It's been a crazy week. First, on Saturday, we bought a new (new!) car:



It's a 2010 Hyundai Elantra, we got a good deal, and we're thrilled with the car itself.

Then on Monday I drove the new car to Indianapolis for yet another Indiana Hand to Shoulder Center appointment, though I saw a different doctor this time. And after nearly four years of wrist problems, I finally got a diagnosis! The bad news is that my condition--midcarpal instability--doesn't have an accepted treatment, so I am going back on April 14 when I will be a subject of one of their "difficult problems" conferences, where all their doctors and interns will use me as a learning opportunity and speculate on what should be done.

Tuesday I taught part-writing for the first time, and it went really well.

Yesterday (Wed.) I had a meeting with the musicologist who will be writing my minor field exam in music history and literature, and came home a bit depressed because he has extremely high expectations that will be difficult if not impossible for me to accomplish in the next 3 and a half weeks before the exam. From now on, I will be spending every available moment studying. (Yes, I'm writing a blog post, but over breakfast!)

But when I got home, I found I had received the Wennerstrom fellowship for my teaching. (If you look at "Previous recipients," you'll see that the inaugural recipient was none other than my wife, and last year's was my good friend Kyle.)

And Sara had managed to sell her car--less than 24 hours from when she posted it--for $1,000! That's certainly more than we expected for a 12-year-old car with 175,000 miles, a rusted underbody, dome lights that don't turn on when you open the door, back speakers that don't work, air conditioning that doesn't work...

So there's lots to do, lots of medical appointments to look forward to--but the hope of getting better, the hope of passing my exams, and the comfort of teaching. Just have to keep going!