Using a widget outside the blog ALMOST works

I am trying to put an AJAX log in widget on all the pages of my site—whether in or out of the blog. Have looked everywhere and tried everything, it seems.

In my site’s header.php file, I start the page with

<?php
/* Don't remove this line. */
require('../../wp-blog-header.php');
?>

then I use the code as provided in the widget’s install instructions

<?php
get_ajaxlogin();
?>

I get the login form ok, but it won’t “submit,” nor will the javascript-called links work.

my header page

I’ve tried putting my header file in the theme’s directory, the plug in directory, the site’s root directory, etc., all to no avail.

I was able to pull the entire sidebar into my main site with everything functioning, apparently, but then there is the problem of being redirected to the blog after logging in instead of just staying on the page the user logs in from.

I don’t know what to try next. Any suggestions very much appreciated.