White Lightning Axiom: Redux

Tuesday morning, I had a very strange, yet enjoyable dream. I was in a church. It reminded me of the church that is in my Hero Dad's home town. Herman Minnesota, somewhere in the frozen tundra near North Dakota. I was sitting near the front on the left hand side. I was apparently praying and asking for absolution when a ray of sunshine hit me. It felt good right to the inside. It was the good that made you feel no pain and all warm fuzzy. It was the second or third time that I actually recall 'FEELING' something in a dream. Later on, there was a procession of bishops and cardinals. Some blue balloons were let go to the left of me and I watched as they sailed to the cathedral ceiling. Then I look to my left and see a black man with a really big afro. We both look down at the pew in front of us and comment on the haircut of the young black boy. It was a flat top and I mentioned that I used to have a mullet when I was a kid. Then, the black woman to the left of the boy commented that the man with the afro did too. For some reason, this all was a normal conversation for me. I look up at the balloons and think about it for a second. I comment that they will end up floating back down eventually. Then I wake up. I don't really understand most of this, but It still amazes me when I have physical sensations in my dreams. I look around when I wake up. It is light out since I decided to stay home again. I was still having my tremors and had decided that more sleep/rest was in order. I look up to the alarm clock on the headboard to see how long I had been out, but the display was blank. I look to the clock on the microwave we keep in the room for heating milk, same thing. I figure that the plug that powers the oven must have been yanked by the kids and get out of bed to look at the clock near the master bathroom. Blank. Ok, it is raining out so that leads me to believe that we are having the typical winter-rain-transformer-sinking-power-outage problem. I call the automated PECO emergency number and leave a request to have power restored to the Manor within the next 4 days. Good computer answering service. It asked for my phone number and 16 digit account number at least 3 times in order to throw me off. I'm on to its game and have the numbers memorized. No putting me into voicemail purgatory. Since there is nothing I can do now, I shower off and get dressed. No power == no phones, hairdryer or razor. Well, I could have shaved since the razor is cordless, but it's dark so I would do a hack job anyways. Head off to work and get there by 1145. I speak briefly to J*, C* and have an email/AIM chat with the boss lady. She apparently left a message with Joyce to see where/how I was. Yikes. I let her know that I am better than yesterday but not as good as I hope to be the next day. Then she drops a bomb on me and asks to meet me for lunch on Thursday. Ok, sure. We had a meeting not more than a month or two ago. I immediately fear for my job. The Wife, ever so rational, expands on my set of conclusions later and adds the possibility that she may want to give me a year end bonus check. Bonus? Ummm, yeah. We have not had the surplus cash in the last 3-4 years to even think of that sort of thing. The AR has been much better this year, so it is a possibility. I guess I need to start thinking that the glass is half full again. Flash forward to Tuesday evening. The tremors are over and all that is left is the dull ache from excessive muscle contractions over the last two days. After we went on the usual S&R mission, I spent a bit of time laying out the cured beef to be dried. Just lay it out on the filter and slap the other filter on top. Attach to box fan and let it rip. We will see how this all works out, but the smell was enough to make me want to dig into the raw strips of beef right off the bat. MMMMM, raw meat. I feel the carnivore rising within me. I resist the urge and instruct the hounds that they may NOT even go near the fan. I make sure to give them plenty of treats before I lock them up for the night. I am looking forward to my meaty-beefy treats tomorrow night. I wake at 0200 for no good reason, other than the two bottles of caffeinated soda I drank before going to bed. Shame on me. I immediately went over the dream my wonderful REM sleep had produced and promised to record it for posterity or hilarity. Well, since I'm not writing about it, I guess I forgot it. Damn. Then the klaxons of the emergency parenthood alert system ring out at 0400. Jacob is SCREAMING his head off. Not his usual complaint, but the wails of pain and anguish. Joyce runs off to the master bath in preparation for what could be a long term engagement and I head off to the twins room. The odor does not hit me right away. I reach into Jacob's crib and feel the semi-warm and lumpy texture of vomit. Oh, great. Not good. He does this every so often when he has a bad cold. This was different because he was still apparently in some discomfort. I pull him out and the wife and I strip him down and some untainted clothing on him. He is groggy and definitely upset. All the while, Alexis is voicing her concern for Jacob. I take her and let her sleep in the mile-wide water bed. The Mrs puts Jacob on the other side with her. Within minutes, the Mother-Son team is running off to the bathroom again for a repeat performance of 'The Stomach Virus That Wouldn't Quit'. We then stripped him down again, gave him a bath (which was greatly unappreciated) and dressed him again. I went back to the Master Suite and Mommy put him on the much more stable futon so she could hold him without having to worry about the tidal influences of the water bed. I doze off till 0630 with Alexis at my side. I then slowly creep out of bed and let the barking hounds out. Check the jerky, still moist. Check the wood stove, still warm with embers. Check the Mrs and Jacob, still snoozing on the futon. Jake was wrapped up like a little papoose bye his mommy's side. It was hard to break them up, but Mommy needs to go to work. I slowly brought the Concerned Mother to coherence and we proceeded to get prepped for the day. Alexis behaved and did not resist getting changed. We eventually had to wake Jacob who pretty much did not move or even open his eyes till I carried him downstairs to the kitchen. Poor guy, he needs a day off from work. Oh, wait, that's my gripe. I leave the ailing family and head off to work. Later, the Mrs calls me to let me know that he perked up when he got to the Child Detainment and ReEducation Center. Good to hear. The only other thing worth crying about today is that some nice lady cut me off in front of the American Baptist Coalition HQ here in KOP. It really angered me that she would take such a risk instead of staying in the lane she needed to be in the first place. I laid on my puny SuperSaturn horn to let her know my contempt for her driving manners. It didn't seem to phase her at all - apparently she was in a hurry and performs this action quite frequently. Like I do ... sometimes. Eyes on your own plate, Mr Recovering Bad Driver.

# posted by mdmhvonpa @ 8:27 AM