My partner and I were in a very poor part of America (I think). We were exploring a neighbourhood where most of the houses were falling down. Many backyards had been flooded and my partner was jumping over fances with me following him. Eventually we arrived at a yellow and blue double story house, a woman leans out the window to see who we are and what we're doing. She eventually comes down and upon seeing a dozen children running down the road towards her she bolts for her washing line on which a $50 note is pegged. A young girl reaches the money first, grabs it and then the older woman tackles her to the ground, the young girl then rips the part of the note containing the bar code and gives back the useless note to the women. This dream was followed by another in which I was at my childhood home with my partner, we'd had a party and were getting ready for bed, as I was about to go to sleep I heard a noise from outside. I went to the back door to find a group of 6 women sitting at a table on the balcony. They had not been at the party but were now making up for it. I only recognised two - one was a girl I'd been best friends with as a child, who I've not seen in years, the other is a woman from work who I've had very little to do with and only ever say hello to. I thought my partner would be angry having these people around but he was OK. Helen (my old friend) was the first to leave after not very long. The dream then continued on with me listening to a party tape I'd made - the two songs I recall were 'Wuthering Heights' by Kate Bush (my favourite singer) and 'Bohemian Rhapsody' by Queen (a band I hate). I then travelled with my friend Sven back to my old primary school where it was as if I was a returning senior back to inpart wisdom on the masses. Sven and I met up with Glenn and Michelle - old friends of my partners who he never sees anymore. They had just had a party but just about everyone had left. Sven then wanted to leave - I wanted a lift home but Sven said he was running late to get to his work in time...he suggested he drop me off at the bus station which annoyed me as I didn't have a bus timetable. Normally I can make sense of my dreams but this one has me stumped...one theme does seem to be that of old friends who I don't see much anymore but that's the only major link I can work out.
A house in a dream often represents the self. Since the houses you saw were very dilapidated, they might represent parts of yourself that you think need to change. The fact that you were dreaming about America might just have to do with reading or thinking about America or someone or something American in your waking life. You might want to check out the Colours and Dreams page in the Dream Themes section to find out the symbolism of the yellow and blue house. The woman's washing line continues the theme of dirty things that need to be cleaned up. Money in a dream usually represents something that is valuable to you, not necessarily money or even a concrete physical thing. The children probably represent an ability to learn new things, to adapt to new situations. Since young girl took the useful part of the money--the bar code--from the old woman, this seems to me to indicate that you won't be able to change the bad or unsatisfying things in your life unless you try to think in new ways and adapt to new ways of doing things. Dreaming about aspects of your past, in this case your childhood home and old friends, can often symbolize a desire to keep things as they are, to be safe and comfortable. So these dreams might indicate that on the one hand, you want to change something in your life, but on the other you don't want to risk losing the safety and security that you have now.
Wow. Yes - I am, ay present having a real battle with a few things, smoking being one of them. I gave up back in September, quit for 6 months then started again when a friend broke up with his girlfriend, since then, whilst I've only had one or two a day I'm feeling really bad about starting up once more. What you wrote certainly makes sense in regards to where my headspace is right now. Thank you so much.