Road to recovery...

3 days after the operation. The hair style might look crazy, but over the course of her many hospital stays, we discovered that it was the easiest way to keep the hair from turning into dredlocks.

11 days short of 1 month anniversary of the operation. Happy to be home celebrating her daughter's birthday. Happy to see the sky, the grass, the beach, her backyard, her flowers, her home, her people outside of her hospital room. She said everything seemed so much prettier that when she left for the hospital.

v-day

I don’t have any special memories from past valentine days. It always turns out to be more than a random day, on which for the past two years something bad has occurred. Last year I turned a very expensive lap top into a very expensive door mat by spilling water on it (very few drops, but nonetheless it did the trick). Yesterday I locked my keys in my car (considering my severe clumsiness, I had never done this before) and had to wait in cold weather wearing a short sleeves shirt for about 2 hrs. Not as costly as the lap top “shower”, but nonetheless froze my ass off.

I must admit that every year I was a little distressed at our inability to make dinner plans and celebrate in true valentine fashion (3 years ago, I asked him to pick up something to eat on his way home from work, he brought me a sub and a whole roasted chicken from the local grocery store; I sat on the couch watching the chicken instead of the movie…) So we tried the dinner thing this year, and it hit me why I do not really like v-day. I hate the idea of being forced to have dinner/kissing/making love at the same time as the rest of the country’s couples (minus the west coast). At any rate, dinner was great, dessert was even better, and spending time with him was superb since we hadn’t seen each other all weak.

I know there are a lot of people out there who are single, and a lot of them don’t like valentines day, not because they are alone but because of all the material things that this day represents (which most of the time are the fruits of labor of modern day slavery-at the very least-flowers from Latin America where people work in dire conditions, and the chocolate from Africa where many child workers labor in this industry). But Valentines Day doesn’t require a lover, just love, and love is all around us: family, friends, nature and all the simple things that give us pleasure. Most importantly doesn’t have to be represented by material things, I wrote him a letter with 101 reasons why I love him…I will spare you all the dorky, cheesy, corny details. He rocks my world and makes me feel like the luckiest girl in the world. He also makes mish me patate or pilaf me pule on occasions using the tenxhere me pressure…J

p.s. v-day story contest didn’t get many participants, 3 submissions, 2 of which were anonymous, and 1 from bletebzzzz…turp tju vije te gjithve, you guys let me down, pervec Blete per te cilen do pergatis varsen.

V-day Contest

I have decided to hold a Valentines Day contest this year.

Here is the idea: email me a short story about love (300, max 400 word count) by Monday, February 11th (ex: about a time when you truly felt loved in your life, or about someone special you love; whatever it is it must be something concrete not just about love generally and in abstract). You can submit it in English or Albanian, even Italian if you must.

I will choose 3 favorite stories. 1st price will win a special necklace made by yours truly…, the other two will win earrings. There is no reason for boys not to participate, you can always give the necklace/earrings to your loved one, or if you are a lonely soul then give them to your mom/grandma/sister/aunt/friend. Also, I will publish the winning stories on my blog, with your permission of course.

I hope a lot of you participate so that we can make it fun!
I look forward to read your stories about love.

p.s. email stories to: edipojani@yahoo.com

Weekend Overview

of old age & technology

I want to grow old and be just like the couple in the picture which I often encounter at my local Starbucks. They make me smile, and I think they realize that they have that effect on people. In fact, I think they get a kick out of the whole ordeal…just by sitting there and staring into the lap top screens they make the rest of the coffee addicts around notice and point with an uncertain sense of astonishment and amusement. They are the kind of people that when they walk in restaurant/café the waiter always remembers their order, they are your unusual regulars.

Today they came in as always, Betty wearing her shimmering jeweled sun glasses under which lie layers of makeup and marks of old age, and Walter wearing his red Lacrosse sweater on top of a pink collar shirt. I realize that I have taken one of the chairs where they always sit side by side, and they are annoyed by it. I offer them their seat back on condition that they look after my books and lap top while I go to a nearby store to grab a sandwich. Nifty Walter staring at my Contrasts book says offer accepted young lady. We both smile, I walk away pleased that I don’t have to collect and carry everything out with me. I come back and Betty asks me what I am studying for. I say law and her eyes twinkle as she says that that’s what she always wanted to do but never got around to it. She tells me how when she was a little girl she would wear her finest clothes and stand in front of the mirror pretending that she was delivering oral arguments… “may it please the court…”. I smile. She says she always wanted to be a criminal attorney, but not the kind that would represent a murderer. Betty is a little hard of hearing so I have to speak much louder than usual making my voice project across the other side of the room. I feel like I am having a conversation with everyone in the room.

She says she became a stock broker instead of a lawyer and that she usually trades or researches stocks when she is at Starbucks. I tell her that my husband looks into them as well, but that I am not interested in them at all. She says that there is plenty of money to be made out there and lose as well. We both smile as I tell her that my husband must be the losing kind. Betty who has not known me for longer than 15 minutes tells me that she knows I will be a good attorney. Swinging her arm and fist she says, do it for me since I couldn’t. I smile again. Walter then steps in and says that Betty is usually very happy to see women get educated and have successful careers. She is a true feminist at heart he says, she was one even before there was such a movement. Betty moves her head in approval, and then starts talking about the feminist movement and how they always lacked efficient leadership. I smile again and again. I now realize that I have already smiled more than I usually do on an average day. I smile just thinking about all the smiles during our 20 minute conversation.