Realistic dreaming

Strangely, for the last three nights, I've had fairly realistic dreams that I remember upon awakening. Three nights ago it was a dream about friends. Two nights ago, the family. Last night, I dreamt the introduction to my dissertation defense. It was pretty realistic. The room. The people there. I dreamt the beginning, then sorta skippped over the part where I read from some of my work (since my introduction clearly indicated I was reading from a chapter I have yet to write, my brain decided to skip that part), then entertained questions. The inevitable question that had little to do with my work but led back to the speaker was there, as was a discussion that digressed from the topic.

What's strange is not that I remember the dreams, nor that they were realistic because this happens to me all the time. In fact, sometimes my dreams are so mundanely realistic - like grocery shopping - that I'm surprised upon wakening to discover that I didn't actually do what I'd dreamt. What's strange is that these kinds of dreams have come three days in a row. Don't think that's ever happened before, so I gotta wonder why.