Good Wednesday Morning to You!

I received a comment on one of my vacation posts the other day that really made me smile ... though that's not to say that all of the other comments that I receive usually don't make me smile as they do ... well, except for those pesky spam ones that I have to delete of course, those definitely don't make me smile but you know what I mean, right? I sure hope you do as I'd hate for you all to stop leaving comments as then I'd start to feel like I was talking to myself again and that would be bad, wouldn't it? Anyway, all babbling aside, the comment that I received was:

Yankee Magazine has left a new comment on your post "Venturing Out on Vacation, Part Eight: Moseying O...":

I am glad Yankee's article inspired you to take a foliage trip in New England. I really enjoyed reading about your adventures!

Heather
Communications Manager
Yankee Magazine

Now, any of you who've been around the blog a time or two have got to know how wicked awesome it is for me to receive a comment from a staff member of Yankee Magazine as it's THE magazine of all magazines when it comes to anything New England. My sainted grandfather who was about as New England as they come introduced me to Yankee Magazine when I was just a kid so to know that someone from Yankee had not only read a post of mine but had taken the time to comment ... well ... I just couldn't stop smiling! I'd have turned a cartwheel were it not physically impossible for me to even think about attempting that sort of maneuver!

Anyway, I was thinking about that comment and Yankee Magazine while editing more pictures from our vacation yesterday before having to go into work and it got me to thinking about dream jobs and what mine would be as honestly, even though I'm good at what I do and I really like the people I work with, being a 911 dispatcher was never the first thing to come to mind when asked what I wanted to be when I grew up! I didn't have to think about it long as I know that if I could pick any job anywhere I'd want to be a travel writer and photographer for Yankee. It would be so cool to be able to visit the places whose history fascinates me, take pictures to my heart's content, spend hours digging into research, and then share that with others and have someone pay me to do it. Kind of like what I do with this blog but definitely much, much better! Ah well, if I had it do over again ... I guess that's why they call them 'dream jobs', eh?

So what about you? What's your dream job? If you could pick the one thing to do with your life that would make you the happiest while providing you with a decent living, what would it be? And please don't say to write and take pictures for Yankee Magazine as I've already got more than enough people ahead of me in line for that one - dream or no dream!

Dreaming of You ...

A couple of my blog friends recently took a survey about dreams so I figured I'd take it because it was quick and easy and because I'm one of those people who believes that dreams hold quite a bit of significance in our lives. Yeah, yeah, it's a bit "New Age" but maybe Sylvia Browne is right about dreams and how they affect our lives - or she and I could be way off base and the only thing dreams are is a way for our minds to keep on blogging after we've gone to sleep!

Anyhow, lately I've been dreaming quite a bit about people that I don't normally dream of which then makes me think about them more in my waking life. Is there a connection? Does that mean that they're thinking of me, too? It would be nice to think so - at least in some cases and in others I sure hope not like with that dream I had the other night that was way too much like a scene out of Sweeney Todd! I wonder what on earth I ate before I went to bed that night? And no, it wasn't meat pies!

While doing all of this thinking about dreaming I remembered one of my favorite songs that I hadn't heard in quite a long time but used to listen to quite often called "Dreaming of You" by the beautiful Selena, the Mexican-American singer who was tragically killed by her fan club president on April 12th, 1995. She had an incredible voice and an incredible talent and this is an incredible song. Enjoy the music and then take the dream survey, too, if you'd like!

Of sleep and dreams

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Between my work schedule, an upcoming pleasant evening out with Paula, the girls, & Captain Jack Sparrow, and my all-consuming obsession with being able to get through "Free Bird" on Guitar Hero II I didn't have a lot of time to come up with what one might call a "really good post" for today. Hence I have resorted to a Blogthings Quiz to help fill in the gaps!

You Sometimes Don't Get Enough Sleep

You're often more tired than you'd like, and you're probably not getting enough quality sleep. Sleeping a little more could make you a lot more energetic and happy. Try having a bedtime, keep your bedroom cool, and only eat fruit before bed.

Do You Get Enough Sleep?

Somehow I don't think I needed an Internet Quiz to figure this one out but, like I said, was looking for some quick fill today!

I know for a fact that I don't get enough sleep but it's not necessarily from a lack of trying on my end. I just flat-out don't sleep well these days and am quite sure I wake up at least a dozen or more times during the night. Every great once in awhile I will wake up in the morning and think - wow! I slept pretty good! - but that doesn't seem to happen too often. More often than not I wake up in the morning and groan while glaring at the alarm clock and wondering how many more days it is until I can sleep in!

I could've sworn I heard or read somewhere that the older you get the less sleep you need but I have yet to see that work in actual life. Maybe I'm just not old enough to need less sleep yet? Is that something that doesn't really take effect until you're 50? Or 60? Or even 70?

It probably doesn't help that I have been having some really, really strange dreams lately - the kind of dreams where you wake up and think "whatever I ate before I went to bed, I gotta remember not to have it again!" Not that I can clearly remember them as the day goes by but that's probably for the best!

Oh well, perhaps tonight I'll have some swashbuckling dreams involving Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom (yay!)


Though, with my luck, they will more likely involve Davy Jones (eww!).

What about you? Anyone have any interesting dreams they want to share?

The Stuff Which Dreams Are Made Of

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I am feeling somewhat disoriented today in spite of the fact that I have had a very large cup of coffee to try to clear the cobwebs.

Have you ever woken up from a dream that has left you feeling somewhat dazed and confused and you just can't shake it? I think that is what's going on with me today and no doubt it will eventually clear but for now it's still messing with my mind.

For the record, I generally don't have what one might call "normal" dreams, meaning that they don't follow any sort of normal order - things always seem a bit skewed somehow for lack of a better way to put it. Sometimes my dreams remind me of the old Batman TV episodes where the camera was always turned at strange angles and people walked up the sides of buildings. Hmm, perhaps I dream in "comic book"? This dream, though, actually fell into the realm of normal, or normal for me maybe!

The dream was about someone that I haven't spoken to in a few years - someone who basically won't speak to me anymore due to circumstances that I won't get into here as a) I'd be typing until midnight tonight, b) it isn't really necessary to know the details, and c) I'd rather not dredge up that part of my past.

So, that said, I had this dream where I was out with one of my current co-workers and ran into this other person who apparently had finally decided that it was okay to talk to me and the heavens would not open up so that God could smote him down on the spot. The dream mostly consisted of catching up - the "so, how has your life been going?" kind of catching up - but I guess it threw me off because it just seemed so real. And that's probably what has me so messed up still - it seems like it really happened even though, in reality, I know it didn't.

Dreams are funny things as Sigmund Freud pointed out many times. When you want to dream about someone or something, you can't but when you least expect it - they pop into your nocturnal slumbers uninvited and then totally mess up your whole day! I think it might be the Native Americans who believe that you actually do travel in your dreams and visit places and people so that's why sometimes you wake up more tired than you were when you went to sleep to begin with. Maybe I was out visiting rather than getting some much-needed sleep? Hmm ...

I'm sure the dream meant nothing, other than that I still have some residual feelings for the person, but still ... anyone know a good dream interpreter??

What would you do if your numbers came up?

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We here in New England were finally treated to a picture-perfect Spring weekend after what seemed like a very long "winter of our discontent". Last Monday we were lucky if it was 40 degrees with tons of rain and the wind blowing like a banshee - this Monday it was a gorgeous 80+ degrees with blue skies and gentle breezes. Absolutely beautiful weather and definitely welcome!

Even though I had to work yesterday, I got to enjoy some of the beautiful weather afterwards when I drove up to my mother's neck of the woods to pick Amanda up after her fantastic weekend in Boston. Because it was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, I rolled the windows down, opened the sunroof, and took the scenic route up to Canterbury while driving at a leisurely pace listening to some of my favorite music and just enjoying the countryside.

While driving I let my mind wander and found myself contemplating life if I ever won the lottery. Now granted, I don't play the lottery that often but when I do buy the occasional ticket, I like to fantasize a bit about what I would do if I were to check my ticket the day after the drawing and realize that I was no longer going to have to wonder how long I could go without having to actually buy groceries! I'm sure it's something we all do from time to time because even though it's been said that money can't buy happiness, I think it would be fun to find that out first-hand!


After paying off what bills I have, first on my list would be a house but I'm not sure what kind of house or even where I would want that house to be. The one thing I know for sure is that it would have to have a front porch with comfortable rocking chairs and an assortment of wind-chimes. It would also have to have a kitchen with all of the modern amenities and preferably a live-in cook! Other than that, I am open to suggestions and, if money were no object, it could be quite fun to go house-hunting. As I drove along yesterday I looked at all sorts of houses and picked out things I did and didn't like about them trying to imagine the "perfect" house.

Next on my list would be providing for my family and friends the things that I have always wanted to be able to do but have not had the financial where-with-all to do more than dream about. I think that good fortune should be spread around and if I had enough money to pay off a friend's mortgage, send them on their dream vacation, buy them that bass boat they've been drooling over, or help them with their own business those are things that I would love to be able to do just to see the smiles on their faces and for no other reason whatsoever.

After that - I don't know. I think I'd keep my job as I like it in spite of the stress and frustration but you can dang well bet your bottom dollar that I wouldn't be working any more overtime! Oh, and I would definitely go on a vacation - maybe a cruise as I hear so many wonderful things about them or perhaps I'd really splurge and take a ride on the Orient Express.



But, of course, those things are all just dreams within a dream and nice to think about during a Sunday afternoon drive. Reality being what it is, I only managed to match ONE number on the recent lottery drawing. Guess I'll just have to settle for being beautiful rather than rich!

What about you? If you won the lottery, what would be the first thing you'd do? Other than do a happy dance, that is? Quit your job? Travel? Build that dream house? Send some to me?

"All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream." ~ Edgar Allen Poe

Speaking of dreams, I've been having some downright strange ones lately. Granted, I never have what one might call "normal" dreams to begin with - things always seem abstract and out of sync (rather like my MP3 player was earlier this evening!) but lately they've been even stranger than usual and I seem to wake up flat-out exhausted from all of the nocturnal adventures I've been having.

Of course I'm not smart enough to write these things down as soon as I wake up so I don't lose them completely and I can only remember bits and pieces here and there but I know that lately they seem to have an awful lot to do with dispatching. I'm thinking this probably translates out to the fact that I work too much and it's been extrememly busy in the Land of Commerical Ambulance Service the past week or so. When I go to bed and try to send crews on calls when I am not anywhere near either a radio console or computer then I know I'm in trouble! I actually have to wake up and tell myself that I am not at work, someone else is, and let it go.

This isn't the first job where I've done that sort of thing. I repaired ground-to-air radio communication systems in my sleep when I was in the Air Force, attempted to keep up with a very busy fast-food line in dreams when I briefly worked at Burger King, and sat up in the middle of the night trying to figure out where to plug in my headset on a non-existent console when I first started dispatching police in California.

I don't want to dream about work - I want to dream about relaxing vacations, puffy clouds floating overhead, or simply peaceful waves crashing on a shore so that I could actually wake up feeling rested and not like I'd just run back-to-back marathons while doing the New York Times crossword puzzle! And if I'm going to have action-packed dreams can't they at least take place on the deck of the Black Pearl while I exchange witty banter and smoldering looks with Captain Jack Sparrow? Can't they be something good that doesn't have anything to do with work or is that asking too much of my sub-conscious mind?

There's got to be a way to control these things, I'm just going to have to figure out how. Any thoughts? Suggestions? Ideas?