Cats!

Not the musical - but the little creatures we keep in our house for fun.

I have a cat named Bob.  He is a strange little thing.  We think he was brain damaged by the flea collar we put on him as a kitty.  He likes to help around the house. 

He is really good at holding down papers.  It is like a fuzzy paper weight.

Last night he tried some wine.  I had my cute hand-painted wine glass that BCF gave me for Christmas out at the computer.  He was desperately trying to stick his whole head in, but it would not fit.  So he licked the inside of my glass.  I poured it out after that.  Because I teach science I wanted to see what happened.  Of course, nothing cool.  He just ran off.

Bob, is hard to photograph.  He will not sit still.  He is fun to have around and can actually catch a mouse.  It has happened before.

Bob is 13 years old and still very spunky.  He zips all around the house.

This is a stupid post, I know, but kitty was just  on my mind.  He likes to blog with me in the morning.  He sits right in front of the monitor.

I'm so Tired

This title come from a Beatles song on the White Album.  The song actually sounds like you are singing tired.  I do love the Beatles.

I think I am mentally and physically exhausted from the weekend and today.  Is it possible one could be so tired that you throw up?  That is how I feel, or it could be the wine I am drinking.

I am a 5th grade math and science teacher and it is science fair season.  I know I just made some parents cringe.  I love science and would drop math like a bad habit if I could teach science all day long.  Our district science fair is tomorrow.  I got placed in charge of judges last week - we had some , but I had to round up the others.  Thank goodness we livwe in a college town.  Where else are you going to find a couple of physicist lying about.

So, Saturday my peeps, Pants and Hurdle, came over at 3:00 and we worked until 10:30 on this Science Fair.  We typed and typed and typed.  All this typing paid off when we did our check in today.  It was S-M-O-O-T-H.  We feel good.  But tired because all day from 7:00 to 7:00 today we did science fair.

One more day of this fair in our school.  I have a professional day to hang about with the judges and schmooze.  My sub will be teaching how fractions relate to decimals.  I like to schmooze.

so, I have been how for 40 minutes and want to just lie down and sleep for days.

Did I mention that this weekend we helped Scout complete the Reading Fair Project and Eminem do her Star of the Week info?    Just how far away is spring break!?!?!?

Changing Fonts on Word

I will get to the title in a minute.  First, I just need to say that Iam tired and worn out from the weekend.

Saturday morning there was an indoor yardsale at the convention center.  It was great and I wish I had had a purpose to buy something.  I had Eminem so it was hard to shop.  She did find some rollar blades for $3 and found cute white Christmas trees for the mantle.  I will play with them in 10 months.

We then took some stuff to Goodwill and of course I had to shop.  Eminem bought a straw hat to play it - she looks very cute.  And I found the biggest bargain.  Pottery Barn candle sticks for $5.  I set was originally $69.  I was fired up.  Can't wait to find a place for them.

So, on to the Font thing.  Scout has a Reading Fair Project due this Wednesday.  He is presenting "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban".   He did all the writing and typing himself, but wanted something to make the project cool.  I though that we needed to find a Harry Potter font.  And guess what - there are about 8 good ones to chose from.  We chose the ones with thelightening bolts on the letters.  It took me a while to figure out how to get that sucker in Word but I managed and want to educate the world.  You know I am a teacher.

1.  Search the web for your font and save it to your desk top.  It will be saved as a zip file.

2.  Close out of the internet and right-click on your font zip file and chose "extract all files".  In this order choose Next, Next, Finish - when it asks you questions.  It is just saving the file in C: drive/Documents and Settings/OwnerDocuments/My Documents...

3.  Now, you will not need to have any other windows open.  Hit the Start button and go to the Control Panel.

4.  At the Control Panel, click "Appearance and Themes"  then under this choose Fonts- if you do not have "Appearance and Themes" - like me_ then click "Fonts". 

5.  Click the "File " menu and choose 'Install New Fonts"

6.  Make sure  the drive says C:

7.  There is a little window of folders on the left - under C, choose Documents and Settings. double click

8.  choose the Owner File - Double Click

9.  chosose Desktop  File - Double click - once this is open you will be able to scroll down and find the name of your font

10.  Double click the font name and it will appear in the box above

11.  Click on the font name and choose "OK".  A box will then pop up pretty fast and say  "100% Download" or something.

12.  Go to Word and enjoy your new font.

It was great and made the project a little extra special.

Linking up to DIY Day - since I did do it myself.  I did not really make anything, but I still feel that sense of accomplishment.

Dining Room Dilemma

I do love my Dining Room and I think it looks just fine the way it is, but with the sprucing up and redecorating urges that are on me, I feel the need to do some thing a little different.

Here are some dining room pics.

I still have problems placing pictures, so I apoligize for the crazy placement.

I love the dark wood and the furniture is in great shape.  Not going to redo that.  The walls are a mustard color that I do like - not changing that.  The trim is white and so I have the light colored rug and the light colored display curio in there too.  I really have no other place for the curio, but if it does not match please tell me to find a place!

My primary issue is with the windows.  Do they need "softening"?  I have the decorative arches on either side of the window.  They are paper mache'.  Here is a close up lookPlease excuse the dust.  So, you can see it is also a dark wood color with highlights of gold.  I am fine with the gold.

Should I paint these suckers antique white and then wipe some paint off to let the dark color peak out?

Should I get some long cream panels for these areas?  I don't think I want too much patten going on.  I actually did find some great fabric.

But at $20 a yard and I need about 4 yards - that is not happening.  But it was a beautiful silk.

What do you think please tell me!

I also think the wall with the buffet needs help.  We can't do anything to the pottery on the actual buffet.  I will hurt you over that stuff - it is a prized possession in MS.  I think the wreath needs to go.  Do I update the pictures or just the frames?  One picture is starting to fade because it gets more sun.

My ceilings are 9 ft so I have a good bit of room to play with.

GoodWill Hunting

This is a fabulous movie, but an even more fabulous store.  I went to check out the new one in town.  ( We just got it.) And now I am addicted to it.

My son is in the in-between stage of boys to men.  He wears a mens small right now.  He has got to go with me to find shirts.

Even though they have some great deals on clothes, I had a blast looking for accessories.  I had in mind that I needed a small corner shelf for the bathroom.  It is not a must so just whenever I found it would be fine.  I saw it the minute I walked in the store.  It had been out a week and no one had claimed this wonderful jewel. 

It might lean just a wee bit, but in a "potty room" who will really notice.  The paint job is not the greatest, but that can be fixed. 

I also have recently decided to de/re - that is shorthand for decrapify and redecorate.  So, I am doing a bathroom makeover in the master bath.  Turquoise and Lime or bright green is really in, so I am going for that look.  I wast just peaking for accessories at the GoodWill and found these too!

These green vases are so ugly they are cool!  The big clear vase will look good filled with turquoise marbles that I found at the Dollar Tree.  (Our Dollar Tree is next door to the GoodWill !  Woo Hoo!)The vases were $1.99 each.  I thought that was ok.

The white star is a tree topper, but it is rustic white.  Not sure what to do with it but for $0.99 I can find a place.  But my favorite is the turquoise glass ashtray!

No one uses an ashtray anymore!  You have to smoke outside.  But in my weird way, I thought it was a treasure to save - vintage ashtray.  It was 99 cents.  It was a previous yard sale item because the 25 cent sticker was still on it and no one bought it.

I felt like Santa Claus stopping by at the Island of Misfit Toys on the Rudolph Christmas Special.  I picked up the tacky accessories of yesteryear and will give them a good home even if they are not the "in" thing.

Happy GoodWill Hunting!

Nothing Post

I have done lots this weekend and could blog lots about it, but it would take about 3 post because I would like it categorized that way.  It was a nice long weekend.

The kitchen and breakfast area are now completely decrapified.  I also redecorated by rearranging accessories.  I love doing this because it is free.  Wish I would have had a buddy to help.  Sometimes it just makes you feel better to have someone give input or agree with you. 

I also moved some things around in the den and dining room.  The dining room was previously decrapified.  The den is also looking pretty good.  I have some cabinets under shelves that really need help.  One is full of pictures.  That is a summer project.  I can't scan in all of that in a weekend.  We also have a small closet that needs a little help.  It is not so bad, but that might wait a while too.

I think the kids bathroom might get it next.  It is small and very doable on a regular 2 day weekend.  I haven't had one of those in a while.  I need something that I can start and stop in just a hour or two.  I will have grading and lesson planning to do.

So I hope everyone has a good week.

De-clutterizing: Bloggy Style

As stated here in a blog I follow, Thrifty Decor Chick is cleaning out.  I too clean out at the 1st of the year.  So far I have gotten the dining room, kitchen and laundry room fixed.  Threw out a bunch of crap and re-organized.  It makes me feel so much better.

Now that I visit others blogs a lot, I realized that I have a lot of crap on the side of my blog that just needs to be in a post and linked.  As Thrifty Decor Chick puts it, it is time for decrapification, but for the blog.

All those Bob Dylan video links are fixing to ( Southern euphemism for about to) be in 1 of my 2 old blog post all about Bob post.  I will just have a giant Bob Fest shortly.  I will also put Tommy Tutone in his place, but I think I will leave Paul Newman.  He is easy on the eyes.

Old blog Post 1 - Plastic Jesus Revisited

Old Blog Post 2 - Happy brithday Empire Burlesque

I hope the blog looks less cluttered after this.  Then I will feel comfortable doing the breakfast nook next!

Things That Make you go Hmmmmm

Random observations and useless trivia alert.

1.  Bounty is not the "quicker picker upper".  This has been scientifically tested and the results were displayed by one of my 5th graders.  Actually Sparkle was the best.

2.  If you put glow sticks in the freezer, their glow will last longer.  Another bright student.  I love puns.

  3.  Why is the Red Box movie kiosk at Wal-Mart blue?

4.  I think the chickens came before the egg, because God created the animals and the egg would have never hatched if another chicken had not sat on it. 

And a side note to the chickens.  Their feathers actually absorb more oil than human hair.  The people that clean up oil-spills in the open waters use feathers.  My students are pretty creative.

5.  Common household magnets, if left on gift cards, cds, and memory stick drive, will not erase the data.  Aren't my 5th graders smart?  She did not test the super strong magnets.

6.  Why did it take 7 full days to get my cute new planner from New Jersey to Mississippi?  Merlin's pants!  I could have driven there and back faster than that!  ( I have been wanting to  say "Merlin's Pants" for some time now.  I love Harry Potter!)

7.  According to Facebook intelligence, my first name peaked in popularity in 1961.  That is a full 10 years before I was born.  But my parents scored a B- in creativity.

8.  Mentadent works better at getting stains off your teeth than the expensive Rembrant.

    We are going to ROCK the science fair.

 I am having issues placing pictures.  I can't get them side by side.

9.  I took a Doo-Wop music quiz today.  It was 30 questions and I only missed 3.  My parents were about 8 or 9 years old when this was going on.  I am proud of myself for that.

10.  Whether you know it or not, real plankton look like Plankton off Sponge-Bob, and they are all in Mobile Bay.  More of them congregate in open waters than by beachy areas and stream outlets.  Thanks for that visual kiddo.  Microscopic roaches in water - (((VOMIT))).

Happy Blogging!

Be Still....

and know that I am God.

It is so very hard to be still and listen these days.  I have two kids both going in different directions.  I teach and always have planning or grading to do.  Also, the Hubmaster works hard and is a Boy Scout leader.  I would say that we are a busy family.  Where is God in my busy life?

He would say that He is always right there and I am the one who does not notice Him.  This is so true. 

From previous posts you will have heard me lament my woes.  I have had issues big time.  God was there for me even when I did not want Him to be.  Funny, how He is like that.  God is in all the small stuff we do too.

Last night I was on a conference call with my 2 best buds - AKA and BCF.  We do this from time to time just so we can catch up all together.  We are in 2 different states and 2 time zones.  God was there, pulling our friendship closer.  It was lovely.

BCF said something me and AKA had never thought of before.  When you are trying to call friends to talk about a problem or chit chat and can't get them and have to leave a message, that is God telling you to talk to Him instead.  Profound.  I actually sat there for a moment. 

I am always saying that I wish that God would put up a billboard or send me an email telling me what I need to do in a situation.  He is always sending signs to me.  I must just be too busy to notice.

Slow down, enjoy life.

Spray Paint - Hard it Ain't

OK, in my craftiness I have lost it.  I do know that ain't is not a word, but it rhymes with paint and I am from the South, so it is ok.  I know I have a friend or 2 that is probably wondering why in one day I am posting twice about crafts.  School is back in session from the cold weather spot.  I just guess my classes are a little boring and my creative outlet is crafting at the moment.  I am not complaining.  I am having fun.

Just a quick blurb about school.  I do love it.  I teach 5th grade science and math, but I am so tired of learning about ecosystems.  This unit needs to be over quickly.  Next is Earth Science - unit C.  My favorite!  My creative juices just flow.  Plate tectonics and the continental drift theory are taught with songs.  Tony Orlando and Dawn sing "Candida" and we change the words to Pangea.  Also, Johnny Cash and his "Ring of Fire"  just burns, burns, burns for plate tectonics.

Back to the painting I am supposed to show.  Again, I have copied from someone and I don't know who.  As I find crafts now I am keeping up with where I found them.  I want to give credit where it is due.  Pottery Barn had some cute silver candlesticks in their catalog. 

They also showed them on the matle looking all pretty.

So, the blogger I coppied from decided to make her own using old brass candle sticks and some silver spray paint.

I decided this was idiot proof and that I could do this and so I found my old brass candle sticks and the  spray paint and hopped to it.

The only hard part about this project was it was VERY COLD - 14 degrees - in Mississippi that is cold.  And the wind was blowing.    But they are very pretty now and I will be revamping the mantle very soon!

I kinda think they are pretty.

But I was bound and determined to complete a craft before going back to school.    While I was digging through old stuff I found this lovely item.

Then after a little paint it became something better.  I will have a great place for it soon.

I will link back to this when I finally get there.

Happy Crafting - Linking up to Domestically Speaking, Beyond the Piccket Fence, and Funky Junk Interiors.  All of these great blogger-ladies have wonderful ideas.  Thank you for inspiring me!

  

Oh, and by the way this was totally FREE.  I already had the paint, the sticks, and the candles!

Getting Crafty!

When I started this blog I never thought I would post crafts.  For one, I had kind of quit them for a while because I do not have a lot of time.  Second, i did not know people blogged about crafting.  I guess I was just naive.

I have been reading so many of the crafting blogs that I can't even name them all.  I have them saved in my favorites.  I stalked for a little bit, and now have started posting comments and trying out crafts.  I am having a ball.  Thank you crafty bloggers!

So I wanted to do a craft that was quick and easy and a blend of 2 crafts I had seen.  I am sorry that I can't give anyone specific credit.  I would post your names, but I can't remember.  My craft is frosting votive candles.  The actual glass part.  I also did some candles.  So, here it goes.  My 1st instructional crafty blog.

1.  Things you need:  glass jars - clean and empty, Modge Podge (everyones favorite), paint brush and epsom salt.

I forgot I also sprayed the jar lid with spray paint.  the cat in the background is helping again.

Next, I painted the jar with the Modge Podge.  Then rolled the jar in the salt.  I poured the salt in an old cake pan.  I was going to throw out the pan, but now it is my craft pan.

And while I was at it I did a few candles!

So, I was feeling pretty good about my craftiness, and decided to do something else.  What if I mixed the tissue paper Modge podge votive candle thingy with the frosted epsom salt candle thing.(None of that made much sense, but..)

Well, I got too excited about it all and for got to take before and during pictues, but I think it did well.  Check it out! 

And here is a fuzzy picture in the dark.  I don't know why my night pics are always fuzzy.

I can give you a  tip.
  The color strips are tissue paper.  Modge Podge them 1st and let them competely dry, then do the salt thingy.

I had a blast doing this.  Let me know what you think!

Linking up to A Soft Place to Land's DIY Day.  It all started here for me.  So give a shout out to Kimba!

Also linking to The Nesting Place also a wonderful place!

-Striker

I'll Tumble For Ya !

Be careful what you  wish for - you just might get it!

Last Monday when us teachers had to go back to school for a "work day" before the kiddos came back on Tuesday, I must have told 10 people that I would give up a week of summer break for an extra week at Christmas.  I love the cold, and I still wanted to squeeze in a few more reorganizing projects and read blogs.  I am addicted to reading blogs at the moment, but I digress.

So, North Mississippi received some snow and ice and very cold temps this week.  ( Very cold here means below 20).  So the schools closed for Thursday and Friday.  Yeah!  Woo Hoo!  That means I could finish reorganizing the kitchen.  During regular break I had previously "done" the dining room.  The cat helped.    I had also done the dishes, cups areas of the kitchen cabinets and all the bottom cabinets.

So, on Thursday, I thought I would just clean out 1 drawer in the kitchen.  It was like opening Pandora's box!  One draw lead to unloading every drawer (except the junk drawer 0 whole day project) and I had all my utensils everywhere.  I cleaned out and sent some stuff to the donations pile and felt pretty good.

Yesterday, Friday, I was attacking the pantry and the small cabinets over the stove and builti in microwave.  To make this task easier I turned on the computer and played some tunes through my new computer speakers the Hubmaster gave me for Christmas.  I love 80's music so I turned on some Culture Club and danced whilst I cleaned the  kitch.  The song list included - I'll Tumble For Ya, Karma Cameleon, and Church of the Poison Mind.  This is important.

Why did I have 6 pounds of powdered sugar in my cabinet?  I also found lots of baking powder.  It looked like my kitchen exploded, but in the end all was great.   Then I went to get the mail.  I guess I was still a little perky from dancing in the house to pay attention to the side walk.  I hit a small patch of ice and biffed it ( our word for falling and busting your booty).  Except I did not bust my booty, I sprained my ankle.

Here is where Culture Club comes in.  It was like foreshadowing in a novel.  I'll tumble for ya!  I did not really have any thing in particular to write about until this.  The irony was just too great to pass this up.

So now I am hobbling around the house unable to organize or craft.    But my cabinets are organized!  I have to go see a doctor today because I think I need to seek some medical attention on this.  It hurts. 

So, my 3rd week off I did get, and I did get some stuff done around the house.  This must be God's way of telling me to sit back and relax and do not over do it.  Enjoy your weekend.

Snowy Day Women # 12 and 35, Everybody Must Get Cold!

Not that anybody is reading me, but I am on a Bob Dylan kick. This title and the previous post title are from Mr. Dylan. I thought it fit pretty good.

Anyway, the kids and I have been out in the snow - what little there was. And by now it is even melting - so sad. We will probably be at school tomorrow. But tonight the Artic Blast is moving in.

I live in the Deep South so snow is a wonderful thing for us - even the the little dusting we had today. The day before you go by the grocery store to purchase milk, bread, and poptarts. At least that's what we purchased. And you want to make sure you have gas in your car. The reason for this is because during the Ice Storm of '94, most of the town was out of electricity and all the pumps were electric so if you were low on gas you could not drive south. During this time it was important to the students of Ole Miss to drive South because it was Mardi Gras season and most of the students left for New Orleans. However, Striker was no longer a student and had to stay and work. Nice.

The kids love snow because that means Snow Ice Cream! Very easy to make. Recipe to follow, but I just have to add this in. I was once visiting my friend AKA and we went to Kroger. I had my kids with me and it was summer and I thought while we where hanging about on 4th of July we would eat ice cream. So we were moseying up and down the aisle and lo and behold - right there in the middle of the freezer section was - SNOW ICE CREAM - for sale! We purchased it and it tasted just like mine.

So just in case you do not know this is what you do.

1. Gather you some good snow. Make sure there are no discolorations.

2. Pour a little milk, vanilla flavoring, and regualr sugar in.

3. Stir and enjoy.

I know this is all approximate, but I did not measure. You just stir it until you get the right consistency for you. and That is it. I hope you enjoy it.

I would not feel so all alone - EVERYBODY MUST GET COLD!

You Don't Need A Weatherman To Know Which Way the Wind Blows

The forecasts were calling for 1" - 2" of snow. My kids were ready, my students were ready, I was ready. And then...............

we just got a dusting. Yep the slightest covering, but it does look good.

Now, we are all out of school today because of inclement weather and hazardous road conditions. That is nice. I do not mind having another day off. It does kinds mess up how I teach and my lesson plans, but I can deal with that.

Did it seem to snow more when we were little? For some reason I think it did, but I am not going to discuss global warming or anything. Where I grew up it was flat as a pancake. We did not have any hills to slid down. We had the neighborhood sled and my Daddy took turns riding the neighborhood kids around the streets in the snow. He had to pull it behind the jeep and later a 3-wheeler. It was a cool sled. He made it out of plywood and 2x4s, and it was painted red. We still have it.

I was hoping to use it today. Daddy told me where is was at our hunting camp. It would have brought back a flood of memories. Here are a few:

* Jose Cuervo (little sister) wearing ziploc bags over her gloves so her hands would not get wet. ( We always had a wet snow.)

* Our snowmen never had 3 sections, just kinda 1 big blob. He had stick arms and usually had a baseball cap on. An sometimes waved a flag.

* My mother would not let us play in the back yard, because she like seeing the yard snow untouched. It was pretty.

* The neighboorhood set of brothers who always had their hats pulled down over their eyes so that they had to lean their head back to see. It looked stupid.

* Turning on the patio light at night and watching the snow fall over the patio. Daddy would put a chair there for me to sit in - thus began my weather fascination.

* Coming in the house wet from snow and stripping down to our long underwear. All the out clothes went into the dryer to dry and the boots went in front of the fireplace to warm up. We would just run around the house in the long-johns and drink hot chocolate.

If anyone actually reads this blog, I would ask for your snow memories. If you do happen to come across me. I would love a snow story!

The shame, The embarrassment, the horror of it all.

I have no clue where this quote came from. My friends and I said it a lot in high school and even now. We would say it even when someone had committed the slighted faux pas. But now I just have to say it is for real.

It is truly amazing how low people can sink. Sometimes it is because they make bad choices and other times it is because they are just not cut out for the job and are sucking wind.

I go back to school yesterday in a good mood and realize that yet again, there has been a big communication break down and it is affecting a student greatly. Incompetence! Does it seem like the higher paying job you have they less you have to do and know one cares and you can just be an idiot?!?

Then I get an email reply because I had some concerns. The Head Cheese is now backtracking on her word ( that mind you I have in writing). She then goes on to make excuses as to why the custodial staff on my hall did not sweep the rooms before Christmas Break. Pathetic excuses. Lame and idiotic.

And then finally, the email from a BMOC. Posting a job opening for a position that became open because of the tragic death of a young teacher over the break. No email about her passing was sent out. No mention of how to make memorials or show respect.

It is most shameful and embarrassing.

Nightmare in My Closet

I can't believe It but it is 1:15 in the morning and I am up blogging. I just had a horrific nightmare and could not lie there and dwell - so here I am.

Why do we have nightmares or dreams for that matter? When we sleep we close our eyes to rest, but why does our mind keep going? Why can"t it go into sleep mode? Time to fire up the google engine and do a little research.

Why we dream - no one knows why, but there are 6 major theories.

Freud - Out of all theories before his, and all of those today, this is the one that stands out the most. He believed that a dream represented an ongoing wish along with the previous days activities. They may even portray wishes that have been inside us since early childhood. In fact, he believed, every dream is partially motivated by a childhood wish. Another interesting idea was that nothing is made up during a dream and that they are biologically determined, derived completely from instinctual needs and personal experiences. (copied and pasted)

I just don't think my nightmare I just had is any wish. Just saying.

Jung - Jung, disagreeing with Freud's theory, quickly developed his own which contradicted Freud's. Jung believed the most effective method for dream interpretation was the use of series correlation. Freud didn't even believe interpretation was possible by the dreamer and that dreams could only be interpreted by a trained psychologist. Jung was the one who gave hope to all dreamers who were looking for the meaning in our dreams without having to hire a "professional."

Cayce ( Edgar maybe?) - When it came to the idea of dreams having purpose, Cayce's theory was a bit different then the others. He believed dreaming to be the bodies way of "self edification," which is the building up of the mental, spiritual, and physical well-being. It was a way of quickening the dreamer to his/her own human potential. By getting a good nights sleep, any person could develop more mature values, stretch their thinking, and right one's self.

Evan's - According to Evans, every time we go to sleep our brain disengages from the external world and uses this time to sort through and organize all the information that was taken in throughout the day. Sleep, especially during REM sleep, is when the brain becomes isolated for the sensory and motor neural pathways. During this time our data banks and program files are opened and become available for modification on re-organization, based on what happened during the day.
In this theory, we are not aware of the full array of processing that occurs during REM sleep. While we dream the brain comes back on-line for a short period of time and the conscious mind is allowed to observe a small sample of the programs that are being run. The brain attempts to interpret this information in the same way it would during the wakeful state, what is created from these samples of information is a dream. In a nutshell, dreams are nothing more than a minute amount of the information that is being scanned and sorted during REM sleep. I agree with this one so far. - I has potentially explained bad dreams.

Crick and Mitchinson - Crick and Mitchinson base their theory on the fact that the cortex, unlike other parts of the brain, is made up of richly interconnected neuronal networks in which each cell has the capacity to excite it's neighbors. It is believed that memories are encoded in these networks and when one point of the web is excited a pulse travels through the network prompting recall. The problem with such network systems is that they malfunction when there is an over load of incoming information. Too many memories in one network may produce either bizarre associations to a stimulus, which creates our fantasies, the same response whatever the stimulus, creating obsessions, or associations triggered without any stimulus, which creates hallucinations.
To deal with information overload, the brain needs a mechanism to debug and tune the network. This debugging mechanism would work best when the system was isolated from external inputs and it would have to have a way of randomly activating the network in order to eliminate spurious connections. This method, they say, is REM sleep and that the hallucinatory quality of dreams is nothing more than the random neural firing needed for the daily cleanup of the network.
According to this theory, these signals somehow erase the spurious memory associations formed during the previous day and we wake up with the network cleaned up. They believe that people remembering their dreams could help retain patterns of thought which are better forgotten, the same patterns that your system has attempted to clean out. This is why, they say, if you don't write down your dreams they will be forgotten because your brain is still working to clear these memories out.

C & M just expand on Evan's ideas and get pretty sciencey. Since I teach that I can appreciate it. And right now in my post nightmare alertness it makes me see where the dream came from. My brain was defragging - pretty cool. I guess I had not properly dealt with this issue and I slipped up on in accidentally in my sleep.

The title of this post comes from a book my brother had. It is about a little boy who really does have a nightmare in his closet. In the end, he is ok with that. I guess I am too now.

Night -Night.