Updates...

Wheeeew! What happened to me?!?!? I know I've been off the radar this month, but there have been good things happening. This month has gone by fast...

1) Sarah and Kamran visit from Cali: Yup, the Hajji crew was together again! Despite our crazy weekend schedules, we were able to sit down together for a crabcake dinner at G&M's. Good times, always...sharing stories, laughing over "monkey" and "Prime" jokes, and let's not forget Zehra torturing Aamir from the backseat...I have to say that was the funnest trip to BWI Airport!


2) Hassan and Christina visit Rochester (again): With our friend Justin in tow, we survived a 5.5 hour drive to Rochester, NY to visit Showieb for the weekend. Hardworking Showieb just finished a LONG stretch of nightshifts and had the weekend off. We walked to a local sushi restaurant for dinner, dropped by Showieb's friend's house for a party, and drove to downtown Rochester for some live-band music. The next day, we went to Lake Canadaigua (which I learned as one of the "finger lakes") and watched the windsurfers. Dinner at P.F. Chang's and frozen custard from a local ice cream shoppe. On our walk back from the ice cream shoppe, Showieb, Justin, and I shared a special moment together...we sang the entire soundtrack from "The Sound of Music" together. Sorry, guys!!!

3) Camping in the Poconos: This was our most recent trip with A&Z and Alka& Umer. What fun it was despite the weather! We pitched our tents and grilled our food just before the sun went down. We endured the "ostrich" stares from those who attended the Pocono 500 in their RVs. We rafted down the calmest river and paddled through the pouring rain. When the rain finally stopped, we jumped in the river and floated downstream. We docked on an island and skipped some stones. I enjoyed stacking river rocks on the shore and sadly watched them get smaller as we paddled away. Returning to camp, we grilled some burgers and ate them with pasta. The boys went to mini-golf while the chili simmered. The rain came again and we raced to put up the canopy just in time to enjoy some hot chili! We had a great time...definitely at trip worth repeating.

The food

Our camp site

Post-rafting

4) My new job: It's my 3rd week at Sinai Hospital. Although it's overwhelming to think how much I need to learn, I'm excited by the potential growth into this position. It's completely different than the 12 hour ICU job I had at University of Maryland. I'm less stressed, the people are happier, the hospital is nicer, and I get to wear business casual clothes instead of scrubs! It's an exciting position...I get a little of both worlds: in the hospital in the morning and in the office in the afternoons. But the one thing I realized is to not forget that I'm still a nurse and that my approach is different than the doctors. I'm not a doctor that treats the disease, but helps the family with the disease.