I have posted to my MySpace page and am just too tired to redo it here. So Please follow the link. It's not a pretty post so don't say I didn't warn you.

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=105957787&blogID=286039859

Finished my class projects and I didn't kill anyone doing it! I managed to get it finished before my husband got back from DC, so he didn't have to experience Crazy Bree! (comments from the Peanut Gallery will not be recognized) My efforts paid off, got an A in my color class and a B in my digital class. I think the B is from so many classes that I missed. I'm not that worried about it. Not much for photoshop anyway and that's what that class was, nothing but Photoshop.
Went to Mexico. Got Amoebic Dysentery. Yeah! Was sick almost the whole entire vacation and the following week at home too. (10 days total) I did not drink the water! I also managed to get Sun Poising (big shock there!), heat stroke and dehydration! I very near passed out at Tulum. I thought the AD was on remission and I'd already paid for the tour, so I went, got about 45 minutes into the tour and had to sit down under a tree or risk passing out. I had to be physically helped back to the tour bus that brought me there. Vacations are fun! I went with a friend and not my husband, so I was pretty much taking care of myself as my friend still went out and did things; leaving me alone a lot in the hotel room.
My mother told me when I got back that it was God's way of telling me not to go on vacation without my husband! I'd say she was right too!
There were a couple of moments of coolness while I was there. The Mayan ruins are outstanding and I got to go snorkeling! Snorkeled in a Cenote, a cave and a reef. Cenotes are open bodies of water, like a pond, but they started out as an underground cave that filled with water and then the roof caved in to expose it to the outside world. The waters are completely pure! I jumped off a 30ft ledge to get into the Cenote. The cave was awesome too! (and anyone knowing me would be shocked to learn that I willingly went into a cave that was filled with water!)(I have pictures for proof!) The ocean reef snorkeling was amazing too! Got to see 2 Sting Rays, a Sea Turtle and a Barracuda that was the size of me! Snorkeling is where I got the Sun Poising at. You can't wear sunscreen in the open waters of Mexico unless it's biodegradable. I didn't have that kind, so my back turned into a lovely color of cooked lobster red!
The ruins at Chetzin Itza and Tulum are mind blowing. Everything about the Mayans are mind blowing! Just search the internet to read more, cause there is no way that I can explain it adequately here.
Someday I might be brave enough to go back, with my husband! I was so sick that I couldn't even finish off two rolls of film! I took 10 rolls with me! I lost 8 pounds in a week, due to the AD and my fear of food after that point. I survived off bananas and plain bread for 4 days out of 7 that I was in Mexico.
The upside to my adventure...I was sure that my Spanish would be an embarrassment. I was surprised to learn that I understood a good portion of what people were saying. All the tours that I went on were conducted in Spanish first and then in English. So I would pay attention to the Spanish portions and the when the English parts came along, I would fill in the gaps that I missed the first time. I would say that I understood about 80 percent of what was said to me in Spanish and I think that is pretty darn good considering that I don't get to speak it that often.
Well, I'm going to end my rambling here. I'm sure there's something around the house that needs to be done right now. Adios!

I went to DC to see my husband for the weekend. After I was no longer anywhere near an airport, the weekend went great. Had some quality time and the next two weeks should just fly by. In the next two weeks I have a lot of work to do! I have my final for my color photography class to take care of and I need to get caught up in my digital class. I've missed like three classes and the class is held once a week for eight hours. Most classes are twice a week at 4 hours a piece, so I've really missed like 6 classes! Not good! But I really don't think this teacher notices much. Just as long as the work is turned in. I'm hoping the stress doesn't get to me! Stress equals weight gain and I'm leaving for Mexico in two and half weeks and I want to loose weight!
I got my midterm back today in my color class. Got a B! I think I did better work then that! It's my first B in my photog school career! Grr! Maybe I needed to be taken down a notch, my ego is pretty high! :) I'm bound and determined to get an A on the final. I want an A for the whole class! I've a reputation to uphold!
Well, my show is about to come on and I want to see it, so adios!

Since my last very interesting post a lot has happened. Here's a quick recap: My folks came up for Thanksgiving and I made the world's best turkey! My husband and I went to W.VA to my sister-in-law's house for Christmas. We had a ton of fun! (even if the drive was horridly long) I quit my job right before Christmas! It was evil to leave the bank right before a holiday like that, but I'm sadistic and I found it funny damn it! New Year's was uneventful. I finished the winter quarter of school with straight A's, made the dean's list again and was accepted into the honor society at my college. Who would have ever have guessed I was that smart! (secret: i always knew, but didn't want to let on)
I am now in the spring quarter of school. Being color blind and a photographer is all good and well when someone else is developing and printing your work, but not a handy thing to have when doing it yourself! We'll see how my color photography class goes and hopefully I'll get to stay on the dean's list! :) I leave for Playa Del Carmen in the end of May! Yeah!
I am going to enter my first art competition in two weeks! If I win there will be a $500 scholarship for me! And if I don't win, no big, at least I will have got accepted into the competition. (all work submitted goes through judges to be let into the show) Here's hoping!

Life has gotten better since I last wrote. I've decided, for the sake of my husband and my sanity, to quit my job by the end of the year. I can't wait! :) My profession will officially be that of a Photographer!
But today at work, is a day I'll not soon forget. The drive thru of my bank faces a parking lot to a shopping store, and sometimes during the lunch hour, people like to park along the south side of the lot and sit under the trees for lunch. This particular lunch hour, around 1:30 in the afternoon, a couple pulled up their nice new Honda something-or-other under the shade of the trees and for lack of better phrasing.... "Got it on!"
We're talking full on porn style sex, complete with spanking action! They lasted for more then 30 minutes! STAMINA BABY! STAMINA! And all parties involved seemed to be enjoying themselves! We even turned on the microphones in our drive thru to cheer them on!
They parked along a busy intersection, they had to be aware of the fact that someone would see them. We were a good fifty yards away and we got vivid detail of what was going "down."
Everybody should experience a little bit of public exhibitionism once in their life!

And on that note....I'm out!

Let's just say, life sucks! Try to do anything to better anything and it all backfires! Never fails, I always end up the bad guy.
Well, F*** IT!
I'd say more, but whatever....

The religious zealots are out and about again. I don't know if any of you have been following the crazies from the Westboro Baptist Church, but they've most severely crossed a line this time.
They are most famous for protesting the funerals of dead soldiers with hate speech filled signs that read, "God loves dead soldiers" and "God is your enemy!" I will refrain from my usual abusive case of Turrets syndrome in regards to what I think of them, in the interest of keeping this a short missive and to get to the meat of this stupidity.
You will remember that last week there was yet another school shooting, this time an Amish school was the target. These people, if they qualify to be called that, were of all things going to protest the funerals of the poor girls that died. They rescinded their ambitions of protest in favor of some air time on the radio and on TV. (and I thought we didn't cater to terrorists) I missed the, no doubt, intellectual parlay of words on the radio, but I did have the misfortune to watch the craziness on the Hannity & Colmes show on Fox news.
I do not have the capability or the stomach to put into words what I think of these people, so I'm going to put a link taking you to the transcript of the show and let you decide and imagine what kind of a bitch slap God is going to give these people on Judgment Day.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,217975,00.html

(copy and paste if you can't click the link)

Side note: I was not raised in the church, but later did go on to be Baptized and to become a youth pastor, and no where in all my readings did God or Jesus ever preach hatred of any kind. God is a very loving, compassionate and most forgiving God. And you need do nothing but love Him to earn His love back. He is not the "raging mad God" of the Westboro people. I pray that you know the kind of God I know.

that is the question.
What do Doctor's know? They go to school for eight or more years studying the human body and every hazard and ailment that can happen. All so that they can read my X-ray backwards and tell me that a potential bone spur is a fracture.
My injury was filed under workman's comp, so my place of employment set me up with an Orthopedic appointment to follow up, recommended by the first doctor that I say at the Express Care. (don't get me started on this whole Express Care thing....It's still an Emergency room right?!)
So the Ortho looks at my X-rays and says, "You don't need that cast, your foot isn't broken. You just have a really bad sprain. Lightly rap for support, use one crutch if you need it, but walk on your foot to help it heal faster."
Great! I just spent three days with a cast on my foot for a sprain. In three days time I have lost a significant amount of mobility to my ankle. I'm going to have to work hard to get that back. For the most part, the only time my foot hurts is when I step to quickly, or put too much weight on it. I can get around with out the crutch, but it's faster if I use one.
So back to the original topic here....
What DO doctor's know? They can't read an X-ray and tell the difference from a bone spur or a break. And the Navicular bone is on the inside/instep part of the foot, I hurt the outside of my foot. So he wasn't even looking in the right spot, of the X-ray or my foot, to begin with!
This is why I very seldom go to see doctor's. You a cold so they give you a rectal exam!
If you ask me, they paid too much money to learn a whole lot of nothing useful!
And in my humble, non-professional opinion.....
Your body will heal itself! In general cases of injury and sickness that is. (in the event that you've lost a limb, been shot, or are vomiting excessively, please see a doctor!) (this ends the disclaimer!)

So the lesson learned....
If I injury myself again and can not see bone sticking from my flesh and/or am not bleeding profusely....I'm not going to see a doctor about it. Who knows what they'll tell me next time.

This is going to be a quickie. I broke a bone in my foot/ankle today. I am completely and helplessly clumsy! In essence....I tripped over my own two feet! It helped (or didn't) that I was holding a 60lb bag of Quarters ($1000 worth) at the time. I have an air cast and some crutches.
I am going to work tomorrow, so we'll see how well this goes! :)
Wish me luck, but hold your, "Break a leg!" comments.

A rose by any other name would still be a rose.... Or would it?
My given name is Bree, and as you can plainly see it is not spelled like the cheese (Brie), nor is it short for Brianna, Breeanne, or any other variation you can create. It is NOT from Desperate Housewives or Lord of the Rings.
Now that we've got that straight I will explain to you what my name means and why it's mine.
Bree is an ancient Scotch Gaelic word to mean literally, "a great disturbance." Scottish Highlanders meant this word to mean anything from a bad omen to a storm coming. Either way, it wasn't good.
Now, I am in current possession of this name due to an unusual birth right if you will. My parents were not supposed to be able to have children and on their First Wedding Anniversary I came along. My parents also thought I was going to be a boy. I would have been named James Michael, or something equally bland. So I started off with two strikes against me and very inconvenient timing on my part. My parents argued for three days trying to come up with a name for me and to no avail. My, at the time, 16 year old cousin writes my mother and encloses the name that she thinks would be best. And Ta-Da! Your's truly received a name that would describe her perfectly!
Now, I know you are asking yourselves, "Did her cousin know what the name meant? And if so that's just cruel!"
As far as I know, she did not know what the name meant. I happened upon the meaning some years ago while teaching myself the fun, difficult and confusing language of Gaelic. (seeing as how my family is Scottish and I would like to go to Scotland some day, I thought it would be a fun endeavor. The language leaves me with headaches and a weird sentence structure; but I prevail non the less) Needless to say, when I told my mother the meaning of my name, she seemed to think it fit me perfectly.
Now back to the opening sentence of this entry.
Would I still be Me, if I was named Beth or Julie? I think not. I think the meaning in a persons name, whether intended or not, does imbue an identity to that individual. Look at people in biblical times and all the names in the Old Testament. They all had meanings and those people lived up to the meaning of their names. And on that note....
I wonder what I'll be a Great Disturbance towards? I know that my life so far has had plenty of havoc, what more can I cause?

This has nothing to do with 1998 Robin Williams movie. This is a discussion and analysis of recent dreams that I've had.
The other night, Wednesday maybe, they all start to blur together after a while, I dreamt I was at work. For the sake of simplicity I will be calling work FNB. So I'm work and it's this very tall building we'll call The Tower, and the Tower is on an island. Sounds lovely doesn't it? But it wasn't. The island was sinking and taking the FNB tower with it into the watery depths of hell. In my dream the elevators are out of service, as they would be when a building is sinking into the ocean and the stairs are unusable as there is water rapidly rising from the lower levels. I should mention that I am located on the upper middle floors. So in trying to find an escape the floors start to rise and fall like undulating waves, which make it near impossible to walk/run-in-panic anywhere. People are slamming into eachother, and oddly there weren't that many people there now that I think about it. So I decide that I'm going to break out a window and get out of the building that way. To no avail either, the windows are unbreakable. And just when I think that I'm done for, I find myself inexplicably outside on the island. (Dreams are weird like that, one minute your minding your own business, the next naked in front of your gym class.) (not my dreaming experience, but just an analogy for you) So I'm out of the sinking tower, much to my relief, only to find that the island is still sinking. I try to find a plane, boat, piece of floating door (movie people will get that reference) anything to save myself with. And in my search for safety I notice that all the buildings: barber shops, gas stations, mini-malls, are all titled FNB. Of course, before I could further investigate, I wake up.
So I'm thinking that this means that I feel trapped in my job and that it is taking me places I really don't want to go. I also think it means that if I left I would still be surrounded by jobs just like this one; life draining and meaningless.
So I'm in a conundrum: stay at my current place of employment and drown, or leave and find another job to drown me instead. There is no right answer. (there is no spoon) (i'm in a movie reference kind of mode today apparently)
Now we move onto the next dream that I had last night. It too is also work related.
I'm in the Drive Thru at FNB and I'm by myself when I find a stash of pot. So I roll myself a joint in between customers and light up. All is good until my assistant manager comes in and says, "I'm so telling the boss. You are so fired." I think to myself, in that stoner kind of voice, "Man that's going to suck." The boss comes in and she's one of the nicest ladies ever and she laughs a little bit and pats me on the shoulder and says, "Oh that's OK honey!"
And I wake up!
One of two ways to analyze this: No matter what I do, I can't get fired! So if I decide to leave FNB it will be on my own terms. Or...
I was a watching an episode of That 70's Show before I went to bed last night and pulled subject matter from the episode into my dream! (it was the one where Kitty, the mom, finds all the pot and goes to smoke it in the bathroom)
So the second dream was funnier then the first and by far less depressing! Still, either way, I'm screwed until I one: win the lottery, two: save up enough money to quit and still go to school which would take to long so we'll ignore option number two, or three: find a job working with a photographer and finally do what it is that I'm going to school for.
Let's hope option number three comes through soon. (i don't buy lottery tickets so option number one will never happen) (it's a waste of money)

Well, I've rambled on long enough. Get out of my journal and go back to your own lives you slackers! :)

We left off with me trying to collect myself enough to find some clothes to wear to my husbands promotion ceremony. All turned out well and clothes were found. The promotion ceremony went well and very short. But I did get to "tack" on my husband's new rank. (ie- i got to punch him in public!) (in the arm, just to get that straight) The after party went better then I expected and lasted a VERY long time. Try being the DD and sitting at the bar for 6 and 1/2 hours. Entertaining to be sure, but makes for a weird kind of hang-over the next day. (all the cigarette smoke) I apparently made a good impression on all his co-workers and the Lt.Col as well. I'll leave out incriminating comments, but let's just say that all the single males in my husband's office the next work day asked if I had a sister! While I've never considered myself to be attractive (i'm not a vain person) it was surely nice to hear that others thought that I was at least pretty. (we're going to ignore the amount of alcohol that was consumed prior to the flattering comments) (i do have some pride mind you) All in all, it was good.
The weekend was fairly uneventful, which was just fine by me. I did however go shopping and buy a very nice and very large area rug for my living room. Four weeks until it gets here.
Now, Monday being the holiday that it was and therefore my bank thankfully being closed, one would expect that the rest of the work week would be quick. No. Tuesday thru Friday proved to be long and hellish. One of my co-workers had to have the week off to go sit in court and plead his case to the evil insurance company, to no avail (so sorry man!). And with his absence I had an interesting time making the schedule work. We are down one position and have people, myself included, in school right now and then people got sick this week....Let's just say, if it could go wrong it about damn near did. But I made it through without exploding on anyone. (and i'll tell you what, I came pretty damn close too!) (banking customers are IDIOTS!)
That said, I'm glad it's the weekend and for me this is the last Saturday that I have off from work for the next 10 weeks! I'm a photography major and this quarter of school I have class twice a week in the middle of the afternoon. So in order for me to get my 40 hours a week in at work, I have to work Saturdays! I'm going to need to out for a very large drink when this quarter is done!
And mentioning photography class, it would happen that the first day of class for me meant that my beloved camera had to break! I thankfully get to pick it up today. I also get to go buy about $200 worth of supplies for class too! This teacher this quarter is way different then I'm used to having when it comes to art instructors. Most are laid back hippie types, this one reminds of a retired Drill Sergeant. We'll see how this goes! Hopefully well and I pass with flying colors. I would hate to mare my "A" streak with anything less then perfect!
I best be getting ready for my day then....
Mar sin leibh, an-drasta (it's Gaelic. it means literally, "Goodbye, just now")

Ok, first things first. I'm very proud of my husband for all the hard work he does and the promotion he recieved for it. I know you all hear the "but..." coming, but just hold on a sec. I get the honor of "pinning" on his new rank, which is very cool, I've never gotten to do that before. And here's the but....I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO WEAR! I'll be in a room full of camo clad, ceremony minded people and be the only civilian. I ask my husband, "What should I wear to this thing?" He replies, as any man that's ever had a girlfriend or a wife would, "Wear whatever you want." This doesn't help me!
I only know a couple of his co-workers and there's going to be over 30 people there. First impressions are important to me and I don't want to do the ceremony or him any injustice by dressing like a schlub. All girls out there will understand my pain. And while I'm not normally inclined to girlie moments, at least I don't think so, I would have to say I'm having one now!
So, here it goes, I'm going to go destroy my closet in search of something suitable to wear and more then likely make a mad dash to the mall in hopes of finding something that I can wear that I didn't see last night when I roamed, rummaged, and generally behaved like a teenage girl preparing for her first date.
Wish me luck!

This is my first entry and of all things I said I wouldn't use this site for, I'm going to talk about my job. For everyone out there that doesn't work in a bank, I'm going to give you a clue what it's like on the other side of the counter.
First things first. I'm a Teller Supervisor, that means I get to ENFORCE, NOT MAKE, the rules that the bank and most importantly, the Government sets for ALL BANKS. (catch the caps people, I said ALL BANKS)
Next.
This is well known to me and my co-workers, but it is necessary for you all to realize this as well; there is a force field, if you will, that surrounds all financial institutions. This force field is capable of keeping all your manners, common sense and basic math skills well outside the parameters of the bank property. Meaning, my customers, and that most likely means you, my avid readers, come in to the bank rude, bossy, pushy, arrogant, and all around acting like toddlers with no discipline. Now this behavior is set to a scale, ie, the more money you have the more you behave like the above mentioned adjectives. But there is also a catch to this, the more negative an account is, the more these behavior are expressed. The average Joe/Jane that balances his/her checkbook and makes a middle class living tends to behave in the middle of the scale. (ie, somewhat like a normal civilized person) With that said we move on to common sense.
Do not ask me why your account is negative. A monkey with brain damage can answer that. YOU SPENT TOO MUCH $$! But I can't say this to my addle brained customers, I must for the sake of my paycheck, be polite. There are an innumerable slue of questions that I must endure every day, so PLEASE! think before you speak! The adage that there is no stupid question is wrong! It was invented by sadistic school teachers that laugh at your expense in the teachers lounge to console themselves on their meager earnings.
And last but certainly not least, we come to basic math skills. The force field is very astute at keeping this very precious skill outside of the bank. When you step foot inside of a bank (we'll cover what to do when you are in your car at the end of this segment) there is a either a counter off to the side or an island right in front of you as you walk in. These serve the purpose of providing you with checking deposit/withdrawal slips, savings account deposit/withdrawal slips, a calculator for when you don't have enough fingers and a trash can to dispose of your chicken scratches. USE THESE! Tellers are not your secretaries, we don't get paid enough to figure out what you want to do and neither are we psychic! So because this is YOUR $, that's what you use to live and eat with, please have all items signed and filled out before you get in line.
If you have never banked before and/or don't speak english and can't figure out how to fill the various forms out, that's ok, there's a first time for everything. Politely ask a teller to show you how to do it and most importantly....REMEMBER WHAT WE SHOW YOU! Take notes if need be.
Now, what to do if you are in your car and find that you are not prepared and don't have the proper paper work to accomplish what you came here to do....HAUL YOUR LAZY ASS INSIDE! Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES are you allowed to press the Call Teller button! This is very ANNOYING! Just because it's there, doesn't mean you should do it.
So let's recap:
Fight the force field and keep your manners in check. (remember the tellers don't make the rules, we just have the government making sure we enforce them)
Fight the force field and use your common sense. I know you have it, you're still alive because of it. (sidebar: Balance your checkbook!)
Fight the force field and get a calculator!
And most importantly, treat a teller with respect and sometimes we'll bend a rule for you!
My rant here is done (for now) and I hope you've all learned a valuable lesson: Treat others how you want to be treated. Or I'll show up at your place of work and behave just like you did to me! (isn't that a fun thought!)
Happy Banking Everyone!