My grant! It was ROUND!

Imagine for a moment that the world really had been flat when Columbus decided to sail around it. He’d have literally fallen off the face of the Earth.

His trip took a long time and I can’t imagine that cell service reached that far meaning that contact with home was non-existent. As such, people probably thought that he did fall off the face of the Earth.

Last Thursday, I said yes to a real big grant with a very short timeline.

And as you may have noticed, I sailed my ship right off the face of the Earth.

Or so you thought!

But like the world, my grant was round, and here I am! Back among the living! (Just a little tired…)

Sigh of relief though. That was a doozy! The grant still isn’t technically out the door and I’ve spent most of the day today making minor tweaks and changes and edits and such, but for the most part, it’s ready to go. Monday is the official deadline, and on Monday, “send” shall be clicked. Huzzah!

In the meantime, I had a total It’s a Wonderful Life moment. My house was a MESS! I almost took before and after cleaning pictures last night… but it was simply too horrifying to even be funny. We had crossed the line. (See! I matter! I really do!)

My gmail inbox has 55 unread emails– and that’s after deleting the junk! (Huge apologies if I’ve been ignoring you!)

Insane Inbox

I have an episode of Downton Abbey on the DVR (what that whaaaaat?!).

(It's the Masterpiece Classic one. Permission to judge.)
(It’s the Masterpiece Classic one. Permission to judge.)

My nail polish is flaking off to a pathetic point and I haven’t even had the time to pick at it. (But I love picking at it!!)

Nail Polish

And I haven’t posted on Under the Tapestry in over a week!!!

No Posts

Oy. None of this is ok. Thank goodness for this upcoming weekend!

But there are some reasons why the insane hours and the seriously mentally taxing work (and not just mentally! I hurt my finger on a staple! writing can be physically taxing too!) was completely worth it… there were some silver linings, if you will.

First, I learned A LOT. About A LOT.

Unfamiliar funding mechanism, unfamiliar topic, unfamiliar PI. But not anymore.

I could write another HRSA grant, and I could do it well. (Fingers crossed HRSA thinks it’s written as well as I think it is.) Especially given more time. Because seriously, I could have used more time. A lot more time.

The topic– fascinating!! I have a personal interest in improving access to behavioral health services (because remember, I’ve kind of cra-a-azy) and I think the proposed project offers a really wonderful way to do that in our community. Very easy to get on board. Not as easy to learn the material. But I read and read and read (and googled and googled and googled) and I’ve come out the other side with a much better understanding of the role that different types of health professionals can play in behavioral healthcare as well as how the different pieces of the organization I work for can fit together to make that happen. Fascinating stuff!

And the PI… she was wonderful. Truly a dream to work with. She’s passionate about what she does and really understands how to make care better for patients. And that’s why she does what she does and why I wanted to help her do more of it. She makes all those hours worth it… and will continue to do so as I cash in on some favors I’m owed to help advance some other program grants I’ve been toying around with. (Mr. Burns-style excellent.)

So, yes, I am tired. And my poor husband is starved near to death. But we survived it. And I’d do it again in a heartbeat, even if it meant there was another week where we couldn’t chat.

(That’s not to say I haven’t missed you, because I have! And dearly!)

Anyway, I’ve sailed back to you, little lovelies! Back to Earth, back to normal, back to our regularly scheduled programming. Yay!!

12 thoughts on “My grant! It was ROUND!

  1. When Emma sees a picture of the Earth she says, “Earf! (pointer finger in the air tracing a circle) Round and round and round and round.” We are glad the Earth AND your Grant are round! PS: Lucky for me, I know the direct line to the phone on your boat so it didn’t matter that you lost cell service… you can never escape me! I love you!

  2. So, wait, Grey’s Anatomy didn’t depict grants accurately when Meredith finally figured out her topic in the morning, had the entire thing written AND submitted the same afternoon, then successfully had the funds in hand the next week ; )

    Congrats – always feels good to submit. And yes, I got hooked on Grey’s Anatomy so now I have to see it thru. And I know it’s bs most of the time (like last season when Bailey mapped a kid’s genome to find an effective cancer treatment while he only had weeks to live), but still hooked : )

    1. Oh no judgment for being hooked– I love me some tv, realistic or not! And, to be fair, I would very much hate to watch a movie and/or tv show about the real grant writing process. I’m impressed that anyone can manage to romanticize it!!

  3. I am so glad that we have sailors like you who still do it for the adventure and excitement! I’d follow you over the edge any day!

  4. Love your passion, love what sounds like a great grant (and you think YOU’RE a need? I want to read the grant?!) and Love that you are back. Take treasure in being missed! I totally missed your words! (Have you found us a race in Minnesota yet? Or was it Wisconsin?)?

    1. I’m sure you’d love the grant, actually! One of the major frameworks for the model comes from the AIMS Center at the University of Washington– right in your neighborhood, yes?

      I do need to find us a race in Wisconsin… I’ve been back to running (outside even!), but I’m only up to about 3 miles. Must get some more miles under my belt!!

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