New design...and New News - Sun, July 13, 2008 - Nafeh    Comments: 2

The pictures portion of this web-site has a new design...Please feel free to click on the Pictures link above to navigate. We have also added a few pictures since we last wrote (too long ago).

We are now pretty much settled in Cincinnati! We closed on a house three days before I began residency (close call!) This was, of course, later than planned - and due to circumstances beyond our control. If anyone in the Cincinnati area needs a recommendation...we had a terrific realtor, Sylvia Kalker, who helped us through She was very good to work with, and went above and beyond in terms of helping us move forward.

I have finished my first rotation...primary care. I worked for three weeks at a private clinic out in Mason (about 30 minutes away). I worked with Dr. Nicole Baldwin, a recent graduate of the Cincinnati Children's Hospital residency program. She clearly loves what she does, and I enjoyed working in the clinic very much indeed. I start in the Emergency Department on Tuesday.

Katrina has made a lot of headway in making our home feel like home, and Jameh and Taleh are enjoying the larger space (both inside and in the yard). Some of the photos show them playing around the house. We have taken a couple of trips to the museum. Jameh loves the exhibits...just the other day, when we were eating KFC, he asked if he could "eat the chicken skeleton?" We couldn't stop laughing.

In another story, just the other day, when we were driving through the drive-through at the local CVS to pick up a medication prescription, Jameh leaned forward in his car seat and asked "Fries! Please?!"

We have made some friends in the Cincinnati area, although (as one of them was commenting) we saw more of them before we officially moved in than after. We hope once (if?) things have settled down a bit to see a lot more of our friends and the community.

I love my time at Cincinnati Children's so far. The training program is excellent, and my fellow residents are a wonderful group (the program fosters a good sense of camaraderie). We do, of course, miss our friends in Nashville and hope to visit again soon in the upcoming months.

We have had visits from Ghaneh, Melody, and Sameh (who visited Cincinnati with us while we were first checking the area out) and from my parents just this past weekend. It was really good to have them here, and we miss them very much already.

If you need our new contact information (phone, address etc.) please send us an e-mail to let us know. Much love to all.

Katrina's Exam, Match Day, etc. - Thu, March 20, 2008 - Nafeh    Comments: 8

Two news items to report:

1. Katrina passed her nurse practitioner certification exam yesterday morning

2. I matched in pediatrics at Cincinnati Children's hospital this morning

We are, of course, very excited about both pieces of news. Cincinnati is a great city for raising children, has many opportunities for Katrina to begin working as a nurse practitioner, and has a wonderful pediatrics program and Children's hospital that serves a large area and is a terrific place to train. We are sad, of course, to be further away from family...but we'll make the effort to travel as much as possible.

Katrina's passing her certification exam was an admirable feat... She spent the past couple of months squeezing in hours of study between babies needing feeding, to be put to bed, and her own lack of sleep. To learn more about what she is now certified in, the following link is helpful:

http://www.jobprofiles.org/heapediatric.htm

For me, pediatrics residency training is another three years. Cincinnati Children's is a very good place to train in pediatrics, and the faculty and residents are very nice. I was very excited, and feel very fortunate, to match there. To learn more about the training program, the following link is helpful:

http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/ed/ped-resident/about/

I hope everyone is doing well, and we will be in touch again soon once we have a sense of our new contact information. Much love...

Some new photographs etc. - Sun, February 24, 2008 - Nafeh    Comments: 4

Dear Friends and Family,

We have posted a few "random" photos from the past few months. In terms of news, Katrina is preparing for her nurse practitioner certification exam on March 19th. The next day, we find out where we "match" for my pediatrics residency training.

Jameh and Taleh are doing really well, and they enjoy laughing at each other. Jameh has begun to sing along to the music that we play (over and over)...and he has pretty much memorized the Jungle Book by now.

We will keep you posted after March 20th when we find out if we are staying in Nashville or moving - an exciting, but occasionally anxiety-provoking time for us!