Dreams Becoming a Reality?, Fabulous Dark Peachy Pink, Rubbery Foam Yoga Mat, and a 4 year old Rookie

I have been having really crazy dreams the past couple of weeks. They are absolutely absurd dreams, but in my mind when I'm dreaming, I can't delineate from the fact that I'm dreaming and reality. When I wake up it takes me a few minutes to realize I was dreaming. Luckily, I'm not having nightmares, but the dreams are just bizarre, for example, last night during one dream, I dreamt that I was hosting a sleepover party at my house for my advance dance students. When  it was time for everyone to settle down and go to sleep, we were using newspapers as blankets, because as my dance students put it "Paper is the cool blanket and clothe is not safe" and then Nicholas Cage came in started flickering the lights and told us to get up and party. After he left, two of my students who are sisters opened their Christmas presents (in September, mind you) that their mom was hiding at my house. I was so upset because I felt that I let the mom down by allowing her kids to find the Christmas presents, that I screamed at all the kids, "You were acting so bad, that you can call your parents and explain why they have to come and pick you up at 5am! And don't think you guys are getting away with this, when we start dance classes you guys are going to be running a lot of laps and doing suicides! And trust me suicides are as bad as they sound!" and then the kids called their parents and moped to their parent's cars and went home, as I tried to re-wrap the Christmas presents the sisters had opened to look at exactly the way the were before they opened them. I kind of realize why I might of had this dream. I probably dreamt about my dance students, because I start teaching classes again on Monday and it has been on my mind a lot and I have been busy preparing lesson plans. I watched Nicholas Cage this past week-end in "National Treasure" and he was on Letterman last night. I called my college friend Rudy on Monday and she was talking about our old college dance classes and how one of our professors would make us do suicides if she was angry at us. The newspaper sheets probably have to be because, while I was watching an episode of "Jail" last night, a prisoner wasn't allowed to wear clothes because he tried to hang himself with his shirt. So, he had to wear a paper smock from the prison because it was safer. I'm not sure where the Christmas presents come in, but I think I pretty much covered everything else. Dreams like this have become a nightly event for me and I truly think this has happened a few minutes after I wake up, sad I know. Sometimes, it's not a bad thing, like the one night, I dreamt I was dating a big, buff hockey player and he adored me and his family loved me, when I woke up, I was smiling and then when I realized it was a dream it was like, SH*T! *sigh* Chi Chi tried to manipulate my dreams by informing me what I should dream about. Her exact words were, "Have this feature in your dream. There are these hot guys (and girls) who are aerialists and you can hire them for weddings. The dance they do in the air is so beautiful. It's suppose to represent two people becoming one. It looks like they are having sex in the air, but it is done beautifully. Put that in your dream." Sad to say, I can not dictate what I dream about (would be nice), so I did not dream about the hot aerialists and as Chi Chi has demonstrated my dreams are not a request line. Sorry.

When I woke up from my crazy dreams, I could smell the rubber, foamy stuff from my new yoga mat that I bought yesterday at T.J.Maxx. I'm not going to lie, but I have an unhealthy love for this yoga mat. It's a dark peachy, pink color and it's a half an inch thick and it's very resilient! IT can't be squished! I laid down on it and it was so comfy! To most my readers (let's face it, my only reader, Harley), you may think I may use this mat for exercising purposes such as yoga, pilates, or a combination of both, yogalates, but you would only be correct a portion of the time, the other times when I'm not using my new fabulous mat for exercising, I will be using it for sleeping. That's right you have read correctly, sleeping. I figure for long, tedious tech/dress rehearsals or shows when there's down time, I will roll out my magnificent mat, bring along my favorite Bills pillow and Sabres throw and just snooze. I'll be as snug as a bug in a rug, my dear friends. It beats the concrete floor that I usually try to sleep on during these down times of rehearsals, minus the slight whiff of rubbery foam that the mat is releasing, my plan is full proof. Nothing a little febreeze can't fix.

I was scoping out buffalobills.com and came across this article on who the Bills captains will be this 2008-2009 season. I think the team made the right choices Chris Kelsay, Lee Evans, Brian Moorman, Trent Edwards, Donte Whitner, and George Wilson. Kelsay, Evans, and Moorman were all captains last season, so half of the Bills' co-captains already have this leadership experience under their belt. I always feel that the starting quarterback should be captain, he's the one running the offense, he should be a captain, it's a no brainer. I personally like Edwards, hard-working, professional guy. I never heard  him pass the buck for his mistakes and he's always respectful to other players. I think he's going to do very well this season. I just find it ironic that Losman finally played well for us in the pre-season, after what 5 years? It's amazing how when your job is in jeopardy or already gone, you can step up your game and play the way you were suppose to be playing all 5 years. Maybe he couldn't handle the pressure of being a starter and that's why his performance wasn't up to par for the past 5 years, but I just hated how Jauron made excuses for him, well he's still a rookie, all right your first year, you're allowed to make rookie mistakes, why? Because you are just that, a rookie. Maybe if you are lucky, you can milk it to the second year, but seriously? Should you really be making those mistakes. When I receive a dance job, I'm expected to dance at the same level as the people who have ten years or more experience than me. I can't chalk it up and go, well, I'm a rookie, rookie mistakes, guess what? My butt would no longer be dancing that piece. There's no time for mistakes, either you can cut it or you can't, plain and simple. And trust me, in the dance world we don't make a 400th of what these guys make. If I was paid as much as a professional athlete was to dance in a professional company, I would not only be expected to dance flawlessly 365 days a year, 3 shows a day, but I would be expected to be able to walk on water and have the Mitus Touch. Yeesh! All right, all right, so I understand that professional sports team do give their rookies leeway and allow them room to grow, but when Jauron was talking about Losman's performance last season, which was Losman's 4th season, and saying well he's still trying to grow, he has a lot of potential, he's learning from the rookie mistakes he makes....... Ummmmmm, Hello? Four seasons of being on a professional sports team, you're no longer a rookie. You're mid-veteran status. Apparently, he  has grown out of his rookie phase during his 5th season of being in the NFL and with the Bills Franchise, speaking only on his performance in the pre-season. Some people are just late bloomers, I guess. Enough about my gripe with Losman, don't get me wrong, I do like the guy. He's done a lot of charity work in WNY, and I can't hold grudges against people who are trying to better this world by volunteering their time through charity. I just think the Bills organization shouldn't have chalked his poor performance in the past up to rookie mistakes, when clearly he was no longer a rookie. So, onto the future!!! Edwards in '08! With the help of his fabulous co-captains and team!

Thunderstorms, Mamma Mia!, and Claustrophobic Hockey Players

At 5:32 this morning, I was awakened by a crash of thunder. I used to be terrified of thunderstorms as a child, but I've grown out of that petrified stage and now just find them annoying because no matter how hard I try I can't sleep through them. So, I decided to read some of "Tuesdays with Morrie" and pace around with the lights on in my room, trying to make myself tired enough the sleep through the storm. No such luck. When the storm finally passed at 6:37am, I laid back in bed, turned off the lights, and snuggled with my Buffalo Bills pillow, it took awhile, but I finally fell back asleep and had the strangest dream. I dreamt I was at war with this air-heady, Mean Girl, Paris Hilton type and I was kicking her booty. She tried to throw water on me and missed so in retaliation, I decided to throw a carton of eggs on her and with much success, I hit her. Once, she was covered in yoke, I told her, "I hope you have an egg-cellent day!" (I'm even corny in my dreams). Then suddenly almost every guy I knew in college, high school, and elementary school was there and they were siding with me and the mean girl went away and cried. Then one of the guys tackled me and I smacked him and told him "don't mess" and woke up. I wonder what the dreams book have to say about that one.

Onto a topic that has some importance in this world like.... MAMMA MIA! I went and saw it Tuesday night with my mom, she found two free passes on the side of the road to a local movie theatre while she was taking a walk one day, so she asked me if I wanted to go see MAMMA MIA! with her. To my mom's delight, the free passes worked and we got to see the movie for free. It was fabulous! The scenic views of Greece were amazingly beautiful and that's an understatement and who knew Meryl Streep could sing? Her voice is amazing (unlike Pierce Brosnan, but he gets an A for effort) and she's always been an amazing actress. The movie was funny and the music was fabulous (Those Swedes really make some excellent music) and of even more importance I have a new mini-crush. Colin Firth....

I've always enjoyed his acting and thought he was attractive, but after watching MAMMA MIA!, I developed a mini-crush on him. Maybe because he was so sweet and he was so willing to step up to the plate and be Sophie's father. Or maybe the fact that he could sing and play the guitar and had an English accent. In any event, he's my mini-crush for the week, maybe even two.

I was out to dinner the other night with Harley and I shared with her a recent thought I had about hockey. If a hockey player is claustrophobic, does he freak out when he goes into the penalty box? I mean I know the penalty box is mostly glass, but for some claustrophobic people it doesn't matter. If they are in a small space, they freak out. If a hockey player is in this position does he say to the ref.... "Excuse me? May I please sit my penalty somewhere else? Like the locker room? I am a really bad claustrophobic." (okk, I just realized that no hockey player would probably use those words when asking except maybe Jason Pominville. He'd be that polite, he was a Lady Byng Trophy nominee after all). What would the ref say? "Sure, we'll cater to your illness and let you sit your penalty out in the locker room." or would it more likely be, "Are you kidding me? Get your pansy ass in that penalty box. You should have thought of these job hazards before you chose this as your career!" I think it would be the latter and I really don't see any hockey player asking to not sit his penalty in the box because he was claustrophobic, they probably mumble "oh crap (or other choice words)" to themselves, take a deep sigh and get in the box. No matter how excruciating it is, they sit there calmly even if they are freaking out inside and almost want to kill themselves every time the ref's whistle is blown and it delays his penalty time even longer. Or I could be completely crazy about this theory and no hockey player could ever be freaking out in the penalty box due to claustrophobia and it's just a crazy theory. But don't you think after all these years of the NHL and the players that have played in the NHL, there has had to be at least one player that this theory has happened to. I mean didn't former Buffalo Sabres Right Winger Alexander Mogilny miss some games because he had such a fear of flying? So, why couldn't a hockey player be claustrophobic and be afraid of the penalty box? Maybe they just never admitted it or maybe all the claustrophobic hockey players are goalies! The guys in hockey who even if they cause the penalty one of their team mates has to take one for the team (literally) and get into the box. Maybe that's how hockey goalies are born. Their thoughts are...

"I love to play hockey. I want to be in the NHL. I want to one day hoist the Stanley Cup over my head and kiss it in victory, but man does that penalty box scare me!!! I mean what if the door doesn't unlatch and I'm stuck in there with the penalty box babysitter!!! I mean I don't think it's possible to crawl out the top and even if we break the glass to get out of there, that's dangerous! This of all the cuts we could get or a piece of glass could land in my eye and blind me!!! Oh wait, there's a position in hockey where you don't  have to go in the penalty box? You stand between the pipes for the entire sixty minutes of the game and have the puck aimed right at you and it comes at you at lightning speed. Sounds a heck of a lot better than being in that box! I'm in!"

I'll bet good money that has happened, it's not so far-fetched.