The strangest dream: the incredible, growing house

I had the strangest dream the other night:

For some reason, David and I had been given a huge, mansion-like house. It had a ground floor, three floors of bedrooms, and then an attic.

In the dream, Cassie, David and I set ourselves up on the third floor of bedrooms, lovely, huge rooms with big windows and lots of sunlight and beautiful antique furniture.

Immediately Cassie came to me and asked if her friend Holly could move in. Holly is a single mom with two kids and one on the way.

Dream David and I said, "Of course! Let's give her the second floor, which should be enough room for her and the kids." So we did. When she moved in, she found that the entire floor had already been outfitted with a crib and toys and everything a single mom with three kids could need.

As the dream progressed, more and more people began to move into the house: homeless people who needed a helping hand and a job. Strangers who were otherwise alone in life. Kids with problems. Everyone worked together to find a place for people to sleep and for ways to make sure everyone was fed and that all of the chores got done. People who had their own rooms offered to share rooms so more people could come and live in the house.

As we explored the house more, we found that the attic was filled to the rafters with board games of all sorts, and that whoever had owned the house before us had specifically written that we were to let anyone who wanted to play the games at any time. Which, of course, we did.

The weird thing is that while more and more people moved into the house, the house just got bigger and bigger - and nicer and nicer. The downstairs had a state of the art kitchen and a living/dining room straight out of Architecural Digest. The furniture was beautiful, the home spotless.

And it continued to get bigger and bigger and the people continued to come. Oddly, the more people who came, the less David, me and Cassie appeared in the dream.

And then we got a second house.

This house was smaller, and on the other side of town (ironically, it was called The Pittsford House; for some weird reason I remember that.). It was not as nice as the other house; it was decorated all in shag carpeting and bright red and blue colors, and although it looked huge from the outside, inside it was very shabby, dark and small.

One girl moved in there, and she complained about the way it looked, the way it was decorated. She said she didn't care if it was free or that she would have the entire house to herself. She wanted us to completely redecorate it. So she moved back to the big house and demanded her own room.

Four homeless men agreed to move in. They were so happy that they didn't have to sleep on the streets that they didn't care about the shag carpeting. Over time, they tore out the carpeting and cleaned the house ... and like the big house, it grew.

And then I woke up.

I've been thinking about the dream for two days now. The irony is that for much of the last decade, if it was up to me, my house would be open 24/7 to people. But David is a much more private person. He works hard and home is where he rests, so he's not much for company. Over the last few years, I've taken on his "recluse" mindset and spend much time alone. And happily alone, I might add.

But the dream has been bugging me. The more we gave, the more we got. The less we had, the farther it stretched. The more who were helped, the more they helped others.

There's a message in there, I think. What does it mean in practicality? ... Perhaps I've just dreamt the next "Christmas Carol"?

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Another day at the Funny Farm

It's another Monday at the Funny Farm, but things don't feel so funny today.

I'm at one of those writing crossroads, where I'm feeling like I've spent the past couple of years working hard but with nothing to show for it.

It always happens when I see writers that I've met at conferences or in writing groups, back when we were all starry eyed dreamers, and they're doing book signings and on faculty at conferences; I'm here with my brilliant book ideas and nothing to show for them except the notes Bandit just shredded.

Where did I go wrong? Have I zigged when I should have zagged? Taken jobs that were safe when I was supposed to venture out alone into the unknown? Spent too much time playing glow ball when I should have been pounding the keyboard? Or am I exactly where God wants me to be?

Who knows. Oh well, I'll just throw myself a little pity party, have a cup of tea, and get back to work. Bandit has some blogging to do.

Visit the Great Chicken Adventure blog and the It's A Dog's Life blog. Don't forget to follow me on Twitter!

Meeting Sarah Palin in Rochester

Over on the "It's A Dog's Life" blog, Bandit gave his recap of our adventure yesterday meeting Sarah Palin. But since he didn't get to actually meet her, I thought I'd share what happened when we went back.

To recap: Earlier this week, my stepsister (and friend) Rene asked if I wanted to go with her to see Sarah Palin. At first, I thought we were going to hear her speak or something, so I said, Sure. Then I realized it was a book signing; Rene said we'd have to get there early, like maybe 7 AM.

OK, those of you who know me know that 7 AM is pretty early for me. And waiting in line to meet anyone? I don't do that kind of thing. But I've been ready for some adventure in my life, so I agreed.

As the week went on, it became clear that 7 AM was going to be much too late to get a good spot in line. So got there at 3:30 AM, Bandit in tow.

You can read about that on the dog blog. Here's what happened during round #2:

We met up with the people we were next to in line all morning, and had ourselves a rip roaring fun time. There were a handful of protesters - and frankly, they were an insult to protesters. They got there late, and their ranks were few. Maybe 10. At one point, one of them said to a news reporter, "If you want to do a story come back in a little while. We'll have more people."

Seriously? We'd been there since 3:30 AM - and some people since 4:30 PM the day before! - and they couldn't muster up a dozen protesters by 6:00 PM? Let's face it; they were just college-aged punks looking for something to do before the bars opened.

Anyway, a lot of people in line had been talking about not just their love of Sarah Palin, but the fact that she's one of the few (read: only) people in politics at that level who represents their views. So as much as the crowd was there to support her, they were also there to send a message: there are a lot more of us like Sarah Palin than the media reports.

We only got to see her for a few seconds, but in that time she asked our names, looked us in the eyes and shook our hands. I didn't feel like she was there to just sign books, but to say, "Hey, I get it. We're in this together."

Like everyone else agreed, the moment was a bit of a blur.

When my turn came, I said it was an honor to meet her, and then just as I walked away, I turned back and said, "It's an honor to meet the future President of the United States." She smiled and said, "Bless YOU!"

But what wasn't a blur? The people who stood in line for hours, the shared camaraderie, the realization that no, we are not crazy and we're not alone. We Palin supporters are educated, reasoned, patient, giving and community-oriented.

If only the media took time to get to know us. Sigh.

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H1N1 hits the Brokaw Funny Farm

Cassie came over yesterday after going to the dr: she has the flu, and likely the H1N1.

I had the flu a month ago, and despite a round of antibiotics afterwards for a terrible cough, I'm still hacking like a crazy woman. I haven't been back to the dr. I figured it'll just go away. But Cassie has been telling me I need to go make sure I don't have something else I'm passing around.

The cough has been worse the past few days; it's exhausting. I'm taking naps and my eyes hurt and my chest is sore from all of the coughing. Then I had a little fever yesterday afternoon. So I guess it's time to see the dr.

The problem: Scout and I are supposed to go see Timmy at school today for our weekly reading session. When I called to make my dr. appointment I mentioned that to the nurse and she said it was definitely not a good idea to go to the school until the doctor could see me. She said H1N1 is contagious - and Cassie had been here all day. We don't know if I have something causing the cough, and she also added that it would not be a great idea for me to pick something up while I was school and bring it home. Ooo, good thought.

Yeesh, I'd hate to be the one who brought swine flu to the elementary school.

Pam and her dog Noel will take over for us today. Poor Timmy. There wasn't any school last week on our day so we didn't see him. I hope he's not too disappointed! He'll probably be thrilled, since Noel is an experienced therapy dog and knows how to lie down while he reads! He'll probably be disappointed when we come back!

So, can you pass the flu virus by petting a dog? Scout seemed to understand to stay away while Cassie was sick. But Bandit was all over Cassie yesterday; can he then carry the virus on his fur and pass it to the next person who pets him?

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The dangers of letting Border Collies blog

Most of you know that I walk a fine line between sane and crazy, so it was probably not surprise to see that I've started to let Scout and Bandit "blog" on the Dogvotional blog.

For those faithful readers who have followed the dogvotionals over the years, you'll find that being able to get inside the dogs' heads allows me to let loose a little bit, and add an amusing (I hope) perspective on life and faith. The danger, of course, is that I'm never sure what they're going to say. So far they haven't let out any family secrets.

You can read the two latest dogvotional entries, one from Scout and one from Bandit:

Scout and Bandit's Guide to Life: Don't be a poopy mouth

Scout and Bandit's Guide To Life: You're so special

You can also follow along with Scout's adventures in pet therapy:

A message from Scout (before that day's reading session)

Scout shares about today's reading dog session (post session)

Bandit chimes in (about Scout's session)

And just to make things interesting, I let Bandit do the chicken update last week on the Chicken Adventure blog:

Bandit does the chicken update

I know. I need to get out more often.

Visit the Great Chicken Adventure blog and the It's A Dog's Life blog. Don't forget to follow me on Twitter!