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I've had several dreams over the last couple of days. Wasn't quite expecting to dream so much this week. I usually have a dream a week, sometimes less. The latest dreams I've had included an innocent man dying before he could be exonerated for a murder that he didn't commit. The evidence to prove it resulted in the death of another innocent man because he happened to be transporting it. The original victim was the daughter of a senator and unfortunately because of his mother, he never knew about her until the end of the case. In another dream, I learned not to trust an escort because they might be playing me. I will admit, I got played. In another one, Alexis was helping out in the precinct while we worked on a case of a man who had a wife and a fiancée claim him. It seemed like the engagement with the second woman was just a cover because the victim was working for a competing company and trying to find their secret to success to bring back to his company. That would be too much for me. Despite the case, it was nice going into the precinct with Alexis, even though I worried about her the entire time.

I haven't had a dream in months - not since the one where I was shot. But I woke up this morning and there were new items from my dreams on the bedside table.

My mother's engagement ring and my father's watch. Two items that my parents still have and wear here, but that I owned in the dreams.

I'm not sure what it means, or even if it means anything, but it's certainly weird and just a bit unsettling. Because I know I was shot, I had the bruise on my chest for weeks where the bullet entered my body in the dreams and without anything to follow it up, I assumed I had died in them.

But, now, I'm questioning that and, scariest of all? If I didn't die, what actually happened?

Oh my god! April the giraffe finally had her baby! I've been watching the life feed on and off and I happened to have it on this morning when it happened. Not gonna lie, it's kind of amazing to watch. Did anyone else see it?

This is so awesome! I woke up this morning and found a couple of interesting things. First, was my first rejection letter for the first book dream me wrote. That's not too awesome because it is a rejection letter, but it was my first one and I know dream me knows how significant it is. Second, was that first book In a Hail of Bullets. I've seen a couple of my books already because Kate got them, but this one is mine.

However, since it is Easter weekend, I can't think about the book too much because it is time to prepare for war. Peep war, that is. This year it is going to be the twins versus Alexis and I. I am hoping experience will prove to be superior in this war, but the twins have the creativity of their youth on their side. It's going to be an interesting and ultimately fun day!

I would just like to recognize all the other parents, guardians, and otherwise patient souls who have spent the day with a kitchen that smells like vinegar and hard-boiled eggs. I've got a dog who has a streak of green and a pool of hot pink staining his beige fur because my darling daughter knocked half the dye onto the floor when she got too excited about her purple egg being ready and forgot about all the other colors.

I also might be tapping into her college tuition fund to replace this marble countertop if the stain remover doesn't work.

Easter is stressful. Every year I think it'll be a nice quiet holiday. And every year I'm proven wrong.

I want to go to there

I know it's the last day of March and tomorrow is a special day for me, but I am ready for it to be July. I need more Game of Thrones and the trailer just teases it. At least I have plenty of time to rewatch the entire series if I want to.


[Kate]

I was going to say something tomorrow, but I decided you probably wouldn't believe me and thought I'd tell you today. I wrote something. It's not exactly like the books dream me has written and not fanfiction. Between what you've said to me and dream me, I found some time. Would you like to read it?

Also, what are your plans for tomorrow?

So I don't know if anyone's heard, but someone blew it by announcing early the crayola Crayon color that's retiring tomorrow on National Crayon Day.

( Spoiler alert )

Crayola Announces Retired Color Crayon



Point of interest: scroll down and watch the old school Sesame Street video on how crayons are made, or probably were made. I'd think the process now is probably way more automated.

I am supposed to be focusing on my schoolwork, but one of my friends in the UK sent me a link and now I am incredibly distracted by this...

So this bunny cop (still hilarious) has decided I need to help her out with this missing otter. His name is Emmett Otterton. What a name for an otter. Basically I told her I had things to do and people to see, but somehow I doubt that's going to be enough for her. She's especially annoying. And by annoying, I mean persistent.

I'm not saying I want to disobey the sign and do this.

But I can say it makes me really, really curious to know exactly why this sign was necessary. I feel there's a story here.

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This may be showing my age, or reluctance to deal with certain popular apps, but I have finally given in and started using Spotify.

I may never get anything accomplished again. There's simply too much music I like. I've already created twenty playlists.

I CANNOT!

I have ceased to be. Whyyyyyyy?????? It's too cute. Someone hold me.

I dreamed about Halloween again, though there was a lot more to it than just dressing up as a space cowboy. There was a murder that seemed to involve vampires and werewolves. Unfortunately, they were not real, which was a bit of a disappointment. I was helpful for the case. Apparently, dream me has a lot of connections with just about everyone for almost everything you can possibly imagine. Then there was another dream about a singer whom Alexis is a fan of. Alexis ended up helping a lot with that case.

But enough with the dreams today. I'm taking the kids to see Beauty and the Beast. Has anyone seen it yet?

[Kate]

Would you and Lily like to join us for the movie?

I dreamt that the book I was writing about Kate was released and that brought about a big decision. I could continue writing the Nikki Heat series or take a three book deal to write about a certain British secret agent. That sounded really exciting. I guess I decided to stick with writing more Nikki Heat books because dream me turned down the offer to write someone else's character. And I get to stick around at the precinct to write those new books. Other things that happened, the boys teased me with an outlandish lie about a case because I was late showing up to the crime scene. Then Alexis teased me about my space cowboy costume for Halloween. I really like the costume, I'll have to remember it for this next Halloween.

So the contents of my dreams involve solving homicides, but there are some dreams that are like watching a movie play out. This latest dream, parts of it, have to be my favorite thus far. It starts out with me eating popcorn at the station because it's a full moon and that's when all the crazies are out. Then, Kate and I were investigating a murder and Ryan and Espo were investigating another. We, meaning me and the boys, placed bets on who would solve it first. Turns out, the cases are connected. It was very much Strangers on a Train. Or Strangers on a Boat in this case because the strangers met on a boat while traveling for work.

So after making a big deal about getting this jumbo elephant popsicle for my 'not actually my child' son, I guess we decided the next plan of action was melting down said popsicle and collecting the juice into jars. I don't know what we're going to do with that, but I'm sure there's a reason for it.

I am still pretty sure that this is the stupidest shit I have ever dreamt about. I'm not going to deny that it sounds like something I would do, but without all the pieces, I can't say for sure that it's something I would do. Would have done, really.

I've spent most of the day grading papers and flipping through Netflix originals. There sure are a lot of them now. It's been a good distraction for today, especially since Dream!Kate is annoyed with me for doing something I promised I'd never do. Dream!me couldn't help it, he just had to know. I think it's given the case a fresh new look. And I think she was also annoyed by the reporter that was tagging along to the crime scene too.

The new leader of the country quoted a Batman villain in his speech. My brain hurts, my soul is sad, and I'm still considering moving to Paris. They have macarons.

You know, if I were still living in New York I'd be pissed off about the snow, especially since it's indefinitely postponed the trip that I'd planned for Lily and me to take during this last week of her school vacation. But it's actually been kind of magical watching it come down and cover the backyard and the beach. It's the sort of thing I'd never really have taken the time to appreciate in Manhattan because it was usually just another day with bothersome snow that slipped between your coat and your sweater on the walk to the subway or made it impossible to hail a cab.

But I'm quite amenable to snow when all I've got to do is sit inside drinking coffee and watching movies with my kid. She's dying to go outside and play in it, but not while the wind is howling and the snow is falling so thickly that we can't see the neighboring houses.

(Private to Castle)
Though, once the snow clears a bit, I do have an idea involving you, your mom, and the kiddos.

And Meredith, if she's still there. But I hope she isn't.

Have you ever watched a show and you see a character and think "that's me!"

I've been watching a lot of Bob's Burgers and I think I may be Louise Belcher personified.

There's no way to ask without sounding insane, so I'm just going to go for it.

Has anyone else ever had a Dream where you woke up injured in some way or.....you know....died?

Because I think I did.

I do love this season - decorations are going up, gifts being purchased. Christmas time is just so lovely. It's a little different now, but that's alright.

My family can't make it out here this year for Christmas, so if I want their gifts to make it across country by Christmas I have to finish their shopping soon. Considering how unpredictable weather is in New England and there'a a good chance we'll probably get snow again, I need to get it all sent out soon. I might try and do most of it on Amazon or elsewhere online cause then I can just have it sent to my parents' house and don't have to deal with the post office here.

I'm also debating on whether or not I'm gonna get a full tree or a small tree this year.

Between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, I am done shopping for Christmas. This has never happened to me before. Usually, I'm still trying to buy up until Christmas Eve. I'm sure all this free time will give me plenty of time to reflect on the dreams I've been having.

The most recent dreams I've had are really intriguing. One dealt with rituals that has peeked my interest to learn more about it. Plus my first ex-wife made an appearance too, which I had not been expecting. Then another dream started with a supposed death twenty years prior to the death that happened in the present. Turns out that the woman everyone thought was dead, was still alive. And the best part of my dreams had to be seeing my little girl looking all grown up and going to prom (though I'm not at all ready for her to be a grown up and not needing me).

So I'll admit I'm a little curious.

Does anyone else have dreams that very closely mirror their actual life?

Would people like to come to this with me?

As much as I try not to think about it I can't help it.

I think Halloween will forever be scarred in my mind as the day that I die in my dreams. It's a horrible thing to mar a holiday I truly enjoy, but such is life.

The small bright point is I can totally dress up in my school robes and carry around my wand like it's a regular day.

Halloween is easy when you work in movies, and know some epic makeup artists.

Well this is convenient of the dreams to leave for me, right before Halloween no less. I guess I have a new costume to try out now.

( Cut for image )

I've been so busy at work trying to learn everything that I just realised I never gave a thought to Halloween. I won't 'celebrate it', been years since I've done so but the fact that I haven't even bought sweets could be problematic. I guess I'll have to find time to run out to the store and pray that everyone here hasn't already bought everything! Though given I still live close to the College I don't imagine that there would be too many young children coming by.

Lily isn't really into the traditional "girl" stuff, and she really never has been. Sure, she likes dolls and princesses well enough, but she's always gravitated to other characters that most people would say are for boys.

I've encouraged her to love what she loves and not worry about any of that, so when she asked to be Han Solo for Halloween I went out and bought her all the stuff that she would need. And last week when she asked if Yoshi could come trick or treating as her Chewbacca I got online and ordered a bandolier for the dog.

She's been so excited to wear her costume to school, so when I picked her up this afternoon as she was in tears I asked what happened.

Some kids made fun of her, called her names, questioned her sexuality (she's six), and have convinced my sassy, amazing, spirited daughter that she is weird and that she shouldn't go out Monday with the other neighborhood kids because they will also make fun of her.

I'm appalled, angry, and heartbroken all at once.

Do you ever dream yourself doing something and wish you could shake yourself? That's me more often than not when it comes to the dream. Why why why?

In news that doesn't involve dreams, I might have far too many geodes in my room and a floor full of accidental glitter. I mean, I meant to do stuff with glitter, but I didn't mean for it to fall on the floor and spill everywhere. Sorry, Sam.

Woke up from what I guess is a coma and got home, and there was a car. Not just a car, but my red 1958 Chevrolet Bel Air Impala Sport Coupe - the one I drove in the Underworld, in dreamland. Sexy stuff, right?

Also an ambrosia tree now in the backyard. You know, food of the gods. Absorbs magic, you need to eat some of it to escape the Underworld, etc etc. I cut it down in dreamland but now it's back like that pesky neighbor always bringing by tuna casserole. Maybe I'll actually keep it around this time though - never know when you need a plant that soaks up magic like a sponge.

I guess the point of this is that don't fall into a coma if you can help it. Man, that sucked. At least it happened well before my movie premiere.

I think I've had one of those dreams that everyone talks about since um, yeah, I was a rabbit. It started off when I was young, I'd say around first or second grade age, and we were having a talent show at the Carrot Days Festival. Myself and some classmates did a little play about how anyone could be anything they wanted, and of course I wanted to be a police officer. My parents weren't too happy about it after the fact, and they tried to talk to me about not setting such big goals for myself in life. I honestly don't know what they were going on about since I saw this fox named Gideon Gray pushing around a couple of other kids and I went to help them out.

He bullied them out of their tickets, and I confronted him about it. I landed a decent kick to his face, then he got me back by scratching my face with his claws. Still, in the end I managed to get the others their tickets back, and my little bunny self is even more dedicated to becoming a police officer now.

I've been having a lot more of those Dreams lately. There seems to be a lot of misdirection in finding the killer and that it takes a lot of time. First there's the dead body in the dryer, then a game of Russian roulette with teens that reminded me of when I was in private school. Dead bodies in real life, not fun, but these dreams are a bit fun or I've enjoyed them so far. I think Kate and I make a great team. And I totally understand now what Kate means that Nikki Heat is a stripper name. I think it's cool. I don't know what sort of mystery titles dream me has come up with, but I can think of a lot of awesome titles!


[Alexis]

Hey, kid. I'm thinking of carving pumpkins this weekend with viewings of kid friendly Halloween movies. You up for it?

See? I went and spoke too soon! I think. I mean..how do you know it's a dream, or a Dream?

So I am a kid again, like three tops. And doing my kid thing, coloring, singing, but a generally annoyingly adorable child (hah! Beat you to the 'annoying' part Regulus and Sirius). And then? Out of the freaking blue my skin turns PLAID. Plaid people. It was awesome.

Not so awesome was the reminder that Mom's side of the bio family (minus the two awesome dudes mentioned above) pretty much hate the idea of me. But whatevs!

Hallmark has just announced its Christmas movie lineup!

I know they're cheesy, but I love them so much.

It's Winnie-the-Pooh's 90th Birthday today.

I remember my mum reading me the Winnie-the-Pooh stories when I was a kid and it's definitely among the must read list for my kids. I loved being read to and I think it's what encouraged my love of books.

....apartment blown up while you shower by a serial killer with a fixation on your fictional alter ego isn't exactly a good start to the week.

Castle, this book you wrote in my Dreams is really a pain in the ass. And I hate her name. Nikki Heat? It sounds like she should be a stripper rather than a cop. I also might be dead, in which case I'll be kicking your ass in reality because I can't do it in the other one.

....I don't think you can get used to these dreams. They've been happening for months now, and I thought nothing could be as bad as experiencing my mom's death. And then I found the man who was ordered to kill her, the man who promised to tell me the name of who ordered the hit, and I had to kill him before he gave me the information.

I shot him to save someone else; to protect someone simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. On some level I knew it could happen, I chose to become a cop, and cops live with the reality of that decision every day but it still weighs on me. Living or dreaming, I keep thinking about it.

Not least of all because I've seen that man before. He's currently serving consecutive life sentences for murder and attempted murder.

This sucks.


[filtered to Richard Castle]
I need a favor.

I have the weirdest conversations with my dad. I really do. And half the time I can't even figure out how we got on a particular topic. Like tonight we somehow ended up on the topic of makeup and beauty products and the fact that I really need to find some kind of tutorial online on how to use an eyelash curler since the brush set I bought to replace my old ones came with one. And my dad drops this on me "Well if you lived closer sweetheart I could teach you how to use it. I taught your sisters after all."

It will officially be fall in a few days and then it'll be October and Halloween! One of my two favorite times of the year!

I realize that I must be getting those weird dreams now too. The dream me has a very similar, yet different life. Instead of living here my whole life, I was living in New York. And the police were asking for my help with a case. I guess I was a writer and the guy was using my books for inspiration? Weird.

[Kate Beckett]

Dream me seems to be a mystery writer.

Okay that was an odd dream. I guess it was one of them. Just hard to imagine not knowing someone in the dreams when you've known them nearly all if not all of your life.

Anyone else in that situation?

Dad / Kate

Do you guys dream?

Has anyone checked out the new challenges on Fitbit? I did the Vernal Falls one today and it's interesting. If you haven't checked it out, it certainly does create a new type of challenge for you to not only hit your step goal but to go above and beyond. There's only a couple, but there may be more. I hope there is, like "climbing" Mount Everest, someplace I may never get a chance to see in person. I think I'll find it extremely helpful once the fall term starts too, to give me motivation to move around during my down time.

My last couple weeks of vacation are making me more anxious than before when I had the whole summer ahead of me. Anyone want to get a drink or something this week? Or play pool, or hell go to the pool I don't know. Anything where I'm not just thinking of how many sets of eyes will actually be on me on repeat like a bad horror flick?

I've finally found the coffee mug I need for long days at work.

You know I have to say, I never expected to see a real live version of someone losing a balloon and hear a violin start playing in the background. Thank you, Downtown Disney for proving me wrong.

So, there are upsides and down sides to maternity leave. One downside is the almost self imposed isolation, I mean really he's almost two months old and I'm still making a production about possibly taking him outside, despite the fact that he's totally ready for it. Apparently, Orange County has made me paranoid and I really have to pack almost everything to take out on little trips.

But then, the upsides are pretty fantastic...
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Alright, all you pumpkin spice and Halloween people, stop trying to rush the fall. August might be almost over, but summer isn't quite over yet. Lets enjoy the rest of it while it lasts before ushering in the fall.