on the morning of our six-month anniversary

"I had a bad dream."

"What happened?"

"We were walking on a pier, somewhere in Washington State, I think. It started in this glass building and the pier went way out into the deep deep water. And it didn't have railings. I stopped to do something on my phone while you and the others went ahead. And then suddenly I felt this shaking and rumbling sound, and these huge dark blue waves were getting choppier and choppier on both sides, and getting really big. I called to you but couldn't see you. Other people started freaking out. This lady fell to her knees sobbing and this Pittsburgh Steelers player (in uniform, helmet and all) just sat down, right there, he was so scared. I turned and started running as fast as I could back to the glass building, and the pier started moving. Right as I was about to get to the doors, I lost my footing and slid off the pier and into the water. I remember thinking, right as I was about to hit the water, 'Ok, so I guess this is how I'm going to die.' And then I woke up."

"Whoa, that's pretty intense."

"I know, I'm still shaking. Who knows, maybe you ended up in the water, too. We'd have no way of finding each other."

"I had a horrible nightmare last night, too."

"Really? What happened?"

"Well, I dropped my iPhone and the face completely shattered. It was so upsetting! I woke up really sad, but when I checked it, everything was ok."

"What a relief for you."

every day i'm studying

When I was a kid, my brother and I could pretty much opt out of anything (family obligations, chores, etc.) if we gave the excuse that we were hitting the books. Which was pretty awesome. But then when we came home with a 98 out of 100 my dad would ask, with a completely straight face, "What happened to the other two points?" So I guess it only worked if we actually studied.

I've been out of that game for more than a decade, and in tackling the tests and projects coming up for my job, I find myself right back to my old habits; begging off things to study then trying really hard not to be distracted by trivial things like organizing my socks. Here we are, the night before the first test at 8:30 p.m. and I still have to go over the last third of the book.

Sigh.