Things that recur in my dreams

Scientific fact: Everybody dreams every night. I just happen to remember a ton of my dreams because (1.) I wake up 12 times a night, and (2.) I'm taking brain-altering drugs. O_o

I had my first recurring dream when I was about 13. I was trying to get out of this house (think Winchester Mansion, folks) and I was being haunted by the Eye of Ra. Sounds incredibly boring now, but it was really freaky. Freaky enough for me to buy my first dream dictionary to piece together the symbols.

I have a ton of recurring dreams. And then sometimes, I have different dreams entirely, but an object or a person from a previous dream will pop up. I wish I had the time and the energy to do more research on it, because I'd like to find out how much of this is just Kate being Kate ... and how much is because my brain chemistry is being altered.

So ... without further ado ...

Things that recur in Kate's dreams

• Giant pinball machines. By giant, I mean they're double or triple their normal size. In fact, whole arcades of giant games. I usually want to play, but can't -- somebody tells me we're running late, or I get an emergency phone call ... or whatever.
• Basements. Not dark and creepy house-sized basements, per se. Instead, I often dream that I'm on an upper level (in a mall, for example) looking down. And I really want to get down there, but I can't.
• Keys. Just last night, I dreamed that I was digging through my purse for my house keys, and I was pulling out keyrings full of keys ... but not the ones I needed. I'd pull out a keyring, say, "These aren't mine," throw them on the car seat next to me, and start digging again. I woke up without finding my keys.
• Huge places in which I'm lost. Malls, fairs, my high school (but like eight times the size and with hallways that go nowhere). In general, I'm always trying to get from here to there. I think I know where there is, but when I start walking, suddenly there isn't there anymore. :)
• Hiding. Okay, everybody has the running-from-a-monster dream at some point. That's not what I'm talking about. More than once, I've dreamed that I'm a reporter again. I'm trying to get a story by following a source, so I hide. One time it was in a tiny cave. Another time it was in one of those claw games. And it's not just reporter dreams, but those are the first that come to mind.
  
• Ringing telephones. Can't find them. Can't answer them. I used to think my real-life phone was ringing and I was inserting a telephone in my dream instead of waking up. Yeah, that's happened, but the dream telephone happens much more often.

Well, that's a good starter list. There's more, but I'm starting to feel groggy and I'm thinking about traipsing off to bed again. Any ideas on what these mean?