All I want for Xmas is my lower left molar

I read an article last week about dream interpretation. I myself tend to believe that dreams are a more or less random firing from our brains, but I can't rule anything out completely.

They say that a dream of teeth falling out or crumbling is often related to internal fears about your health or death. I had one of those dreams last week, and upon waking thought to myself "Well, that's probably what that dream means now." I had already read the article at that point, and I seem to recall that data from a similar article I read in college.

Last night, however, I was presented with a different interpretation when one of my teeth broke apart while I was eating a reasonably soft pizza margherita with a friend. The words I keep thinking of are that the tooth "shattered" or "splintered" in my mouth. But it probably just broke.

This is a tooth that has caused problems before, so I have no particular reason to feel surprise, but I'm a little freaked out. I've never lost a tooth before, and this one will certainly have to be removed. I don't have insurance, and was in the middle of bitching about my lack of money when the incident occurred. So there's that aspect as well.

So far, since entering that magical time of year between Thanksgiving and Xmas, I have had my car tagged, broken my tooth, and discovered that my laptop is dying. I also have not gotten nearly enough done on my novel-writing. On the other side of the ledger, I have the lion's share of my Xmas shopping done. Somewhere in the middle is that I have a rather large amount of work at the moment.

Dream interpreters will also tell you that a dream of flying is linked to creativity and release. I've ordered one for this evening. They remain weirdly quiet about the dream where you're working in an office that is both the place you work now and a place you used to work, with your grandmother and the cast of Night Court.