Tragedy and Injustice

I’m in a motel. I look out my window, I see a plane about to crash into a hotel/house next door. I’m on the phone with Hope? Or someone else? And I freak out over the phone. “Have you SEEN this? You will see this on the news in one second.”

I gather with the other motel people, after just staring out my window for a long time, trying to guess if we have to evacuate or if we’re okay where we are. I ask people about it, ask if we can stay, etc. I’m think, I should move my car. I see it in the middle of the parking lot alone, so I go move it to the other end of the parking lot, away from the crash.

Then I’m at Aunt Elaine’s or maybe in the hotel with Aunt Elaine and extended family. There are other people there, maybe relatives from Uncle Mark’s side? They walk in the door, and I see a baby who's soooo cute. I ask to hold her. But then I look down and see she has an extra leg. I’m so so sad for this baby--I realize then that her parents don’t take good care of her. If they did, they would’ve removed this extra leg by now. So I hold this baby (although she's more like a 9-month or year-old baby) the whole time these relatives are over, cuz I want to make sure the baby feels loved.

Later … or earlier. I’m at a McDonald’s in the hotel and I order a hamburger happy meal. I feel like the guy kinda judges me for getting a happy meal but he puts the order in anyway. I wait a little bit, then the guy puts a bowl of soup (it’s like, a really good-looking bowl of soup. Not something McDonalds would do. It’s like a cheesy, thick something that looked really good, in a clay bowl) and a salad on the tray. I say, umm that looks good but I ordered a happy meal. The guy says, I’m sorry … but he doesn’t correct it right away. He says, we have to wait on these people in line now. If you go to the end of the line you can place your order again. I’m like THAT’S CRAP--it’s your fault you messed it up, why should I have to go to the end of the line? Then I see Melody, in line for McDonald’s? Or maybe in line for another restaurant? Or maybe just in the food court area at the hotel? I think YAY I haven’t seen Mel for awhile, and now I have a great outrageous story to tell her. I say, “Mel, I just experienced an INJUSTICE. You need to hear my story!” She was on her way to some important conference or meeting or something, but she wanted to hear this story. So we walked to another section of the hotel, toward her meeting, and as we walked I told her the McDonald’s story. And she had her great Melody reaction: "That IS an injustice. They can’t get away with that!!"

Then she has to go, I say bye, I look at this other room where people are meeting. (It was more like a retreat center than a hotel now. It’s cozy and cute with old couches, like in a cabin.) I notice that it’s Giles, Deb, Karin, and like eight Spanish kids. I immediately hug Giles, Deb, and Karin, and I then I remember they were going to be there for only a day. “I’m like oh right, I’m sad you’re only here for a day, but I’m glad I got to see you.” And then I meet some of the Spanish kids.

From the Vault

Recently, when sifting through some old yahoo and CTI e-mails, I discovered some old dreams—perfectly preserved in IM form. I edited the first one, but left the others exactly how I found them.

This one's recentish:
I dreamed my Uncle Rich was in Fleetwood Mac—I think he played bass or something. I came to watch a show (in some kind of cute all-brick venue), and there was a q&a session in between sets. I wanted to appear smart, of course, and was trying to prepare myself for the trivia. Uncle Rich made a joke about some other relatives—my other aunt and uncle: "They must be speaking Bruce and Peggy language." The lead singer in Fleetwood Mac (sadly, not Stevie Nicks, just some dude) was all, "Ah!Haha!Ha!" and I was all, "Yeah, hahaha!" Apparently the band got it because they were tight with my relatives, but no one else in the audience got it. I of course got it because I'm in the family, so I felt cool that I knew Fleetwood Mac's inside joke.

Later, same dream, I was escaping from a tornado on a bus my brother was driving. (Pretty classic running-from-tornado dream scenario.)

This one is *old,* like circa 2002, I think.
JillKMeier: i was kidnapped by aliens
BeltlessMo: go go
BeltlessMo: abducted
JillKMeier: also, the ferret had baby ferrets
JillKMeier: and i wanted to kill them all
JillKMeier: it was like, i was abducted before, like another time
JillKMeier: and i was at this party with my mom and friends i guess
JillKMeier: and they came back, and somehow they'd catch you
JillKMeier: i don't know exactly how, but they'd get you to walk in their
spaceship
JillKMeier: and i remember someone saying something from a window, and I walked in, thinking it was someone who wanted to talk in another room
JillKMeier: and then i walk in and, CRAP. I did it again, i'm in the
spaceship
BeltlessMo: haha
JillKMeier: and i look over and there are three girls with duct tape over their mouths, tied up
JillKMeier: and i'm like crap i'm so MAD at myself
JillKMeier: but the aliens were like, kinda nice
JillKMeier: they're like, go and say your goodbyes and have fun for one last night
JillKMeier: and then we'll capture you
JillKMeier: and I was like ok. cuz somehow there was no way i could get out of it
JillKMeier: and I remember driving with my mom, going I"m SO stupid
JillKMeier: and she's like it's ok, it'll be over soon
BeltlessMo: haha
JillKMeier: and in another part of my dream there were little baby ferrets in this paper bag, and val and krista were looking at them in val's room
JillKMeier: and i'm like EW get rid of those
JillKMeier: and there were so many, and they were so little, almost like little bugs
JillKMeier: and then phil devol, my church's children's pastor, was there
JillKMeier: and even val was like we need to get rid of these cuz there's so many, but i don't want to hurt them
JillKMeier: and so phil is like, hey wait a minute. have we considered all the options
JillKMeier: we can chemically poison them, and then we won't have to shed blood
BeltlessMo: haha
BeltlessMo: that's riDIC
JillKMeier: i KNOW
BeltlessMo: you are so entertaining

This one's probably from around the same time, 2002, 2003? Note: this was *before* half of CTI was torn down and replaced by an Aldi.
JillKMeier: the night we gained an hour of sleep, i got like nine hours, so i kept waking up and going back to sleep. so i had this dream ... the whole thing took place in aldi
JillKMeier: all my old college friends kept appearing, so i wanted to stop and talk JillKMeier: so i did. but all the time i was shopping. but i was a little concerned cuz i didn't have a bag with me. and no cart
JillKMeier: cuz ya know, in aldis you have to pay for those. so i'm walkin around with three limes and a loaf of bread
comperegrino: three limes and a loaf of bread?
JillKMeier: anyway one of my college friends, jason bentsen, was like hey now i'm in the music business, and i promote concerts. did you know aldis has a coffee house now?
JillKMeier: i'm like wow, weird. so i went to check it out
JillKMeier: and it's rebecca st. james's brother and his band. at the aldi coffeehouse. and i'm like hm. weird. but a step up for aldi
JillKMeier: so all this time i'm still shopping. i go back and try to get more stuff
JillKMeier: and am talking to my college friends, who keep popping up
JillKMeier: then i go back to the coffeehouse, and who's playing this time?
JillKMeier: Led Zeppelin
comperegrino: in Aldi.
JillKMeier: they were all wearing red outfits. i'm like this is weird they're playing at aldi too. then i think i left

Another.
JillKMeier: i dreamed two of my youth group girls wanted to kill me
BeltlessMo: whoa
JillKMeier: cuz they were worshipping the devil and it told them it was wrong
JillKMeier: so they had knives. it was those two girls and some other random high schooler. in this classroom at school
JillKMeier: and i was all scared, but Clay came in and punched the guy and called the cops to take away the girls
JillKMeier: and i was crying and he hugged me
BeltlessMo: whoa
JillKMeier: he's like wow. i'm yur subconscious hero
JillKMeier: i'm like yeah, thanks man

The Freddy Garcia Dream

So I guess I'm running away from Freddy Garcia, who's chasing me in my home church. I'm trying to get out, but Freddy plastic wraps the church door so I'm stuck inside. And then, I was wrapped in plastic, and my legs were bound. I wrestle free, and somehow break through the plastic/door to get out. I run to Kari's, who lives across the block, for help. I expect to find Kari or Patsy, her mom, there, but instead, Penny Kellogg's there. (Penny Kellogg=random Newark woman.) I say, "This will sound weird, but if a big pitcher comes looking for me, don't tell him where I'm at."

Then I tried to reconcile with Freddy later.