christina's advice column

I'm Christina, and I'm 27. I tend to be brutally honest when I give advice or an opinion. I don't tell people what they want to hear but rather what they need to hear. They don't always appreciate it at first, but I usually get a thank you in the end.

I have 15 tattoos, and 8 piercings. I'm married and just gave birth to a baby boy in May. I'm currently a SAHM so you can find me taking care of my son and binge-watching television while he naps.

advice

I haven't had a nightmare in like years I think! But this dream I can remember vividly. I was supposed to wake up like 2-3 hours ago because I have work to finish, but I decided to snooze a little and then the dream came. First I looked into the driveway at my house and my mom's car was there. next second I look and some mysterious blue jeep has appeared! I tell my dad (who isn't even home right now.. he's in Texas) and he opens the door and talks to the guy to give our car back.. I never saw this guy, btw. I think I can scarcely recall him backing out with my mom's car though. Anyways, so I start going towards the basement.. and my dad keeps talking to the guy to give back our car. I see my dad start to back away and is just like "okay you can go!" but the intruder comes in. by this point Im really scared and lock myself in the basement. I hear the intruder come in the house and punch or kick my dad hard. Then I hear a thud. And Im freaking out. I have a little brother but he wasn't in the dream.. but I think my sister was.. I just hoped that she was okay because she's going through depression now and is on medication and didn't want her to go through anything else. I am not sure if he went upstairs to the bedrooms to check if she was there and attack her though. Anyways so I think he hears me run down the basement stairs (I regret not doing it before when he wasn't in the house yet) and he comes and tries to open the door but finds its locked. I then turn off all the lights and go to hide in the closet right under the basement stairs. The intruder upstairs says things.. like he's gonna come get me. my basement is furnished btw. anyways, my safe refuge of the closet suddenly exposes me.. which is impossible but I think my mind was thinking of the way my closet was before it was fixed up, with the holes between the wood, revealing who was hiding under the staircase. Anyways, I figured the closets were an obvious hiding spot, too. But when I hid there I was thinking of sometimes how I hide there like if I was in the basement and wasnt supposed to, cause my parents wouldn't look there. but this intruder would be very vigilant about finding me, I supposed. Anyways, so I go hide at this other spot near the air filter is.. and hide next to some beds. I hear the intruder throwing things at the door to try and open it. I hope he doesnt have a gun and that my other family members are still alive and not too hurt. Its weird because a few days earlier like not in the dream, I thought about where I'd hide if someone intruded and I was in the basement.. and it was that exact spot. Its not even the best spot.. geez, all houses need hiding spaces. like if he just walked around the bed he would have seen me on the floor. Anyways, for some reason I couldnt call 911! my phone suddenly got more complicated and wouldnt dial the right numbers. so I did the voice recognition which usually works and it dials 993 instead. how 3 sounds like 1 i have no idea. And then there was also some list which read things like "fire department" and etc.. I should have just dialed the fire department cause that was the closest thing to 911! but for all i know, my finger magically would call some other number instead. So i am unable to get help right when I hear the door blast open. I hear the guy coming down the stairs.. I am scared as f**** right then. Its hard for me to swallow.. it feels like my tongue is too big or something. and then before I could even meet the intruder (I imagined him to be some hick guy with a beard) I suddenly wake up and feel like WTF! my alarm clock was ringing since I pressed snooze.. so there's a good chance it was ringing the whole time. I feel all freaked out and then realize it was a dream.. that my dad is in texas so it cant be real. and that my mom is at work with her car. but still.. Im writing this like an hour after I woke up. I still feel a bit scared about the events.. they were so vivid. Im hoping to forget about them. But I want to know what it means so I can solve what the dream is trying to tell me.

I mean right now I feel pretty stressed out because I have midterms at school, and I procrastinate too much and haven't studied. I actually woke up this early in the morning to study a bit and do make up work (I have make up work to my eyeballs. If I don't do it before Wednesday, I'll fail nearly every subject this marking period. ughghghg. And its not because Im dumb. its because the work accumulated and I feel overwhelmed to even attempt to start doing it. I tell myself I can do it in 1 day when I know I cant. so then I feel like doing things to destress which take up all of my time - procrastination, which makes me more stressed as the days go by. the cycle repeats everyday. this whole school year has just been a big mess for me.) but here I am again.. wasting time. I dont know how to attempt to do the work.. I dont have anyone to talk to about it.. but I can't hide it anymore once the report cards come home. Oh gosh. I feel like I f***ed my life.. but I know I can fix it but Idk maybe its just laziness but this is just extreme.. it isnt just right now, I've always had procrastination issues but now its taken a huge toll on my life. Idk, maybe my dream is telling me that? i dont knowww.

Your dream is representing your stress. You're stressed about school and your work so it's coming to you as a dangerous man. It's really weird, I know. You just need to do one subject at a time. Take an hour per subject. Don't let yourself do anything else. Go to the library and take your schoolwork with you so you know you won't be distracted.

I know how you feel though. I have dreams about being murdered but they've been happening because I'm stressed. Just eliminate the stress factors & you won't have nightmares. :) I hope this helps.