Category Archives: Mother

Wedding in London

I’m in a city like London because I’m going to get married. My family and many of the people I know are there to see the ceremony and wish me well.

My mother says that Jeff is the doctor who delivered me when I was born. She says we was a very good doctor and he did a fine job. When we see Jeff and try to talk to him about it, he says he doesn’t remember being a doctor and doesn’t think he ever did that.

I meet up with my faceless groom and he’s wearing khaki pants and a polo shirt. Evan asks him “you couldn’t even wear a real shirt?” We look around a store trying to find him some better pants and a button-down white shirt.

Once I’ve gotten him settled trying on clothes, I run across the street to another store to try on some makeup. I realize that in all the excitement around finding clothes for my groom that I haven’t put any makeup on.

Grandma’s Possessions

My mother tells me we are going to have brunch with my family — her brothers and sisters — on Saturday morning. She tells me that brunch is at 8 so I should wake up at 7 or even 6:30. I tell her that’s not brunch, it’s breakfast, and it’s too early. She gets annoyed with me and insists that I go.

The following morning we get in the car and drive, but instead of getting breakfast, we stop at a store on the side of the road. Inside, all of my grandmother’s things have been arranged like it’s a store, and my family members are going through them all, looking for things they want. My mother tells me that I should look through her belongings and select some things that I want.

There are many beautiful things in there and I want to spend some time looking through them all carefully. But my mother is impatient because she’s already been through the items and she doesn’t want to stand around. I feel anxious and pressured to choose things quickly. I’m trying to find some items that I can remember my grandmother by.

Bumped off a flight going to visit Joe

My dad drives me to the airport where I plan to take a flight to D.C. to visit Joe. When I’m checking in I realize that I don’t have any luggage. I’m holding a disorganized sheaf of papers, and I shove them into my empty backpack. (Where is my laptop?)

When I get to the ticket counter to check in, the gate attendant tells me that the flight is oversold. She checks my reservation and tells me that because I used frequent flyer miles to purchase the ticket, I will be bumped off the flight in favor of paying customers. At this point I notice that my ticket is to Atlanta, and I really want to go to D.C. I ask her what sort of compensation they will provide if I am bumped, and if they will arrange for me to get to D.C. instead. I think that this could work out well for me, as I obviously made a mistake in booking my travel.

I go down a flight of stairs at the airport to go back outside and meet my dad. Walking down the stairs, I pass by Maya Angelou and her entourage. I realize that they are on the flight to Atlanta.

I get into the back seat of my dad’s minivan because my mother is in the front seat. They both drive me home so I can pick up my suitcase.

Cleaning a public park

I’m Hillary Clinton and I’m supposed to clean up a public park that has been left strewn with garbage by Sarah Palin. I go around the park with soldiers to help clean. One of them throws a large metal oil drum at me. When I’m finished cleaning the park, it’s actually a bedroom that’s decorated in a typical middle-American traditional style.

My mother calls me to ask how the process is going. She only asks me “yes or no” questions like “Have you finished picking up the garbage yet?” After a few questions I start to be frustrated that she wants to talk to me, but never asks me anything that I can actually respond to. My replies get shorter and snippier, and finally I tell her I don’t want to talk on the phone anymore because I have work to do.

My new project

A large group of people from Razorfish decide to secede and spin off a new company, and Bond decides to merge with them. The new office is small and very cramped. It seems that it was previously some kind of scientific lab where plants were studied, as there’s a lot of soil and the lighting makes it feel like a laboratory. The desks are very small and close together, like study carrels in a library.

I can’t find my desk and I spend a long time wandering through all the rooms looking for it. Eventually I find a very dirty room, way in the back, that no one else seems to be using, and I decide to take a desk there. I find Nate and ask him where all my boxes of stuff are, but he’s harried and overwhelmed and can’t help me.

I’m concerned about what we’re going to name the new company. I don’t want all the former Razorfish executives to take over and not give the Bond people a say in the new brand.

I am assigned to work on the JCPenney project. Our work seems to involve digging a large trench and finding artifacts in the dirt. Most of the items have been wrapped in newspaper, and the date on the paper is 1982. My mother is there to help me dig, and I find many pieces from my childhood, like items that used to sit on bookshelves in the basement, or knicknacks from the living room.

Shopping for Aprons

I’m in an industrial type building, kind of like a warehouse and kind of like a school. The rooms all have old doors on them, like in a classroom or a library.

I’m talking to Kristina about how I first became an IA. I feel a sense of urgency, like I need her to understand how and when I started working, but I’m also embarrassed, as if I think it’s unseemly to call too much attention to myself.

We have stacks of books that we have to take back to the library. I ask Susie, Jake, and Randy for help. They are annoyed at the inconvenience. They make fun of Kristina’s enthusiasm for what she’s doing.

Then I’m in a grocery store, it’s like a Dean and Deluca, with prepared foods and kitchen supplies for sale, but very large. I head to the back of the store because I want to buy an apron. I pick out a red apron that has racist iconongraphy, like cartoon representations of black people, but they’re so tiny as to be invisible to the naked eye. I also pick out a blue apron. The rack that holds the aprons is long, like the entire width of the store, and there must be hundreds of aprons to choose from.

When I try to remove them from the rack and take them to the register, an alarm sounds. The rack has an electionic sensor with a screen, and it shows me that I’ve done something wrong and security is on the way. I wait around for the security officers to come, but I’m bored and not worried because I know I didn’t do anything wrong.

My mother comes to meet up with me and we browse around while we wait. Finally the security guards arrive and they confirm that I can take the aprons to the register.

Back to College

I’m taking college classes, but the classes all take place in a lavish, gilded, hotel ballroom and event space. The classes I’m taking include:

  • A class with Lee O. that takes place outside. I walk across the lawn with him, and we’re joined by Chad and Andy P.
  • A lingerie class. We only study pieces made of silk.
  • A course in rugs which I take with my mother. We study pieces of fabrics in different colors to learn more about patterns and weaves.
  • A Weight Watchers class which is at the wrong time.

Family reunion at Elliott’s

I plan to take the PATH train to see Elliott’s new apartment in Long Island City. Jenny tells me that it can take 15 minutes to get down to the platform because the trains are so deep underground.

When I arrive at Elliott’s he gives me a tour of the new apartment. We start in the kitchen which opens onto a small room with two loveseats in it. The couches are old and kind of beat up, and even without a coffee table they fill the room. Now I know what Alex meant when he said the living room was in the kitchen. To get to the next room we have to crawl through a small door in the wall. Elliott says that this is a holdover from when the building was a grain mill.

The next room is large and open with very high ceilings and views out onto the city. The room is so large that there is a small wading pool in the middle of it. Two large dining tables provide an enormous amount of seating, I hang out there for a while and eventually a few other people, including Kevin, show up. Kevin doesn’t talk to anyone and just texts the whole time, and I wonder why he even bothered to come.

I return to Elliott’s apartment later and my entire family shows up too. It’s all my aunts and uncles from both sides of the family, and we take over the entire apartment. On this visit there is a door cut between the main room and the kitchen (much better) and the sofas have been taken out so the small room next to the kitchen can function as an entry foyer/mud room.

Gram is there and says she is taking care of new baby Max. The baby has dark hair and dark eyes and I can’t tell who he belongs to. I want to ask if we don’t already have another kid named Max in the family, but I am embarrassed to ask because I think I should know who his parents are.

At the end of the party everyone comes over to say goodbye to me and thank me for inviting them all. I tell Elliott he is a real saint for agreeing to have my entire family over, and I give him a hug.

Four Vignettes from Minnetonka

1.

I am back in high school and am walking between classes across a lawn with a bunch of other students. I see a gold chain lying on the ground and I turn around to go pick it up. Chris E. sees me pick it up and comes over to see what it is. It’s a gold pendant that has the letter “E” monogrammed on it. I suggest that it might belong to Ellen S., but when I show it to her she says it’s not hers. I tell them both that I’m going to give it to Kathy in the office to hold on to in case they find the real owner. I don’t want them to think that I am planning to steal it.

2.

I am at a party after school with a bunch of students and teachers. People are relaxing in an outdoor seating area and everyone is drinking some beer. I have a pot pipe stashed away and I take it out and start smoking pot. Everyone is obviously shocked by this and I can see people pointing and snickering. One of the teachers, Mr. L., comes over and pulls me aside to talk about it. I get really angry and start yelling something about “Richard-fucking-Nixon watching over me!”

3.

I decide to go visit Leigh R. at her home in Minnetonka so I can confront her about how mean she was to me when we were kids. She lives in the same neighborhood as she and her parents did when growing up. When I get there she’s extremely welcoming and very pleasant to talk to. We discuss how our lives are different. She has two boys who are getting close to high-school age now themselves, and she talks about how she and her husband will still be very young when they graduate, and how they will have a whole other life in their 40s and 50s. Her husband is Hawaiian and both the boys have Hawaiian names. I talk to her about my life in NYC and how many women have kids when they are 40, but I think that’s not for me. I compare the size of my kitchen with hers and it’s amazing how much smaller my appliances are. She is taking care of a neighbor’s three kids and we are all sitting together in the kitchen. The kids are very quiet and we read them a story, and I think maybe having young kids is kind of fun.

4.

I am with my mother and father in the parking lot of IHM. The church is burning down but my mother doesn’t notice. My father and I walk around the building to inspect the damage. Most of the building is still standing, but the area overlooking the parking lot is nearly gutted.

Eating at a restaurant with friends and family

Marcelo has moved to a new apartment on the outskirts of town, in a more suburban environment that is close to some water. It also seems to be near an amusement park. I don’t understand why he would want to live all the way out there. but he seems to really like it. In fact, he is buying another apartment in the same building so he can combine them.

I go to visit him out there and we go to dinner in a restaurant. There seem to be a number of restaurants on the ground floor of the building, like a hotel. My mother and grandmother join us for dinner.

My mother and grandmother point out that another guest of the restaurant is my cousin. He is standing in line with a few other people, including a woman that seems to be his girlfriend. I go over to introduce myself and we give hugs hello. We have a friendly and animated conversation and agree that we should meet again soon. I give him a hug goodbye that goes on a bit too long, and then a kiss on the cheek which seems somehow inappropriate because he’s my cousin. I give a hug goodbye to his girlfriend and she seems nonplussed.

I return to the table so we can order. I look at the menu and choose a salad that is quite inexpensive, like $4, and I wonder if it will be enough to eat. My mother suggests that we share an order of beef rolls. These seem to be a specialty of the restaurant and they have all different kinds. They have one that is like a beef and cabbage roll, and another that is Moroccan style with raisins. I want to order the “pizza style” roll, which is basically a piece of beef that has been dressed with toppings and cheese like a pizza and then rolled up. I am pretty sure my mother won’t want to order this, but I ask her anyway. While she is reviewing the choices the lights in the restaurant go out so she can’t see the menu.

My Mother’s New House

I am visiting my mother and she lives in a new house. The house is fabulous, opulent. There are many cases and display areas for expensive art and pottery, and my mother shows me around and points out all the decor. It is lovely and very appropriate, not over-the-top and tasteless.

I am planning to catch a flight to Los Angeles and I say that I will pick up some jewelry for my mother while I’m there. She describes what’s she’s looking for; she wants gold rings with semi-precious gems like moonstones in them. I decide to take a shower before I leave, and the shower is in the middle of the room, with a round curtain enclosing it.

As I’m about to begin showering, a number of groups of people start coming in and out of the room, and I feel uncomfortable about using the shower in the middle of it all. It seems that people are coming from overseas for a competition that maybe has something to do with all the art my mother owns.

A group of young women arrive and they seem like the “mean girls” to me. They are making nasty and insulting comments about some of the other contestants, particularly about other young women who are not as cool as they are. Then an older south asian man arrives and they are particularly cruel to him.

St. Paul

I am driving in a car with Bob. I tell him I want to go to a record store in St. Paul, but I can’t remember the name of it. I’m wracking my brain trying to think of the name, it’s on the tip of my tongue, but it always eludes me. I’m frustrated and a little bit embarrassed that I can’t remember it. I feel uncool. We got to McDonald’s for lunch, which is kind of gross.

Then I’m in a bookstore in St. Paul with my mother and Harry. I have a feeling like this is the place I was trying to remember earlier.

20 Year High School Reunion

I’m driving in a car with my mother. We are going to visit Sue W, a friend of hers from when I was growing up. I become very upset in the car and throw a tantrum.

I go to my 20th high school reunion. I greet people I know and give everyone hugs. The reunion is held outside in a grassy area with picnic tables, but there are also indoor spots where you can buy things.

I say hello to Steve L. and we walk around and talk to each other. We stop and say hello to Sherri and I give her a hug, but then keep walking. I am drinking a vodka soda. Steve and I go inside for a bit but then decide to go back out because he wants to introduce me to his wife.

I leave my drink behind and then realize it too late. When I decide I want to purchase another drink I realize I have also left my purse behind. I tell Steve that I will catch up to him and his wife later, and he walks off across the grass to meet her.

I go back in to where I left my purse and look for it. Inside I meet a handicapped couple who are misshapen and deformed. I hug them hello too, even though I don’t recognize them.

Trapped in a conservative Christian family

I am living in my house on Prescott Drive with a man. He is a conservative Christian and he is threatening. I am trapped there.I feel like I am living with a very conservative, very religious family, and they are like a cult. They will not let me escape.

He has a high-tech light-up mailbox.

Susie and Jake come to visit me. Jake rides a snowmobile. I try to get them to help me.

I tell them that this family has changed the "Art Department" to the "Department of Pictures." This seems to me to be a deeply condemning accusation and Susie should recognize how terrible they are.

I beg them for help. Susie gets me a key. But I still cannot escape. We try to crawl through some branches that are shaped in a tunnel.

Susie gives me a big wad of gum. Then she takes a go-cart and leaves.

I talk to my mother. She’s my mother in the family but she is not my real mother. She is smoking a cigarette and looking skeptical.

She sets me free.

Conformist.

Hotel Stationery

I’m taking the subway with Alex and Kim to a a family reunion to see my father’s side of the family. I have a bicycle and start to ride it once we get off the train, and I ride it all the way, even inside the buildings.

The family reunion is taking place in a conference center and I walk down a number of hallways to find it. My uncle Fred says he saw my mother downtown recently and she had a booger on her shirt. Fred and Eleanor seem to believe that it came from my father, as he was prodigious in this department.

I go to the hotel (on the bicycle) and sit down to write a letter. I want to write a letter to Hopkins High School asking for some help with an environmental issue in Russia. I hope that they will read the letter and remember me. I choose a piece of hotel stationery and start to write, but I don’t get very far before realizing that I should type the letter instead of handwriting it. I go to take another sheet of stationery and I realize that all the pages are different. Some are at least 50 years old, and some are brightly colored, like origami papers. I choose the most professional looking paper and feed it into an ancient manual typewriter.

Yet another Facebook job

I’m working at Facebook AGAIN. Talking to the engineers there.

Fighting with my mother about fabric. Yelling at her that everything is always her point of view, like it’s a bubble around her head she can’t see past.

Elderly family members  dying.

Kittens!

I’m walking through a big suburban department store with long curved aisles. I’m in the linens department but they don’t have very much stock on the shelves, most of the displays are empty or only have one or two things in them.

I meet a woman named Eleanor who has short black hair worn in a bob. We become friends. Later, I am watching TV with my mother and we see a crime program that says that Eleanor is dangerous. I am suspicious of the program and I think she’s been framed for the crime.

She and I are living in the same building. She brings her cat over. There seem to be a number of cats around and possibly a dog or two. Her cat starts having kittens. The cat doesn’t give birth to the kittens so much as extrude them, like putty from a tube. Once the kittens are born they immediately start running around on the floor. I notice that the kittens that were born first have a lot of orange and black color, but the later kittens are white with only a little bit of orange and black. I tell Eleanor about the kittens and we try to corral all the cats.

We go on vacation to a resort with Helen. The resort doesn’t have rooms for us and they are trying to get us to stay in tents. Helen says she has been to this resort before and refuses to accept the tent option as a solution. We ask them if they have even one room available for us.

After we sort out the room situation, we walk along another long curved hallway to visit the ladies room. There is a row of stalls along the back wall, and the room is crowded with women. There is a terrible stench coming from one of the toilets and everyone flees. Outside in the corridor we find a security guard and complain about the condition of the restroom. He doesn’t do anything about it, instead he threatens to have us thrown off the property or arrested for bringing it up.

Lost Dog/Burned Laptop Crisis

I’m going to Libby and Russell’s country house, and I’m bringing three dogs, including Sputnik. Russell is driving and I sit in the front seat, but then I’m really embarrassed since Libby should sit there and I move to the back seat. While I’m moving I lose the dogs and they’re running around in a park. I’m terribly afraid that I have lost Sputty because she’s not wearing a collar.

While I am looking for the dogs I set my laptop down on a hot grill. The bottom gets singed and there is a brown burned spot on it. The computer still works but the screen is all messed up, the colors are weird and it doesn’t refresh properly. I wonder if I can bring it back and say that the battery is bad.

I am relieved to find the dogs and I gather them and my laptop up. I am supposed to go with my family, Helen, and Alison to see a woman give a talk on psychology. I get everyone into a big minivan. We are supposed to stop and pick up Alison but we don’t. When Helen asks me where she is, I say I forgot because I was too caught up with the whole lost dog/burned laptop crisis.

We get to the facility where the speech is taking place. The woman is giving it twice. It’s not a very good talk, she’s not a good presenter and she’s not very good with her computer. I then go and visit with a man and my mother and John. My laptop seems to be working again.

Brazen Lady Fighting

There are two older women who are ridiculously overdressed and overly made up. They’re wearing garish colors and hats and too much jewelry. But they think they’re better than me.

I make fun of them with my mother. I talk about how much effort goes into keeping up those appearances. I do this elaborate pantomime to mock them behind their backs.

Job at Facebook

A number of former Razorfish people I know have accepted jobs working for Facebook. I’m skeptical that this would be a good move for them, but then I visit the Facebook offices and I realize they might be on to something. Facebook is moving into a new space and I realize that they will soon become something really big like Yahoo or Google. It seems like an opportunity to get in while the company is still young, and I start thinking maybe it would be a good place for me to work.

My mother takes a job working as the executive assistant to Mark Zuckerberg. She’s surprised at how different working for him is from the other jobs she’s had.

Jurassic Technologies

I have a green-screen iPhone. There is a green-screen command line interface that sits underneath the regular menu interface. I talk about how the iPhone interface is really just like a hierarchical menu. The iPhone has a stylus touch sensor thing like on the Treo, but it’s in green and really pixillated.

I’m speaking at a conference and my mother is in the audience. She helps me get dressed. I’m wearing a long black dress that I’ve hung dangly earrings all over, kind of like ornaments on a Christmas tree. I try putting on a pair of long purple and turquoise socks with the dress and my high heels, but I decide that’s too much.

I give a presentation about an old computer system that was used by the phone company. The computer was intended for operators to use when they answered questions from callers. It operated using microfiche. Some of the dangly things hanging from my dress contain pieces of microfiche. As I’m headed up to the podium I try to add one more earring to my dress, a brown beaded number, but a woman stops me and tells me it’s better without it.

In my presentation, I show a video where I walk down a long dark alley to get to a garage. The alley is dangerous and there are giant rats running across it. At the end I get to a normal suburban house with a garage in the back, where the computer is located.

There are two guys there who are dressed like sitcom characters from the 60s, sitting in lawn chairs in the yard. One is a black guy in a hat, who’s smoking a joint. They explain to me how the computer would pull up different responses to questions when an operator responsed to a call.

The computer is laughably bad. I comment that no one apparently gave any thought to the types of questions that people would be likely to ask when they called in.

My presentation runs long and when I’m done, most people have left for lunch. The people who are still there clap and say it was great. I start to remove the earrings from my dress.

One of the technicians is a tall curly haired guy wearing heavy glasses. He comes over and says that my presentation was great. I find him attractive and I’m trying to figure out how to give him my business card, when he throws his arms around me and says "I’m available!" He kisses me but he’s a bad kisser and smells like cigarettes.

The Pope and the Queen

I’m in a large building like a mall, and I want to take the elevator down. Pope John Paul II and Queen Elizabeth are taking the elevator and they won’t let anyone in. I run down a series of ramps and watch the elevator go down. I’m waiting to see them come out when the elevator opens.

Engagement Rings

I’m having dinner with Jeff from "Curb Your Enthusiasm." We’re discussing our relationship and he pulls out an engagement ring and puts it on my right hand. I act all surprised and excited, but really I’m not sure. The ring is hideous, it’s black and reminds me of coal. It has a piece of metal that sticks out over my fingers, making it hard to move them around when I’m wearing it. The diamond is tiny and stuck inside a pocket in the metal. I try to find a way to tell him politely that the ring isn’t my taste, but as I’m talking the ring starts to disintegrate. He apologizes and gets me another ring, this one more traditionally styled, but also with a tiny diamond. But really I’m just unsure if I want to marry him.

I go into my mother’s safe deposit box to find a ring that she used to wear. The safe deposit box has her jewelry drawer in it. It’s guarded by a bitchy asian man who doesn’t want me to take anything, but I tell him it’s my mother’s box and he leaves me alone. I’m looking for a gold ring that has vertical strips of gold down the front. I find a ring that looks similar, until I realize it has roman numerals on the front of it.

I’m walking with my mother and John to do some shopping. My mother is all bundled up in her warmest winter clothes, even though I tell her it’s at least 60 degrees out. She says she’s afraid she’ll get cold. John calls "time and temperature" from his mobile and says it’s 80 degrees.

I ask my mother about the ring. She says the ring I’m wearing was a gift from my grandmother when she graduated from high school. I ask about the other ring and describe it as having "twigs" falling on the front. She says I can have that ring too. I repeat several times that I won’t lose it, but I’m afraid that I will.

I’m unrolling a long piece of sticky paper or plastic. I unroll it across the room to where Harry is, he’s sitting and talking to some friends. I’m trying to keep the plastic from sticking to itself, but it’s difficult because it’s so long.

China Trip

I’m visiting China with my mother and a group of other family members. I can see where we are and where we’re going on a map.

We have a guide who is very helpful and polite, but also a Christian. I make a joke to my mother about how they have "Thank the Lord Jesus Christ" printed on everything, but I feel bad when he overhears me.

China seems to be all about finding cheap watches and sheets. Many of the watches don’t work. I am excited to find a Gucci watch that I would wear, but when I take it out of the package the whole watch face moves around inside the casing.

And coffee, they are always trying to give us bad coffee, perhaps because we’re Americans.

Someone on our trip thinks she can make a mandala like the monks do. She thinks it will be easy to just run the sand out.

Anxiety about moving forward

I ask my mother and another woman (like an aunt) if I should get pregnant. They slowly nod their heads and agree that I should.

I’m walking through a mall, trying to find how to get upstairs to the second level.

I’m with Harry and my mother trying to get onboard a plane. Harry gets on ahead of us, and then my mother and I can’t board.

Broken red wine glass

Mom and John’s wedding
Taking a trip in a cartoon car
Having a broken red wine glass in a plastic bag

Paging Dr. Freud!

Joe C. has installed these new devices at everyone’s workspace. They’re like a combination of a handle, a dildo, and a balloon. They inflate and you grab them and use them to navigate.

Joy and I are supposed to visit my church from growing up, Immaculate Heart of Mary. My father has died and we are supposed to attend his funeral.

I visit my mother in our backyard on Prescott Drive. I am happy and excited. I tell her that my dad is dead and now she can move to the city.

Then I feel terrible because I realize that I wanted my father to die. I made this happen.

My Parents at Gram’s grave

I’m with my father in a strange cemetary that is open in the middle and has graves all along the edges.

I remember thinking "It’s lucky my grandmother is buried here."

We visit her grave. You can see her lying in the grave. The casket is open and there’s s sheet of ice over it. Her face is covered with ice.

My mother is there with her family. I try to wave her off but my father sees her.

We all look at the grave together.

From McDonald’s to path in the woods

Pete and I are play-fighting with small toy light sabers. Mine is pink and his is blue.

I call a taxi and am getting ready to leave my childhood home on Prescott Drive. I’m gathering up my things, but it’s taking a long time. I’m gathering my things into my purse in the kitchen. When the taxi arrives I’m still not ready and I motion for it to wait. The taxi driver is a woman.

I go to a Christmas party. My mother is there. I bring Bob A. as my date. I say hello to some people. The party is really boring so I decide to go wander around.

I’m walking down the street of a city. I stop in a McDonalds. I see Tod eating with his friends and I flee before he can see me. He’s going to a show. I think he’s disgusting.

I walk back to the party on a path through some woods. When I arrive I say hello to my family, and my uncle Dave and aunt Carole.

Rich man’s house

I’m waiting with a rich man and my mother for admission to something. The man is a business executive my mother knows. I’m staying in the man’s house. Things are set so I can’t turn any lights on. I go to the light switches and there’s lots of them, but they don’t work.

He has three dogs. The dogs are held inside wooden boxes, all enclosed. The small dog I can get out but the larger dogs are trapped inside. I’m worried about them because I think I’m supposed to take care of them.

I’m supposed to go to an event with the man, my mother and father, and Friedman, but I oversleep.

Lovely store, ugly store

I’m walking along a sidewalk from work to a store. The store is large and filled with wonderful food and kitchen products. The food is all sets of small treats and hors d’oeuvres. They’re beautifully arranged, bounteous, and can be sampled.

Liz D. is there and I comment that I haven’t seen her since Thanksgiving. My mother is also there and we decide to have lunch in their café. The store sells clothing too and a salesgirl helps me pick out some pieces for me and some for my mother. There is a green top that is made from beautiful fabric. All the pieces are kind of hippie granola. Later, I look at the green top and the fabric isn’t nearly as nice and I want to return it.

I am walking with a man and my aunt Brenda. He says he likes her. She has a hairbrush that expands open, it’s really high-tech, almost robotic. Brenda talks about losing weight and it appears that she has lost some.

We go into another store that has stuff on sale. It’s one of those stores in Uptown on Lake Street that never did well and were always going out of business. All the stuff in this store is junky and badly displayed. There seems to be a lot of stuff being sold that you wouldn’t really want.

Fighting with my mother

I’m married to Harry again or we’re spending time together. My mother calls and she’s irrational, angry. She rants at me for a long time. She takes offense at my tone. I think she’s crazy, and I’m worried about her. But I’m also pissed off that she’s acting this way.

She hangs up on me and I call her back. We fight some more and then I hang up on her. I don’t call her back. I hate the feeling of being disconnected from her. I call my former therapist. Dr S, to discuss what happened.