The stuff of dreams: My grandparents at the Bellagio

Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com

I had a dream last night, so I thought I'd share it. For a little background info, my maternal grandparents passed away more than a decade ago.

I was driving in Las Vegas, trying to find my hotel for a conference. There was a lot of construction, so getting around town was difficult. At one point, I made a right turn and ended up in the valet drive in front of The Bellagio hotel. A man, dressed to the nines and speaking with a foreign accent, stopped me.

"I'm sorry. I am just trying to find my hotel and I made a wrong turn," I told him. He looked down at me and raised his eyebrows.

"Well," he said in his haughty tone, "this is The Bellagio. Drive forward." He pointed in the general direction ahead of me.

For some reason, the drive was nearly impossible to navigate, as much of the drive turned into steps. Before I could get out of the drive, another man came over and handed me a bill with my name on it. The bill was for something like $146 for "sightseeing" in the valet drive. I got out of my car and went in to talk to someone about the bill.

As I entered, I saw my maternal grandparents sitting near a fountain on lounge chairs! They had not seen me.

"What are YOU doing here!?" I was so excited to see them, they both jumped when I startled them.

My Pappap (as I call him), looked at me with his trademark grin. It was the one he seemed to have permanently placed on his face. It was the he wore just before he would say, "Hey, Pal!" My grandmother smiled and said, "We're meeting the man who designed the White House!" She was excited as she added, "We're going to take a tour with him later!"

"In Washington!?" I exclaimed. "But, that's in DC and you are in Vegas."

"Yes, we're flying in his private jet!" She then asked, "What are YOU doing here?"

"I have a conference, but I made a wrong turn and now I have to pay a bill for driving through the valet parking," I said, as if all of this made perfect sense.

"Well, why don't you just stay here?" My grandmother asked.

(I am not sure what happened, but as often occurs in dreams, the next scene is a jump-cut to an elevator)

I am riding in an elevator, trying to find my hotel room at the Bellagio. Much like the construction, riding the elevators proves to be a difficult task. Suddenly, I am inside my grandparents' hotel room.

"I'm not supposed to be in here!" I try explaining to my Pappap. We were in the Penthouse Suite. "I am supposed to be on the second floor!"

I was trying to take in the scenery while also trying to figure out what I was going to do next when the dream came to an abrupt end - an upset stomach woke me from my sleep, but that is not a tale I wish to share.

Lesson Learned: No tea before bedtime

Last night, while at the hotel, I decided to make a cup of hot tea before hitting the bed. I thought a cup of tea with some milk, er non-dairy creamer, and some sugar would make a nice bedtime drink.

It was good, though the creamer was a bit lacking to say the least.

I will never do that again.

I don't know if it was the caffeine, the creamer, the long drive to the hotel, or a combination of all of it, but I had the craziest dream after I fell asleep following the drinking of the tea.

I won't go into too much detail because it would probably send most people running for the hills, even though it was only a dream, but let's just say that it was part real-life Grand Theft Auto (thanks to my son showing me the new GTA earlier in the day), part Stephen King (thanks to an audiobook I listened to on the way up), and part.. I don't even know what to call it.. It was bizarre to be the lead in a dream that I felt like I could not control.

It has been a long time since I dreamed something I couldn't control. Are you a dream-director? I can start a dream and then realize it is a dream. I don't wake from it, but rather change what is happening to better suit the outcome or the scene. It's a talent I picked up in college from a friend and then perfected after Shan and I were married. Shan's Grandmother (Mamaw) taught her how to "change the channel" when a dream go to be too bad. She simply reaches up to her nose and twists it like an old-fashioned TV. While I don't do that, I have learned how to change aspects of the dreams I have.

Unless I drink tea before bed, it seems. Until I woke up, I wasn't sure it really was a dream...

"You've had enough tea for today..." Woody to Buzz in Toy Story.

Even in dreams, @taylorswift13 is a great person

I had a dream my 9yr old got to meet Taylor Swift before a concert. We were in the parking lot sitting in the car.  Emily had got out to take pictures of the arena or something.  Taylor was walking the lot, shaking hands, talking, giving autographs, hugging fans, etc.  She was wearing some kind of plain t-shirt dress thing - nothing fancy or anything, just 'hang-out' clothes. I watched as she came up behind Emily and stood without saying a word, to surprise her. When Em turned around, she was awestruck and couldn't speak.  When Taylor reached out to hug her, Emily started crying and pulled away to get back to the car.

"Emily, that is Taylor Swift, honey! You're one of her biggest fans," I said, trying to calm her down.  Taylor knelt down beside the car and talked to Emily as if they had been friends for years.  She asked what Emily's favorite song was, what other kinds of music did she like, where did we live, and on for what seemed like 30 minutes in the dream.  Once Em was calmed down, Taylor went on to meet and greet other fans.

As often happens in dreams, time suddenly fades forward.  Now, it is just moments before they start letting fans into the arena.  Taylor comes into the parking lot, heads straight for our car, and calls out to Emily.

"Hey, girl, do you see this dress?" She was wearing a big, red flowing dress.  She twirled around once and it flitted and furled around her ankles.  She was genuinely excited, a big smile on her face that was both a happy grin and a look of disbelief - the same we often get when we wake up on Christmas morning to find we actually got the "ONE THING" we really, really wanted. 

"It's the one from the video! Can you believe it!?" Taylor said, twirling around again. Evidently, she had not been expecting to wear it or something.  Emily jumped out of the car, eyes as wide as half dollars and wearing a smile that stretched the width of her face. 

"I love it!" She yelled as she ran to Taylor and they hugged.  Suddenly, Taylor pulled a guitar out (from who knows where, it was a dream after all), signed it and handed it to Emily.  They hugged again and Taylor ran off to get ready for the show.  As Emily turned back to show me the guitar, I woke up.

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I don't normally put my dreams on here, mainly because they tend to very, very wild or weird (which actually might be a reason *to* put them on here).  But, I thought this one was worth sharing.  It's not often that my dreams focus on my little girl.  And in this case, it even starred one of her heroes, who turned out be just as amazing in dreams as she is in real life (from what I've seen, haven't met her yet in person).