But she didn't. Her phone/computer beat me.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have used a word finder website from time to time, that takes my letters and shows me words I can create with them. I still have to see if the words will fit/work on the scrabble board, however. I often will throw letters on the board in the hopes that "ro" is a word (it's not, btw) or whatever, until I find something that works. And I never pass up an opportunity to use a bonus tile. But isn't that the whole point of the game?

And I'm annoyed. For no good reason, really. I want to call her out. But, I suspect she believes that *I'm* using the app or a similar one. And I'm not. Because if I did, again, what is the point? My app would be playing her app.

I guess I should be flattered? That it takes an app to beat me? But it still bugs me.

Changes.....

There are changes afoot at my house this spring. I've been offered, and have accepted, a long-term subbing position teaching 3rd grade for a teacher who is having a baby this week. I'll start after Spring Break, April 2nd to be exact, and I'll teach at least until Memorial Day. The teacher is planning to be back for the last week of school, but we'll see what motherhood brings for her.

Apparently, the teacher had one long-term sub lined up, but she cancelled. The next sub needed at least 10 days off over the next 8 weeks, which the principal felt was simply too much instability and upheaval for the kids, so she called me and asked if I was interested. With a bit of trepidation, I said yes. The teacher and I have talked quite a bit this week and she has great confidence in me. I'm not as confident, but I'll do my best, and I can wing it with the best of them. There will be field trips and end-of-year testing in there, which will give me a bit of a break, so we'll see how it all goes.

I'll be at Alana's elementary school, and while I've never taught in this particular class, I have worked with the special ed kids from her class when I subbed special ed a few weeks ago.

I'm a little worried about the home front, honestly. Our family is structured around my being at home, or mostly at home. The older kids are quite used to mom picking them up from school every afternoon, and Alana has really never known me to be anything other than a SAHM. But, this is a great opportunity, and I can do a service for this teacher who needs someone she can count on to take "her kids." I understand and appreciate that sentiment. I'm fortunate to have a supportive husband whose job is somewhat flexible. He's already scheduled to take Alana to a couple of her orthodontist appointments that are during school hours and can't be rescheduled.

I think the hardest part will be not having any alone time, or at least not having as much as I'm used to. As it is now, if I need a break, I simply choose not to work on a given day. And much of my free time has just flown out the window. But, really, it's only for 8-9 weeks. I'll live and appreciate summer all the more, I think.

On a more practical level, how in the world do I get the laundry and grocery shopping done?! I'm going to have to go shopping on Saturday or Sunday, and I have to tell you, the thought of the grocery store on Saturday gives me hives! I may just turn into one of those crazy people who haunts the halls of Walmart at 2:00 in the morning! LOL!