Do you ever confuse your dreams and 'reality?' What would be a notable example?

NO

I never had any problem with what is real and what is not.  But guess what?  Most things that other people think cannot be real, are REAL.

 

No, not really.  Sometimes just for a moments after waking up, when I have particularly vivid dream in which my mother or brother are somehow still alive. 

A couple of weeks ago, I had a dream that my beau was seeing someone else. But, in my dream, that was the "expected thing," like that we had agreed to him seeing someone else from the start. I remember being heartbroken in the dream- I left and found myself walking through this maze of a hotel... Historic homes and hotels are a common theme in my dreams. They're always a lot like the Winchester Mystery House. They make no sense, and I'm always wandering through them trying to find my way out- doors and stairs that lead to nowhere, rogue elevators, holes in the floors, winding hallways, etc.. When I woke up, I was still really sad. There was enough in the dream that was fake-feeling, that I could tell it was a dream, but the emotion lingered. Later, when he called me, I filled with dread. Even though I had no reason to think anything was up, I was worried about what bad news the call would bring. 

I had a similar one when I was still married, but in that one, my kids, my nieces, and I were all drowning in a lake, and I was frantically trying to pull all the kids to shore. My husband was in the water too, but he didn't help. He just got himself to shore and watched. That one shook me up so bad that I didn't even want to look at him for days. 

The more recent dream sent me on a research binge, trying to find out why I had the dream and what it meant. I've always thought dreams were our way of processing things happening to us, our mind sorting through things we don't want to think of, or our subconscious forcing us to pay attention to signals we may have missed. And, it seems most sources agree with that. They're very real to us- our brains are making those memories and creating real emotions. It's normal that we wouldn't be able to shake them off. With the drowning dream, I can easily say that, at the time, it was very much a metaphor for what was happening in our lives. My husband was very self-centered and worried about self-preservation at all costs, and, indeed, he ultimately left us all to drown. The recent one, though, still has me a bit boggled. I know my beau isn't seeing anyone else, and I trust him completely. The "other woman" must have been a metaphor for something else that prevents him from going all-in. The hotel/ house aspect that shows up in most of my odd dreams, I'm guessing is just my brain's way of saying I feel trapped or lost with something. 

I sometimes hear people calling my name when I'm in a state where I'm partially awake but also asleep then I would emerge to see what they want and no one would be home.

I don't think this is what you're asking (I've had a very challenging day and my brain is dead); excuse my answer if I'm off track - -

but one time, I dreamed that a nice casual friend -- no one particularly close - - was sobbing and sobbing and sobbing. I saw her several days later and I told her of my dream and the night i dreamed it. That night was the night that she had found out that one of her favorite aunts had died and  she had been very upset that entire night.