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Taya

I can’t get over who I ran into last night. Or, should I say, who ran into me last night.

I was about to walk across the street when a woman in an SUV zipped by. She barely passed me by when she slammed on the brakes, threw her car door open, and yelled, “MOJAN?!?”

It was Taya. We hadn’t seen each other in eleven years, since high school. She got out of the car, and we hugged in the street, laughing in shock and disbelief. We would have been crazy not to capitalize on this random occurrence, so we decided to grab dinner.

Dinner was ridiculous. I mean it was ridiculously enjoyable and unbelievable and overwhelming. The last time I saw Taya, she was on her way to USC to become a doctor, but somewhere she emerged a world traveler, surfing bum, fashion photographer, and wander-lusting misfit. We shared stories about moving away and what it feels like to come back home. We shook our heads at the wonder of Growing Up and marveled at how Grown Up we are, or almost are.

Taya said that only one thing about me was surprising, and it’s not where I’ve worked, lived, or traveled; it’s that I’m married. She said she always saw me as my own person and finds it difficult to imagine me as a wife. This made me laugh. She also told me some surprising things about herself, which I can’t share here, but WOW, I almost fell to the floor.

The hours just sped by at the dinner table, like the past eleven years sped by. And then, knowing it was pointless to exchange numbers and make future plans, we just said, “Goodbye friend, see you on some corner of the globe.”

Wonderment

Oh, I love the miracle that is

doing laundry

without quarters,
without going down eight flights,
and without having to move my neighbor’s underwear to the dryer.

My Girls

Loneliness and Distraction

I saw Eric off on Wednesday afternoon. That he was moving to Israel five weeks before I would didn’t hit me until we were at the airport and his bags were checked. Once there was nothing left to do but walk him to the security line, I was completely overcome with emotion.

My sleep that night was intermittent, but once Eric called on Thursday afternoon to say he had arrived (exhausted) in Haifa, I found it was much easier to relax and focus.

So... focus I did. Besides taking care of laundry, cleaning, and some things at the office, I also watched three girly movies, got my hair cut (and said goodbye to Gil, my stylist), traded my heavy winter coats for a lighter one at Crossroads, and made a final trip to Loehmann’s.

There is so much more to do, but the only thing I’m doing tonight is celebrating my 29th birthday with my girlfriends.