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Well, Chris has shown up in my dreams. It was kind of strange to see my aunt and uncle again. It's been over a year since the accident. I never really got along with either one of them, but it was kind of nice to see them again.

I say kind of, because they decided to drop Chris off with me with absolutely no warning whatsoever and fucked off back to New York. Still traumatized, still mute, and me in the middle of a big case.

So my dream self did what was clearly the most logical thing, and dropped him off with the serial killing, drug dealing, horse race fixing, ballerina stealing, sweets-loving freak I've been investigating for the last year to babysit him.

Normally I'm down with dream me's decisions, but I'm really starting to think it's time he gets some actual friends.

I have a lot of questions about the dream I had last night. Like why I let D pretend I was his boyfriend why, when deciding to research how to defend against vampires, my first choice was to crack open a Playgirl magazine. And why Playgirl actually had answers. And what the hell is D And why my dreams decided I needed to have said magazine and a photo of D's grandpa. Who, coincidentally, looks exactly like D, except wearing normal clothes. It's downright creepy. That's definitely going in the bottom of the sock drawer.

Lying on the couch for days at a time is the most frustrating thing I've ever had to do. I'm pretty sure getting dream shot is worse than getting actually shot. Not that I'd know.

At least those same dreams gave my Gattolotto. It's nice to have something to talk to when Chris and Alex aren't around.

There is tres leches cake in my fridge. I want a piece of cake, but I keep hearing the voice of my aunt saying "Joe, you haven't had any dinner yet. You need to eat an actual meal before you have any cake."

*sigh* I'm an adult...I make good decisions...

You know what I miss? The good old days where if you wanted to get something off your fucking phone and onto your goddamn computer, you just used a USB cable and dragged and dropped. Why the fuck do they always have to make shit so goddamn complicated? I fucking downloaded like, three programs to figure this shit out and I still couldn't get the file off my fucking phone.

In other news, it looks like I'm going to need a new computer. And maybe a drywaller.

So, I have a question for private investigators here. In my dreams, I have a half-sister, and I was wondering if it's possible to try and look for her here? I'm not even sure she exists, but knowing how this life tends to parallel my dream life in many ways I figure it's worth at least looking. It's probably like looking for a needle in a haystack, but I...would really like to know if I have a half-sibling. Or even more than one, who even knows.

Had another dream last night. And man, D's taste never fails to fucking baffle. Around Christmas, I dreamed that D was juggling a mafia boss boyfriend with a dominatrix dentist girlfriend. ( Cut for mentions of cannibalism; no IC cut )

I took a couple of hard hits in that Orc attack. I should be used to those OC things now, especially around Star Wars day. This is the first time there have really been some injuries. All I have is my gun and a big ass knife. Oh, and tasers don't work for shit on them. Just an FYI for the next time. I tried it once and I think the thing smiled like I tickled it.

I feel awful. What's worse than feeling sick at work? The answer: not much - Except possibly being sick on a stakeout. Then all I want to do is sleep, but can't afford it.

I guess I'll be sleeping on the couch tonight.

Man, I thought my training was intense. Zootopia even more so!

I guess it doesn't help that there are so many different districts with unique situations. Sahara Square, Tundra Town, Rainforest District...there are 12 in total! Damn.

Needless to say, the beginning of it was not the best. Best not to talk about the toilet situation

But it seems that dream me is very much like me me. Determination and hard work paid off! Overcoming difficult situations usually just took a different approach. Here's hoping it pays off!

As I was thinking about some old pranks, a few of my favorites from my school days come to mind. So if anyone wants some good pranks ideas, my suggestion would be to text your mum or whoever with the phrase ‘got 2 grams for $40.’ If you’re not feeling that, then text a friend from an unknown number with ‘I’m pregnant’ and watch some great things unfold. The first got me in a lot of trouble, but it worked way too well. The second is just good fun and produced a few unexpected confessions among friends. Fair warning, you don't know what you are going to get.

How is everyone else doing?

I have to replace my entire bedroom set. And the carpet. And probably my front door because even though my dad’s tried to repair it I still don’t think I’m going to feel very safe sleeping there. Maybe I should just sell the house and get a fresh start all together

So I... I guess I've been here for over a semester now. Life here in California is so different than Seattle, and I think I'm never going to get used to this much sun. Or the random boughts of snow. I got some gorgeous photographs of it in December. It reminded me of this old snowglobe my friend used to have. That probably sounds kind of... stupid, really, but it does.

Life on my own is kind of okay, I guess, but I thought I'd love the freedom and instead I just keep missing my parents and their company. There's only so much space you can fill with tiny little squares of analog photographs. That's why I signed up here, so... hello, valar net. I'm Max... and I don't have any strange dreams to talk about. This place is pretty strange, but I guess you all know that already. I'm bad at this, so... what's your favorite photograph?

Had another dream last night. They usually don't come so close together. My department was forced to play babysitter to some political powder keg. Unsurprisingly, said powder keg blew up. Literally. I was pretty sure it was D so I tracked him down, but by the time I found him that morning they'd found the actual suspect. I'm still not convinced D wasn't up to something. Dude's shady as fuck.

On the bright side, all my complaining finally paid off and D actually had some eggs and vegetables to give me for breakfast instead of the sweets he's normally got lying around. The eggs were kinda weird, but not too bad.

You know, as a bartender I hear some pretty crazy things from people once they’ve had a few libations. Yesterday evening a guy insisted that Daylight Savings Time was a government conspiracy designed to bolster Big Electric and as such he was going to refuse to observe it. He doesn’t believe in time zones either, apparently. Not entirely sure how that’s working out for him, but it was pretty funny to listen to.

Man, last night was so fucking great, right up until I fell asleep. Apparently, hockey games make for great fucking dates. Who knew? The Ducks kicked the Star's ass, too. Now I'm going to have to find a copy of The Mighty Ducks for Chris to watch. Too bad Blockbuster isn't a thing anymore.

Too bad I had to finish the night by having another fucking Dream. I have seen way too many bodies that were half-eaten by animals lately. Ugh I'm going to be sick. This hangover is not helping.

Yeeesss! Looks like my dry spell has finally ended! I've finally got myself a super hot new girlfriend, and just in time for Valentine's Day. Hope she's not expecting expensive jewelry for it like the last one. She's a model, and she's gonna be big guys.

( Picture behind cut )

Well with the sun back in place thank goodness, besides the random snow (?) in 80* weather, things appear back to as normal as they get here. Also for concerns about the water, rest assured it has been tested and shows no signs of contamination or poison and is again drinkable/useable.

What do I get after a long day of work? First, I get to see my son, who is battling sniffles. He has somehow latched on to this puka shell necklace that was sitting on an end table, and he won't let it go. The necklace is from the dreams, and I am not into puka shell anything, but why won't he let it go? I also love him to bits, and I don't really care, but why does he have a death grip on it. Never underestimate the strength of an 8 month old.

Ugh, Taxes. Not my favorite time of year. My accountant retired last year, and I should have found a new EA at the time, but I foolishly thought that I could handle it all myself! Laughworthy.

Does anyone have a trustworthy accountant or EA on the books that they might recommend?

God, these Dreams really piss me off. Just picturing Count D's smug little grin grinds my gears. And he's obviously doing it on purpose. I dreamed that I arrested a pickpocket, and then the Count posted bail for him. The Count claims it was because the guy bought some animal from his shop, but the hell kind of business practice is not only sell animals to homeless pickpockets but to post their goddamn bail when they're caught in the act. And the Chief's one of his customers too. Why???

He's clearly just doing this to get under my skin. Well it's not going to work, you creepy little turd.

'Santa' sure as hell spoiled my kid this year. I never thought I'd see every inch of my house covered in toys. What's happened to my life?

So, I take it snow in December is kind of a tradition here in SoCal? You know, I wouldn't mind it so much if I still had my car. Riding a motorcycle in the snow is a guaranteed way to break your freaking neck.

You know, if I wanted to live in a goddamn winter wonderland I'd move to Canada or something. I'm just glad that I d9nt have to deal with traffic anymore. We've had dozens of accidents since the white stuff started falling. Mostly fender benders, but seems like everyone forgets how to drive as soon as this shit hits the ground. You'd think they'd be used to it after a few years of this.

Chris is excited though. Six-year-olds get excited about the dumbest things. I googled things to do in the snow. We don't have a yard or anything like that, but I think I'll take him to the park after school today to make maple taffy and maybe have a snowball fight. If anyone wants to come along, the more the merrier.

Speaking of Chris, his seventh birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks here. I've got no idea what I'm supposed to do. I guess I could just make reservations at Chuck E. Cheese, but then I'd be expected to pay for all his little friends, wouldn't I? I definitely can't afford that on my salary.

You know, before this year, the only thing I liked about Christmas was that it had all the best movies. But Chris is pretty excited for Christmas and I guess it's rubbing off. So I've been thinking of showing him my favourite things about Christmas.

Is six years old too young to spend the month watching Lethal Weapon and all the Die Hard movies?

So, in case anyone was wondering, [Name of Insurance Company] does not cover Acts of Grimm.

During the chaos over Halloween a huge wolfish looking thing landed on my car and completely flattened it.

Better it than me, though.

Cheers to everyone who came out Saturday night for the bonfire! Thankful I had today off so I could have some recoop. Seriously, alcohol and fire don't make a great combo, but at least I have my eyebrows!

I still need practice on toasting the perfect marshmallow though.

OOC: If Rose has spoken to you once, please assume she invited you to this bonfire because she's better at keeping in touch with friends than Spoon is on posting things in time >.<

You know, kind of thinking I might lose my girlfriend in a bookstore if I'm not careful.

I wait all year for Count Chocula, Booberry and Frankenberry cereal to hit the shelves.

This year I'm stocking up.

First Halloween with a baby. I won’t be dressing up, but I might put Liam in a costume. Are there any 5 month old costumes that aren’t too cutesy?

Well, the original plan had been to send Chris to some fancy boarding school just outside of LA, but it turns out that didn't happen. And I lost my goddamn tuition deposit, son of a bitch. So, he started going to a public school instead.

So far so good, I think. Though it's becoming increasingly more obvious that I'm going to need to move into a bigger apartment if he's going to be staying with me during school. Nothing like nearly breaking your toe on the stupid hide-a-bed that takes up nearly the whole living room.

And I guess I should probably get one of those child shrinks too. This forum seems to be filled with crazies, so I'm sure someone has a recommendation.

I love barbecuing on the long weekend. Even Liam seemed to enjoy it. What he isn't enjoying is his new teeth. He hasn't been too fussy, but the little biter has gotten me a couple of times.

Private: Veronica
What are you up to? I've been thinking about something.

Round #3 with Hellmaster (may it be the last ever, peace out jerkface) went a little differently then I'm used to - Lord of Nightmares just went whoosh out of my body after Big Bad Destruction happened, no bargaining necessary - but I can't complain. My hair's not blonde, nothing's going into the abysmal toilet of nothingness, it's a good day. Now the next adventure involves finding the Stupid Swordsman a new legendary sword because his got transported back into its rightful overlord, and some idiot village mayor tried to convince me Excalibur was real so I punched him in the face. I don't know how I didn't get arrested but, well, can't complain there either.

In other news, Pete and I are looking for a doctor in our lovely dream community whose got some experience with genetics. We want to get our recently mobile child tested for this mutant gene, and I know there's a couple of you out there who might know someone?

( PM to John Constantine )

You know, aside from having a Facebook that I use mostly to look at car pictures, I can't say I've ever used one of these social media things. One of my coworkers pointed me here after my babysitter bailed last minute and I had to bring my kid brother into work with me.

So, guess I should introduce myself. Name's Leon, 24, and I'm single, ladies. I like surfing, football, basketball, baseball, cars, and locking up criminals.

Oh, and I'm looking for a cheap (like, really cheap. Not that I'm broke or anything. I could still take a girl out for a nice dinner), reliable babysitter who can watch a kid during strange hours until the end of the month.

I have to say, in all my travels I have not seen a social network site that is localized in such a manner as this. What's with all this dream

So help a girl out who's been gone for the past 14 years, any yoga studio suggestions? Or suggestions in general I guess but right now I'm more focused on finding a yoga studio.

I love summer. It's my favorite time of year. Work slows down.

I think it's time to go on vacation, but we are traveling with an infant. Ideas?

In a month, we are going to have a baby.

"No, honey, you are not even fat. I don't even notice." I'm so good at saying that.

Seriously though, I am so ready.

I swear to god, if those assholes who are building a condo next to my apartment wake me by blasting Lady Gaga or whatever shitty ass pop star it is at six in the morning one more time, I'm going to go out there and arrest every single one of them for disturbing the peace.

Maybe it's time I move into a bigger place anyway. I wrote my Sergeants exam the other day, so with any luck I might get a promotion soon.

[Private to Revy]
You wanna look at some places with me?

It's a bit odd to not be preparing to go into work tomorrow. I'm using this week to work from home since my due date is quickly approaching and by that I mean next Monday. I'll be available phone and computer if I'm truly needed, but otherwise I'll probably be half-assing it a bit.

I'm so ready for little Rogers to show up already. My parents arrive tomorrow and I've got so much going on, but everything is prepared. Fingers crossed everything goes well.

I've had a set of healing herbs carried over from the dream fairy aside from Dream Set #2 and behold, it was a saving grace - woke up with my windpipe not in the best shape thanks to an assassin in Dream Set #3 that snuck into my bedroom and almost choked me to death while staying in a castle. Someone didn't skimp on the money it took to hire a killer with some credibility, and it turns out this guy's never missed a target up until my swordsman pal heard the scuffle and barged in (wearing pajamas) to fight him off me. Nothing gets by Gourry, not even sneak attacks in the room next to him. It's like having a guard dog.

And now begins that reliable, stable cycle of being hunted, losing sleep, paranoia, another possible end of the world scenario caused by yours truly, but who knows. This one's got enough variance that it might go down differently. I'm still waiting for the fruitcake in cheap priest robes to show up and troll me appropriately.

Anyway, I stumbled upon the princess I named my daughter after and I hope, hope that I didn't curse my kid into fulfilling her namesake's reputation. Which involves longwinded speeches of justice and truth, while standing up in a high place, in the face of danger, like the demons she's talking to are about to realize the error of their ways and stop doing what demons do.

National potato chip day. I've been craving Cool Ranch Doritos like crazy. I don't think that counts as potato chips but close enough.

Also I don't do this often but thanks to everyone that came to the baby shower. And Cindy and Lina for throwing it. Logan now his work cut out for him with the nursery. Pretty sure I have Lina to thank for all the presents.

The house feels pretty empty.

I completely forgot what it was like to Dream. It has been so long since I've had any Dreams that I wasn't expecting this to happen and was completely caught off guard.

I knew where my Dreams had left off and it was basically on a cliffhanger, but nothing prepared me to be dropped back into them and immediately into battle. I had to do battle with someone who has been back and forth across the lines of bad and good when it comes to my life. Unfortunately he became a casualty this time around and I woke up with the guilt of the situation looming over me. Not a great start to my Sunday.

How do you know when the Dreams are over?

Like sacrificing yourself so your team can get away and getting captured and carted off to the place where Jedi go to die...that seems pretty final, right?

Three months. I'm getting really excited about this. The time feels like it's dragging.

30 weeks today, which means this pregnancy is so close to being over. I'm thrilled. Don't get me wrong, it's not completely horrible, but I can't wait to be back to a normal size and not wobbling around every where.

And since this slipped my brain thanks to the baby - I wanted to let everyone know that Steve and I are engaged. Nothing has really been planned yet due to the pregnancy, but you never know what could happen when I'm sitting around on maternity leave or if I get stuck on bed rest. But it's at least a good start to a new year that will be full of life changes.

Right after Christmas we get to find out what we are having. I'm excited. Blue or pink?

Leon - you better not be taking bets.

Shoutout to all the Veterans out there, and those currently serving!

Thank you for your service, and Happy Veteran's Day! All of you make me proud to be an American.

Just out of curiosity, has anyone on this Network ever had a Dream (capital D dream) outside of Orange County? While on vacation, perhaps, or a business trip? I never have, though I've been away from the County several times since I started Dreaming.

Are you fucking kidding me? I have been waiting for months to start dreaming again, and instead of something new, I get Attack of the Man Eating Bunnies ver. 2.0: the extra fucking creepy version.

I guess this would be the second set of dreams I've heard people talking about. I didn't even finish my first.