I have been trying and trying to catch up with you all, and being busy at work and having my parents in town is just making this impossible, so I give up. If, in the last few days, you've said anything mind-blowing, earth-shattering, or just really really funny that you think I'd get a kick out of, please let me know. Otherwise, I'm just going to hope that all of you are having fabulous lives, and start over at some point.

Anyway, what's new. My parents are still in town. On Saturday, we drove up to Poudre Canyon and the Great Stupa at Shambhala Mountain. I'm not sure I was liberated upon seeing but maybe I was and just didn't realize. We also went to dinner with myras_girls and her hubby, during which the aforementioned hilarity ensued. On Sunday, we drove up to Rocky Mountain National Park, and there was SNOW. It doesn't count as part of SnowWatch 2009 because it a) wasn't falling and b) was at 12,000 feet instead of right outside my door. We walked around Old Town Fort Collins on Monday and ate at the Silver Grill Cafe. Quite yummy. I took lots of pictures and am in the process of uploading them. I'll be sure to post some here when they're all up.

Yesterday, I went to work, but not before my mother did some slight rearranging in the kitchen EARLY in the morning, meaning I had two minutes of trying to figure out where my electric kettle had gone. They played golf and then she also rearranged my living room. She likes to do these things, what can I say? Oh, and last night, I also showed my dad the episode of Castle from Monday night (because they were watching football on Monday night), and he seemed to greatly enjoy it. Today, the plan was for them to hang around the house while I'm at work, and then we'll probably go to dinner, and then they're leaving tomorrow at the same time I leave for work. This will make them happy, as it's supposed to be rather chilly here tomorrow and they've been giving me grief for sleeping with the windows open. :D

Who wants to fly out here around the end of November to attend the Swell Season at the Ogden in Denver with me? You know you want to... I'm planning to see Vienna Teng on the 21st with Chrysta and Corey, and The Sounds with Sharon (co-worker) and her hubby on Halloween. I will go to the Sounds show by myself if I must, but I'm hoping I can find someone around here who would be willing to go with me (mostly so I wouldn't have to drive back and forth from Denver by myself).

Following up on my last "real" post, I have made a budget for the month of October and if I am able to stick to it, I will come out an eensy-weensy bit ahead. But not much, which is sad, because I would like to be able to put money back into savings. At least I have a plan. Plans are good, yes.

via The Markness (seriously, everyone should have one): Casting for A Song of Ice and Fire. Sean Bean! Lena Headley! Jennifer Ehle! Peter Dinklage! Other people I don't know! I'm so excited! *bounce bounce bounce*

Go about your business; nothing to see here.

(500) Days of Summer:

1. All right, I'm just going to say it. NEEDS MOAR GUBLER. Now that that's out of the way.
2. I desperately want Zooey Deschanel's hair.
3. Joseph Gordon-Levitt sort of had a Heath Ledger thing going on—sharp angles on the face, deep-set eyes, smirking grin.
4. I loved the architectural details interspersed throughout the movie. They were a nice way to emphasize the fact that Tom wasn't living up to his dreams.
5. Marc Webb stole the majority of the soundtrack from my iPod. True story. Okay not really true, but I was having a fun little internal game of "identify this song" and I got most of them.
6. Summer's attitude towards love and life very much reminded me of Betsy. Also the HUMONGOUS EYES. I miss the Betsy (and the rest of the Orlando folks!).
7. OF COURSE HIS NEW OBJECT OF AFFECTION IS NAMED AUTUMN. I literally facepalmed at that. I was with you until that, Marc Webb, but at that point, you sort of stepped into cutesyville and I just couldn't go with you.
8. The karaoke scene was delightful and I sort of want to hear JGL actually sing, because he seems as though he might be quite good at it.
9. I totally thought of teamradvak every time Tom wore his Joy Division shirt.
10. Overall, a very good movie. I liked the way it was structured, the writing was sharp, the acting all around was very good.

Before the movie, I saw trailers for Whip It! (OMG want to see that so very badly) and Adam, which looks cute and awkward and full of the ever-charming Mr. Dancy. (not Darcy, DaNcy.)

Tomorrow: Heather and Rob's virtual baby shower (via phone call, since we couldn't all convene in Maryland), Greek Festival (there had better be a MOUNTAN of BAKLAVA), and a co-worker's birthday party (there are promises of s'mores!).

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.

HELLO WORLD. Man, it feels weird to not post as frequently as I'm used to. I got a bit out of the habit when I was packing/moving/internet-less, but now it's just kind of weird. The job is going extremely well, keeping me super busy and occupied and I LOVE IT. My brain has been hurting every evening, because I'm literally not used to using it as much (I mean, it was definitely not taxed for a year and a half).

I've been keeping pretty busy still. ( My adventures in Colorado, so far. )

Today was my last day of work at the old job. HOORAY. We all went to Meg O'Malley's, the Irish pub downtown, for lunch, so I got me some macaroni and cheese (it's made with DUBLINER) and even more importantly, I managed to not eat all of it in one sitting (which I can totally do, it's so freaking good) so now I can have more of it tomorrow! Wooo.

Speaking of tomorrow, it's going to be a doozy. I'm going to a WW meeting in the morning (my last one for at least a little while) and then take Vera to the vet. Hopefully the vet will give me a prescription for some sort of kitty Xanax so she will not be so upset while stuck in a car for a while. Then I have to get my tires rotated, and hopefully drive down to Palm Bay to drop off some stuff that a friend lent me, and pack pack pack. Thursday morning, I'm turning in all of my cable and internet stuff, so I will have no more cable or internet at home, but I'm also driving to my parents' house on Thursday (with brief detours for lunching and Ikea shopping in Orlando), so I'll still have access to the interwebs for a few days. Saturday I drive back to Melbourne and have a visit with theemdash planned, and then Sunday is the packing/cleaning party (which I hope will be more cleaning than packing, but we'll have to see) which will be followed by pizza nommage hopefully. Monday my pod arrives, Tuesday morning the movers come to load the the pod, and that evening I drive back to my parents' house so my mom and I can leave bright and early Wednesday morning.

To say that I won't be around much for the next week and a half is an understatement.

I just want to curl up in bed and read more Harry Potter, but I need to get cracking and get some stuff done this evening. It strangely feels like I have so much to do and yet am so close to being done. I can't quite get a handle on the state of things. Oh well.

Jenny Lewis was amazing last night. The whole night was a bit ..., but the actual performance was great, especially when everyone, en masse, decided to eschew the whole seating arrangement (who schedules a rock show in a playhouse?) and bumrushed the stage. Hopefully some of the pictures I took will come out well once I zoom in and crop a bit. My, but that girl can sing.

THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THE HAPPY, SUPPORTIVE WORDS. I'm really excited, although right now I'm really just exhausted.

Some details: My title will be Assistant Editor, and I'll be working on a variety of projects in different forms of media (print, TV, electronic). My last day with this company is June 30, and my first day with at the new job is July 13. THAT'S NOT FAR AWAY. I literally have 2 weeks to get everything packed and ready to move before I start driving out there. Of course, in the mean time, I still have to go to work every day for 4 more days--okay, 3 and a half as of this posting--, go to Orlando on Sunday to see some friends who are visiting from out of state, go back to Orlando on Monday night for the Jenny Lewis concert with turalu_21 (a more prudent person than I would skip it, but I need some C-time, I've been looking forward to this show for months, and I've never seen Jenny on her own), take Vera to the vet to get her shots up to date, drive across the state to my parents' house for my grandmother's memorial service and family time, and then drive back and load the pod. All told, I'll have three full days of packing, and that's it. Obviously I have evenings and half days here and there, but whew.

My mother is coming over this Saturday to help with the packing efforts, and I've already started a bit myself, but man. A smidge overwhelmed.

Thankfully I don't have to immediately worry about finding a place to live, because myras_girls and her delightful hubby have volunteered some space at their domicile. The one concern I have with that is the fact that Vera is a diva and she gets riled up around other animals, but hopefully she will either a) learn to coexist peacefully with other beings or b) learn to love being cooped up in one room.

I've been trying to make a mental list of things that are going to have to go in the car with me (and my mom and Vera). I'm torn, because I won't have a lot of room for yarn paraphernalia, but I am also going to have to go at least a few weeks without access to any of the stuff I put in the pod, so... I have to plan that carefully. I'm thinking about taking the yarn and magazine for the next large project I have in mind (the Elemental Boatneck pullover from the Summer IK issue), as well as the yarn for my mom's blanket (note to self: wind yarn) and a couple of skeins for socks (one sock I'm test knitting, one sock I'm "re-designing", whatever is still on the needles at the time). Money will be tight so I can't just buy more yarn until I can get to my stash! Clearly I'm going to need more projects in the project box. Meep.

I also am figuring out the reading material situation. I plan on setting aside whatever Harry Potter books I don't finish before I leave, but as I just finished Chamber of Secrets last night and will likely start on Prisoner of Azkaban today at lunch or dinner before knit night... well, at least Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, and Half-Blood Prince are fairly long.

See, this would be a good time to have a Kindle. They take up much less space.

Please, when I lament about the fact that I have all of this stuff with me, everyone just keep your mouths shut and don't point out the fact that it's really only about 3 and a half days of trading off driving with my mother and I'm packing entertainment items like it's 3 months. The yarn is the important thing, though, I'm sure I can find other entertainment for myself until I can access my boxes.

I'm leaning towards throwing in my Sandman volumes. They're skinny.

( entirely unrelated MGG pics )

Why, you ask?

Because I've processed and uploaded all of my pictures from my weekend in Colorado...but you can't see the majority of the photos from the wedding. I HAVE MY REASONS. I will post them as soon as a certain something happens.

( My weekend in Colorado, by The Amy )

Okay, so Chuck. Kind of awesome. Must figure out some way to watch season 2 over the summer. And how could you all hold out on me? As I was watching, I was thinking that Zachary Levi was pretty darn adorable, and then I watched one of the special features, and he had long hair and was all scruffy (this was during the writer's strike, apparently)... Really, I must thank Tia repeatedly for encouraging me to watch this show. :D And now I must go find some icons.

I am not sure that I am emotionally prepared for tonight's Criminal Minds finale. I am terrified that they're going to give us a serious cliffhanger, and unlike seasons 1-3, I can't go find out what happens right away! This worries me.

In unfortunate news, my mom sent me an email this evening, and apparently she doesn't expect that her mother will make it to the end of the week. Obviously we all hope that she will make a miraculous recovery, but being realistic, please keep her in your thoughts and prayers and hope for a relatively pain-free passing, whenever it may happen.

Wow. There's a lot to process here.

OH GOD NATHAN FILLION COULD YOU BE ANY MORE HUMOROUS? I think not.



I can't wait for CBS to upload the whole episode, so I can watch a better version of it.

+ 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.