Cold

Cold seems to be the defining word for me right now. I am fighting one. I am one. I feel one.  So how does one fight against being cold, having a cold, and feeling cold. Well I thought I knew the answer to all of those questions but given that I have been trying practically all winter to accomplish the opposite of cold on all accounts and have come up unsuccessful, I’ve decided to rethink my strategy for change. 

As far as fighting against having a cold, I’m pretty much tapped out. After having mono last semester I think it is safe to say that my immune system is open for attack by one and all. I have had a cold every single week for as long as I can remember. I’d like to take the famous words of Miss Megin Williams, “It was like a 24hr virus that lasted like a week” and extend it to a virus that lasted a season. I am now a pharmacy at school, having everything from Tylenol Cold and Sinus to Alkaseltzer Plus to multivitamins to nasal sprays. You name it, I’ve used it. I probably have an immunity to all of those things. Story of my life…the things that should work don’t and the things that hurt me always work. So any new remedies I should try, please let me know.

As for feeling cold, I’ve got blankets. Lots and lots of blankets. And sweatshirts. But I still feel cold. My house doesn’t help because its on a lake and its like in the middle of a wind tunnel. And my dorm room is usually ok except that my roommate likes to open the bathroom window and sadly forgets to shut it. I shiver a lot no matter where I am. I need to eat more. Of course that would require me to have an appetite which lately I just don’t have. I’m beginning to feel like my friend Emily B. Seriously, lately I’ve been a sorry excuse for a NEr. There is a blizzard outside right now and normally I’d be stoked…instead I’m annoyed.

As for being cold, well I’m not sure what to do about that. Forgive me if it comes your way. I’ll try and keep my own wind to a minimum. And if I come across to be an ice-princess…well…remember that song Cold as Ice….yeah…that would be me right now….its ok, I’ll warm up someday…hope in the face of the storm…mine just happens to be an ice storm….I start riding around in a sleigh pulled by white reindeer and driven by a small dwarf, then you can get concerned.

Dreams

Fairly recently, I posted a response on the GCTS website for my theology class on the issue of dreams. I think after reading that I have considered more deeply the impact of dreams and the use of dreams. If we look at dreams in the Scriptures, they are used as warnings or prophecies or lessons. It is clear that God used dreams to communicate to the people, and not always through His people. So what does that mean for us? Does it mean anything? Are dreams just as Freud said, some expression of the subconscious? Or are they memories pieced together, sometimes in logical or illogical ways? I consider all these things as I battle my own dreamscapes.

Can you remember your dreams? Are they ever so vivid that you can remember every detail, every emotion, every thought? Have you ever woken up in the middle of the emotion you were experiencing in that dream? Do you ever have to seriously think and figure out whether or not what you dreamed was reality or not? I’m sure most people have been there at least one time in their life. I myself have always been a detailed dreamer, I have quite the imagination. Shame I didn’t write more of them down, I probably could have had an interesting book by now.

So what do dreams mean, if anything? I know that there have been hundreds of books written on the topic with people trying to find explanations for why they dream the things they do. Most of it I would imagine is absolute nonsense. I suppose a better question is how to make the dreams stop. Lately I feel like I’m living in two realities, like Thomas Hunter in Ted Dekker’s Circle Trilogy. When I’m awake I’m in one reality, and when I’m asleep I enter another confusing reality. The problem is that when I wake up I’m left with all of the concerns and thoughts and emotions from the dream. As a psychology person, this is driving me crazy…no pun intended. Thoughts? Ideas?

Pooperbowl

That was hands down the worst game I have ever seen. Both teams didn’t exactly play great but mostly I am referring to my beloved Patriots. It was clear during the first quarter that one team had come to play football and the other team (my Patriots) had not. The offensive line just couldn’t do their job and Tom Brady got creamed. I’m hoping that all the sacks were the explanation for why he suddenly forgot his passing game. But seeing as that started early in the game, that probably wasn’t the case. The defensive line did ok throughout the game except at the end when it mattered the most. And don’t even get me started on the number of penalties…actually the Giants got a few too. But some of those calls were absurd! Ok I’m done ranting about how crappy we played. Bottom-line, that was the most embarassing game I’ve seen played in a very very long time. And as for the Giants, well done on capitalizing on our crappy playing job. Eli, great job!

Bill…watch your bp.