This week I found out that I was selected to be one of three drum majors for the Kearney High Bearcat Band!!! (I still have not found out what the heck a bearcat is!!) I could not have asked for better fellow drum majors. One of them is my new best friend Melody! She is going to be a sophomore next year, and she is absolutely FANTASTIC! The other drum major is Jordyn, and she is going to be a Junior next year, she is quiet when you first meet her, but then you see her loud side when you've been around her awhile. All three of us get along really well, and I am so excited for next year.
The reason for the title: I have received (and am still receiving) a lot of criticism and snotty remarks about being drum major. "She has never been a member of our band." "The directors haven't even seen her march." "She doesn't even know our commands." "She doesn't even have leadership experience."
To set the record straight, she DOES have leadership experience, she DOES know the Kearney Band commands, and the directors HAVE seen her march. As for never being a part of the the Kearney Marching Band, well, you're right, but what does that matter?
My point is that despite criticism and constant glares, I worked my tail off to get this position, and I plan on continuing to work my tail off to keep it! Being drum major has been my dream since 7th grade, and I finally achieved it, so this is going to be a fantastic marching season!
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
I Broke My Brain Again!
*I started this post last week, but forgot to finish it.*
On March 11th, I hit my head on a crossfit machine, and received another stupid concussion. I was so angry. I mean, first I catch a softball with my forehead, and now I hit my head on a silly Glut-Ham machine... this is just insane. My family has been making fun of me for it like crazy. This is the machine that I hit my head on...
On March 11th, I hit my head on a crossfit machine, and received another stupid concussion. I was so angry. I mean, first I catch a softball with my forehead, and now I hit my head on a silly Glut-Ham machine... this is just insane. My family has been making fun of me for it like crazy. This is the machine that I hit my head on...
Your hips rest on the semi-circular pad, and your feet are locked in the cylinder looking things behind that. You bend at the waist until the top half of you is perpendicular to the ground. It is called a Back Extension Exercise.
I took my glasses off for this because they kept sliding off of my face. Unfortunately, I have TERRIBLE depth perception without my glasses, and when I went to do a back extension, I went too far and hit my head on the bolt on the bar perpendicular to the ground. My forehead was hit in the same spot as before. I lost vision for a few seconds (which happened when I caught the softball with my forehead), but then everything went back to normal, so I completed the workout as usual. When I got home I got a HUGE headache, and I felt sick to my stomach, which are two symptoms of being post-concussive. The next day at school was terrible; I could not focus at all. So I called my Mom on my way home for lunch and she scheduled an appointment for me after school. The doctor told me I was post-concussive and that I could not do crossfit for 7-10 days. I resumed workouts right at 7 days, and I have been fine since. I had a lovely little bump on my forehead right above and between my eyebrows. It was just lovely.
So I guess the lesson I need to learn is to wear a helmet everywhere I go because clearly I am not capable of protecting my head and brain from this dangerous world.
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Thoughts on the Future and The Troubles of Being a Music Student
I am honestly am getting tired of people telling me that I am selling myself short by the career choices that I am considering. Awhile ago we had parent-teacher conferences, and my chemistry teacher told my mom that he thinks that my decision to be a CRNA is foolish. He thinks that I am selling myself short by not pursuing Anesthesiology. With all due respect, he is the foolish one. Every time he brings this up, I explain to him that the reason I want to be a CRNA is because I am more interested in the nursing aspect of it. I want to be a nurse, and he just can't seem to wrap his brain around that. It really frustrates me. I mean, I know he's trying to push me to higher achievements, but what if I don't want to be an Anesthesiologist? The beauty in my plan to become a nurse and then go to CRNA school later is that if I decide that anesthesiology isn't the right path for me, I always have nursing to fall back on; whereas, if I go to school to become an Anesthesiologist and decide it's not for me, I don't have anything to fall back on. I've tried explaining this to him multiple times, but he doesn't seem to listen to me. However, he is helping me a lot by preparing me for college. Here at Kearney High, an Advanced Placement (AP) Chemistry class is offered. This class is for seniors, and it can count for college credit through UNK, and since I am, as of now, planning to go to UNK, it should work out rather smoothly.
Speaking of classes for next year... DON'T EVER MOVE IN HIGH SCHOOL! It is sheer craziness to try to get all of the required classes in my schedule because different schools have different graduation requirements, and some classes don't transfer very well. For example, Health is a freshman class at Kearney, and it is required for graduation. I took Health in Ogallala. It went along with my PE class, but for some reason when Ogallala sent my transcripts to Syracuse, rather than "PE/Health" it just said "PE", so I can't use that for Health credit, so I will be retaking freshman Health.
We have been working on putting our schedules for next year together these past few weeks, and it didn't work out very well at first. We have block scheduling, which means that rather than having eight 45-minute periods, we have four 90-minute blocks. It is really awesome when it comes to taking core classes, because I only have to be in a class for a semester for it to count as a year, but it absolutely sucks if you are in band and choir. All music ensembles have rehearsals that are 45 minutes long, the only problem with that is that there are very few classes that are 45 minutes long as well. Next year, I will have Wind Ensemble, Chorale, and KHS Pops (That's our show choir.) to put into my schedule. As I was putting my schedule together, it just wasn't working out. I had multiple teachers tell me that I should drop one or two of my music classes to fit all of my required classes in, and this just made me upset. I worked my tail off to get into the highest level band, the highest level choir, and the highest level show choir, and I am not willing to give those up. Last week I went into the councilors office, and she came up with a plan to save my music classes. I will have to take my Health class online over spring break, and I will have to take Political Science (grad requirement) and Psychology online over the summer. It's not exactly convenient, but I would much rather do this than lose all of my music classes.
Speaking of classes for next year... DON'T EVER MOVE IN HIGH SCHOOL! It is sheer craziness to try to get all of the required classes in my schedule because different schools have different graduation requirements, and some classes don't transfer very well. For example, Health is a freshman class at Kearney, and it is required for graduation. I took Health in Ogallala. It went along with my PE class, but for some reason when Ogallala sent my transcripts to Syracuse, rather than "PE/Health" it just said "PE", so I can't use that for Health credit, so I will be retaking freshman Health.
We have been working on putting our schedules for next year together these past few weeks, and it didn't work out very well at first. We have block scheduling, which means that rather than having eight 45-minute periods, we have four 90-minute blocks. It is really awesome when it comes to taking core classes, because I only have to be in a class for a semester for it to count as a year, but it absolutely sucks if you are in band and choir. All music ensembles have rehearsals that are 45 minutes long, the only problem with that is that there are very few classes that are 45 minutes long as well. Next year, I will have Wind Ensemble, Chorale, and KHS Pops (That's our show choir.) to put into my schedule. As I was putting my schedule together, it just wasn't working out. I had multiple teachers tell me that I should drop one or two of my music classes to fit all of my required classes in, and this just made me upset. I worked my tail off to get into the highest level band, the highest level choir, and the highest level show choir, and I am not willing to give those up. Last week I went into the councilors office, and she came up with a plan to save my music classes. I will have to take my Health class online over spring break, and I will have to take Political Science (grad requirement) and Psychology online over the summer. It's not exactly convenient, but I would much rather do this than lose all of my music classes.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Foolish Conceitedness (Yes, it's a word, I checked!)
Last Monday, on my way home from school, I was rear-ended at the bottom of the hill of the parking lot at the school. Other than annihilating my clutch in the middle of no where, nothing bad like this has ever happened to me in reference to driving. It scared me. Thankfully, it only chipped up the paint on my car a little bit. But what really scared me is that just that very morning, as I was walking into school, I was talking to one of my friends and she was talking about some accident that happened in the parking lot that morning. I expressed that I was so proud of myself for not getting in a wreck in that parking lot yet, and then, not even 12 hours later, it happened. This has happened before. The summer in between 6th and 7th grade, I was super paranoid about breaking my right arm and not being able to write, so all throughout the summer, I practiced writing with my left hand, so if I ever broke my right arm, I would still be able to write. In early July that summer, I got into an ATV wreck and broke my LEFT arm. I think that God puts these little moments in my life when I get a little conceited to show me that I am NOT in control of my life, He is. In a perfect world, I wouldn't need these little reminders, but I'm not perfect. I can only press on and pursue my Walk By Faith.
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Crossfit
I literally have not done anything remotely physically strenuous since the end of softball this fall. I mean, I did Dance Team, which which was strenuous for the part of practice when we would go through entire routines at a time, but other than that it wasn't like I got a work out from that. Anyway, my dad started going to crossfit classes. Crossfit is basically working all major muscle areas in one workout. He asked me to go along with him on Thursday night, so I did. I was just expecting a jackwagon workout that I could slack off in. I was wrong. That was the hardest workout I have ever done in my life! It was completely insane, but I loved it! The trainers work you hard, but it's almost as if they know your limits better than you do. I was so sore on Friday, but it was a good kind of sore feeling. It was a "Wow, I actually did something difficult and I survive, and this is going to help me in the end" kind of sore feeling. I loved it so much that I went back on Friday afternoon with my sisters! We have it set up so that all three of us go to the 4pm class three days a week, and I am really excited for it! Once I get back in shape, I will start going everyday after school, which will be awesome. I am so out of shape right now, and I hate it. I just feel sluggish.
Mom said that the main reason that her and Dad want us to do this Crossfit thing is because this summer we are taking a vacation to Glacier National Park. She said that we will be white water rafting and hiking most of the time, so we need to be in great shape so that she doesn't have to hear us complain about how tired we are. It is going to be a 10 day trip and we are going with our friends the Schafers. I really hope we all don't end up killing each other. 11 people in 2 campers for 10 days... this should be interesting, we barely survive our weekend camping trips. This will be an ultimate test of patience for all of us.
Mom said that the main reason that her and Dad want us to do this Crossfit thing is because this summer we are taking a vacation to Glacier National Park. She said that we will be white water rafting and hiking most of the time, so we need to be in great shape so that she doesn't have to hear us complain about how tired we are. It is going to be a 10 day trip and we are going with our friends the Schafers. I really hope we all don't end up killing each other. 11 people in 2 campers for 10 days... this should be interesting, we barely survive our weekend camping trips. This will be an ultimate test of patience for all of us.
Friday, January 17, 2014
House #4, School #4, and Some Other Stuff....
Well, we moved again. We are now settled (or attempting to be settled) in Kearney, Nebraska. Early in June my wonderful Momma was called by a hospital in Kearney. They wanted her to b the Director of Pharmacy for the new hospital. She turned down the position, explaining to them that it was not a good time for the family to pick up and relocate again. Momma was also holding on to the hope that her boss in Beatrice would retire and she could take over his position when he decided to retire.
In late-August, Mom's boss announced that his wife had cancer and that he was no longer planning to retire soon because of the expense of her treatments. Two days later, Mom got a call from Kearney Regional Medical Center (KRMC). They offered her an even better job with a salary that she could not refuse. Not only would she be the Director of Pharmacy, she would also be the Clinical Director. She accepted the position. We had already set the closing date for our house in Unadilla, so we moved into that house in mid-September.
Mom had to start working for KRMC in October. She would go out to Kearney and stay there during the week and then come home for the weekends. This was a very stressful time. My parents were expecting me to be Mom's "substitute" while she was away during the week, but it got to be extremely difficult because I was really busy and almost never home. How was I supposed to prepare a meal for my family when I was at Encore rehearsal? or dance team practice? or pep band? It was difficult. Mom and I started making frozen meals on the weekends when she was home so that all I had to do was put them in the crock pot before I left in the morning. This was very helpful. One problem that was rather difficult was laundry. Laundry had been a combination effort between my mother and I before she moved to Kearney, and even then it was difficult to get it all done, so when she was gone, getting laundry done was a rather difficult task. I realized rather quickly just how much we needed Mom around. Overnight I suddenly became the Stofer family chef, maid, and chauffeur. Dad would leave at 5 in the morning for work and not get home until 7 or 8 at night. We lived like this up until Christmas. We survived, there were a lot of meltdowns and fights along the way, but we survived.
The moving company showed up at our house with a huge semi-trailer to start packing on December 26th. They left the trailer in front of our house overnight and came back on the 27th to finish packing everything. They loaded everything in the semi trailer except for garage tools and all of the farm machinery that Dad thinks we need to keep even though we don't live on a farm anymore. On the 27th after the house was packed, loaded up and went to Yutan to stay with my Grandpa and Grandma Dreessen overnight. (That is where they moved when they sold their house in Ogallala.) In the morning, our caravan of 7 vehicles departed. Dad, Rudy, and our beloved dog, Reagan, were in the pick-up pulling our moving trailer. Mom, Elle, and the dumb cat were in the Excursion with a bunch of laundry and other such items packed full. Grandma Dreessen and Izzy were in their Explorer. Grandma Stofer was driving her car. Grandpa Stofer was driving my pick-up. Grandpa Dreessen was driving our silver car, and I was driving the red car. It turns out that having 5 vehicles and only 3 people that could drive was a tricky situation, so we had to recruit drivers. That was the first time that I had driven on the Interstate by myself, it was honestly a little scary, especially when we were going through Lincoln.
When we arrived at the house in Kearney, the moving truck was already there, and the movers were putting all of our stuff in our driveway. The real estate agent was supposed to let them in, but he was late, so they just started putting it in the driveway. He showed up soon after and we were able to start our new unpacking adventure. I absolutely love my new house... mainly because I finally can park in the garage!!! Our house has 7 bedrooms! This is the first house that we have had that has had enough bedrooms for everyone with out needing to add an addition! My bedroom is in the basement, but it does not have an escape window yet, so dad will not let me sleep down there. We hired a contractor to dig window wells and put in escape windows, but they can't start working on it until the ground thaws. I told mom to forget about hiring someone, give me a spoon and I could do it... that's how I dug my way to China in our alfalfa field when I was like 5. She laughed and said that she wished it was that easy. Anyway, so all of my stuff except for my bed is in my bedroom. My bed is in the bedroom that we will be converting in to Dad's office later. I will have to sleep in there every night until that escape window is built.
School is going alright. It is just a really weird transition. The school is HUGE! There are so many people! There are about 400 kids in my class alone... it's insane! They have block scheduling, which means rather than having eight 45-minute periods, they have four 90 minute blocks. I really don't like this. It makes it really hard to fit things into my schedule. I had to drop band and Spanish this semester, which really made me mad because I really enjoy both of those classes.
I am taking Advanced Placement Language and Composition (APLaC), Chemistry, and Honors Advanced Math for my first 3 blocks. My fourth block is split in half because Chorale is only a 45 minute period, and then I have study hall in the cafeteria until the end of the day. APLaC is way more difficult than I thought it would be, but I love my teacher! Chemistry is easy, but my teacher is a little disorganized. I had a bit of a bad experience with him on my first day. "Raise your hand if you are planning on going to college." The whole class raised their hands. "Raise your hand if you know what you want your career to be." There were about 5 of us who raised our hands. He pointed at me, "You, what career do you want to pursue?" I cleared my throat, "I want to be a CRNA which is a Nurse Anesthetist." He nodded his ahead and said, "Alright, I just have one question, why would you settle for a CRNA and not just become an Anesthesiologist?" That question caught me off guard a little bit. I answered, "Well, Anesthesiologists are very busy and have to be practically married to their careers. CRNA's have less busy schedules, and I would like to be able to work a flexible schedule because I want to be a Mom when the time comes." He rolled his eyes and then pointed his finger in my face and yelled, "That is BS! I have a friend who is an Anesthesiologist. He has three of the little CRNAs working for him. He calls all the shots, and he makes a lot of money. With money like that, you wouldn't need to stay home with your kids." I was so pissed off. Some people just don't get it. The whole class was in disbelief. "See class, I will help you make wise decisions about your future in this class as well as teach you Chemistry." Let's just say I dread walking into that class everyday. He isn't very organized and it drives me CRAZY! Choir is going really, REALLY well! I absolutely love how talented Mr. Moyer is. Again, it's just a weird transition. I came from a school with a choir of a little under 100, and Mrs. Rodgers was very strict about rules and people shutting up when she asks them to. Now I am in a choir of about 60, and Mr. Moyer lets people talk and be crazy. Maybe I am just super sensitive to it, but I cannot stand it. One day we got completely through the Conversion of Saul and everyone started yelling and cheering and talking. I sat there quietly as a force of habit. I sit in the front row, and Mr. Moyer smiled at me and said, "I am really glad you are singing with us! Do like this piece?". I absolutely LOVE The Conversion of Saul. It is 8 part acapella, and it is absolutely amazing!
We have found a church, but it is not in the church form that you would expect. The name of my church is Living Faith Fellowship, and from what I understand it resulted from a split from Kearney Berean. There is not an actual church building, for now we meet in the Merryman Performing Arts Center. We weren't sure about that church right away, we were worried about some issues that they had with women leading prayer and worship, but that was all resolved. It's amazing how the Lord provides solutions for problems like this. I was just in awe that this issue was worked out.
Last Sunday and Monday, I attended Doane Honor Choir. It started out rather hectic. Mr. Moyer forgot to have the transportation people leave our suburban outside of the bus barn, so he couldn't get to it right away. We ended up leaving almost 45 minutes late. We showed up 1 minute before the conclusion of registration. We keep it classy here in K-Town. I saw Ms. Poe (Mrs. Rodgers...), and she is pregnant! I am so happy for her, and I am absolutely convinced that it is a baby girl! I also found out that she knew about it during All State and she didn't tell me! We were even sharing a room! Anyway, I also saw my wonderful friends Byron and Micah for the first time in like forever. It was so great to see them! I miss those guys so much! Sunday night I was blessed with a surprise MUIOF gift... so that was fun... NOT! Monday was difficult. I lost my appetite at lunch. I am never one to skip a meal, but I just felt crappy. I started feeling a little better after some chick from North Platte gave me some Motrin, that helped A LOT! Before supper, I was walking across the parking lot, and I saw my Grandparents drive up! Both sets of them! I hadn't seen them since we had moved, so I was so glad when I saw them! I also saw Byron's Mom! That woman is so sweet. I had been telling Byron all day that I couldn't wait to get to talk to his mom that night, he probably got annoyed with it rather quickly. On the way home, I was able to experience a little bit of my director's driving abilities... he missed the turn to get out of Crete like twice. I swear he was trying to kill us. We pulled into Kearney around 10, and I was home a little before 10:30. I was so tired, and I felt crappy, so mom let me stay home from school on Tuesday. It was a day of well deserved rest; I have been so busy.
Yesterday was my first Tri-M meeting with the Kearney Music Department. They literally JUST started their Tri-M. Mr. Michell asked me if I had been in Tri-M before, and I told him that I was inducted in Ogallala, but then moved to a school that didn't have one. He said something about how I must be crazy for putting up with moving so many times. Not really my choice, dude. When he introduced me to the group, he said, "This Annastazia, she is a legitimate, inducted member of Tri-M, so hopefully she is going to help us out a lot." I had to point out to him later that I had only ever been to one meeting because of moving, and he said, "Oh, well you're still an official member." I also found out that I will be able to do band as an independent study this semester since I do not have room for it in my schedule! So that's exciting....
Anyway, that's just a little bit about what is going on in my rather busy life right now. I'll try to more diligent about writing, in fact, that's one of my goals this year.
In late-August, Mom's boss announced that his wife had cancer and that he was no longer planning to retire soon because of the expense of her treatments. Two days later, Mom got a call from Kearney Regional Medical Center (KRMC). They offered her an even better job with a salary that she could not refuse. Not only would she be the Director of Pharmacy, she would also be the Clinical Director. She accepted the position. We had already set the closing date for our house in Unadilla, so we moved into that house in mid-September.
Mom had to start working for KRMC in October. She would go out to Kearney and stay there during the week and then come home for the weekends. This was a very stressful time. My parents were expecting me to be Mom's "substitute" while she was away during the week, but it got to be extremely difficult because I was really busy and almost never home. How was I supposed to prepare a meal for my family when I was at Encore rehearsal? or dance team practice? or pep band? It was difficult. Mom and I started making frozen meals on the weekends when she was home so that all I had to do was put them in the crock pot before I left in the morning. This was very helpful. One problem that was rather difficult was laundry. Laundry had been a combination effort between my mother and I before she moved to Kearney, and even then it was difficult to get it all done, so when she was gone, getting laundry done was a rather difficult task. I realized rather quickly just how much we needed Mom around. Overnight I suddenly became the Stofer family chef, maid, and chauffeur. Dad would leave at 5 in the morning for work and not get home until 7 or 8 at night. We lived like this up until Christmas. We survived, there were a lot of meltdowns and fights along the way, but we survived.
The moving company showed up at our house with a huge semi-trailer to start packing on December 26th. They left the trailer in front of our house overnight and came back on the 27th to finish packing everything. They loaded everything in the semi trailer except for garage tools and all of the farm machinery that Dad thinks we need to keep even though we don't live on a farm anymore. On the 27th after the house was packed, loaded up and went to Yutan to stay with my Grandpa and Grandma Dreessen overnight. (That is where they moved when they sold their house in Ogallala.) In the morning, our caravan of 7 vehicles departed. Dad, Rudy, and our beloved dog, Reagan, were in the pick-up pulling our moving trailer. Mom, Elle, and the dumb cat were in the Excursion with a bunch of laundry and other such items packed full. Grandma Dreessen and Izzy were in their Explorer. Grandma Stofer was driving her car. Grandpa Stofer was driving my pick-up. Grandpa Dreessen was driving our silver car, and I was driving the red car. It turns out that having 5 vehicles and only 3 people that could drive was a tricky situation, so we had to recruit drivers. That was the first time that I had driven on the Interstate by myself, it was honestly a little scary, especially when we were going through Lincoln.
School is going alright. It is just a really weird transition. The school is HUGE! There are so many people! There are about 400 kids in my class alone... it's insane! They have block scheduling, which means rather than having eight 45-minute periods, they have four 90 minute blocks. I really don't like this. It makes it really hard to fit things into my schedule. I had to drop band and Spanish this semester, which really made me mad because I really enjoy both of those classes.
I am taking Advanced Placement Language and Composition (APLaC), Chemistry, and Honors Advanced Math for my first 3 blocks. My fourth block is split in half because Chorale is only a 45 minute period, and then I have study hall in the cafeteria until the end of the day. APLaC is way more difficult than I thought it would be, but I love my teacher! Chemistry is easy, but my teacher is a little disorganized. I had a bit of a bad experience with him on my first day. "Raise your hand if you are planning on going to college." The whole class raised their hands. "Raise your hand if you know what you want your career to be." There were about 5 of us who raised our hands. He pointed at me, "You, what career do you want to pursue?" I cleared my throat, "I want to be a CRNA which is a Nurse Anesthetist." He nodded his ahead and said, "Alright, I just have one question, why would you settle for a CRNA and not just become an Anesthesiologist?" That question caught me off guard a little bit. I answered, "Well, Anesthesiologists are very busy and have to be practically married to their careers. CRNA's have less busy schedules, and I would like to be able to work a flexible schedule because I want to be a Mom when the time comes." He rolled his eyes and then pointed his finger in my face and yelled, "That is BS! I have a friend who is an Anesthesiologist. He has three of the little CRNAs working for him. He calls all the shots, and he makes a lot of money. With money like that, you wouldn't need to stay home with your kids." I was so pissed off. Some people just don't get it. The whole class was in disbelief. "See class, I will help you make wise decisions about your future in this class as well as teach you Chemistry." Let's just say I dread walking into that class everyday. He isn't very organized and it drives me CRAZY! Choir is going really, REALLY well! I absolutely love how talented Mr. Moyer is. Again, it's just a weird transition. I came from a school with a choir of a little under 100, and Mrs. Rodgers was very strict about rules and people shutting up when she asks them to. Now I am in a choir of about 60, and Mr. Moyer lets people talk and be crazy. Maybe I am just super sensitive to it, but I cannot stand it. One day we got completely through the Conversion of Saul and everyone started yelling and cheering and talking. I sat there quietly as a force of habit. I sit in the front row, and Mr. Moyer smiled at me and said, "I am really glad you are singing with us! Do like this piece?". I absolutely LOVE The Conversion of Saul. It is 8 part acapella, and it is absolutely amazing!
We have found a church, but it is not in the church form that you would expect. The name of my church is Living Faith Fellowship, and from what I understand it resulted from a split from Kearney Berean. There is not an actual church building, for now we meet in the Merryman Performing Arts Center. We weren't sure about that church right away, we were worried about some issues that they had with women leading prayer and worship, but that was all resolved. It's amazing how the Lord provides solutions for problems like this. I was just in awe that this issue was worked out.
Last Sunday and Monday, I attended Doane Honor Choir. It started out rather hectic. Mr. Moyer forgot to have the transportation people leave our suburban outside of the bus barn, so he couldn't get to it right away. We ended up leaving almost 45 minutes late. We showed up 1 minute before the conclusion of registration. We keep it classy here in K-Town. I saw Ms. Poe (Mrs. Rodgers...), and she is pregnant! I am so happy for her, and I am absolutely convinced that it is a baby girl! I also found out that she knew about it during All State and she didn't tell me! We were even sharing a room! Anyway, I also saw my wonderful friends Byron and Micah for the first time in like forever. It was so great to see them! I miss those guys so much! Sunday night I was blessed with a surprise MUIOF gift... so that was fun... NOT! Monday was difficult. I lost my appetite at lunch. I am never one to skip a meal, but I just felt crappy. I started feeling a little better after some chick from North Platte gave me some Motrin, that helped A LOT! Before supper, I was walking across the parking lot, and I saw my Grandparents drive up! Both sets of them! I hadn't seen them since we had moved, so I was so glad when I saw them! I also saw Byron's Mom! That woman is so sweet. I had been telling Byron all day that I couldn't wait to get to talk to his mom that night, he probably got annoyed with it rather quickly. On the way home, I was able to experience a little bit of my director's driving abilities... he missed the turn to get out of Crete like twice. I swear he was trying to kill us. We pulled into Kearney around 10, and I was home a little before 10:30. I was so tired, and I felt crappy, so mom let me stay home from school on Tuesday. It was a day of well deserved rest; I have been so busy.
Yesterday was my first Tri-M meeting with the Kearney Music Department. They literally JUST started their Tri-M. Mr. Michell asked me if I had been in Tri-M before, and I told him that I was inducted in Ogallala, but then moved to a school that didn't have one. He said something about how I must be crazy for putting up with moving so many times. Not really my choice, dude. When he introduced me to the group, he said, "This Annastazia, she is a legitimate, inducted member of Tri-M, so hopefully she is going to help us out a lot." I had to point out to him later that I had only ever been to one meeting because of moving, and he said, "Oh, well you're still an official member." I also found out that I will be able to do band as an independent study this semester since I do not have room for it in my schedule! So that's exciting....
Anyway, that's just a little bit about what is going on in my rather busy life right now. I'll try to more diligent about writing, in fact, that's one of my goals this year.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
It's All In My Head... Well, Kind Of...
Thursday night (September 26th) we had a softball game against Auburn at home. Top of the 4th inning. We were winning 11-0. There were two outs, and I was playing center field. Our time expired at the end of the 3rd inning; we all heard the timer go off. Morgan pitched a strike, it was a high strike so when the girl swung, so hit the bottom part of the ball with the top part of the bat. This caused the ball to go VERY high in the air with a dreadful spin. I started hustling into the in-field... That stupid ball was going to land right behind second base and short-stop. It technically should have been the left-fielder's ball, but she wasn't paying attention. I ran so that I was within the usual 45 degree angle that you are supposed to take when you catch a fly ball. I was "Camped under it" (a softball term for "standing and waiting for it to fall into your glove") for about 4 or 5 seconds. I lost it in the sun for a little while, but then I found it again. I was sure that the stupid ball was going into my glove. I don't exactly remember how it happened, but somehow it missed my glove and hit me right above the bridge of my nose in between my eyebrows. A sharp pain went through my entire body. I instantly felt like I was going to throw up and fall over; I could barely stand. I closed my eyes and saw spots for a while, but I could still hear people yelling, running, and collectively saying "oh". I opened my eyes to see Sierra, a girl in Rudy's class who is our short-stop, saying, "How many fingers, babe? How many fingers do you see?" The base umpire was doing the same thing. I couldn't even think, so I shut my eyes again until I heard Coach Bob. He was asking me all kinds of questions, but he wasn't making any sense. I tried answering, but apparently I wasn't making any sense either. He asked me if I could walk, I told him that I hadn't tried yet. He wrapped his arm around me and practically carried me off of the field. He set me down on the bench, and then a flood of people swarmed me. Everyone was asking me all kinds of questions that I just couldn't give answers to. Coach Isaacs was there, as well as Mr. Wentz (a family friend and the middle school principal), Sam Parde's dad who is an EMT, Coach Bob, my sister Elle, and my Mom. They put ice on my forehead, and then I heard Coach Isaacs tell Mom, "If this was my daughter, I would get her out of here right now and get her to the Emergency Room." Within a few seconds I could hear Mom on the phone, "Hello, it's Shanna, I am on my way to your ER with my 16 year old. Possible concussion. Nauseous. Difficulty breathing. Conscious. Have a room ready for her." Two men carried me to the golf cart that they use to take elderly people up and down the long walk-way to get into the field. Mom kept asking me where my keys were and where all of my stuff was. I answered the best that I could, but I'm not exactly sure what I said. Mom loaded me into her car with the help of a few other people. She put my softball sweat towel over my head and then told me to hold the ice pack. That was the most terrible car ride I have ever experienced. I get car-sick VERY easily, and it didn't help that Mom was in a hurry, I was already nauseous, and that I couldn't see. I almost threw up. I was shuffled into a wheelchair, and as we entered the Emergency Room I heard a lot of familiar voices. There was Donna, a family friend of ours who is a nurse at the hospital. Doug, a nurse that Mom worked with when was the Director of Pharmacy at that hospital. Carla, the PA at the hospital. All of the emergency rooms were full, so they put me in a regular room. They ran all kinds of tests and asked me all kinds of questions. After a long string of questions Carla left the room and then came back a few minutes later. She told me that I had a concussion. She also said that I would not be able to play softball, dance on dance team, or march in marching band. I was crushed. I started crying. After they finished my paperwork, mom and I left the hospital and went home. I fell asleep and didn't wake up for a long time.
The next week was torture. Not only could I not play softball, but I couldn't dance a Dance Team practice, and I couldn't march in band. It was so hard to focus, especially during College Algebra and Chemistry. My teachers were very gracious and often let me wait to take tests/quizzes and a few of them even let me take a nap during class if my head hurt. That Tuesday, during 8th period, I was in Poe's office, and I fell asleep listening to All State music, I slept for almost an hour before Matt came into Poe's office after school and thought I was dead. Ms. Poe just said, "No, her brain is broken, so she is letting it rest." I had to leave a few minutes later for our softball game in JCC that I didn't even get to play in. That morning at early band, someone made a comment like "You should be able to march with a concussion. Why are you just standing there?" Unfortunately, I let my emotions get the best of me and I flipped out. "You have no idea how much it is killing me to just stand there while you guys are marching. Don't you think that if I could be out there, I would? I would give anything to march, to dance, or to play softball, but I can't. So back off." At the end of this rant, I was in tears and Mr. Parde came over and yelled at the person that made the rude comment. The whole band was silent. After rehearsal, a lot of people came up to me and congratulated me for putting that rude person in his place. I just felt terrible.
Wednesday (the 2nd of October) I went in for my check up with the doctor. He made me retake my concussion test on the computer, and then he did a series of physical tests. I PASSED! In fact, one of the areas on my test improved, which was a little odd. I was able to play in my last softball game of the season on that Monday, although coach was worried about me so he didn't put me in much.
Since then, I have days when my head will hurt REALLY bad, and there are days when I am just completely out of it. I didn't think that the side affects would stick around this long, but they did. Moral of this story, use your glove, not your head.
Monday, September 23, 2013
Test Outs
This morning we had dance team practice at 6:30, and I was really excited for it. It was test out day! Test out means that you perform the dance that will be performed at the next sport event with only two other girls in front of the coaches. The coaches give you scores out of 12, you have to get at least a 6 to pass. If you don't pass you can retest as many times as it takes to be performance ready.
On Friday we will be performing our "Team Dance". This is the dance that my entire team learned at the camp that I could not go to. I had one of the girls teach me the dance, but I found out on Saturday that she had taught almost the entire dance to me incorrectly. I had to relearn almost the entire dance on Sunday night before our marching exhibition. I felt like I had a pretty good grasp on it, so I was confident going into test outs. After practice the coaches handed us our score sheets and my heart sank as I looked at it. I needed a 6 to pass, and I received a 5 and 1/2. I was so upset. Tears were already swelling.
I quickly changed in the locker room and then hustled down to the band room. I put my stuff down, and then walked directly into the Vocal Music Room. By then I was sobbing, and Mrs. Rodgers (she will always and forever be Ms. Poe to me...) stood up instantly, held her arms out to hug me, and said, "Oh sweety, what's wrong?". I sobbed for a while in her embrace before answering. I told her the entire story. She told me that I reminded her of herself. We both take everything we do rather seriously and we give it our all. With this, comes dramatic failures. I do not take well to failure. (Unless it is in sports, then I am totally used to it.) I take pride in everything I do, and I do it to the best of my ability, so failing this test out was not easy for me. I cried for a little while longer before the bell rang and we had to go our separate ways. I had to go to band and she had to go teach a little kid music class.
Ms. Poe understands me very well. She is so good at reading my emotions, even if I'm not displaying them. I swear that woman can read my mind. Her and I have always been close, but I think these past couple of months have made us even closer. She expected more out of me as I moved up the leadership ladder, and I rose to the expectation. I always have at least one teacher (usually female) that I trust completely and that I could tell anything to. In Ogallala it was Mrs. Helzer and in Syracuse it is Ms. Poe (or Mrs. Rodgers or whatever you want to call her...). I don't know what I would do with out these two amazing women. Their influence on me is more than they will ever know.
On Friday we will be performing our "Team Dance". This is the dance that my entire team learned at the camp that I could not go to. I had one of the girls teach me the dance, but I found out on Saturday that she had taught almost the entire dance to me incorrectly. I had to relearn almost the entire dance on Sunday night before our marching exhibition. I felt like I had a pretty good grasp on it, so I was confident going into test outs. After practice the coaches handed us our score sheets and my heart sank as I looked at it. I needed a 6 to pass, and I received a 5 and 1/2. I was so upset. Tears were already swelling.
I quickly changed in the locker room and then hustled down to the band room. I put my stuff down, and then walked directly into the Vocal Music Room. By then I was sobbing, and Mrs. Rodgers (she will always and forever be Ms. Poe to me...) stood up instantly, held her arms out to hug me, and said, "Oh sweety, what's wrong?". I sobbed for a while in her embrace before answering. I told her the entire story. She told me that I reminded her of herself. We both take everything we do rather seriously and we give it our all. With this, comes dramatic failures. I do not take well to failure. (Unless it is in sports, then I am totally used to it.) I take pride in everything I do, and I do it to the best of my ability, so failing this test out was not easy for me. I cried for a little while longer before the bell rang and we had to go our separate ways. I had to go to band and she had to go teach a little kid music class.
Ms. Poe understands me very well. She is so good at reading my emotions, even if I'm not displaying them. I swear that woman can read my mind. Her and I have always been close, but I think these past couple of months have made us even closer. She expected more out of me as I moved up the leadership ladder, and I rose to the expectation. I always have at least one teacher (usually female) that I trust completely and that I could tell anything to. In Ogallala it was Mrs. Helzer and in Syracuse it is Ms. Poe (or Mrs. Rodgers or whatever you want to call her...). I don't know what I would do with out these two amazing women. Their influence on me is more than they will ever know.
Monday, September 16, 2013
We're Moving
We're moving to Kearney during Christmas Break. Again with the 18 months in one place thing. This is starting to get exhausting.
Saturday, August 31, 2013
You Weren't There
You promised you would be there. We must have talked at least 5 times about it in the past week. I have worked so hard for this, and this was my first night to perform, and you weren't there. As we walked onto the field something didn't feel right. They announced all of the dancers, and when my name came up I did my peppy wave and looked into the stands, but you weren't there. Neither of you were. I have been working my butt off since March to get to this point, and tonight was my first performance, and you weren't there. The dance? Well, it went fantastic, thanks for asking. You would have been blown out of the water. I can't really describe what I was feeling out there. I felt like I was dancing on clouds, when in reality I was dancing on a lumpy football field with no shoes on. I rolled my ankle coming down from my spread eagle jump half way through the song, but you wouldn't know that because you weren't there. I guess I don't understand why you would show up to watch him play football and leave before you could watch me dance. Whatever. What's done is done. Thanks for the support. Not.
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