Day 22:

Day 22 - How have you changed in the past 2 years


I have matured a lot in the last two years. I am hardly the same girl that everyone went to high school with. I'm still pretty cool, and I might actually be funnier than I was in high school or the beginning of college. 
I've become far more independent. I love my friends, but I no longer need them to get along. Not to sound shitty to my friends at college and home, they're awesome and I love them. I just don't need them around me to LIVE. I have narrowed down my high school friends to very few, and I'm more selective about my friends in college. 
I have worked out details regarding my future that I hadn't figured out before. 
Speaking of, I need to fill out my internship application...gee.


Anyway, Michael, Du, and the others are heading to Charlotte tomorrow to hang around, shop, and eat at Jerusalem. mmm. 


Salaam!

Day 21:

Day 21 - One of your favorite shows.


Scrubs.


Ah Scrubs. It has everything I look for in a show. All sorts of humor, references, and strange relationships. I watch it for at least three hours a week, probably. It comes on at least three different channels for an hour a day and two hours on comedy central. It's my generation's timeless show. 


Though I pretend that season nine does not exist, with all of it's failure and such. 


That is all.

Day 20:

Day 20 - How important you think education is.


Education is very important. Although the differences between an average educated person and an uneducated person may seem to be few, it goes deeper than the surface. 
It's practically impossible to make it in this world without an education. There are circumstances that can prevent a person from going past high school, even middle school, which are completely understandable. Nowadays, employers are thinning out the amount of jobs available to those without college degrees. Even I have to go to graduate school because just a bachelor's will not get me a decent job that allows me to be independent. 
I feel as though this will continue to spiral out of control and reason. My children may need three master's degrees and a doctorate or some crazy shit like that just to get a job as an administrative assistant. 
Aside from the educational mumbo jumbo that a student learns while in college, this is a crucial time in a person's life for them to learn who they really are. All of the things we learn about the world and what's in it begin to challenge us to figure out where we belong within that crazy world. 
How could we find the time or energy to soul search while we are working overtime to make ends meet with our high school degrees?


My schoolin' is expensive as hell. I pay 1/6 of it myself every year (in education loans, but still) and I'll end up with fifty thousand dollars in debt by the time I  get both degrees that I need. Hopefully I'll get hired quickly enough so that my debt does not swallow me...


AMZ 

Day 19:

Day 19 - Disrespecting your parents.


DON'T DO IT. EVER. 


Any time I have ever disrespected either of my parents i felt ashamed, and that's how I should have felt. No child should ever treat their parents in a terrible way (unless they're horrible-abusive-dreadful people). But my parents are awesome, so they don't ever deserve to be treated with anything other than respect. 


I'm twenty years old and my mother is one of my favorite people in this world. My dad is super awesome too, but I don't ever get to see him as much as I would like. SADNESS.


AMZ

Impatiently Envisioning That Which I Can't Have

I love being able to go outside at this time of year with a cute pea coat and scarf and still feel toasty warm. I love how my face tingles and burns from the icy wind. The cold brings silence. There are no animals out on a winter's night. Not even the trees with their few remaining leaves dare move. There are Christmas lights outlining the windows of some of the residents.
There are rarely opportunities like that which provide pure, unbreaking silence.

Such a silence really gives me a crisp moment to think.


I want to marry you, Michael.
That's my clear thought for the night.

Day 18:

Day 18 - Your beliefs.

I think I'm winning this game. 

What do you mean, beliefs? That's the most vague load I have heard this week. 

I believe in myself. I believe in family. I believe in true love. I believe in God, but I haven't figured out the fine details around that yet. I believe in working hard and earning just as much. I don't believe in people not doing any work but expecting everything to be provided for them. I believe in my government, but only when it listens to it's people. I believe that technology is making people lazy. We are too dependent on smartphones and automatic everything to stop and really appreciate things. I believe that texting and driving should be illegal. I believe that Americans are over medicated. If I went to the doctor right now I'd probably be diagnosed with depression, ADD, and a boatload of other shit that would probably cost $100 a month to "balance" me out. I'm perfectly fine! I believe in spending less and saving more. I believe in hot cocoa and toasty fires. I believe I am going to marry Michael. 

That's all I can think of for now

Day 17:

Day 17 - Your highs and lows of this past year.


Although my friends stopped doing this, and I am not too interested it in myself anymore, I can't just stop doing it. 
MUST. FINISH.


Lows:
-Growing laziness that comes from this semester's schedule
-The fact that I work but still have less than a thousand dollars in the bank, and a thousand dollars won't buy me a car
-Morgan went to D.C. and left us.
-My friends are seniors, and are about to graduate and leave me


Highs:
-Michael and I are still together
-We plan on becoming engaged
-I'm not struggling financially, though I'm still broke
-I'm halfway done with my junior year of college
-I got a cat
-Everyone in my life is healthy and doing well

Day 16:

Day 16 - Your views on mainstream music.


Music from this decade pretty much blows. I mean there has been plenty of catchy music, but not a whole lot that you can actually call musically good.


That being said, there's a ton of underground that completely sucks too. I'm not an underground junkie. Sometimes coming up with totally new music genres isn't a spectacular idea. 


Meh.

Day 15:

Day 15 - Your favorite tumblrs.




I don't tumbl much, but my favorite bloggers are:
http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/

http://tracetheartist.blogspot.com/

http://itsonlyfear.blogspot.com/

http://mythoughtphilosophy.blogspot.com/

http://stuffnoonetoldme.blogspot.com/

http://offbeatbride.com/

The end.

Day 14:

Day 14 - Your earliest memory.


Kindergarteni-ish years.


Watching Rupert in the mornings, then going to PM Kindergarten and sitting on the shapes rug next to Houston. Playing pretend. I think that's as early as I can remember.

Day 13: A trip to the moon on gossamer wings

Day 13 - Somewhere you’d like to move or visit.


The city. I've been listening to a lot of Sinatra Lately. It's got me in the mood to go to a snowy city that isn't too packed. Perhaps New York, or D.C. Or maybe even Baltimore.


I'm torn, really. I'd really love to move back to the country and live so far away from people that I don't have neighbors. But at the same time I want to live in the city close to where the excitement is. I just need to live downtown for a while maybe then I'll get the city out of my system.


AMZ

Day 12:

Day 12 - Put your ipod on shuffle and write 10 songs that pop up.


Okay.


1. Miss Murder -- AFI
2. Turn It Off -- Paramore
3. Chasing Cars (Acoustic) --Snow Patrol
4. Sunday Bloody Sunday -- U2
5. Poker Face --Lady Gaga
6. Paparazzi -- Lady Gaga
7. Nine in the Afternoon -- Panic At The Disco
8. Iron and Wine --The Postal Service
9. Arab Money --Busta Rhymes, et al
10. Fireflies -- Owl City




I'm a weirdo.


AMZ

Day 11:

Day 11 - Put your ipod on shuffle and write 10 songs that pop up.
Day 12 11 - Bullet your whole day.


I don't have my ipod on me. But I'll get to it tomorrow. 


Here we go (This is what's happening/happened today):

• 12 am-3am: Do random RA related things
• Sleep
• Alarm goes off at 8
• Run scared shitless across my freezing cold room to turn if off
• Back to bed for 30 more minutes while the coffee brews itself
• Up at 8:30 to watch Fox News and drink coffee
• Do various getting ready things and head out of the dorm at 9:30
• Run to the terrace for OJ and a warm cinnamon chip scone
• Head to work on campus and scarf down aforementioned scone, whilst doing worky things
• Go to class
• Eat lunch
• Go to class from 1:30 to 5:30
• Eat dinner
• Dick around/do homework/Facebook for three hours
• Do homework for maybe an hour
• Get hyped for the HP midnight premier
• Go to said premier two hours early
• Watch HP.

That is my day in bullets, yo.

Peace, Love, and Pudd'n Pops,

AMZ

Day: 10

Day 10 - Discuss your first love and first kiss.


In my world, the first couple of guys I dated and kissed never happened, because they were and remain to this day to be utter embarrassments. Except for Daniel, he's a cool guy. We had jack shit in common, but he was still cool. 
Anywho, I'd like to pretend that that bucket full o' fail never existed. 


So since this is my blog and all, that's the complete truth. My first kiss sucked. It was with someone I dubbed almost instantly, "the freshman mistake." 'Nuff said. My first real love was actually Michael. I dated other guys because I was just tired of being alone. But I'm not with him for the sake of company. 


Short and Sweet.


Anyway,
Tomorrow night myselfsjaanjennhopemirandasarahandmanymore....are going to see Harry Potter 7 part I.
I am literally wiggling around from excitement (and too much caffeine at dinner....but moreso from excitement).
Then Michael is going to pick me up from campus after it's over...maybe 3 am, so that I can go home and get very little sleep only to wake up at 6 to go to work until 5! You can bet your sweet ass that I'm going to be injecting coffee straight into my arm. With cream. 


So right now I'm going to take a quick shower, then paint my nails if I can find some black polish. I took 5 Sorting Hat quizzes, one with 110 questions, and it has been determined that I am a Hufflepuff. Off I go! 


"You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true,
And unafraid of toil"


AMZ

Day: 09

Day 09 - How you hope your future will be like.


I hope my future will be bright. I hope to be blessed with a loving husband and beautiful, healthy children. I hope to be successful, making a difference for everyone I meet. I don't wish for money and power. I just wish to get by. I hope that I still have good relationships with my current friends, even the ones I don't hang out with all that often. Hope that I will see my family often and we will have a strong relationship. I hope that we will all be healthy, and in the face of ill health, be strong. 
I hope that when I close my eyes at night the last thing I see will be my husband beside me. And when I wake up in the morning, there he will be. And I will giggle like I did on our first date. I hope in the future we will have as strong a relationship as we do now, even if we aren't married now. 
This post is too much like 10 years from now, so I don't have too much today.

Woot desktop

This is my fake Mac. I am quite pleased with it. I just installed 7 the other day and threw in a Mac-like dock for funsies.

Day 08:

Day 08 - A moment you felt the most satisfied with your life


The most satisfying moment of my life. That's a pretty hard thing to have to choose. Are you asking me to look back at all of my experiences in life and decide which one was the greatest? I've only been alive for twenty years, but I still have a lot of memories to sort through just to find that one moment.


I suppose it has to be sometime since I began going to college. Probably when I had a good sense that what I'm doing with my life is the right choice, and who I am with is the right guy. I guess it would have to be this summer at Michael's cousin's in Kentucky. I was officially a junior in college. I had three jobs at the time. School was mere weeks from starting for the fall semester. I had everything good going for me at that time, minus a few things that I wanted to have desperately. His cousin's home is officially the largest home I have ever been in, and one of the most loving places I've ever been in, too. 
In the evenings during our stay, Michael would stop what he was doing and drift into the formal living room to play the piano. The home quickly filled with music and the room quickly filled with golden sunlight. Everything in that room was fragile and filled with the pasts of other people. I would sometimes wander in during that time and take it all in. Words weren't necessary, nor do I think they would have been heard over the keys. The shadows danced, the wooden floors creaked, the man at the bench eyed me with curiosity while I wandered around. I inhaled contently, and exhaled with satisfaction. Our eyes would meet occasionally, and break apart after seconds. You don't need words to communication affection. 
After the sun went down and the light left the room, I would drift back into the kitchen to sit with the family and prepare for that night's fantastic meal. Michael would arrive soon after; never really mentioning our interaction. Neither did I. 


I'd say life was pretty satisfying at that moment. 


AMZ

Day 07:

Your zodiac sign and if you think it fits your personality.

via wikizodiac

The fifth sign of the Zodiac, Leo, is a sign of creativity. It moves past the exploring of the world, and past the need to care for what the first signs are concerned with. Leos use their energy and will power to succeed in their creative projects. There are many Leos in the Hollywood spotlights as they have great artistic talents and love the attention that they receive with fame. More than that, Leos are incurable romantics, and they are also very hospitable, which makes them proud. The assigned house for this sign is the fifth: the House of Pleasure. Colors: Gold for lions and the sun, and Purple for royalty. Other things that weren't worth copy/pasting: We're loyal and romantic to our lovers. We hate being alone/prefer the company of others. Among other things.

Where I stand, I have absolutely no talent and am very unsure of my success in the future. I do enjoy being alone, but not all of the time. I am unbelievably loyal and affectionate too, but not in public. I want to emphasize again how little talent I have. I am ambitious, like my...people i guess, but I do tend to sacrifice my ambition to make others happy. In the end, I'm not much like Leo except for the pride and stubbornness. 

Day 06:

Write 30 interesting facts about yourself.

Right on schedule.

1. I don't know my blood type, and that's because I am deathly afraid of needles.
2. I curl my toes under my feet when I'm not wearing socks
3. I am fascinated by the Arabic language
4. I have huge feet
5. Alcohol does not interest me
6. I want to move back to my home town
7. I drink coffee almost every day, and I have since the sixth grade
8. I am deathly afraid of firearms
9. I blaspheme regularly
10. I rarely know what I'm actually talking about, academically.
11. I hate the feeling of being hungry
12. I like to be in control of things sometimes
13. I want to marry this wonderful man.
14. I'm not very interesting
15. There are very small things that set me off, then I hold on to those things and let them fester
16. I hate the way I look physically
17. I put up with a huge amount of shit for the people I love
18. I wish I had artistic talent
19. I don't do enough of these things for this to come to me easily. I can't think of shit to write.
20. I blow my nose constantly
21. I chew on my lips
22. I have a drab wardrobe
23. I have very little money despite how much I work
24. I want to be able to fly. I don't care if it's with super powers, or wings, or whatever. I want to fly.
25. I want you to choose me over them, but I don't want to actually tell you that. I want you to want to choose the same way.
26. I want to be married and live with my husband, but I have no money for such a thing
27. I'm scared of death. Both the death of myself and the death of my loved ones
28. I want to be a college student forever, but I don't want to do the work that is involved
29. I like George Bush.
30. I refuse to pull an all-nighter. I love sleeping more than I love good grades.

Day 05:

A time you thought about ending your own life.

I'm going to try to keep this one short. I had a boyfriend in high school. I think of him like I think of a scar. Ugly and permanent. Never able to quite forget it. He was emotionally and verbally abusive. He threatened physical violence on multiple occasions. People like that are fucked up, and they really know how to mess with a person's head. I went into that relationship strong and independent and level-headed. I left it damaged and weak, not able to fully trust someone for a long time. I won't bore you with the details, but he had finally gotten to me. I couldn't take it anymore. I had all sorts of crazed rationalizations. I bitterly consumed alcohol to make it go away like I had seen in all of the movies and shit. That's what you're supposed to do when you are too afraid to speak to someone, but you really hope they notice...
After the alcohol took effect, I took what I think to be at least 65 aspirin. 1 hour later my head was burning and ringing.I got sick and threw most of it up. The aspirin had dissolved and burned my throat and teeth up so that they were rough. I could only hear the ringing. I told Michael, then my friend, that I didn't want to go to school that way and he had soon found out why because he didn't take no for an answer. He carried me to class. I was far too drugged and in way too much pain to move, and the noise in my head kept me from concentrating. It's like sirens and mosquitoes combined and constant. I eventually went to the guidance counselor, who eventually called my mother. She never looked at me the same way for years.

It is something that I am deeply ashamed of. I have come to terms with the event and the reasons behind it, but I just prefer to act as though it never happened at all. I prefer to ignore that day of the year. I prefer to ignore the hideous scars on my psyche in the hope that they will heal to the point where I will have forgotten the entire thing. No one I know talks about it either. Because it never happened...

Day 04:

Your views on religion.

My views on religion are simple. Be what you wish, but please just let me be what I am. I do not like when people openly exercise their religion, but then condemn others for practicing theirs.
I am sort of Catholic. At least I was told my family was Catholic growing up. Honestly, I have never been terribly interested in pursuing a particular faith, mostly because I have never been a fan of the texts of faiths. I really do think that's what it is. The bible does not interest me. It actually turns me off to religion. Is it because I do not want to be restricted to religious rules like a handbook of conduct? Who knows. I know there are lessons in every religious text. Wise lessons, I'm sure. It just pushes me away. I would love to meet the Pope though. I have a great amount of respect for the man. I  would like to meet a religious figurehead of every faith (though the Pope is at the top of the list).
Anyway. I love religion. I love that there are so many people who feel so strongly about so many things. I love how all of our stories have many of the same characters (Jesus being a common theme in major religious texts). I love how people are proud to live their lives by the creed devote themselves to this. I love how even if we feel this particular way, we are all, ideally, supposed to live our lives the exact same way. With humility, with charity, with love. Love.
I love how myself, a Christian, can have an open and understand discussion about God with Duha, a Muslim. I love how she can walk into a church and be welcomed with open arms, and I to mosque on Eid and be welcomed with Asalaamu alaykum graciously.
If we take the time to get to know one another, to recognize our differences and similarities, and embrace one another for those things then in all actuality we would be putting into practice what our religious texts and leaders instruct us to do. Think about it.

Day 03:

Your views on drugs and alcohol.

Listen. My views are pretty simple.

Illegal = No.

Legal = Yes. In moderation.

If a drug is illegal, don't use it. It's really not worth ruining your future over. It's really not. They're illegal for a reason. We've all seen someone on drugs. Watched A&E or something. It's scary what happens to these people. They lose themselves in a substance. So don't do it. Seriously.

If it is legal, be smart about it. I mean shit, that goes for everything in life. Don't eat to much you'll get sick. Don't drink to much alcohol...you'll become poisoned and die. Same thing, right? Aside from that, alcohol is expensive. And as far as things that are legal to have, like cough medicine and things like that, don't be a dufus. Just use it for what it is intended to be used for. Like...coughs.

The last category, people who are not legally allowed to use certain substances. To them I say for God's sake please just be responsible. If you are going to drink when you're 19 or 20, it had sure as shit better be somewhere you trust, with people you trust. Like your mother's house on Thanksgiving. Yeah. I've been known to enjoy a glass(es?) with my family. 


Other things, like cigarettes, need to go away forever. Just because of the nonsense that they put into them! If its tobacco, whatever, do what you wish with your own body. It ain't mine to be commanding. If its tobaccofiberglassnicotineetcetera, gross.

Though I have to say I have been a hookah enthusiast since I turned eighteen. Don't tell anyone in my family. I might be a hypocrite on that one, but buzz off, it's my sheesha.

Yep.

Day 02:

Where you'd like to be in ten years.

I have simple goals. Sometimes I feel like they are too simple. I am unlike my friends in that I don't see myself living in a major, bustling city with a fantastic home. I see myself where I am now, only a little bit older. Let's see, in ten years I hope to be happily married with a child or two. I will still have my amazing cat, who is currently unnamed. I hope to have a modest, but comfortable, three bedroom home with a garage and a frog. I wouldn't mind a big porch or deck either. I hope to have at least the amount of land I had growing up, which wasn't too much. We lived on seven acres, and I took advantage of the land in my play. I want that for my children too.
By then I hope to be a licensed master of social work, or maybe even licensed independent. I hope for my husband to be successful as well. Perhaps an owner or manager of a good business. I will be raising my children to be sarcastic, like myself. I don't expect to have vast amounts of money. Any excess to modest/comfortable living will be put away to various savings, rainy day, college, and retirement accounts.

I'd like to say I'll have done things that I always wanted to do, like travel to Ireland to visit the town of my not too distant ancestors. Like visit France for their wine and countryside. Like visit Italy for their culture and love. Within that I would like to have traveled to the Vatican City to be in the presence of His Holiness the Pope.
I'm too realistic though, so I don't think any of these things will have happened after ten years. I haven't even saved enough money for a car yet, and I'm how old?

Ten years from now I hope to find myself happy.

Day 01:

Your current relationship, if single discuss how single life is.

Righto. I have been in a relationship with a man named Michael for well over two years. My mom moved during high school so I went with her, and it happened to be in the same neighborhood as this obnoxious guy. I met him on the second day of school, on the bus, and we instantly made jokes. As it turned out, we had three classes together, so I saw him every day that year. It pissed me off at times. He was such a jerk! But weren't all guys in high school jerks? And he had ADHD...so he bent me out of shape sometimes.
Anyway, whenever we would fight (which was maybe once or twice a year), we didn't speak to each other or look at each other or want anything to do with one another. These fights were unlike any other fight I'd had with a friend before.
I'd had a couple boyfriends during high school, but those never lasted terrible long. Michael was always nice to them. Our senior year, he was the one who had a girlfriend. I was nice enough to her, but I couldn't stand her. I was insanely jealous, and I wasn't sure why because I didn't see myself dating my best friend at all. By senior year he drove us all to school. I was the only one who never paid him for gas because he knew I didn't have any money. I never had money. I didn't have a car of my own so it made it difficult to work, especially since mom wouldn't let me borrow her car. He bought me lunch because I didn't qualify for reduced lunch and neither me nor my mom could afford the expensive lunches at that school. He would buy salad for lunch, but I got his two sides and his milk. Every day this would happen. After the end of my last relationship, Michael and I were on the rocks as well. We bickered over that last boyfriend because he was no good and we both knew it.
We were still mad at each other at graduation. I was too proud to tell him I was sorry, but I was very sorry. I was so proud, that I didn't even see him graduate, though he says he saw me.
I'm not quite sure what brought us together. We had both mentioned in high school that while there, there is no such thing as a serious relationship. It's just not possible.
We'd made up at some point, and spent the first part of the summer with each other and friends. Halfway through I began working as a cashier at the grocery store he had been at for years. At that point he knew more than the managers, and that intimidated me. Here I am not able to press those damned buttons in the right order and there his is bookkeeping and department hopping. All of our friends and sort of friends in HS said we should date, and we both said gross no way. All of the people at the store saw us together and within the week, told us that we should be dating. Still we said no, gross. Yucky.
At that point I was on the rebound with that same old ex, and he was talking to a friend of his that I found to be a pretty gross individual. She was just nasty and mean. Not a very nice personality. She always called people bitches and sluts. Gee whiz. Anyway them talking to each other burned me up inside. I never let it show, but I hated the way she looked at him with a passion.
Anyway---to make a very long story a little bit shorter: We went on a real date (we were very nervous) and hit it off of course (why wouldn't we? We spend so much valuable time with each other that we grew up to reflect each other's personalities) and after a couple of weeks (I remember nervously kissing, that was pretty cute haha) we cast aside those other people and threw out or doubts and fears and went for it.

This relationship was well received by most, but others were not so approving. Said nasty girl actually threatened to beat me up, so I told her she was an animal. Seriously, beat me up? Over a guy? Get over it. Two mutual friends of ours said they were happy for us, but in reality they weren't. They said to me that I won't have any friends like them left because I spend so much time with Michael. They said it will never last anyway, and when it's over our friendship will be ruined because of it. For reasons unsaid I have chosen not to be friends with them anymore. That barbaric girl decided to come out of the closet and move to Cali with her internet girlfriend. I shit you not.

So back to the original point of this post. For over two years, Michael has been my everything. We know everything there is to know about each other. Habits, favorite phrases, temperaments. He knows my silent upset face and exactly what it means, especially when I say, "nothing." His family absolutely loves me, and my family loves him. So much so that he has a key to my house, like the rest of my mother's children. Mom told me he made it onto the list of favorite sons-in-law. His parents have offered to let me live with his family.

We have been given many opportunities to take shortcuts, but we're staying as old-fashioned as we can with it. We do not live together, nor do we plan on living together until we get married (Unless something comes up that makes living together the best option). We haven't planned our future around each other, but we have talked about it and made some room for the likely possibilities. Sometimes we both have this deep urge to run to the courthouse and get it over with now, but that never lasts long. We know better than to let go of our dreams so easily. We talk about weddings, we talk about gets, we talk about houses in neighborhoods close to our families. We talk about what our parents did and our siblings, and how their plans differ from our own.
We're boring in a way, because we already know what the future holds for ourselves and what we will do to get there. But honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Peace, love and pudd'n pops
AMZ

Habibi

Arab-night is the best. Hands down.
Friday, a mutual friend of Michael and myself invited us downtown to a get-together some friends of ours were having. We were the token white people in a small apartment full of arab men and women. The party was thrown by Ahmed and Nadia, a couple that we know pretty well, and in attendance were ourselves, our good lady friend, a girl we'd never met from the next building over, and some guys that we had met before but not known very well. We had two hookahs smoking with orange and mint in them. We passed around hoses and ate spinach that was wrapped in dough and baked in bread with lemon juice. Ahmed had the grill going outside, and Nadia ran around like a chicken with her head cut off carrying cooked and uncooked foods to be put in particular places. When dinner was ready, we dug into babaganouj, Damascus bread, grape leaves, spinach pastries, chicken kabobs, salad, and beef kabobs. Michael and I ate ourselves stupid, taking in the sights, sounds, and smells in the room that remind us of family.
After dinner, we all puffed happily on sheesha while the girl we'd never met went on floating from person to person, having intoxicated conversations. She was the only person there drinking. In fact, she was the only one that drinks much, and it showed. I'm not saying it was a bad thing, I mean to each his own, but she was a little obnoxious at times. Anywho, after dinner we continued smoking and eating sweet treats while we played a game of good 'ol charades. It's funny how you can have good clean fun with your friends without the use of drugs or alcohol or those things that so many other people my age feel are necessary to have a good time. We played charades for what I think was two hours, until we just couldn't do it anymore.

We will have to do it again soon, before the boys leave for Saudi and Oman permanently and we will never get to see them again.

So, a couple of friends of Michaels, whom I was friends with in high school but did not want to be friends with them during college, contacted me the other day to patch things up. I was quite honest, and I said I was not interested. They pursued the matter, asking for reasons, and I could not lie. I gave them every good reason I had for not wanted to associate with them anymore. They tried to turn it around, claiming that I have myself wrong and that I do not know myself as well as I should and other things like that. I said something something, they said something something. They threw out the claim that I only dislike them for their friendship with Michael, and I cannot come close to what they have. Trust me, I stayed civil even after all of that, though I found it hilarious. In the end, I offered to keep going the way things were before, civil and avoiding, for the sake of poor Michael who had been caught in the middle. They aren't interested haha. No skin off my back, because contrary to what they think, I do have real friends (they think if someone isn't friends with them, they don't have real friends), and they are fantastic. See awesome Arab dinner, above. All of that is said and done now. 

Anyway, I will be doing this: http://f0x.tumblr.com/post/1513434733/im-doing-this with Sjaan and Jenn. So be prepared for your dashboards to blow up.

Peace, Love, and Pudd'n Pops

Deux Ans, Mon Amour

I skipped the weekly update for last week. Forgive me, Sjaan, I was actually busy for once this summer.
Last Wednesday, Michael and I celebrated our second anniversary. I had planned on cleaning up his car and making it look nice. I got him seat covers, a CD case for his 100+ CDs, a trunk organizer, and enough cleaning supplies to make it look brand new. What I did not expect, however was a multitude of obstacles. They were varying and pain in the ass-y, so I will skip them.
5 hours after taking his car, I headed back to his house in a white and brown dress, new heels, and no make-up aside from a little play on the eyes.
Michael looked particularly handsome. He sacrificed his facial hair to please me. It was worth it.
We kept it simple as far as dinner goes, we decided to keep it simple. We went out, had a grand old time enjoying each other’s company and doing that mushy eye-contact thing.
Friday we left for vacation at the home of a relative of his with his family. In short, we went through hell and back to get there. I talking about a blown transmission, 5 hours in a foreign place, and a rental van that couldn’t gun it up the side a mountain like we wanted it to.
I don’t remember the last time I was that relaxed. We spent five or so days there. During the day we spent time with each other and talking about our lives. When it started to get dark, Michael would go into the living room and play piano while the sun was bright red in the windows, sinking into the ground. At night, we wined and dined and made the most of our time with Michael’s cousin.
One day I convinced Michael to drive us to a particular distillery 30 or so minutes away to get my mom a certain kind of bourbon that can only be bought on site. The GPS ended up taking us in circles for an hour or so. We grabbed the booze ASAP and flew back to the house. The last day we were there I convinced him to go with me to a local chocolate shop to buy Bourbon chocolates for my mom also. For some reason I thought liquor would be a good gift for someone who seldom drinks.

I am trying to describe my trip in a way that doesn’t infringe upon the privacy of Michael’s relative. I mean, if someone came to my house and had a great time, then went home and posted the good, the bad, and the ugly on the internet, I would destroy them. Anywho, here are a few photos:  

   

This was a wonderful break in our hectic lives. Now we’re back to work, and soon back to school. Life goes on, my friends. I can honestly say that I am happy.
Things are going amazingly well. 

Peace, Love, and Pudd’n Pops,
AMZ

 

I’ll Meet You Where the Page Proclaims The End

In a few weeks I will be turning twenty. This shouldn’t be much of a big deal, but to me it is catastrophic. I have been told that twenty is nothing to freak out about; twenty-one is the one that really matters. Well, not to me it doesn’t. Who cares about alcohol? It’s expensive and unhealthy. Aside from wine on a special occasion I don’t see much of a point in it. My mother told me that I will look back and wish I could have the time before twenty back. I think she is right.
I have always been the type of person to think too far ahead. I am prepared for everything, even if I didn’t prepare for it. I am thinking about the way life will wind down before it has even picked up. So I turn twenty, okay. Then I become a twenty-something, then a thirty-something and who knows how many somethings God will allow me to have on Earth. But I digress.
The twenties are the most hectic times in a person’s life. They turn twenty-one, they graduate from college, are introduced to loan repayment plans, get big-kid jobs, find a worthy person to settle down with, then finally settle down. Oh, and car insurance goes down at twenty-five. I am honestly more excited about money I don’t have to spend on insurance instead of money I will spend on liquor.

The fact of the matter is that I don’t want to grow up. I’m a toys-r-us kid, dammit. I put on my big girl pants and grew up a long time ago, so why should I be forced to put another notch up on the year post? Isn’t it enough that I’ve been twenty-three for the last two years? (by that I mean I am young enough to still be immature when I want to be, but old enough to not be phased by offerings of that gasoline people call liquor). Can I not be frozen in time at this age?

Peace, Love, and Puddin’ Pops,
AMZ

Twilight Shift

This past Friday, I went to see Twilight Saga: Eclipse with Duha. Duha is worthy of a blog post of her own being as complicatingly interesting as she is, and I mean that in a good way. Anyway, Eclipse. I watched Twilight online, skipped New Moon, and finally shelled out the 10 bucks for a ticket to Eclipse. In high school, the books were alright. The first one was very good, the second alright, though they got progressively more strange, and by the end of the series I was actually a little surprised that I put myself through that.
I, being a gullible and cooperative person, tend to follow the path of interest that the author sets me down upon. Main girl = a clusterfuck named Bella. kay. Main guy = a glittery gentleman named Edward. Gotcha. Then I saw Eclipse, and my views of the series changed dramatically. Bella is still a clusterfuck, but it seems that every word she says and every emotion she attempts to convey is done so with her powerful chin. Edward is still a glittery gentleman, but the look on his face makes it seem like he is very…uncomfortable. His words are forced and raspy, and his cheek bones are very severe. I’d have to say the biggest thing I noticed that changes my opinion of the series would have to be the budding poof of chest hair that peeks from beneath the collar of his shirts. Oh my. No thank you. Good day sir.
Then we have the character Jacob, who never wears a shirt. Reading about someone not ever wearing a shirt is not very interesting compared to watching a character not ever wear a shirt. I enjoyed his character very much, and judging by the ‘mmm’s and gasps coming from beside me, so did Duha. My interest has definitely shifted from Edward in the books to Jacob in the movies. Afterward I actually promptly texted Michael so that I could ask him if he could become a werewolf for me and just conveniently never wear a shirt.

The Cullen clan left some to be desired all around. The women of the family were fine. They are always dressed well, but the men…no. Emmett’s haircut is very square and severe. I wonder what person, alive or undead would endure an awful haircut like that. Carlisle has slicked back blonde hair. Enough said. And the other male character, Jasper, just bugged me all around. His button down shirts were always buttoned all the way to the top. If he wasn’t already dead he would have choked to death. I mean honestly, who buttons the very top button? He was always very stiff and reserved in movements, like those awful outfits kept him from moving. His orange hair was chin-length and wavy. I don’t know what it is about these people and bad haircuts. And his eyes were always wide, as though surprised, but at the same time scrunched at the outside edges as though he’d just received devastating news.
Finally, of things to complain about. Two words: Dakota Fanning.

Don’t get me wrong, the movie was enjoyable. They definitely got a much bigger special effects budget than they did when making the first movie. I didn’t let these odd observations ruin the movie, but they were something I laughed about afterword.

Ah anywho, I am pleased to say Michael has finally given in on my girly pleas and gotten a blog of his own. I just want to hear what he has to say! That isn’t to say I he isn’t completely honest with me. He is, we haven’t kept anything from each other. It’s just different, ya know?

I wanted to end this post with an odd picture of the Cullen family doing what they do best: dressing strangely, but is seems as though I can’t find one good enough. So this will have to do:

 
Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner. Two people who will never live down the parts of Cedric Diggory and Sharkboy.

 

 

 

 

 

Peace, Love, and Pudd’n Pops,
AMZ

Matriarchal Ways

Grandma’s visit flew by quickly. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and Michael made a great impression on her. Mom loved it up until they had a good ol’ mother-daughter bickering. Those are always more fun to see than they are to be a part of.

She came with a two cases of wine and two bottles of Vermont maple syrup. The syrup will last a year or two, and the wine…well, I’ll have to get back to you on that. When you’re with Grandma, most any occasion is a wine occasion. Half the supply of white that she brought is gone!

We all enjoyed a great dinner at an Italian place, and afterward had coffee. I must say (to all of you who either sick of hearing it or just plain don’t give a damn) that Michael was looking particularly handsome in his shirt, tie, etc. drinking a cup of coffee. If this is what the future looks like, I’m game.

Michael was amazing enough to drive us to Charleston for the day with Grandma in the front seat. Mom and I are were in the back. We saw some good historical points of the city because G-ma is a history buff. I didn’t spend much money. I bought a photo at the slave market of the Cooper River Bridge at sunset with the bridge lights lit, which I adore.

Halfway into the week, our vacuum’s belt decides to get stuck in the motor and melt, filling the whole house with an unpleasant burning smell. This is moments after mom mopped the floor to clean up after the 4th of July party saying something along the lines of “I love the smell of a clean home.” The vacuum is between 10 and 15 years old, so they stopped making belts for it. We bought the closest size to it per the vacuum store man’s recommendation and I, apparently, broke a very small piece of plastic that holds the vacuum upright. Fantastic. Time for a new vacuum!

Meanwhile, a bolt that holds the tank of the toilet in the main bathroom onto the base broke and tank water rushed onto the floor of the bathroom. I’m sure it’s the same toilet that has been there since the house was built 20 or so years ago. This means in addition to the broken vacuum I had a broken toilet. Nice.

We bought a new toilet, and with the help of Michael at an early hour of the morning we installed the damned thing ourselves.

I am extremely pleased with the work we’ve done. And it saves water whoo!
Mom on the other hand, though happy about the new thing, has succumbed to paranoia and decided that the AC unit will be the next thing to go. It was 100 degrees outside today and a stuffy 85 degrees in my house so that we could baby the AC a little and give it time to rest.

The moral of this story is that Michael has earned the stamp of approval by the Matriarch. Booyah.

 

Peace, Love, and Pudd’n Pops

Would You Like More Steak with Your Steak?

Here I am, in my brother’s room, typing away on the computer. Why am I in my brother’s room? Well folks, tomorrow is G-Day. G-Day is the clever name I bestowed upon the day with Grandma arrives from up north for the week. Many preparations have made for G-Day. Lawn-mowing, organizing, scrubbing!
Being a polite person I am giving Grandma my double bed for the week and I have decided to sleep in my brother’s twin bed. Or the couch. Err.
My entire day off has been spent getting ready for her arrival. Now it is 12 am, and I am wondering where my day went.

This is a very lame blog post.

In the world of work, I managed to figure out how to take a five digit zip code, zip4, and Delivery Point Bar Code numbers and transform them into an actual barcode! See, we’re trying to send out 4 thousand or so magazine/booklets I designed for the department to all of the members. In order to be efficient we are trying to eliminate the standard mailing labels and the whole step of printing the labels and slapping one on each booklet. As you could probably guess, this would take me a very long time, and my hands would fall off before I ever finished. We are also trying to eliminate our current postal software that makes life a little bit easier in favor of a postal software that is full of operation wizards. Import wizard! Export wizard! Address Correction Wizard, my God! This is a nerdy girl’s dreammmm!
We are in between programs right now, and I am having to configure the barcode information and transform it into a full blown postal bar code, including start and stop lines, the exact zip code and delivery point information, and a check digit! I am such a beast! This is something that the original software company offered to do for me for the low low price of $150 per hour. What a deal?

My boss is especially proud of me lately. He is proud of how I am doing in school, and how I am doing at work. Hell, he took us all out to Ruth Chris’ last week to prove it!

 

Note to myself: Things to write about next time=> coffee pots, wine and drinking ages, G-day, Toy Story 3, and ceiling leaks.

These are things that sound terribly boring now, but I will turn things around and make it entertaining. Or will I?

 

Peace, Love, and Puddn’ Pops
AMZ

Youth without Morals

Have you ever noticed that you never want to know something more when it isn’t any of your business?
This is the second week in a row that I wrote down blog topics while working, but left them there at the end of the day. Exhale. Okay.
The last couple of weeks have gone the way they usually do: Awesomely.
Morgan and I went to a supersecretharrypotter party! Sjaan and her friend threw it. I went home with my very own pigmy puff and the knowledge that you shouldn’t microwave butter too long, because every space in your microwave will be filled with it when it explodes!  The next day there was a birthday party for Michael’s mother at her own mom’s house. I like going over while his extended family is in town for a visit. Michael’s cousin Casey, whom I get to see often because he lives in town, was there. He happened to mention in conversation how often I talk about marrying Michael. He didn’t say it like it is a bad thing at all though. He happens to be one of the few people that reads this stuff haha. Anyway writing about things like marriage are great for the writer, but I suppose I come off sounding like a crazy person (Though I am a bit of a crazy person anyway). I seem to have gotten far from the original topic…Michael’s mom. “The Big 5-0.” She seemed happy to have everyone there! I love Michael’s mom. She is very beautiful in my opinion, especially when she smiles. :)
This past Friday was Morgan’s birthday party. We (the large group of college women) designed our own cupcakes, went to see Toy Story 3, and went back to her house to hang around and watch movies. While we never got around to watching movies, we were all entertained…in some way or another. After most of us went to sleep around 3am, we woke up at 8:30 for breakfast at ihop.

My favorite show about bad things happening to dumb teens who make mistakes, ‘The Secret Life of the American Teenager’, is back on tv for the summer season. This show, in addition to ‘16 and Pregnant’ and ‘Teen Mom’ pretty much make up my television schedule during the year. Maybe its because I sometimes inwardly gloat at the fact that I have never had a child or been pregnant. Maybe it is because even though choice to have to have sex, which isn’t exactly responsible, they’re adult enough to carry the baby to term and ignore the disturbingly popular choice among youth to abort. Remember kids, only abstinence is 100% effective. That .001% that you guys think will never effect you from condoms and birth control—surprise surprise—often get pregnant. What is that, odds of 1 in 1000? Those aren’t good odds, children.
 If you kids think you’re adult enough to take it all off, you’re adult enough to take care of a child. You’re adult enough to give up everything in your life that you don’t need for the sake of the life you created. God, that burns me so much, people like that. I’m sure that child is so sorry for inconveniencing your perfect life. I go to a woman’s college, and it’s a wonderful place, but sometimes maybe there aren’t enough men around to balance out the feminism. I’m talking real men here, not ‘guys.’ A real man who would take responsibility for his actions and care for the life he has created. Too many women on campus have decided that no man will have any say in a child’s life if it is illegitimate…she decides his or her fate. The best (and by best I mean most appalling) line I’ve heard is that children ruin a woman’s body, and not a man’s. A man can easily walk away from the child’s life, while a woman is ‘stuck with it.’ We’ll see how many men will be willing to be in a real relationship with someone with that attitude. Michael is the type of guy who will let no person in this world decide the fate of his child for him, nor will he let anyone prevent him from being a father to his child. I couldn’t agree more :)
Anywho, This beautiful, and ridiculously slim, woman my age at my college just gave birth to a son as beautiful as she! She waddled around campus at the end of the semester and took all of her exams. She finished her Sophomore year! I’ve been told she plans on finishing school, so I plan on holding her to it :)

I know I'd written about this before, in the post about superfeminism, but pregnancy and child-rearing deserves it's own half-post.