Brenna Powers

I already miss Brenna.

"The better work men do is always done under stress and at great personal cost."

It's been a while since I've updated. Not a lot has changed, and not a lot has gone on.

I'm still a teacher. But now I teach strings in addition to band and jazz band. I am also at three schools, instead of the simple two I was at last year. However, I'm still getting ganked by the district that refuses to pay people who work over full-time hours full-time pay. Ahh...the glories of being on salary!

These days, I'm looking an awful lot like this--->

Could be the fact that I do the jobs of 7 people in one day, or it could be the fact that I'm ALWAYS running around like a chicken with no head and never taking a few moments to rest...because, let's face it, rest is over-rated.

My brother is going on a year long mission trip starting in December. He needs money, if you wish to donate to him, you should do that. He's got to raise $14,000, and he has about $2,000. If you are interested in what he's doing or anything regarding him, visit his blog.

I'm going to New York in November. I will be singing with the Wichita Symphony Chorus as part of this ginormous choral union under the direction of John Rutter at Carnegie Hall. Come see me sing (if you can!).

The Scream

tur·moil/ˈtɜrmɔɪl/

–noun
1.
a state of great commotion, confusion, or disturbance; tumult; agitation; disquiet: mental turmoil caused by difficult decisions.
2.
Obsolete. harassing labor.

You just wish you could tell somebody and it actually make a difference. You're always the one who smiles and moves forward. Your feelings don't matter. Growing up sucks. It's nothing to look forward to....all that happens is you get to pay your own bills, work non-stop, and your friends get boyfriends/get married move away to other towns and forget you. You're not important enough to be seen once a week, much less to have your calls answered. What makes you think that they could actually care about YOU? No one stops to think about you. Your life is seemingly full. You are the caretaker of four. Lives depend on you. But they would get by. They can and they have gotten by without you. They don't need you, no one does. You are not appreciated. You are not wanted. You are not cared for. No one really cares. The only thing is, you know you're wrong....you just wish you could prove that.

An update!

Okay, so here's an update on me....

The kids did WONDERFUL at contest, and I'm so proud of them. They did so much better than I even thought they could ever do (doesn't sound so confident coming from the teacher, but I can't do 100% of the work, I just get to wave my arms around---they get to make the real music!). They ended up with 2 2s and 1 3 (which was 3 points away from being a 2)! This is the best the concert band has EVER done! The district fine arts director said that I was doing an amazing job and to keep doing what I was doing. He told me that he hadn't heard that band sound like that ever, and that my band was up to par with some of the other schools' symphonic bands. It was quite the encouragement.

Circque du Soleil sucked. It was sorely overrated and not good at all. I was majorly disappointed and would NOT recommend "Delirium" to anybody.

Mom and I went to San Antonio for a few days during spring break...and it was wonderful. Everytime I travel to Texas I fall in love with it again. I will one day live there. That is a state God undoubtedly created for me (and me-like people!). I truly enjoy all time spent in that wonderful place.

I'm not exactly ready to go back to work. But oh well. I get the whole danged summer off, so I can't really complain. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH, time is so timely.

Going to the Circus

Tonight I'm really excited because I'm going to see Circque Du Soleil perform. The music is spectacular (we used it for our marching show this past football season) so I'm anxious to see their interpretation of it. Should make for a wonderful time.

Tomorrow I'm really NOT excited because I'll be ringleader of a 3-ring circus of my own. It will be my very first band contest as a band director. Expectations are realllly low (I will be surprised if they get 3s and not 4s) and I'm bound to have goofed up a good 20-30 times tomorrow. I also "get" to help enter grades afterwards while Kim goes on a lunch-date. Yay. Needless to say, I'm really not excited about tomorrow. Tomorrow night I shall collapse.

Anyways, I suppose I should go shove the pizzas in the oven so my family can eat tonight before the show. So, I shall go now. Peace of Christ. Peace...of Christ. Think about what that means and what that would be like.

My favorite things

-My cat playing on my bed in the middle of the night.
-My friend's mom's hugs
-Being up late
-New clothes
-Laughing with friends
-My students
-Being with my students
-High school sporting events
-High school cheers
-the Warren theatre
-driving my car
-spring
-being happy
-knowing I'm where I'm supposed to be
-spending time with my mom
-when my cat talks to me
-my doggy
-rain
-thunderstorms
-texas
-tony bennett
-jazz

Lazy teens, teachers, & musicians

Oddly enough, they're all in the same for me. As a band teacher, I generally get the "good" kids who are motivated and want to learn. They'll jump through hoop after hoop just to play an instrument. It's after they're in the classroom that the problem occurs. They become lazy. And it's annoying. And at what point exactly did kids decide that utter disrespect was okay. I can look a student in the eye and tell them to not talk, and without breaking the gaze, they begin talking to the person next to them. WHY!?! Grrr...don't be retarded. Just do what you're supposed to. It's that easy. EASY! It's easy!!! Who wouldv'e thunk!?!

And another thing, why do I have to go do someone else's job while they eat and email every person on the planet!?! Stup. id.

And finally, not so much that they're lazy, but symphony chorus people are nazis. Especially about German. Especially about Beethoven. Lighten up! It's music. It's supposed to be fun! Don't be fun-suckers you decrepit old creepy slobbering fools.