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*

Coming at you live from the new apartment. My bed has rarely looked so appealing.

Today was the day where almost nothing went according to schedule.

Exhibit A, 7:45 AM: Waiting in line for the driver's license bureau to open, I got a call from the salon where I was getting my hair cut. My appointment was for 10, but the stylist I was originally going to see called in sick, so the receptionist called to see if I could go in at 9. I was about half an hour away from the salon, and not sure how long the driver's license office, but I told her I'd call her back if I thought I could make the 9:00 appointment.

Exhibit B, 8:45 AM: Driver's license goes quickly and I get finished around 8:20, call the receptionist, start driving to the salon, and get another phone call.
Man: This is so-and-so from the cable company, I finishing up my appointments early and was hoping I could come by a little before 9.
Me: Uh... I'm not at home.
Man: Oh, did you forget about your appointment time from 9 to 11? (not as rudely as this might sound in writing, I just can't remember exactly what he said.)
Me: O RLY? This is the first I've heard about having an appointment.
Man: ...Oh.
Me: Uh, I should be home by 11?
Man: Well, uh, just call me and I'll see if I can work you into the afternoon, or we'll reschedule.

I'm thinking the gal who does the contracts for the apartment complex forgot to call me back when she'd scheduled the appointment. She'd told me she'd call me back, but she probably got busy or something. Anyway.

Exhibit C, 9:45ish AM: Sitting in the stylist's chair (my hair looks FAB by the way, I'm hoping I can get close to replicating it on my own), my phone starts vibrating in my pocket. But as a very nice lady has scissors near my head, I'm not about to answer it and put things in her way. It rings again in a little while, and again I don't answer it. Finally, when the appointment is done, I listen to the message and it's the movers.

Mover: Hi, this is so-and-so, I know you were scheduled for an unload at 11 but we got done with our morning appointment early and were hoping we could start on your stuff, so give me a call.

Please note: I had written down that they were showing up at 12, not 11. Anyway, I call him back, explaining that I'm not at home but that I can be there in half an hour and he's like "no problem, we won't start the clock until we start working."

So I got all my stuff unloaded into my house before I had even figured they'd show up, I have a paper saying I'm getting a driver's license, and my hair looks awesome. I didn't get a chance to get started on my registration, but I figure I can do that after work one Friday while we have the summer hours.

And then amazonsun came over in the afternoon and helped me unpack and she's so awesome you all are so jealous! My living room is pretty much entirely set up, as is my kitchen, and much of it is due in part to Tia's amazingness while I was busy sorting boxes and figuring out what boxes belonged in which room and putting together my new fabulous chair from Ikea. So now the big thing that's left is figuring out what needs to stay in boxes until I can get the bookshelf situation sorted (short version: I have to figure out what new bookshelves I'm getting) and hang up some shelves, which I'm doing tomorrow with the help of myras_girls and Corey.

After the unpacking fun, Tia and I went downtown so I could buy a few birthday cards for my August birthday friends, and wandered around Ace Hardware (this Ace Hardware store is actually pretty awesome) and then grabbed some beers and food at Old Chicago before I decided I wanted ice cream from Cold Stone.

Tia and I parted ways, and then I picked up the Veranator and discussed Chrysta's filthy living situations (none of which were Chrysta's fault, fyi), and now she's checking out the house and I'm sitting on the floor because I haven't found the wireless router yet and the ethernet cord is incredibly short and very soon I'm going to go sleep in my bed and it's going to be awesome. Assuming that I can sleep after all this excitement today.

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.

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.

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.

Last night, Catherine was trying to be a gangster. If you've ever met Catherine, you have a pretty good idea of just how adorable that is on its own. However, it spawned the following conversation.

CATHERINE: I don't know how to do gang signs, I just learned how to do this one. [FORMS VULCAN LIVE LONG AND PROSPER SIGN]
CATHERINE: The Vulcan Nanu Nanu thing.
AMY: [PAUSE] You just combined Star Trek and Mork and Mindy.
CATHERINE: [SHRUG] They're like the same thing.
AMY: Except not at all.
CATHERINE: Mork came from an egg!
AMY: There's no egg-like thing in Star Trek!
CATHERINE: What about that egg-shaped robot?
AMY: [STUNNED DISBELIEF] That's R2D2 and he's from STAR WARS.

Apparently theemdash and jedimara77 need to sit her down for some geek education. I'm not sure how much longer Catherine can work around all the geeks at her workplace with these kinds of gaps in her knowledge.

Also. I have lovely and wonderful and talented friends.


The Herons / "I'm Home" (debut) from bobisbob on Vimeo.