Whenever I have an interesting dream, wake up, and think I might want to use the content in my writing, I quickly write down whatever I can remember. The picture here shows an example of how I scribble on paper what happened, so I'll have the content. While I don't always use the content directly, sometimes what I might be trying to say to myself will give me ideas for my writing. For example, in the dream content referenced in this picture, I'm shopping with my kids, and we see some electronic toys, which actually weren't being made when my kids were kids. This dream just happened a few weeks ago, and the toys in my dream were not available for purchase over forty years ago. Perhaps the content about the store person telling us we couldn't buy those toys happened because the time frame was incorrect, or possibly I was trying to tell myself that I'm still young--or maybe that I'm getting old.

Last week, I had a dream about making plans to go Christmas shopping with one of my relatives. While standing near an outdoor Christmas tree, I started typing a message into my phone about what store I could meet at. Suddenly, I thought that one of my cats was waking me up, but I was still dreaming. Instead of a regular phone's touch screen, I was typing in letters via little buttons made of rubber. I kept on typing in the wrong letters. The small rubber push buttons were like the remote control for one of my air conditioners. My fingers actually felt cold. I finally really woke up. I think I was trying to tell myself that I was doing things wrong: it was too cold outside to be typing in cell-phone messages without wearing any gloves.

     In the last week, I've had two dreams about money. The dream last night was about creating a chart that listed the prices of my books for an upcoming author event. Unlike the prices on the chart that I normally use at my author events, the dream chart had imaginary prices listed for each book. The cheapest price was over eight hundred dollars for electronic download versions. Mayflower Dreams was priced at over a thousand dollars.
     In reality, I charge even less at author events than the prices that are listed online: http://www.drkarenpetit.com/purchase.html. The reason for last night's dream may have been the really unusual prices that are occasionally listed online. The picture in this blog post shows what was being charged for Banking on Dreams in September 2017: $997.09. The current prices listed today on amazon.com for Banking on Dreams range between $3.99 and $31.44 (plus shipping).
     Another reason for this dream may have been a different dream that I had last weekend. I was shopping with my kids when they were young, and we went to a place in the store where a layaway booth was located. The booth was in a tiny closet with an ancient cash register. I tried to buy a cell phone and asked my kids if I could pay for the phone by using the phone for the purchase. This dream was interesting because it showed my lack of money, as well as how my kids were helping me. It also showed a connection between my past (when items were paid for by layaway payments) and my present (when more technology is available).
     Having two money dreams within a week is interesting, especially since one showed things being expensive, and the other one showed items being purchased more cheaply via a layaway plan. 

Last night, I had a dream about a pink, long-haired, fluffy kitten. The kitten was only a few months old, very skinny, and in need of a home. Its fur was matted. I talked to several strangers about the cat and decided to bring the cat over to one of my sister's houses. We fed the cat some cat food and then tried to decide how to help the cat. Before we could decide what to do, I was awakened in my dream and woke up to face the reality of the youngest one of my current three cats. He jumped on my feet and was acting like he was jealous of the idea of a new cat. While I obviously don't have a picture of the cat from my dream, I do have a picture of the cat who jumped on my feet. This cat is a Flamepoint Siamese. In this picture, he looks like a short-haired copy of my dream cat. Yes, in a way, this Flamepoint Siamese cat is a dream cat. He's cute, is very lovable, has a great voice, and follows me around like a dog.

For years, I've had dreams about Benny's. Most of these dreams have been very positive ones, but I also had a nightmare.

In one of my dreams that happened a few years ago, I was Christmas shopping. I opened up the back door of my house, took one step, and found myself to be inside of the Benny's store on Park Avenue in Cranston, Rhode Island. The store had all of the presents that I wanted for my family and friends. It was one of my happiest shopping experiences ever!

In a more recent dream, I drove to Benny's. When I went inside, no one was there, and nothing was inside of the store. It was very dark and scary. This nightmare of mine happened after the Cranston store had closed.

The reality now is that all of the Benny's stores have closed. I pray that other local stores and vendors will have more positive realities, which will help my dreams--and other people's dreams--to be happy. 

Last night, I had a wonderfully positive dream: I drove my car around the inside of an office building. I went up and down stairs, around desks, avoided electrical cords, and actually had a lot of fun. All of my colleagues at work were really nice. I also had the freedom to drive without stop signs, speed limits, and dead ends. While there were streetlights, they were all green. Even with all of this freedom, though, I behaved myself. I slowed down when necessary and speeded up when some people wanted me to drive more quickly to help them with a project.