lydamorehouse | My Subconscious Is NOT Subtle (Reply)

Last night, before bed, I was reading the New York Times (because, as I said, we now get it daily, delivered, as part of a Christmas present that Shawn bought for herself.) There was a big article in the front page states about various states re-opening for business. So, last night I had a dream that does not need any fancy interpretation because it went like this:

I am in a house that is my house, but isn't this house, like you have in dreams. I'm doing something in the spacious kitchen when the back door bell rings. It's a stranger who says they're here for the meeting. I let them in and show them to the living room. I excuse myself to go find Shawn and find out what this meeting is that's happening in the house and if I should make desert or something?? I find Shawn and she's all, "Oh, yeah, the GOVERNOR designated our house for the big school board meeting. I think we're expecting over a thousand people?" This is where I lose my mind. I run to the bathroom and start crying because I'm totally panicked. A thousand people? Where will they sit? My house isn't READY! I don't have snacks! I don't even have A THOUSAND CHAIRS!!

At this point the dream morphs into one of my bathroom dreams, because I eventually woke myself up needing to pee. But, holy crap, subconscious, why not just just use neon paint and billboards!?

I'm surprised I dreamed about this little panic, since we had another near-heart attack yesterday. Shawn was getting ready for yet-another video meeting and she suddenly swears. Turns out, the director of MNHS had been added to her usually-fairly casual check-in with her boss... there is a second wave of furloughs looming and we both thought that this might be it. Turns out, this time, no, but there was a lot of heart pounding freaking out happening for about twenty minutes before the call actually started. Shawn is, in point of fact, expecting to be on furlough at some point during this upcoming fiscal year, just not YET.

The history center is having all the same financial problems as a lot of cultural institutions. They can't make their usual operating budget, because a decent portion of that is dependent on ticket sales to the museum. They're expecting the usual state funding to fall short, as well, since a lot of the state's budget is generated through sales tax and people aren't getting haircuts, etc.

Right now, however, Shawn is our ONLY source of income for the household. Mason is furloughed, and the public libraries (where I work very part time) are still mostly closed (although I think Ramsey is one of the ones doing curbside pick-up.)

This is one of those worries I feel a little bad reporting on because I know things are far more grim for a lot more people. Shawn didn't lose her job, but a LOT of people already have... with, I'm sure, many more on the way. The history center is trying very hard to make this a pause in work rather than a loss of work. That doesn't seem to be true everywhere, however.

Enough of that.

Today seems to be grey and... moist, no real rain that I can see, but everything looks kind of damp and the clouds imply that they would like to spritz if not actually full-on rain. If it just stays gloomy, I might try to go out for a walk.