Not the "it's autumn and i forgot to go to class" dream, no

I had a hard time waking this morning. The buzzer alarm woke me from a dream when i had gotten to the high stress part of it. I'd joined the Army and the first night was bunking up all crowded in some second story apartment. The dream seems to begin as i wake up and realize that i had been bunked with three men (who i know will be my training buddies). I wake much earlier than needed and wander the house, finding a great deal of women bunked in another room and a few up, including my retired colleague. I'm a little grumpy, not surprised, but head back to my room where one of the guys is struggling to make the clock radio on my phone turn off. But i don't have a clock radio: the rooms are furnished with previous person's stuff and we realize the bedside table encloses an old tube glowing radio which is part of some clock alarm and that's what's awakened my future buddy.

At this point, my attention is drawn to stuff, and i begin looking at stuff -- broken boxes made of carved heart-shaped amethyst, a set of vintage glasses in red glass, some thing else with red glass -- as an antique vendor appears, i realize i need to get rid of my stuff at my apartment, and all my attention goes to that. My mother and sister somehow appear. More dealing with stuff.

At the end of the dream day i realize i have been AWOL, simply distracted away from the first day of bootcamp, and i have no excuse, and what trouble have i gotten myself into, and OH MY GOD I JOINED THE ARMY AND NOT THE NAVY MY FAMILY WILL KILL ME.

(Sorry Army folks: my family's service has been Navy in the past two generations.)

--==∞==--

It seems i slept through the chanting coming on, a stack of text messages from Google calendar to remind me of a 6 am meeting that has actually not occurred for a while, and i was abruptly awakened by the alarm that indicates it's time to put on the kettle (and optionally feed the cats). Christine went off to take care of cats and kettle, and i sat and focussed on my breath.

(no subject)

I was having a sort of low key relaxing work day and had taken off a little early. I returned to my lap top to find an email from the head-of-Project-honcho that took my insecurities (our team's work will be blamed if there are things that go wrong) and gave them flesh. Well, pixels and characters. I hope i responded appropriately.

Before that, i had had some stress-relieving tears while Christine played her mandolin, but now i'm back to stressed. It's a different stress, a more indignant stress.

--==∞==--

I also had some counterparts in the Ohio office tell me how much they appreciated working with me.

I just wish they had political power in the organization.