Woohoo! According to Felicia Day's twitter, Dr. Horrible won an Emmy! Yay for quality "film" making being recognized.

I'm really cranky with a particular group of people on Ravelry because they're bashing a designer's hat and that's just rude and distasteful. They think they can do better? Design something and submit it to various magazines, see how far they get. Rudeness just pisses me off, I shouldn't be surprised but apparently I am.

Anyway, happier things, the weather today has been rather fantastic! It's been rainy or overcast all day, which wasn't so lovely, but the temperature was super cool. Last I checked, it was about 49 degrees. I am a happy Panda. I've got socks and a sweatshirt on (because I've still got the windows open) and had some hot cocoa.

I'm watching the first disc of the Dollhouse dvds and all I can think is "OI, Fox." Ugh. The sooner I get done with disc one, the sooner I can send it back and get the third one, which has the "real" first episode and the 13th ep.

Vera has decided that if my lap is available she must be in it. Which would be fine, except that I like to be able to reach my laptop keyboard and not have to balance it on my knees to make room for the fuzzy.

Watched the first episode of the Vampire Diaries. Haven't read the books, but I don't really know what I think of the show so far. Good soundtrack: Silversun Pickups, Placebo, others. I don't get the broody guy appeal—I tend to prefer guys that laugh and make me laugh, so I don't get the serious and broody business. But apparently it works for other girls? I also watched Glee, and I really think they could have done a more contemporary song for the assembly, but whatever. I loved the "Golddigger" version. I didn't recognize the last song. And my DVR didn't record the first episode of So You Think You Can Dance—sadface.

Time for more knitting!

I have requested that Chrysta bring Joe Flanigan back from DragonCon for me. I cannot think of a better souvenir. Sadly, I fear that I may be let down on this request (though I'm sure Chrysta will give it her best shot).

This weekend has been a doozy. Thursday was a super stressful day, between some work stuff and then some dog stuff. Poor Kaylo made himself so stressed out over his parents' going away that he made himself sick, and as I was so swamped with work stuffs, poor Chrysta and Corey had to try to make arrangements for him to get to a vet and get checked out from the airport in Atlanta. He's doing much, much better now. I just think maybe he has some abandonment issues or something. Also, apparently my jeans has a flavor, as he is determined to lick them to death. Do not want. These are my new jeans!

I made plans to go on a Saturday morning hike with a co-worker, forgetting all about New Belgium's Tour de Fat. So I missed out on that, but had a brilliant time hiking up a little trail in the Roosevelt National Forest. We also stopped in the Colorado Cherry Company store (so much damage to be done there) and the Dam Store (less damage). And then we grabbed lunch at 3 Margaritas in Loveland and I returned to Fort Collins to do a little shopping, visit with the Vera, and then return to the doggies.

I bought purple Urban Decay eyeliner and mascara (and now I want this Book of Shadows business, too... darn you website!), as well as some silver nail polish at Sephora. Have I mentioned that there's a Sephora and an Ulta within walking distance of one another? It's no good, people. no good. And then I went to Lambspun and managed to walk out of there with only a lighter drop spindle (25g as opposed to my 79g spindle -- hopefully I can get some thinner plies with this one) and a niddy noddy and buttons for the sweater I'm working on. That store is a dangerous store. Okay, most yarn stores are pretty dangerous to me.

Today I had big plans for getting up, chilling with the dogs for a while before heading back to my house to hang out with Vera and get some stuff done. All was well until I got home, around 10:30, at which point I promptly passed out for about four hours. Vera napped with me, so I guess that was quality time. I eventually got up, watched last week's Project Runway (IMO, wrong person won, but right person went home).

So now I'm back over with the dogs and after a couple of hours of random barking and general doggie behavior, they're both sleeping on the couch behind me. One of them is snoring. I had brought my True Blood Season 1 DVDs with me, intending to knit and listen to the commentaries...but I didn't bring any yarn. I had yarn in my purse for a project that I need to work on, but didn't bring my purse (only my wallet). And I have a project here that I have been working on, but forgot to grab another ball of yarn. So I may have to actually just sit and watch the show... or figure out some other way to entertain myself because I don't think my hands can stay still that long.

edit: Chrysta, I borrowed your Zombie Survival Guide. Maggie curled up next to me while I was reading it, and then Kaylo got bored and laid half on me and Maggie and kept his back legs on the floor. I'm sure you wanted to know that.

I may go into Boulder tomorrow to hit up a shopping center with another co-worker. Gotta find a replacement khaki skirt, and I may buy some bright yellow cropped pants at Gap if they have them. Yellow pants are so in right now--go pick up the latest copy of Lucky and you'll see. *nods*

Oh snap! Apparently season 4 DVDs of Criminal Minds come out soon. *happy dance*

I didn't read the actual article from Facebook because I didn't want to get spoiled, but WHEE.

SUMMER GLAU MOVES INTO JOSS WHEDON’S “DOLLHOUSE”.

ALEXIS DENISOF, JAMIE BAMBER, MICHAEL HOGAN AND KEITH CARRADINE MAKE GUEST APPEARANCES DURING SEASON TWO

--source, potentially spoilery, i don't know

Also, promo shots for Season 2 (non spoilery!). I really need to get the Season 1 DVDs.

I am entirely caught up on True Blood. I have to say, as much as I enjoy the quick and easy readability of the books, I love what Alan Ball has done SO MUCH MORE with the TV show. Every character becomes three-dimensional, and the chemistry between characters is so much more palpable. Granted, it's one thing to be reading about chemistry and to watch it in action, but I know that Aragorn loves Arwen something fierce in the books and she's barely there! I love how that's my first example. I can think of more if I'm pressed!

OH, you all will be happy to know (I'm sure) that my OnDemand is showing the rest of Being Human, so now I can watch Episode 5 at some point. They ditched episode 1, but I watched it again before it was scheduled for deletion, so I think I'm okay with that. I talked about this a bit in my knitting blog, but I have decided that I want to knit a pair of booties like Annie's, to wear as slipper socks or feet warmers or whatever you want to call them when it gets cold here and I refuse to turn on the heater until it's really cold because that's how I am.

Non-TV news:

• I got new glasses! They're really just for reading, but I'll try to take a picture of me with them.
  
• Speaking of pictures, I finally took pictures of my apartment + furniture, I just need to upload them.
  
• Wandered into a most amazing store today that is literally not even 500 feet from the office. This is both great and terrible news.
  
• Knit night tonight, hopefully I can finish the project that I'm working on and block it over the weekend and mail it out on Monday. It's good to have goals.

Definitely just realized today how close August is, and that there's tons of things that I want to do in August.

This weekend is pretty much void of anything classified as "fun" and/or "outdoorsy," as it has been relegated to "unpacking." That's right, I move into my new apartment this weekend. I get the keys tonight, and I've got my camera with me for the "Before Amy's Stuff" photos (and some WIP photos, I've been really bad about keeping up with them). My POD arrives on Thursday, the movers come to unload on Friday (and Friday AM, I have to go get my driver's license and start working on my car registration), and then Saturday and Sunday I want to get as much done and unpacked and settled in as I can.

August 7 is the First Friday Gallery walk in Old Town, which I kind of want to check out but may put off for another month. On August 8, there's the French Nest Market, which amazonsun and I had considered wandering through, and then on that Sunday, there's the Denver Handmade Craft Fair. I really want to go to both (with the idea that maybe, if I get my butt in gear, I could sell stuff at one or both next year), and I haven't gone into Denver yet. The problem with the Denver fair is that it's near the zoo. ZOOOOOOOOOOO. Crafts or zoo, crafts or zoo, aaaah! Sorry.

The next weekend is also potentially busy, as New West Fest will be going on, while at the same time Rocky Mountain National Park (and a slew of others-Mesa Verde! Dinosaur National Monument!) are all free admission that whole weekend.

AND THEN, the Greek Festival is August 22 and I do love me some Greek food, so I'm going to have to go to that.

All of that to do in August and this past weekend it was a chore to get out of bed. Seriously, yesterday I got up around 7:30 to feed Vera, and then I crawled back into bed "for just a little while." Four hours later, I got out of bed, made myself some lunches, putzed around in my jammies, made myself do my laundry, and then around 6, I got back into bed to lay down for a bit. I didn't go to sleep, but just lying down was fabulous.

OH I FORGOT that August 7, (500) Days of Summer is supposed to start airing at the movie theater here. This excites me, because my TV Boyfriend is in it. And if you don't know who my TV Boyfriend is, you have not been paying attention.

Star Trek + "I'm On a Boat" = BEST THING EVER (Totally NSFW, but had me rolling on the floor, for serious.) Scroll all the way down to the bottom to watch the fanvid version. My one regret is that there are apparently no flippy-floppies in space.

In related news, I need a new stamp in my Fangirl passport because I am all aboard the Chris Pine Fantrain. I blame lanyon and spoonishly. And by blame, I mean thank.

I'm thinking about seeing The Hangover this weekend. I'm tempted to turn it into a double-header and see Star Trek again. And then I may watch some more Harry Potter movies in anticipation of my re-read of the series. OH, I also borrowed Rise of the Lycans and S. Darko (the latter purely for the Jackson content, as I really do not like Donnie Darko) from Jen.

I finished a pair of socks last night and immediately cast on for another. It's a sickness. And my February Lady Sweater is moving along. For some reason the rows of garter stitch were nothing, but the gull lace is dragging a bit. I think it's the fact that I actually have to pay attention. I can knit all day long with no problems, but knit plus yarn overs and then purling back is a bit more time-consuming? I don't know. Meanwhile, I found the most adorable cardigan yesterday and it totally called out to be knit in the green Ella Rae yarn that I picked up on sale and so now I really want to knit it. One problem: the pattern is in French. Any of my knitter friends read French knitting instructions? I think I can figure most of it out with the help of Babelfish and my own knowledge of French and knitting, but a little support would not be amiss.

So, we had a few days of excitement there, but now it seems that all is back to normal and I'm still an incredible nerd who loves sci-fi/fantasy and knitting.

My grandmother passed away early this morning. She was a loving and wonderful woman. Many years ago, she first taught me to knit. She cast on some stitches for me and showed me how to knit, but what I really remember is that for some reason, she couldn't remember how to bind off. So we both were just knitting to two together for row after row until we only had one stitch left.

She wanted to be cremated, and a memorial service will be held in a month or so when my aunt and her family and my cousin can make it into town. Hopefully it will be held before I move anywhere, but I'll deal with that if/when I have to.

Pajama Day* is in full effect. CSI: New York is on the TV, and I have the third disc of Season 1 from Netflix. There's knitting work to be done, and yarn has been ordered to knit a new top. Damned yarn stores and moving sales. It's really hard to pass up 30% off yarn to make a top.

I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day doing whatever makes you happy while keeping the service men and women who have died to protect our freedoms in your thoughts.

*Pajama Day: Day in which pajamas are worn exclusively and leaving the house is to be avoided as much as possible. Exceptions include leaving the house for Starbucks breakfast because you woke up at 4 AM; however, pajamas must stay on, although bra and cardigan can be added.

Ah ah ah so much to do so not enough time need LISTS.

Friday:
-Wind yarn for February Lady Sweater
-Swatch for February Lady Sweater
-6:45 pre-wedding/post-hellish week pedicure (OMGYAY) (OMG should probably do a quick shave, even though legs aren't that bad)
-Work on Alice socks
-Block Kate's scarf so it can start drying

HO LOOK AT THAT PRODUCTIVITY PEOPLE AND IT'S NOT EVEN 8:30. I even cast on and knit the first three rows of the FLS. I amaze myself. Also, my legs are soft and smooth and toenails are a pretty orangey-pink for summer.

Saturday:
-Work on commissioned Baby Booties
-Work on Alice socks
-Photoshoot at the beach for Michelle's maternity photos (so nervous! I don't know a lot about portrait shooting)
-Possible trip to Joann's for knitting needles and buttons for baby booties
-CLEAN
-Catch up on TV, preferably while working on one of those knitting projects
-Beta one chapter of the two in my queue

Sunday:
-Star Trek in the AM for cheap, because if I don't see it this weekend I'll probably forget all about it until it comes out on DVD
-MORE KNITTING
-MORE CLEANING
-Beta the other chapter
-maybe laundry?

Monday:
-Work
-Post office at lunch to mail Kate's scarf, baby booties, pick up postcard stamps (OH HEY THAT REMINDS ME)
-WW meeting
-MORE KNITTING

Tuesday:
-Work
-Leave work early for hair cut (should probably tell boss about that, oops!)
-Laundry if it wasn't done Sunday
-Make packing list
-Re-block Chrysta's shawl

Wednesday:
-Work
-Bring Office Amy to my apartment to show her where Vera's food and whatnot are kept (REMEMBER TO GIVE HER THE KEY)
-PACK
-Watch Criminal Minds to make sure they don't do what the preview threatens (because I am obviously in a position to "fix" it if it does...)

Thursday:
-Wake up early, get ready, drive to Orlando, get on plane, forget about everything for five whole days

It's probably not such a bad thing that I seem to have a bit of insomnia right now, eh?

+ Five more working days until I'm on a plane to Colorado.
+ Tomorrow is pay day.
+ I bought a book full of crochet square patterns, despite the fact that the only crochet squares I've made involves a lot of single crochet.
+ Finished knitting myras_girls' shawl and I'm in love with it. Not so in love with it that I'm going to keep it for myself, but I am super proud of it and I hope Chrysta finds many occasions to wear it. Because sparkly, lacy shawls are totally for every day wear. :D
+ New Criminal Minds and CSI: New York tonight. I opted to come upstairs and save them for another day (and avoid commercials).
+ First disc of CSI: New York came in today (along with Alvin and the Chipmunks, shut up). I watched the first two episodes, and I have to say, I'm really glad they abandoned the dark filter they either shot or processed with. Blech.
+ The other skein of yarn that I won came in the mail today, and it's pretty. I'd post a picture but I'm a bit lazy. Maybe tomorrow.
+ Vera is softly snoring at the end of the bed. I tell you, small creatures, like cats, dogs, and babies, are adorable when they snore. Full grown humans, not so much.

I do have to share one negative thing, and that is this: my mother's idea of covering up my knee while wearing pants was a good one, in that it kept my pants from scraping against my wound. However, this needs to be modified somewhat, because pulling off said bandage this afternoon? Not fun.

One day, possibly soon, I will shut up about Criminal Minds, but that day is not today. As if you needed any more examples of how much I like this show, I give you the following scenario.

I started watching the show in the 4th season. I know the characters that are currently in the 4th season. We're two or three episodes away from the end of the 4th season, and I know, full well, exactly which characters are still on the show. So why, at the end of the third season, when there's a big explosion and viewers are led to believe that a beloved character might have bit the dust, did I freak out like a crazy person? There was cat-terrorizing with my squealing and anguished cries, and I had to promptly turn to YouTube to find salvation and proof that yes, the characters that I wanted to live and stay on the show were, in fact, safe and not blown up in a car bomb. The writing is so good and the characters are so engaging that for about 5 minutes I was almost panicking out of fear for my TV friends' safety. AND I ALREADY KNEW WHO WAS SAFE! I'm sure that knowing is the only thing that saved me from a major TV-related breakdown yesterday.

Don't judge, you know you've all done similar things.

So now I am YouTubing the first episodes of season 4 until I catch up and in a few short weeks I will probably be in full on flail-mode, as the writers of this show like to leave us with massive cliffhangers and I won't be able to find out what happened immediately. You've been warned.

In other news, there are 25 days until myras_girls gets hitched, and therefore there are only 22 days until I go to Colorado. I'm working on knitting a wedding shawl for Chrysta, and it's turning out quite lovely, but it was a little bit more intensive in some ways than I thought. For instance, one repeat is 16 rows. One repeat takes me two and a half hours! When you're used to knitting socks, the idea of spending that much time on one repeat is a bit boggling. But I'm really liking the way it's coming out. I'm a bit scared that it may be shorter than I wanted, but I think I can block it. Am in the process of buying blocking wires and pins for just that purpose.

I'm trying to psych myself up to go shopping, as I want a new outfit for the wedding. Preferably a dress, but we'll see what happens. I just hate shopping. I have a dress I could wear, but it's black and I don't really want to wear a black dress to a summery wedding. Chyrsta, what should I wear?!

Check this out, peeps! It's kind of like that other dress, but it's got some waist shaping. of course after I put this link in there, I see the "no longer available for purchase" part, but there's a similar version in blue.

Also, do I buy a flash for my camera or not?