Dear Friends and Family,

I broke my own nose last night. I made a stupid cut on the bandsaw, and the ten pound log I was cutting spun backward and hit me square in the face shield. The force was so great that my face shield split and the log hit my nose and right eye. However, if my shield hadn't absorbed so much of the impact, I would be in a coma right now. So a broken nose isn't so bad.

Brian was on the other side prepared to help, but the whole episode happened within a hundredth of a second, and then it was time to go to the hospital. We waited 3 hours in the hospital (redefining the meaning of the word "patient") then a doctor came and shoved three needles into my nose so he could suture up a huge upside-down Y shaped cut. Ten stitches and another two hours later, Brian took me home.

It was a little shocking for me to find that hospital staff were suspicious of Brian. They asked us our "story" about a hundred times. The nurse even mumbled something like "are you sure you didn't beat her up?" Bri kept his cool though. We both figured that many of the women who come in with facial injuries WERE beat up. The doctor, however believed our alibi when he pulled out a peppercorn-sized chunk of wood from my nose.

I'm home now, swollen and funny looking. In a few days a specialist will have to re-set my nose, though even through the swelling it doesn't look so bad. I'm hoping he won't have to break it over again to set it. Eek! The ER doc gave me a prescription for vicodin, and I took one last night. Surprisingly, I feel alright today, just annoyed by my swollen up eye. I'm glad I don't have a workplace outside my comfy little home, because it would really suck to go anywhere for the next week or so. So if you see me around town this month, you'll know why I look like a boxer, and feel free to ask about the other guy :)

Moral of the story: if it doesn't feel safe, it probably isn't. ALWAYS wear protective gear if you have a potentially dangerous hobby. Protective gear saved my life.

Be well, Tanya