Don’t Be Such a Beach.

This one is going to be longer than usual, so brace yourself.

A lot of fun-type things have happened over the last week. Wednesday, at least I think it was Wednesday, Michael came over and we inhaled a sickeningly large amount of Sonic food. But wait, the fun doesn’t stop there. All of my college friends, minus a few of my favorites, went to the basement and made brownies and watched Beauty and the Beast. Who doesn’t like brownies? Who doesn’t like Disney? Exactly.
That was like a visit to my childhood, except Michael was included that time. Aside from the fact that I have a personal thing about unnecessary talking/singing during movies, it was pretty awesome.
Afterwards the brownies went back upstairs with us, minus the Michael, and we gorged ourselves on brownies and milk on Jenn’s floor. That was the second time in one night that I consumed way too much for no reason. We ended up watching another movie: Fantastic Mr. Fox. The one time that I actually enjoyed a George Clooney movie. Why? Because I couldn’t see his face. It was a pretty cussin’ awesome movie. I definitely recommend it, mostly because of all the big names that are in it.
Underlying icky feeling of the night? Tension between some and awkwardness between others leaves me feeling yucky.
Thursday I went to class, packed up, and went home early so that I could get ready to go to the beach on Friday. Let me be clear with this: I had the full intention of skipping my classes (because I ooze rebellion). I told my mom that my only two Friday classes were canceled. Well, here comes Friday. I get a text saying that our English class was canceled because my professor was sick. Really? I fail at skipping classes.
For those of you who have never had anything to do with me when I am going on vacation, I just want to let you know: I have a packing problem. I have been told that I get it from my grandmother. I have to be prepared for anything and everything. Why is that? Well, I have this funny thing about being unprepared. I will kick myself for longer than necessary if I didn’t bring something so simple. I started typing a list of the random crap I packed just to give you an idea, then I realized I was about two paragraphs into this list and nowhere near done. I deleted it for the sake of your sanity.
Friday Michael and I packed up the Solara and headed to the beach with the ipod on shuffle. We had to make a quick detour at my dorm because, well, I forgot to pack shorts. Beach vacation, and a shoulder bag full of jeans. Fail Number Two! We stopped before that and grabbed some Chick fil a meals for lunch. In order to run into the dorm in time, I had to eat pretty quickly. It was gone in five minutes, and I still had plenty of Dr. Pepper to spare. Ahh, satisfying. Driving, driving, driving. Music and banter. But wait, blue lights? That’s right folks. Michael got his second speeding ticket in a year. This one is for going 80 in a 60. I don’t know how many points this one will cost him, but it is going to be $185. It’s like plucking a stone from the side of my phantom engagement ring.
When the mom car (mom, my sister, and my sister’s kids) arrived we all got settled in our respective rooms. Ocean ocean, yeah yeah. We went to a great restaurant called Sea Captain’s House. Oh yeah, fantastic.
Saturday I had a wonderful and nutritious breakfast of lucky charms, while Michael chowed down on last night’s steak. To sum up that entire day: The ocean is still cold, SPF 90 really does work, The pool is freezing, the lazy river feels like pee, and the hot tub melted my skin off. But wait, there’s more! I love Riesling, and Kahlua and cream, Putt-Putt at the beach is always fun, even if mom effortlessly kicked everyone’s ass, and there is nothing like watching tv and drinking margaritas with the family to make you feel like you’re at home.
Sunday morning Michael and I walked around the beach to find shells. We found some cute ones, some ugly ones, and some in between. I found a tide pool full of baby clams that were eating. The girls carried a fist full of those clams around in a beach bucket and mom got worried that we were killing them. We buried Michael in the sand. I made him into a beautiful mermaid! The girls made his boobs a little lopsided though…
I finally manned up and jumped into the ocean. I ended up staying there for a very long time. Michael and I vowed not to not go home tan so we rebelled against the SPF 90 and went bare. Ow.
When we left the beach, Myself, Michael, my sister, and the girls went in the same car because we wanted to get home for our lives to pick back up on Monday. Mom didn’t have to work until Tuesday, so she was staying to continue to lay on the beach, dine in fancy restaurants, and visit the bar. She cried as she saw us off, telling us she loved us. Oh mummy. I love you. Well ten minutes down the road she calls to tell us that she is coming home! Poor momma couldn’t even last an hour by herself. Eventually when we made it home and myself to my dorm, she called and told me that she doesn’t want me to leave.
You see, Michael and I had originally planned on moving to Atlanta after school so that Michael could take advantage of a business opportunity. That fell through, so we are probably going to be staying near home. My mom thought she could be independent; that she wouldn’t need any of us. We need each other, and that’s perfectly alright.

Peace, Love, and Pudd'n Pops
AMZ

Did that noodle really just come out of my face?

The heat has been turned off in my dorm room, but the air has not been turned on yet. If you turn on the vent it will dump out warmer than desired stale air that only makes the fact that it is at least 85 in our rooms worse. So, because it is better to suffer together than apart, I am hiding in a friend’s room. I intended to work on an English paper…but since I have forgotten my flash drive with my prewriting on it, and because it is all the way down the hall and down one flight of stairs, I have decided just to update le blog. Okay, so it isn’t that far away, but it is hotter than Dante’s Inferno in this place and moving just makes it so much worse. Opening the windows solves nothing because of the pollen blizzard that is blowing around outside. I could make a pollen angel or pollen man out of this crap.

Michael’s brother accidently let it be known how much money Michael has in the bank. To his brother, this wasn’t a big deal. To Michael is was a tragedy. To myself, I finally found how much money is in the engagement fund. Trust me people, it was something for me to be excited about.

I enjoyed my Easter Sunday. I didn’t get gifts or go on an egg hunt. I just spent the day with my mom. We ate a small dinner of mashed potatoes, turkey loin, deviled eggs, carrots, and corn. We had a bottle of wine, and some pudding pie for dessert. I suppose what I enjoyed the most about it was that I spent two hours at the kitchen table talking to her and enjoying myself. We talked about marriage and weddings (her previous one and my…impending one). We talked of futures, of family, of finances.
It was pretty swell.

Speaking of hilariously painful happenings, Friday I committed myself to working in my room. I skipped the campus food and went for a college classic: Ramen. So here I am, slurping ramen (from my RAMEN BOWL!) and watching tv. Cough. Choke. Gag. Then I am okay again. Except…my nose is on fire. Ten minutes later I try to purge my face of this demon pain. Wam Bam—I blew a noodle out of my nose! It hurt like hell, but it was fantastically hilarious. So much that I took a picture of said demon noodle and sent it to Michael.

Anyhoozles, I have to go and be collegiate.

Peace, Love, and Pudd’n Pops,
AMZ

Oh Myspace....

So I was going through myspace this evening. Hehe, remember myspace? Oh my God. Anyway, I found a mushy-gushy lovey blog from a couple of years ago that makes me laugh. I figured I'd share my pre-blogspot blog post with you all:

September 10, 2008  I know it has been more than forever since I posted a blog. I apologize! Ive gone from comfortably having the internet to not getting on the internet for months at a time, except for logging in. Not much else aside from that. My life right now is absolutely, unbelievably AMAZING! College is an amazing experience! You may think that I am saying that because the full workload hasn't hit me yet. That may be true, but that doesn't change how amazing this place is. Like...I leave classes every day feeling so enlightened! So what if I have tons of papers-reading-discussions, I feel like this place is going to take me far in life... Over the summer I worked and spent all my money on dorm stuff. I spent a lot of time with my great friends, they make me so happy! I spent an unusually long time with Michael, my closest guy friend. I dunno he's always been so easy to be around. I think in the three years we've been friends, we've only fought a few times (always over dumb things of course) and we made up and learned our lesson. We always got along so well! That's why I loved to be his friend; we have such a common sense of humor and we're never bored with each other. I remember over the summer we went to a friends house in the middle of the night, and he said he wrote a song that he thought was pretty good, and wanted to sing it. So he grabbed a guitar and sang his song. It was so good! I was instantly smitten. With my best guy friend? Whom i've been denying thought of a relationship with since the very beginning? Yep. That one. I decided at that moment that I wanted to be with him for real this time. So we went on a date. Always awkward, the first date, but being friends we quickly got over that feeling and enjoyed each other's company. We ended up spending about three hours sitting in my drive way talking to each other. YES. TALKING. You jerks. Since we had just opened this emotional door to each other, it was the best time to talk seriously about everything in life good and bad. I can't even begin to tell you what we talked about. Absolutely everything under the sun! Or rather...the moon. I wanted to go home and think about everything we'd talked about, and the possibility of being with him. But as soon as I got inside with the giggles and went to bed, I woke up forgetting how amazing my night was, and calling it a fluke. I was, in reality, too afraid to take the chance. So we had an awkward phone conversation quickly a few days later. We both said we wanted to keep it the way it was originally, but we had an amazing time nonetheless. We Lied. And I knew he was lying as soon as he'd said he wanted to stay friends. And I told myself, "Dont say it don't say it don't say it!" and then I said, despite my inner pleas, I think we should stay friends too. STUPID! Why'd I say that!? I saw him a couple days later. I'd missed him. A helluva lot more than I'd ever thought I would. It was strange. We both acted like the time we had spent apart didn't phase us at all. The tough act. Lame act indeed. He drove me home that night. We talked some more. We asked each other "What now?" He wanted to be with me, I wanted to be with him. Simple as that. So he let me call the shots; he trusted me not to hurt him. We went through that in-between phase, by my request for adjustment, called "Talking," and at the end of it made the final decision to become a couple. The couple we were supposed to be years ago but never were. There were reasons of course. I was dating lame POS loser guys. I was in loser denial. And in reality, dating someone in high school dooms them forever. We've already graduated. Formally left the central place of drama and excessive heartbreak. That dumb shit. We were both adults now, it was time for the adult relationship we both deserved. And actually I thought about him while I was with those guys. Not "Ohhh I wish I were with him and not these losers." Don't forget I was in crazy denial over us. I just thought how cool it would be to hang out with him, and stuff like that. But that kinda proves that I generally preferred his company to those guys'. So I'm in a real relationship, with a real man. One whom I trust with my heart. It's been over a month, and we've yet to argue. Im not asking for a gold star sticker here for goodness sakes. Im just pointing out that our common interests and humor and past friendship have made us a strong couple from the very beginning. And of course, he makes me happier than any of those other guys. Ew. Other guys. Since I am living on campus and he's living at home, it is a little sad not to see him every day. He says he goes through Anna withdrawals. I believe him. He comes to see me all the time at school all the time. I've met his family: I absolutely adore them! And I've heard that they like me too haha. I can tell already that I'm going to be with him for a very long time. It feels...so right. =] And one more thing: I seem to have forgotten how much I over-word things. I sound too much like an old woman. This isn't actually how I speak in person, trust me.

Oh Shit…that’s a massive spider

I am sitting on the green today. It’s crazy nice outside right now. It smells like freshly cut grass, and it is cool enough to sit out because the dew is still evaporating. The children are running around playing games, which I love, because the sound of children laughing makes me love I dunno, being alive. It definitely sets off the baby clock. “Must. Have. BABIES.” at least that’s what I think it’s saying. Of course then my common sense jumps in like, “oh shit no, you’re finishing college and getting married first.” Oh yeah. College and marriage first.

This is a horse. Made of potatoes. My friend sculpted this beast.

In a couple of weeks, there will be a program called Project Hair Care. It’s all about getting your hair cut and donated to make wigs for women who have lost their hair due to cancer. I decided that after two years of growing my hair out, this is the best thing to put it towards. Besides, the warm weather has rolled around and I’m aching for a pixie cut. And also, I’m sick and damned tired of my showers being taken up by hair washing. I mean I am in the shower for ten to fifteen minutes, and at least two-thirds of it is gone to washing my hair. No way man.
I thought about how this may affect my relationship with Michael. I mean, I will look a little like a boy. That always seems to be a topic of conversation among some men. How they wouldn’t like their girls anymore because they look like “guys” or “lesbians.” Think about it in the reverse. Would you love your clean cut guy if he had longer hair than you? Hint: I wouldn't. GAG. Ah but here’s the catch about that: cutting my hair won’t magically turn me into a man, nor will I be transformed into a lesbian. So, because I will be exactly the same as I was before, only much more aerodynamic and efficient when it comes to showering. It would be more like...a breeze enhancement device. I don’t have anything to worry about. I can’t wait actually, because I know it is such a great cause. I will be making some woman very happy somewhere.

I will have to finish this later. Much to my dismay, the green doesn’t have bathrooms (though that’s actually a very good thing). So my bladder is crazy full. Plus there is a massive spider on my computer. God know whether or not it was crawling all over me before it decided to crawl on the computer…

Peace, Love, and Pudd’n Pops
AMZ

Free Muffins and People Watching

I had a nice night tonight. I finished a homework assignment that I had been nagging myself to do all week. It only took me a few hours to do too.

After I finished my homework, Michael and I went to Starbucks to hang out. That was cool, because the lady at the counter gave us a bunch of muffins and scones that were left over like I used to do at Panera at night.

Michael and I have a pretty good relationship. We don't argue often, and when we do, it is mostly because we both want to be right about something, regardless of what the topic is. He is there for me when I need him, which I love, because as much as I hate to admit it, I've really needed him sometimes. Especially those times when I have been too proud to ask. We're...I don't know...real. That's it. We're just real with each other. There are no secrets, there are no doubts, there are no lies. I mean, so real I expect this man to tell me when I have a booger or something. He has this belief that when you are with the right person, you become one entity. I don't mean like an alien creature or something...or a super saiyin fusion (Only the coolest of kids will get that one). I mean something that transcends a signature on a marriage contract, or even a lavish ceremony of some sort. It is much simpler than that. It's just...togetherness. We like to people watch together. I know that sounds rude...and very creepy, but if we see something in public worth sneaking a snicker at, we don't have to tell each other about it. We both just know. I honestly believe I will kick myself in the ass for the rest of my life if I don't marry him.

I found out that I am going to be an RA next year. That means that I will have an important position on campus, and most importantly, I won't be able to talk shit about people I don't like. Not that I allow myself to do that much anyway. I have always preferred to take the mature route and just let you get what's coming to you anyway, but damn have I entertained the thought of just letting some people know how I really feel about them, and what kind of person they really are. But hey, I wouldn't want to be that girl.

Sgt Pepper, my lonely betta fish (oh yeah.), is staring at me with a hopeful look in his little fish eyeballs. I'd like to think it's because he loves me. I mean, he wags his tail when I come near him! But I know it is really because he is hungry. He eats too damn much anyway. "Feed me you whore!" He shouts silently. Sgt Pepper, don't call people whores. That's rude.

I bought a Nerf over-the-door basket ball hoop. I adore it. I added it to the collection to go with the awesome Nerf gun that Morgan gave to me. You can see I had a toy-limited childhood. I'm going crazy over foam darts. Forget you guys. You'd go crazy over it too if you knew it had a laser on it and pretended to snipe inanimate objects across the room. I killed the microwave the other day. It's okay though, that bastard deserved it.

Anywho. I'm probably mouthing off too much. It's 130 in the morning and I am full of benadryl and antibiotics.

Peace, Love, and Pudd'n Pops

Bagels and Lazy Dogs

I am sitting in the terrace at school eating a bagel and blogging. I don't have class until 1:30 this afternoon. Ahh, I love college. I have a netbook now, so I am taking my blog mobile instead of writing it in my dorm room that faces main street, or a computer lab full of clicking keys and beeping cell phones.

I have had this feeling for the past few days that I need to take advantage of all of the amazing things that are happening to me lately. Like my amazing friends. I started coming out of my shell this semester and there have been a handful of awesome people waiting for me when I got there. I am starting to have more fun being random than usual and I love it.

It snowed the other day...sort of. It was more like snow cone slush dumping from the sky, but Jenn and Miranda and I had fun walking around in it for a while. Why are South Carolinians so intrigued by snow? Well, I guess the most obvious reason would be because it NEVER happens here. Because it never happens here, we are pretty psyched about it :) Snow is an amazing occurrence in nature,to me, because it is white, and pure, and fluffy. It can fall on you quietly and gently, and you can pat it off of yourself without getting wet. That's my favorite part. I love the rain too. The sound, the smell, the everything. Except I don't love the feeling of wet jeans or soggy hair. So snow has the best parts of rain without the soggy parts.

My cousin (sort of :P) Casey has started his own blog recently. I have to tell you, that kid has a passion for politics that overshadow most people his age. He is only seventeen, but he has prettymuch figured out where he lies on the political spectrum. I'm so proud! ='D

I have made an amazing discovery this past week: Skype. I am now officially frustrated with Michael simply because I have web-chatted with him every day this week. He actually just finished reading my blog for the first time in a while. Gawrsh. I'm embarrased to know that some people read this nonsense.

Michael's dog Blaze said hi to me while Michael was AFK. (Blaze said, "Yeah, he takes up all of the room in my bed.")

Spring Break starts tomorrow afternoon. I am excited. (Can't you tell?). I don't have plans to go to Daytona and take my top off like the others. I am just going to stay home and relax because, well, I deserve it. I am going to sit around in my jammies, hang out with Michael and our families, and do some work around the house. I am going to, for the most part, ignore my homework. I am probably going to try to do it all this afternoon. I may try to spend some time with my much neglected friends from back home too.

Tomorrow I will find out whether or not I get a certain job. I am hopeful, because my backup plann of going to D.C. seemed to have crashed and burned on me earlier this week. It's either this, or some sort of drastic money-making scheme.

This is it for now

Peace, Love, and Pudd'n Pops

Party Lines

Tonight is the first part of a three-part discussion series called "Pastries and Politics." In a nutshell, it is a panel of representatives from both the Republican and Democratic organizations on campus to explain party beliefs.

I was told by a friend the other day that I am pretty much a Democrat. I'm having a bit of trouble seeing that. Apart from my opinions of Gay Rights, I go with traditional Republican beliefs. Like what? Well, I am against abortion. If you can't act responsibly when you choose to have sex, maybe you shouldn't be having sex at all (I know that isn't particularly "Catholic" of me, but c'mon, it's the 21st Century). I don't really care what your lame-ass excuse is. Just don't do it. Like those young women that think they're hot shit so they sleep with every guy they come across, then says well I know this won't ruin future because I'll just get an abortion. Well ma'am there is a special place in hell for you. I'm still torn about special cases, like rape and incest and things like that. But for now, my stance is that I am very much pro life.

What else is there? Oh yeah. Death Penalty? um. Yeah. Totally for it. And I'm not sorry. Don't tell me I'm a hypocrite because I value the life of an unborn child but don't value the life of a serial killer. I'm not even going to get started on that one.

Health Care? Sorry, but I grew up without health insurance, and it sucked. I still don't have it. But you know what? I didn't go ask all of the rich people to pay for my health care for me, nor will I ever. the end.

The War? Yep. For it.

I am tired of my not-so-strict conservative views being taken as liberal views. I'm tired of the myth that Republicans are all bitter old rich white men who judge everyone else, or that Fox News is all lies. The world has changed a lot since the dawn of Republicanism, of course the people of the party will change with it.

I'm also tired of the idea that young Republicans only feel and vote the way they do because our parents pushed this views on us. Well no. Not really. While parents have some of that affect on all of us in most ways, I chose to be a Republican because it is what I know is right. So get over it, won't ya?

I watch Fox in the mornings while I drink my coffee, and I love every minute of it. That won't change, and neither will I.

Peace, Love, and Fiscally Conservative Pudd'n Pops