My dad is leaving for Afghanistan today. We are going to see him off at the airport in a couple of hours. I have all sorts of feelings about him going and what the outcome could be (he’s thinking of buying a place in Kabul for the family, and making sure our family home in Kandahar is still okay). I am only slightly worried about his physical safety. People come and go from Afghanistan all the time without getting bombed up, so that’s not really a huge concern. I am more worried about how he might handle it emotionally because it will certainly not be the Afghanistan he remembers.

He is really nostalgic about his home country. I hope it is only as bad as he imagines it, and not any worse. I guess I’ll write more when we get back.

In other news:

Happy valentine’s day everyone. I got a large heart box of Godiva chocolates. I love heart boxes!

My mom said I looked really good and healthy yesterday and seemed very happy. I wear unemployment well, apparently.

I talked to grandma last night and she said “I hope Allah gives you lots of nice babies.” I think its nice that grandma wants me and husband to have lots of sex.

I told my parents about the rough draft of my novel and my dad was really excited about it and wants me to self publish (with his help) immediately. I don’t know that my dad understands what kind of book this is. He was talking to me about Emma Goldman and what assistance she got when she was writing her autobiography. I’m like, uhh, dad, yeah, this isn’t like that. But hey, why dash his hopes before his big trip.

My brother came in from upstate New York. We talked about getting him an arranged marriage. Don’t you all talk about that sort of thing when you get together?

I got the new Jennifer Weiner book out of the library almost two weeks ago and I haven’t started it yet. I don’t want to and I don’t konw why.

That’s all for now. The weather is crappy and we’ve got a little bit of a trip ahead of us. I might regale (or pummel) you with deep thoughts on my return. Oh, but we are going to a great Mexican place for dinner tonight called Blue Agave. They have REAL mexican food and great margaritas and tequila flights. If you ever come to B-more, you have to go there. We are having a double valentine’s day with HM and her husband B. Cause we are super romantic like that.