Weekend With Krishelle

A break from the monotony, this weekend we had a dear friend come and visit us! Saturday morning, I picked up Krishelle from the airport and we drove straight back up to Blue Ridge (home). Since I am fasting also, I had to stop by some place to pick up something to eat before the sun rose. What first comes to mind? Why what else, but the Golden Arches. That's right. Micky-D's (McDonald's) it was. I ordered this southern chicken and biscuit meal with a hashbrown, side of scrambled eggs, and a hot tea. Not realizing this was not the easiest meal to eat while driving... but I digress. I then doubled my order. Then paid. I figured if I could not finish all this food, and if Krishelle had not eaten breakfast yet, she may just be craving for a chicken biscuit and hashbrown? Hee hee ...

I drove. It was raining. And for some reason, either due to the fasting (and the spiritual forces that really work to cleanse your soul) or the weather .. or the combination .. or the not-so-spiritual music I was listening to (Akon).. but the drive to the airport was rather emotional for me.

I was crying. I was a mess! Ate some egg. Cried. I'm surprised I could see through my tears, my eyeglasses, the rain on my windshield, to see where I was driving! My tea was too hot to drink (right away) .. I was a MESS! And what exactly was I crying about? That would take too long to put to words now, but ALL imaginary situations. My mind was so creative at putting me to tears, I was probably just in need of whatever it is that crying realeases within your body (seratonin? endorphins? I forget), because I certainly felt better afterwards. There's nothing like a good crying session... except for maybe FOOD and (sigh) sleep.

So I made it almost to the airport when Krishelle calls and tells me she had arrived safely and to call her when I got closer. I was there in ten minutes, and we turned right around and ... got lost. That's right, I did not turn on my GPS since I figured I should know the directions by now. And I do. But only from North Terminal to our home and back (or the other way around)... you know what I mean. Krishelle arrived at South Terminal and so leaving, the roads were different and unfamiliar to me.

Turning on Krishelle's Nuvi (GPS) instead - and listening to a British man's voice giving out directions (we have Jill, the American girl, on our Nuvi) - we found our way to the interstate that I know and love. So we were off to the mountains!

We arrived, it was still pouring outside.

Anyways, the weekend flew by in a hurry, and we mostly stayed at home. Kelly and Krishelle and Lexie usually went out for meals, while Ethan, Mom and I stayed at home (we can't eat anyways so figured keep Ethan fed and happy without the wet outside to negotiate). It's been a fun couple of days. Like the "old times" of Durham. Sadly, Krishelle flies back today, so I will be taking her to the airport, and Ethan has "pink eye". Hey, at least we had a healthy Ethan for a day, right? That's a bonus these days!

So just waiting now before we leave for the airport. Krishelle has been fantastic with Ethan - always engaging him with something new, imaginary play, and story telling. She will be missed, by Ethan mostly, and us all for sure.

The rain is getting heavier now. Sorry Krishelle. The rain fell precisely during the dates of your travel to see us. Maybe it is our turn next to visit you - in sunny San Diego!

Durham Thanksgiving

It had been about a year and half since we last were in Durham. A trip back "home" to visit old friends was being talked about for months, and we finally made good on this plan.

For the U.S. Thanksgiving long weekend we took to the road to Tobacco Road. It was so good to be back in Durham (NC). With so many memories in this city - our first home, wedding, Ethan's birth, Kelly's residency at Duke (to name a few) - being back felt more like home than our current place of residence.

We left on Wednesday night (11/26) and split the road trip in two, staying overnight in Asheville, NC before continuing the next morning to Durham. The entire trip takes about 6 1/2 - 7 hours, which we felt would be too much for Ethan if driven continously.

Jessica offered her place for us to stay, even though she would be out of town visiting her family for Turkey Day in Baton Rouge, LA. Jessica would come back Friday evening and we spent all of Saturday together, which was great fun.

The average American consumes about 4,030 calories on Thanksgiving Day. I certainly managed that, if not the first evening, most definitely after the second, as we were treated to two Thanksgiving dinners! On Thursday we were hosted by the Kugler family (Eileen, Gary, and sons Jason and Jeff). Dinner was traditional - turkey, mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts, stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy. On Friday, we were at the Mostaghimis residence for a Persian-American fusion dinner combining favorites such as khoresh-e-bademjan (persian eggplant stew dish) and oven-roasted turkey, and tadik (crispy persian rice) with sweet potatoes. Yuuuuuuuuuum! For the record I had seconds both evenings. Heaven! Oh did I mention there was shohlezard (persian yellow rice pudding)... darn, I want some right now.

Saturday with Jessica included breakfast at home (bacon and egg McJessica muffins, pancakes, Earl Grey, left-over shohlezard). We then went to the science museum, butterfly conservatory and insectarium where Ethan had a lot of fun roaming around and exploring. We were not alone, as it seemed every family in the area thought it was a good Saturday-after-Thanksgiving thing to do to take the kids to the science museum. We had to park across the street it was so packed.

Saturday evening we dined at Merlion. We ate Char Kway Teoh (Singaporean noodle dish), ginger beef, a tofu dish and honey glazed prawns. After Ethan was put to bed, Kelly, Jessica and I ended up talking until 2am, bringing back fond memories of our time at Duke/Durham.

But sadly our trip had to come to an end eventually. On Sunday, again Jessica made us some egg and bacon breakfast muffins. Kelly, Ethan and I went to the Baha'i Center while Jessica went to her church for Sunday service. The program at the Baha'i Center in Durham was on the topic of marriage and chastity. The discussions were lively, and the selected readings very thought provoking -- I know several friends of mine that would benefit from these Baha'i writings.

Some usual suspects were at the Center - Catherine Davis, Dilsey, Angelica, Parvaneh, Anyema and Sherlock, Shegund, Ayla, Lee Moavenzadeh, Daria, etc.. It was nice to see everyone, and so comforting to be the in the company of our former community members. Several other friends we knew ahead of time would be away this weekend which was a pity - including (but not limited to) Amani, Elyse, Nahal and others.

Lunch was had back at Jessica's (left-over Merlion food, left-over Thanksgiving meals Persian-Chinese-American fusion, and STILL left-over shohlezard :-D). Our truck fully loaded (with recent purchases for the baby's arrival) and Ethan showing signs of napping, we took to the long road back home, under pouring conditions, making our way, slowly, back to Blue Ridge.

10 pm Sunday evening, and a truck full of things to unload, we were "home" at last. A very worthwhile trip.

Congratulations Carlie & Barry!!

Carlie and Barry's wedding, July 11, 2008 in Port Coquitlam, BC.

MANY CONGRATULATIONS to you both!

More to write soon.

Back "Home"

I have to write. An entire month has elapsed since my last entry. Several friends of mine met Ethan for the first time have said how they love following his development through my blog. Ahem, hence my renewed efforts in trying to write more regularly again.

I am writing (typing) sitting here in my aunt's and uncle's home in Coquitlam, BC.

Our trip has been pleasant, and I have seen many of my old friends, and driven through many of my childhood neighborhoods and places I frequented in my youth.

BC is a gem of a place. Lush mountains. Mild climate. A multi-cultural shmorgasborg. Over the past 48 hours, for example, we ate Japanese, Thai, Persian and Mediterranean/Greek. I got my wish for a Slurpee, and attended the rehearsal dinner for my friend's wedding (which will be on Friday). I can't complain.

With all the "homely" comforts of returning to BC for this trip, still, there are many things that have changed that contribute to a feeling of "a home no more":

(1) as much as I have grown up with Asian cultures predominating in BC, the singleness, and overwhelming presence in numbers (in the airport alone) made me feel like I had just landed in Southeast Asia, as with our trip back in December to Singapore/Malaysia -- I am one for diversity, don't get me wrong, so long as there is unity. And one obvious way to display a more outward presentation of this unity would be to identify with the very nation they dwell in. Sadly, for me, a lack of "Canadiana" also means, all these strangers, can gladly keep my old home where once my roots grew deep;

(2) my parents no longer live here -- and up until this stage in my life (where I have my own family), home has always been defined by where "mom and dad" live;

(3) a once close knit group of friends, I may still have contact with all of them, but few are in contact with each other -- this point is not surprising in the least, since everyone is prone to "separation" when significant time is allowed to go on without effort made to keep contact. Life gets in the way. Marriages. Children. Professional obligations. And it is impossible to keep in contact with everyone. Nevertheless, this just shows how much friendships formed and nurtured through one's formative days can really shape the person one becomes as an adult and the long lasting influences in one's life -- and can equally define where "home" is.

With two more days remaining in our visit, I look forward to a dear friend's wedding, and to eat some more of my aunt's delicious cooking.

I will also try to convince my close friends to take on a journey to a small Japanese-style cottage in the USA's "deep south".

Pictures: Ethan's World (And Friends)

PhD For Shan!!

My dear friend Shannan successfully defended her PhD on Friday. Congratulations to you! After 5 years filled with many crises and rewards, self-doubt, and all the rest (you yourself know what these are, Shan) you have overcome them all! What a testament to just what you are capable of achieving, and I hope this is the begining of many more milestones and achievements for you.

I would like to think that I was a witness to your maturation from a first-year graduate student, to a newly annointed "doctor" and academician. But having gone through the same experience myself, I know that so much of it is down to personal grinding, some semblance of self-belief, and a lot of bad fast-food and late-nighters.

Friends help too. Often far removed from the very discipline you are engaged in day in and day out for years (huh? transcriptome-what?), still, these wonderful souls urge you on and keep you positive and forward thinking and quite often make the difference in times of tests.

And just how time flies.

When you were giving your final presentation, Shan, I could recall vividly the small stuffy room where I had to present my final talk, May 22nd, 2003. An error in the booking meant that I got half of a conference room (the other separated by an accordion divider thingy) and all of 40-50 people packed into a space with only 25 seats or so.

My external examiner (from the Netherlands) was running late (his flight delayed) which ultimately left me with 40 minutes to speed through my slides. Perhaps that situation really just aided in calming my nerves since everyone felt pity on me. But that feeling, when your "acknowledgments" slide appears and you have nothing left to say but "thank you" to all the people who have helped you along the way - truly, NOTHING compares to that feeling. (except for your wedding day, birth of your first-born, but as far as academic achievements go ...)

May you remember that moment, as I do mine, and treasure it forever as you make your way onwards, Doctor.

Fat Or Fiction

Growing up I was always the "skinny kid" - more accurate actually I was always the SHORT and skinny kid in school. And puberty hit and I grew a foot! Quite literally: I was 4'6" in 1992 (grade 8) and 5'6" in 1994 (grade 10). Since then, I have maybe grown 2 inches to my current lofty height of 5'8" (with a fully spiked hair and some tennis shoes on). But, I was still light-set, and this bothered me.

Boy have times changed!

In highschool I was active and played sports virtually every day of the week (weekends included). Following graduation, and all throughout university, I maintained my frequent dose of sports through the intramurals program and working out at the gym (where I also worked part-time).

Life was good, body image was healthy, I looked more stalky (not fat), no complaints.

Fast forward several years of fast food (and marriage and a baby) and I am a robust dude. Or should I say rotund, round, and not just in the face, but a full-on belly. Hey, I hope you all find this amusing, because I have no issues about telling it like it is.

I am fat(ter) and need to get back in shape. So much for New Year resolutions, it is now February and my treadmill just arrived.

That's correct. Nothing was working out. Mountain terrain is hardly a place to go "jogging with my iPod". Someone has to look after Nooms. Can't leave Kelly alone (and Kelly's not interested in exercise). Can't go to the gym when you have to juggle work and Ethan and preschool? Bike to work? Geez. And, yes, the EXCUSES are longer than ... well, just long, ok?

And I was getting tired of doing nothing, so I did what I do best and that's spend money.

I bought this Gold's Gym MAXX 650 treadmill that I have yet to break in (it arrived on Wednesday). I hope to unpack and assemble it this weekend and run everday thereafter. (and I'd better get some regular motivation from my readers to "keep up with the exercise, Max!")

I want to be fit for our trip to BC in June when I hope to hang out with my bro and all of my buddies and for them to meet Ethan (many/most for the first time).

All Fun & Games

Immediately after my flight from Las Vegas landed in Atlanta, I was making my way to meet Kelly, Ethan and friends to celebrate Kelly's successful passing of the Pediatrics board exam. Renea (her partner, Richard), Josie (and housemate Sarah), and the Teskes joined us in congratulating Kelly, with dinner at Okinawa in Ellijay. Our party took up an entire (and private) hibachi table/section. The children, Adib and Ethan, were especially interested in the cook and his tricks (and of course the flames!). Ethan kept on repeating, "Wooooooooooooow" albeit he was saying this for everything the cook did, even when the cook was merely cracking an egg.

Most of us then returned back to our home for what is quickly becoming a sort of tradition - games and tea and cake!! This night, however, there was another special reason to have cake: it was Sarah's birthday (today)! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

40 Of 137 Will Have To Do

With some reshuffling of photos, I managed to squeeze in a selection of pics from this past weekend with Carmel, Vipul and family. I failed to mention (see entry below) that we also went to Mercier apple orchard - at least the shop, since there isn't much to see in the orchard in January. Mercier in Blue Ridge always has the BEST apple cider and fried apple pies - yum! Anyways, check out the album in My Picasa (on right).

Lakhanis Visit

Last weekend the Lakhanis came to visit us. Carmel, Vipul, Kavi and Layli spent the weekend in our home. We took them to downtown Blue Ridge and did a bit of shopping and browsing through the many stores selling local art crafts and furniture, and many antique shops. We went into art gallery stores, fudge shops, and the Great Eats delicatessen for lunch.

Will write more in a separate entry or update this one. For now, I am trying to upload the many pictures we took that weekend. I have run out of space on my Picasa and Flickr accounts, and so I am trying to open a Photobucket account. There are many free photo album sites. Any recommendations? Or, since I am clearly a trigger-happy photo enthusiast, I should just invest in a real (paid-for) account with unlimited space?

Anyways, soon I hope to have these pictures up.

One thing I will say about this past weekend, it was relaxed and so much fun being with our old friends again. And what an adorable - and ALWAYS smiling - lovely baby girl, Layli.

www.riverbirchresearch.com

Several weeks in the working and our company's website is now much more polished and more or less complete. Thanks to my friend Frank Lam, we now have a professional presence on the internet to reflect the quality of work we do in clinical research.

Frank has put up with my many "requests" for changes or ideas, many of which are still ongoing as we strive to put together the best website for our company's current needs. But this is not merely my own vision. Oh no. Frank has inputted many of his own ideas and design elements, many of which I initially would "gently" disagree with, but later find Frank's eye for webpages and his ideas more appropriate and aesthetic than my own. And for this, your own critical decisions for our site, I thank you immensely.

So as we strive to bring more clinical trials studies to Northern Georgia, I welcome you all to view our new look at www.riverbirchresearch.com.

NYE With The Teskes

Happy 2008!! We rung in the New Year with our friends, The Teskes. Sevda and Michael graciously hosted dinner prior to (Nineteen Day) Feast.

THANK YOU!!

And when the kids retired for the evening, and our other friends and guests had left also, the few remaining watched a bit of Planet Earth while sipping hot tea and eating chocolates. (Totally laid-back, home-style New Year's). When suddenly, engrossed in a scene of mountain cats and baboons, Orville reminds us it was midnight! Out with the sparkling grape juice, a few toasts, a group photo later, 2008 was officially ushered in. Kelly and I, exhausted as we were then called it a night, but apparently Sevda, Michael and Co. still stayed up to watch Memoires of a Geisha. Ah, good for you guys. We slept the night at the Teskes and are now back at home.

And guess who decided to come back? Sparky!! More later. (Josie, we need the cat food back! Hahaha)

Thanksgiving Dinner With Molly & Cupid

[the giant pumpkin weighs 479lbs]

Dinner this evening was far better today (than last night). We ate around 2PM. Thanksgiving dinner was held at Josie's place, and it was a good old fashioned turkey spread with all the fixin's and even a dash of eastern european flavours. A long dining table seating some 18 friends, gathered and shared grace, good food and better company.

To work off the meal we had just ingested, some of us went down to the barn to visit donkey sisters, Molly and Cupid. Click the link to My Picasa (on right) to find more photos ("Thanksgiving 2007").

It was pretty chilly out today (and damp -- we had several thunderstorms all night last night) and so back indoors we had hot drinks and dessert waiting. We played games including Catch Phrase and Apples to Apples.

What a warm evening shared by a gathering of friends!! Thanks Josie & Co!

Rain, Yes!

This summer will likely go down as the driest, hottest summer in recent years (if not on record!). There's been much talk on the news of Atlanta running out of water! Period. Not low water, or "please do not put your sprinklers on" type of warnings, but no water at all - drinking, shower, toilet (flushing), nada. Lake levels have been so low their banks have been exposed and bare for months. Atlanta's population "boom" has had a lot to contribute to the general amount of water used, but the lack of the wet stuff ALL SUMMER LONG has not helped. But yay, today, it is *gasp* raining. Wet and gray as can be. And I've never been more welcoming of dreary.

More and more leaves are coming down, and trees are starting to hit their peak fall coloration. Tomorrow should be a great day for photo taking. It is expected to be clear (I think) and should be "fresh" as can be with the rains we are receiving just now. With Sharon and the girls arriving late tonight, I cannot wait until tomorrow when we can go out and enjoy the scenery and take some photos.

Elyse is coming too, and an avid kayaker and general outdoorsy type person, I am sure she will want to make the most of her visit here in Blue Ridge.

I am still trying to download pictures from mom's camera. When I do, I should have plenty to share, dating back to Ethan's birthday party to present.

Have a great weekend... y'all :-D

What A Year!

It has certainly been a whirlwind last few months, and a fantastic year in all.

Looking back when Ethan was born, at Duke hospital that early morning (2am) on September 21st, 2006, that joyous moment is as clear to me still now, yet a full year has now elapsed. This year has brought so many moments of joy, trepidation, anxiety, uncertainty, trust in God, wonderment, and absolutely everything else in between.

With Ethan's birthday party now come and gone, and a dinner celebration a Longhorns for dad and my birthday also past, things have returned to the more peaceful surroundings of mountain living.

Mom is still with us for a few more weeks which is nice. We've been playing Scrabble almost nightly, with a collective score of 782 set a few days ago with Kelly, mom, dad and me. We're still trying to reach that 800 point plateau (The 800 Club), but it's just fun trying :-D Just last night, I placed the word "service" on a triple word score, and with 50 bonus points for a 7-letter word, it totalled 94 points!

But I digress, and what I really wanted to share with this entry is my gratitude and love for everyone who has helped us along the way. How small Ethan was! It still does not cease to amaze me just how tiny of a human being he was, and how much care and nurturing was needed for him to put on those crucial pounds.

On his birthday, Friday September 21st, 2007, we took Ethan in to Kelly's practice to get weighed. His official 1-year well-child visit is not for another week or so, and so we decided to just weigh him ourselves on an accurate scale (not our home scale). Ethan weighed in at 19 lbs and 6oz, placing him roughly on the 10th percentile for boy for weight in the U.S. He had previously been consistently around the 5th percentile for weight, and his renewed interest in eating the past few weeks (he's been eating a ton!) has really packed things in and it shows on the growth chart. Indeed, still "small", but considering he was as low as 4 lbs 9 oz a few days after birth, quadrupling his birth weight is not exactly shabby to say the least. Congrats, Noomz!

And so we had a ton of friends, family, neighbors around, and we even have a family pet - Sparky the black cat. I have uploaded several pictures of the last month or so, including pictures of our time at Tennessee Baha'i School, Ethan's birthday, Sparky, etc... So many photos were taken with my mom's camera that I still need to download, and these include more pictures with family, boating on the lake (Blue Ridge), canoeing with Vipul and Jessica, dinner at Longhorns, and that's all I can remember for now.

You can follow this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/maxwell.eblaghie/EthanS1stBirthdayPartyTBSMore. Or, click on the side panel under "My Picasa" for photos.

So from our family -- Ethan, Kelly and I -- we say THANK YOU to everyone for making this past year so incredably memorable.

Things we look forward to in the coming year:

Ethan chewing more solid foods, walking, talking; Max going back to work; Kelly establishing her practice; And somehow managing to do it all well enough to have time to visit family and friends.

Love to everyone!

Ferber, Plants, Cold Temperatures... And Sparky

A mish-mash entry.

We've started to sleep train Ethan again. Going back to the Ferber method. And it is working nicely, at least for his night time/bed time routine. Ethan had lost most (if not all) of his sleeping routine since we had been co-sleeping with him ever since we were getting ready to sell our house and even before. Only the parents fault to blame, though we did have a lot on our plate and maintaining a good pattern for Ethan was tough so we all just cozied up in bed for his sleep time.

Now he is doing quite well and hopefully is day naps will fall into a routine also.

Plants. Most of my patio plants had to be brought in tonight! It was getting so cold (below 50F) that I did not want to take any chances with them and have them die on me. Not that they would actually, but just to be safe. There are so many of them. And so my fig tree is now inside the house too and I may just as well keep them all in now, though we are expected to have warmer temperatures again before fall weather really sets in.

And so comes the last interesting part of this blog entry.. A stray cat has called our deck its home. I call him Sparky. It is a very scraggly-looking, malnourished, boney, black cat with white-ish paws. It is quite cute, and scary at the same time. He is not scared of anyone and is quite aggressive about winning your companionship! Poor kitty. Kelly won't let us adopt him into the house, and it is going to be so cold outside tonight!

Oh, Sparky.

XanGo!

A friend of mine, Michael, told me about this fruit juice product called XanGo. It is a product of the fruit Mangosteen which apparently has the highest concentration of antioxidants found anywhere in nature. Anyways, not that I know much about this product (or antioxidants for that matter) but I do know that antioxidants help reduce levels of free radicals that our bodies (our cells) face daily. Free radicals break down molecules in your body as a result of being highly "volatile" or imbalanced (due to a lack of an electron). And, well, without getting into too much detail, this mangosteen fruit with its high concentration of Xanthones has apparently been quite effective at lowering people's risk for such conditions as heart disease, migranes, anything resulting from inflammation in the body. In my capacity as a PhD I cannot say the studies substantiate all these claims and that these studies are even good ones, or in well-reputable, peer-reviewed journals. However, if anyone is interested, I can let you know more as I know more, and we can even get into a business venture together trying to sell this fruit juice. I am thinking of forming a group, not a pyramid-type thing, but a group of friends, from which we all benefit from contacts and sales we make. Hey, just drop me an email or comment on this entry if interested. I've never done anything like this before. And it seems everyone is doing a little "something on the side" these days. Holler!

TNBS

We are leaving for the Tennessee Baha'i Summer School this evening and through the Labour Day weekend. We will be back in Blue Ridge on Monday.

The TNBS is held in Monteagle, TN, about 2.5 hours away from us.

With the whole family coming down with a cold (Ethan's second in less than 3 weeks) this trip may just test our endurance. But we are excited to be going, and to meet some friends there. Already I have been in contact with another family, the Doosts (Omid and Jennifer Doost) who live in Cherokee (?) about 30 minutes from us (woo hoo!) with their three children. They also have regular children's classes in their home that Ethan may be able to participate. They are held on Friday mornings, so this will be challenging but doable if we get a nanny.

Forming Friendships

We had the Teskes (Sevda, Michael and their two children 'Bella and Adib) over to our place for dinner the other night and boy did the kids go nuts. They were having loads of fun, and for once, every single piece of toy that Ethan owns was used. It was with a great sense of joy that I sat and watched the three interact and play and chase each other (of course Ethan crawling as quickly as possible to keep up with his more mobile pals).

I have posted some pictures of our playdate.

I have also been trying to upload some of the more recent videos we've taken of Ethan, although I am having some trouble with YouTube and uploads are not working well (even though my laptop shows full signal strength for the wireless internet). So, Ade, a few more days still for the Noomie vids, ok?

And I am so excited for Ethan's first birthday party on Saturday, September 22nd. I have sent out an e-vite notice to some friends who I thought may be able to make it. If you did not receive this email, I apologize, but most of you live so far it was not necessary to send an invitation (though you are all more than welcome if you can swing it and come on by!).

The "theme" of the party will be a sort of grassroots, picnic/BBQ, equipped with red and white checkered table coverings/cloths, party hats, and bails of hay (joking on this last one). :-D

OK, enjoy the pics of 'Bella, Adib and Ethan, and be sure to check out videos soon.

ZOO

I opted to upload all our pictures from our recent trip to Nashville (on Picasa) instead of painstakingly posting them here. Click on ZOO to view them.