Sometimes when you dream you wake up and wonder WTF was that? Or you laugh because it is was just plain silly. You could be my daughter who woke up the other day after a good dream about a friend from school saying, "It was a good dream, I'm going to keep it."

The other night I had a dream that was terrifying and made me not want to go back to sleep. As scary as it was to my unconscious, it was frighteningly clear to my conscious self. There is no hidden symbolism in a dream where you are moving to higher ground in a constant effort to escape tidal waves.

When I get overwhelmed by tasks and life it is my tendency to revert to list making. It seems scary at first, to put down everything that needs to be done, but it is incredibly satisfying to cross things off the list. Even the act of making the list serves to put perspective on all that seems overwhelming.

When I couldn't sleep after the tidal wave dream I woke up and immediately starting making lists. House stuff, articles, quilts on the go, deadlines, Christmas presents, and more. Then Hubby offered to take the girls with him on an out of town errand (he's home for a week!). I decided to put all the must do items aside and tackle something that a) would make me happy to work on and b) would be quick to finish. Conveniently, I'd basted two quilts at our Modern Quilt Guild sew night on the weekend.

So I turned on the stereo, made a cup of hot cocoa, and in between loads of laundry (a good break for the shoulders) got 3/4 of my Values Quilt quilted. The snow was falling, my Cuban music blaring, and I felt myself get calmer with every stitch. There will be no tidal waves for a few days at least.