Friday, November 13, 2009
Friday the 13th and a Bunch of Random Updates
Last night's fright fits in well with today's date.After a normal day of work for me, writing for Huz, and daycare for Claire, we came home and did the usual eating, bathing, putting Claire to bed routine. Huz graciously went out and bought me some fried chicken and him some pork shoulder from a local southern soul restaurant since neither of us felt like cooking. We ate while watching all of our Thursday night shows - Fast Forward, The Office, Parks and Recreation, and 30 Rock. We settled into bed around 11:00 and as soon as my head hit the pillow Claire started to cry. It had a different quality to it (yes, new parents, you really will start to hear that your child's cries are different), so instead of giving her 10 minutes, I went in to check on her. I'm glad I did. Her face, hands, and blanket were covered in blood. Red, red blood. Claire's blood. I have never seen her blood before and I don't want to see it again. She got her first bloody nose and it looked like it was a lot and had been bleeding for a while. Trying to stay calm, we picked her up and quickly cleaned her and her bedding. The bleeding stopped, I sat cuddled in blankets with her, gave her some rice milk and put her back to bed. I couldn't sleep until midnight. And then she cried again at 4:00a.m. with another bloody nose.
My poor baby. We don't know if it's because of the weather changing and the forced air heat blowing and drying her out, or if she picked her nose in her sleep....ideas? How to fix it? I hate her humidifier because it gets the hard woods all wet (even with towels) and makes her room feel like a swamp.
In other news, Huz is back from his 5 day trip to Montreal where he had a good conference AND a good job interview. Wish us luck as we wait to hear if he qualifies for a second interview. It would be amazing to live in a world class city in Quebec! We'd have to learn French and a new culture and our little girl would be bilingual. A.W.E.S.O.M.E. We are trying not to get excited, but it's hard not to enjoy the idea of it all.
Remember that cancer grant I applied for a while back? Well, turns out they had a record number of applicants this year and, due to low contributions from donors, were only able to fund 10% of those applicants. While it isn't the entire $4,000 that I owe, they did award me $500 to help with bills a bit. And I'm grateful. Especially considering that only 10% were helped. I'm glad I spent the time writing my essay reflecting on the cancer experience - even if I hadn't won any money it was a good way for me to process my feelings about the disease and how it affected me.
I haven't posted in a while, so I can tell you that the opening night of my first photo show was amazing. It was during Art Crawl, which brings hundreds out to see art in a heavy galleried part of downtown. There were tons of people, lots of free wine, lots of art vendors outside, traveling musicians, and a carnival kind of atmosphere. It was a great, vibrant part of Nashville I just discovered and I now want to have date night on the first Saturday of the month from now on so that I can participate in this atmosphere of fun, art-loving people! I had 20 or so medical students come to support me, as well as friends and church buddies. Even though Huz was away, I felt very supported and loved. I also sold one print! It was to a friend, but still, I sold a print! :) The show goes for two more weekends so I hope that I get a chance to sell at least one more, but if not it's okay. Having the opportunity to have some of my work hanging on a wall and seeing people come up to them and discuss them made me so fulfilled. Thank you, Nashville, for this experience! If we move away to Canada, or somewhere else, I hope that I can find such a welcoming, artistic niche like this little city has to offer.
Happy Friday the 13th everybody!
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