Budgets, Contracts, Grants

All confidential stuff!! Hmm.. how can I write this entry in a way to depict what I did today and what my job entails...?

OK, so my first day on the job was pretty laid back. I did the usual admin stuff: (1) payroll, (2) confidentiality agreement, (3) organize desk space and work surroundings, (4) set up computer connection, (5) telephone/direct line, (6) work email address, (7) medical insurance paperwork, etc.. etc..

I met with Ray to discuss plans and what I can get a start on right away and more long term goals. The immediate thing was to learn how the grants all work: how different study grants are applied for, how the billing/payment works, relationship between CROs (clinical research organizations)-pharmaceutical companies (or sponsors)-institution/investigator/site, how patients get erolled (inclusion/exclusion criteria), etc.. etc..

By the end of my first day, I am now pretty familiar with what a standard grant/agreement/protocol looks like. Over the next few days I will be learning a whole lot more, when I get to create my own spreadsheet/system of organizing the various budgets (monies received, etc..), a system for keeping track of all active grants, and also to inform more physicians in the practice (Kelly too!) of what we (the research folks) are doing so that we can enroll more qualified patients in to studies, and thus increase and build this fledgling enterprise.

Ooohhh, it just sounds too exciting. I think I've been craving a challenge like this for some time: refine my management skills (or if any, acquire some more... hee hee), learn a bit of the industry of pharmaceutical science/clinical trials, and get a general sense of business type applications -- i.e. getting as far away from basic science research as humanly possible :-D

That is not all accurate actually, since part of many/all contracts I've seen (today anyway) include clauses for intellectual property and publications. And I for one would like to keep up my skills and experience in writing manuscripts for publications, and this would also be a viable way to get our company name (River Birch Research Alliance, LLC) into the wider scientific community and thus more grants.

More learning. Yay!

My First 26 Minutes At Work (So Far)...

A year and a few minutes later, I am back at a workplace! I am at my new job. Day one. A meeting is taking everyone's time right now, and leaving me to myself for the meantime. I will meet with Dr. Tidman after their conference meeting is over, to hash out a few things that I will be doing I'm sure. I feel a bit out of pace, what with everyone having something to do, some place to be, someone to see. We'll see how robust (or not) my day ends up :-D

Mom is with Ethan at home. Kelly and I carpooled to work together. It was super foggy on the road.

Sparky dug some dirt out of my fig tree's pot, and left this huge mess on the deck. At least I think it was Sparky. It could easily have been this other nocturnal friend - namely this racoon who has been frequenting Sparky's new crib. I hope mom can fix up the mess when Ethan is napping, and cover some of the fig tree's exposed roots as a result. I would have done so myself, but, well, I am all dressed for work!

More later...

Crisp Autumn Mornings

With the overwhelming feelings inherent with great life changes (like moving to a mountain town in rural Georgia) now behind us (well, almost), I am starting to take pleasure in the many "small" things that our current situation provides.

Our home is quite open, and with many oversized, glass, sliding doors. And at any time of the day, the view from any one of these doors is a picturesque display of nature (as if we are in a glass cube smack in the middle of trees). With all the hooplah and stress of late, it was hard to even notice and appreciate this scene. And what a scene! Every day. Just look out and you get a sense of tranquility.

Recently, it has been getting colder. The morning air crisp, reminding me of my highschool days when I had cross country practices, running through neighborhoods and trails nearby my school in the early hours before anyone could be found roaming the hallways. Leaves have been falling down aplenty also, depositing a neat pile along the gravel roadside, and the natural "mess" everywhere else.

Pretty soon, all the leaves will have dropped from the trees, and left in their place, empty branches. Our (few) neighbors' homes will be made visible for the first time in months.

I am looking forward to the "wet season" if indeed winters in Blue Ridge are such -- our first winter here, we don't know yet what to expect. I prefer milder/temperate weather (not surprising growing up in British Columbia/Pacific Northwest) and I find the summers of the southeast gets old in a hurry, especially when it becomes unbearably hot and humid as it was this year.

The afternoons are still in the vicinity of high 70s to low 80s F (mid 20s C) so shorts and t-shirts are still the order of wear, at least for another few weeks, when the trees turn a splendour of colour.

PS. I don't know why the moose picture, just thought it looked "crisp" :-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!

Life Blood

I am sitting in Kelly's office at work after having my blood drawn by one of the nurses on staff. Kelly and I have our "exam" for getting life insurance later this afternoon when labs on our blood work will be available. Buying a house was a huge step towards feeling truly "grown up"... though buying insurance for one's life is not that far behind. I guess Kelly and I both have to think of little Noomz (and any possible siblings for him in the future). Hmmm... perhaps we need to do research on getting wills done soon too.

Speaking of Ethan. Guess who turns ONE in a couple of days or so?

Oh and mom and dad are arriving tomorrow!! I hope Ethan doesn't get too fussy on the drive to ATL. The airport is 2 hours away from Blue Ridge and I have never taken Ethan on a car ride by myself that was longer than an hour. It has always been nice having someone sit at the back with Noomz. We shall see how he does tomorrow!

Our Family Just Got Bigger

I'll just say it now -- NO WE ARE NOT EXPECTING #2.

This is about Sparky (read previous entry).

Well it would seem that Kelly had a change in heart, and although we are still not allowing this stray cat into our house, we have "adopted" it into our family.

Ever since we moved into our home in Blue Ridge, Sparky was out rummaging through our empty boxes and packing material looking for something to eat I'm sure. Then he would disappear for a few days. Other times, I would find tiny paw prints out of mud, dried on our deck. And then all too often, this skinny feline would greet us at our door.

The nights have been getting cooler, and though still far from the temperatures we are going to get in winter, they have been rather chilly for this time of the year. Last night was the coolest so far at 48F and Sparks was found curled up this morning in this tiny ball, exactly where we had said 'goodnight' to him previously. He looked so pathetic. So vulnerable. Pitiful.

I convinced Kelly that I should at least feed it something. The cat has already decided our deck is his home, and so my feeding him would not be the reason for his attraction to be near us. I fed it canned chicken. It was the closest thing we had that we knew the cat would eat. Kelly had to check on some patients in the hospital this morning, and when she was on her way home, she told me we could adopt Sparky! But that he would have to remain an outdoor cat, never to come in our house. (since both Kelly and I are allergic)

The reason for Kelly's change in heart was because a person she had spoken to said that you could indeed keep cats outdoors all year in Blue Ridge, just make some place that it could sleep in some warmth during the winter months. So we bought a few things to set up a cozy home for him and I hope he will soon realize it is safe and use it -- he still opts to sleep alone, curled up, unsheltered on the deck.

I'll post some pics as soon as we can fatten him up a bit. Really, the boney look is not flattering.

Oh, and not entirely sure Sparks is a he yet.

We've only sort of adopted him, providing him with food and shelter, but Sparky can come and go as he chooses, as he does, and we'll probably do very little, provide little else, but for now it feels awfully good knowing he's here keeping guard :-P

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.

My Little Fig Tree

Not long ago, exactly two months to the day in fact, we were having movers come and take all our belongings away. That Saturday evening in Durham (July 15th, 2007) our dear friends, the Mostaghimi Family, threw us a going away party. Who knew that we would actually end up staying the night at their place, well, since we no longer had a furnished house to go back to! Hee hee...

Well anyways, that evening, I was personally presented with the best going away gift - a small fig tree. But this was no ordinary fig tree mind you. This tree has some history, not all of which I actually know. Sufficeth to say, this tree has 'come a long way'. And quite literally too! All the way from Shiraz, Iran :-D

The Mostaghimis have this glorious fig tree in their front yard, and some in their back yard too. And the one in the front always produces an abundance of figs, of which we were given some around the time Ethan was born. Three wonderful purple/green figs, one for mom, dad and noomie.

Since then, and perhaps even earlier, I had always "hinted" to Zhila or Parvaneh or Fariba, that I would LOVE to have a cutting of that fig tree to grow myself. Anyone who knows me well knows that I have acquired this huge interest in gardening and in anything that grows in fact :-D

And in only two short months of having this precious plant, it has grown enormously. To be exact, it is well over four feet tall now. An offshoot was growing very well also, until last night's storm, which snapped it off the main plant. This morning, I quickly put potting soil into another planter and stuck this youngling fig into it. I am not sure if this is how to do it, or if I should have placed it in water to root first. Perhaps I should have consulted Mr. Mostaghimi!

But now it would seem I have two fig trees.

Reading some, I found these trees grow quickly (as witnessed personally) and they grow to heights of 25 feet plus! Fariba relayed what her dad had said that I should find a place to plant this tree that is not nearby other trees. If planted too close to other trees it will not bear fruit. I have found a perfect place for my fig tree(s) and I can't wait to enjoy fresh figs from them.

Now, what to do about 'keeping them indoors for their first winter'? Yikes. I hope they don't grow too much more in the next few weeks before I (have been instructed to) bring them in :-D

Amazing Photos

[Sombrio Beach, Vancouver Island; photos taken by Matt Myhre, September 2007]

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!

Living By Adopted Families

It has been a very difficult past few months, and my blog entries have reflected that somewhat. We have gone through a lot -- selling our house in Durham (NC), immigration lottery for work visas, and of course the move to Blue Ridge -- but making it all the more arduous has been the apparent absence of family members close to us.

I sometimes regret I ever decided to live so far away from my family, and I know both Kelly and I regularly wish we could have somehow done things a bit differently to have our families closer maybe. But it was just not possible. And, besides, at least on my side of the family, it seems the wish of being with each other is only mine, and not one reciprocated.

Which is why our recent trip to Tennessee was all the more needed. It was so great to be with friends, and meet a lot of new friends whom we hope to get to know better over the coming months.

Kelly and I have lived quite a distance from family for many years. Solely, because we live now in such an isolated place, do we (at least I) finally feel their absence in our lives. Because otherwise, we have always managed to surround ourselves with an "adopted family", be they colleagues, the local community, neighbors, Baha'i friends, etc.. It is a little different now. This support, this adopted family, it seems will take a little bit longer to establish.

I always envied friends of mine who have had a strong presence of grandparents in their lives. I certainly have not had this, with the exception of my paternal grandmother (my dad's mom) with whom I can hardly communicate with due to a language barrier (she speaks Farsi-Persian). I usually see in these friends a stronger sense of who they are, if nothing else from the greater sense of family history passed down by stories through the generations.

Am I repeating a pattern (of distancing myself from my parents) I see started by my father (and perhaps his father) that will ultimately result in Ethan not knowing his grandparents or a family history?

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.

Falling On Hard Times

If victory follows crisis and indeed come in cycles, I have plenty to look forward to!

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.

Ethan Photos: 11 Mo. Old

By popular demand, here are a few pictures we took of Ethan, now 11 months old. Enjoy!

Rain, Rain, Come Again (Please)!

It would seem everywhere in the "deep south" is having some sort of a drought this summer. Nashville, as I mentioned in a previous post, has been setting local records for heat index -- reaching 106F -- a temperature not felt for the past century almost (the all-time record being 107F set in 1890-something). And Atlanta? AKA HOTlanta? The past two weeks it seems have been triple digits, which is no wonder you get this sense, this palpable excitement in everyone when we a brief but torrential downpour occurs, as has been the case the past two days.

Still, we would need this type of precipitation for about a month to make up for all the dry and hot days we've had so far this summer.

Lake Blue Ridge is but a pathetic sight, at least around the bend where Dry Branch Road meets our own (Deer Hunter Road), which we drive daily. Dry Branch Road is SUCH a appropriate name for this road! But if I were to name street names, this particular one would be named Billowing Dust From Gravel Way. It is a gravel road. As is Deer Hunter.

And so it just rained, and already I wish it would rain some more. There is something quite calming about summer storms. I think my sense of peace within myself needed the rain to come as much as did all the living things around us.

Yesterday & Today

Yesterday was Mashi's birthday, and Ethan turned 11 months.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, brother. I hope you had a great day, and we look forward to visiting you soon.

I am writing this in total desperation. I am just so upset. We have no family near by!! And although this is not a new situation for us (Kelly and I have not had family live near us for years and years now) today in particular it is really biting my butt to not have anyone to turn to.

Ethan is getting very very hard to handle during the days. Not all the time. But I'd say most of the time. He eats very little, and even still feeding him is incredibly frustrating since he does not particularly like what it is we are feeding him, and so he opens his mouth by parting his lips ever so small, which would be tolerable if he had no teeth, but his two bottom ones are now acting as a second line of defense for the incoming spoon.

His face then becomes a mess, especially since he now reacts by rubbing his hands on his mouth and then rubs his eyes and hair and so food goes everywhere! His high chair as a result is gross. The floors. Everywhere. And he cries, because he too is not having any fun, that's for sure. And so the feeding stops.

But dad has many other things he can do if given the time. Nope! Noomz is only happy when carried. And even then, he squirms as if he is being held uncomfortably. Put down to play, he cries. Can't win.

And above all, I see many things going wrong with our house that the inspector should have reported or noticed. I seem to have no claim for warranty or anything that backs me, though I am going to request that my attorney look into this to see if I have any options here.

And so I am trapped at home, with Ethan who does little to show his appreciation for what I do for him or what I have to do for him. I notice all the things going wrong with our house that needs fixing and the costs for repairs I feel should be covered by warranty or the builder himself. I feel conflicted with having all these negative thoughts about certain people relating to the whole home buying process, but then come to realize that perhaps these people truly are being negligent and/or not being accountable for things they should. I give people the benefit of the doubt, though not instinctively (but with Kelly's insistance), and then my suspicions are always confirmed.

Just trapped and bogged down in negativity!

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.

The Lakhanis

A quick entry -

We are currently staying at the Lakhanis new house in Nashville. Today we went to the Nashville Zoo (pictures to come). It has been triple digit temperatures for the past two weeks here in Nashville, and everyone was out to enjoy the "cool" day today at the zoo - only 98F!

We are having dinner tonight at Eric's place, Carmel's older brother. Eric and daughter, Kiana, were out at the zoo with us today as well.

With all the kids (and mums) napping -- Vipul and I are on our laptops -- we are taking our time and enjoying some downtime and A/C indoors, and we might go the asian supermarket to buy some supplies before we leave for Blue Ridge tomorrow.

Up close pics of elephants, giraffes, macaws and more to come :-D

Country Road (Trip)

We're finally getting out of the house, and out of town!

With the exception of one trip to Atlanta and another to see the Teskes (who live in Jasper) we've really only been in Blue Ridge this whole time and worse, stuck at home for most of the days. Needless to say, we are very much looking forward to our short "road trip" to the home of country music -- Nashville, Tennessee.

This trip is not all pleasure though, and in fact, is mainly for work purposes. Kelly has some seminars to attend and we are being accommodated at the Embassy Suites hotel. We are trying to meet up with some good old friends, Carmel and Vipul, and are anxious to finally meet 2 week old, Leyli Juliet Colgrove Lakhani. Of course, older brother Kavi, who will be two years old the week after our trip (August 23rd) is not forgotten, and we eagerly await seeing how much he has grown.

But not all is for certain, and with Ethan trying to overcome a cold he picked up nearly one week ago now (his first cold), we are playing it cautiously and may have to postpone seeing baby Leyli and family until another time. But we'll see. Ethan's first birthday is coming up also in September, and in the case we are unable to meet up with our friends, we may just all get together sooner rather than later anyways. So it's all good.

We look forward to seeing the sights in Nashville -- the zoo, the Opry, Centenial Park and the Parthenon (?) to name a few -- before heading back home.

And no sooner than a couple weeks later we will be back on the road to TN, this time to attend the TN Baha'i Summer School near Chattanooga (actually in Monteagle, TN).