I've always found it a bit strange

how sometimes things that happen in my dreams have such a large effect on my waking life. Every once in a while, I have a dream that features a real person that I know, who features as that person (and usually in the same type of relationship that we're in in real life), and something happens in the dream which is so real and vivid that it affects how I view that person outside of the dream. The effect isn't permanent -- but sometimes it's way more long-lasting than feels comfortable. For example, at one point when Joel and I were still in the agonizing "are we dating, are we not" stage, I dreamt that he ran into me on campus and invited me to have lunch with him the next day (an actual lunch date! progress!), because coming to visit was some one very important to him that he wanted me to meet (he wants me to meet people important to him! progress!). That person was an ex-girlfriend (!) of his who was visiting from Iowa, who was bringing with her his four year old daughter (!!!!!!!). I woke up from that dream so spitting mad that I could hardly be civil to him at all the next day, and it was weeks before the memory of it didn't trigger the same reactions.

Well I had another dream of that type last night about someone I know involved in some events that just never would happen in real life, and the couple hour period after waking up where I have to adjust to it not having actually happened, despite having clear and vivid memories of it, is disorienting. I'm always afraid I'm going to make some reference to "what happened", forgetting that it was actually a dream.