What is so special about October 25?

Evidently, more than I realized...

October 25, 2008: I married my husband JR.

October 25, 2004: I went on my first date with JR.

October 25, 2003: I met my friend Tanya for the first time in Red Bank, New Jersey.  I also met Kevin Smith, his wife Jen, Jason Mewes, Brian O'Halloran, and several other ViewAskew peeps...

October 25, 2003: Also the day that JR was Man-of-Honor in his friends' wedding (L & D).

I decided to look up any other importance with the day online, and here is a sampling of what I found:

1400 Author Geoffrey Chaucer died in London.

1764 John Adams marries Abigail Smith.

1854 The Charge of the Light Brigade took place at Balaklava during the Crimean War.
 
1881 Pablo Ruiz Picasso was born.
 
1939 Nylon stockings go on sale in U.S. for first time.
 
1962 Author John Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature.
 
1971 Roy Disney dedicates Walt Disney World.
 
1982 - The first episode of "Newhart" aired on CBS.
 
1990 - The 200th episode of "Cheers" aired on NBC.
 
2001 Microsoft released the Windows XP operating system.
 
2006 - On the Opra Winfrey show, an interview with Madonna aired.

"Free" Time

The company for which I work has some pretty cool benefits for being such a small organization...I get to keep my airline miles (which makes vacations easier); When I am working in the office, I come in at 7:30am and leave at 4:30pm (I can pick back up tomorrow); if I need to leave for something, I have a no-questions-asked personal time off policy (with 10 days of PTO to use in 15 minutes increments); we have lunch-and-learn once a month during which we learn something useful, get a free lunch, and get to leave one hour early; and, my favorite (at least today) - cookouts once a month during the summer! We each brought in a side dish or dessert, the managers bought the main course (today was chicken), and we have a social hour (or two) on a Friday during the summer. Then, we all clean up and the president of the company tells us when we can go home - today it's 2:30pm! Two hours early!

Ah. Free time!

Wait. Is it "free?"



What am I going to do with those two hours? Well, first I am going to drive home. While I am leaving earlier in the afternoon than usual, it is Friday, and there will be people on the road. So, there's about 40-45 minutes. When I arrive home I'll decide to relax, but I'll see the dishes in the drying rack from last night's dinner. I'll put those away, wipe down the counters, wipe down the stove, sweep the floor, realize the rest of the floors need to be swept, remember that the tub needs to be cleaned, etc., etc., etc. until about 4:30pm. Okay - that's still about 90 minutes before I would usually be home. I'll sit down to read. Then I'll remember that I need to go to the library to pick up some book about some vampire and some girl and some werewolf... I'll head out to the library, hunt down the book, think of a few more I remember I want to read, check them out, and get back home by 6:30pm. Just as I would have anyway.

So, that time may not be "free," and I may not have been able to really relax, but I will have accomplished some things that will allow me to sleep in tomorrow!

Woo hoo!

Recurring Nightmares

When I was young I had a recurring nightmare...it lasted for many years, and occasionally it will pop up again. It never changes. I can never keep it going, I can never stop it before it ends, and I can never manipulate it in any way.

That is different than some other recurring dreams I have. I have been able to start a dream again the night after the initial sequence so I can see the outcome. I can change somethings in a dream when I have it a second time. I dream in color. I can read in my dreams. I can have different points of view in my dreams. Some people claim those things are not possible. I disagree.

My childhood recurring nightmare goes a little something like this:

My family is going camping. I am very young...only my parents and my middle sister and I are in the dream, so my brother and youngest sister were not yet born. We have the tent set up, a campfire ready to go, and fishing poles set out. My dad has a conversation with the troll who lives in the zip-up window in the tent. Yep. A troll...we live amicably with the troll. My dad reminds him that the rule is, "We do not bother you; you do not bother us." Mom is staying behind to organize things and get the campfire started so that when Dad, Teresa, and I get back from fishing we can cook up the catch.

When the three of us traipse back to the campsite, I notice something weird. Mom is picking up some bread, and she has a blank expression with glassy eyes. I ask, "What's wrong?" "Nothing, Dear. Everything is fine. Just fine," she replies while slowly putting the bread on a paper plate and reaching for the butter knife. I freak out when I realize that is no butter knife. That is the troll from the tent window! He has transformed himself into the butter knife and put Mom in a trance! I scream it at the top of my lungs, "That is not a knife Mommy! That is the troll! Don't touch it!" She replies, "Everything is fine Dear. Nothing to worry about," in a sing-songy manner. She reaches for the knife, and I WAKE UP!

Every time. That is the point at which I am jerked awake. I have tried a hundred times to see the rest of the dream, to change the outcome, to get rid of the troll... he haunts me, and I have no idea where that dream came from.

Things to know about me

Here are just some random things anybody reading this might need to know about me:

I was born in Akron, Ohio, on Friday, June 13, 1975.
I was raised in Mason Hall, Tennessee.
I now live in Woodridge, Illinois.
Since I was born, I have lived in 18 different residences.
I am finally in the home I want to have forever.
I graduated high school in 1993, exactly 20 years after my dad graduated (to the day).
I graduated college in 2000, exactly one month before I turned 25.
I have been in love many times, but before now I was always in love with being in love.
Now, I am in love with my husband.
I waited a very long time to find the perfect mate for me. Forever is serious, and I wanted to be sure.
I have no regrets. Ever. Every decision I have made was right the decision for me at the time I made it. Those decisions made me who I am today.
I am a planner. It's what I do. I make lists, I organize, I prioritize, I worry about details, and I often over-think things. I turned my passions and disorders into a career as a meeting planner.

I am very close, emotionally, to my family. I am very, very far away from them physically. I was the oddball who moved 8 hours away from them.
I have two phones, and neither is a business phone. One is my "personal" phone, and the other is my "Bat Phone." The Bat Phone is connected to my parents' cell phone plan, and all my family members are on the same network. It is much more cost-effective this way, and it means I can talk to at least one of them at least once a day. Being so far from home with 2 parents, 3 siblings, and 3 nieces is easier with the Bat Phone.

I always wanted to be a writer, but my neuroses make me a perfectionist who can never even start writing the stories in my head because I think I'll do it wrong. I am still unsure about this post, but I'll publish it anyway.

Random

Sometimes I have a lot to say, and other times I don't. A high school classmate with whom I am now connected on facebook wrote that she was thinking about starting a blog. I used that as my impetus to finally do. I have one friend who keeps his blog updated frequently, and I enjoy keeping up with his goings on in that way. Maybe others will feel that way about my blog.

I sometimes have a fear of releasing the thoughts trapped in my brain. That could be why I've been so reluctant to blog. I may as well get it all out there, though. I don't know how interesting the ramblings of a 35-year-old woman would be, but I don't know that I care...it's for me and that's okay.