Boy, you miss a few weeks work to move 2,000 miles, and you fall behind on all kinds of things going on in the world of Twilight. All you Twilighters have, no doubt, been keeping up to speed with everything that's been going on out there -- you're making plans to attend Breaking Dawn parties, planning what you're going to wear, entering giveaway contests, and getting your Twilight-inspired costumes put together (who knew there were so many varieties of vampire fangs out there?).

I know, you have it much more together than I do on all the Twilight madness, but hey, I've been on the road with four kids, a dog and a cat all crammed into a 1998 Ford Windstar, moving back to Seattle, so I'm just now getting around to catching up. So here's a rundown of all-things Twilight for you -- in case you, like me, have been having a busy summer.

Cinematical is stoked to have received this exclusive Twilight e-card widget for all you Twilighters out there. I know that you, like me, are anxiously awaiting both the August 2 release date of Breaking Dawn, the fourth book in the series, and the December 12 release of the hotly anticipated Twilight movie. This will give you a little something to do to kill the time while you're waiting.

Edward looks much more ... vampirish than in the earlier cast shots we saw, and you'll note that his eyes are most assuredly topaz here. What do you think of the pic? Check it out, send it to all your Twlight-mania friends, and enjoy! For more on Twilight, feel free to visit the film's official website.

One of my colleagues just IM'd me with the following: "Did you see there's a 1-minute clip of 'Twilight' online???? OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG." While I suspect he was being just a teensy bit sarcastic with the "OMGs," there is indeed a nice little one-minute clip up over on MTV of part of the scene at the ballet studio with James going after Bella, and Edward coming to the rescue. It's a short clip, but it definitely gives you a feel for how director Catherine Hardwicke is handling the action of the vampire fights, and it's pretty intense.

It's just enough to whet your appetite a bit for the full scene up on a big screen ... and of course, by that point in the storyline, there will be plenty of dramatic tension from what's taken place before that to up the intensity level even more.

Whew. Now that I'm back from Cannes, it's time to dive back into checking out what's going on in the world outside the glamor and glitz of the world's sexiest film industry trade show. Of course, one of the first things I wanted to catch up on was what's been going on in the world of Twilight fandom. Before leaving for Cannes, I snagged a copy of Stephenie Meyer's' newest book, The Host, and I devoured it every night while on the trip.

Quick thoughts on The Host: Compelling and dramatic story, great characters, and it pretty much has "adapt me into a movie, please!" written all over it. For those not in the know, the book is a tale about an alien invasion by a race of intelligent parasitic beings who take over the body of a host and obliterate the "soul" of the person who previously resided there.

The Twilight teaser trailer is up over on MySpace, and it's short (oh, so short!), but pretty damn sweet (you can watch it above as well). What we do see of Bella and Edward, and the chemistry between Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson looks good. We get a feel for how Catherine Hardwicke is handling the vampires' ability to move faster-than-life, and see a snippet of the scene where Tyler nearly runs over Bella with his van, only to have Edward zip in out of nowhere and save her. It's one of my favorite scenes from the book -- it's really the first moment when Bella comes to realize that there's more to Edward than what she sees, and it looks like Hardwicke has captured that moment well.

My only real complaints are that it's short (I want more!) and that we don't see Alice or Jacob, or the trio of bad vampires. I know, I know, more will be coming, but I'm impatient. Oh, and also ... is it just me, or do Edward's eyes look too normal? I want to see golden eyes, topaz eyes ... "good" vampire eyes!

Alright, Twilighters, I know you're out there, and you always have plenty to say on everything Twilight. What do you think of this teaser-trailer? Are you liking the look and feel of what you've seen so far? And most importantly, how, oh how, are you going to wait until December 12, when the movie finally hits theaters?

Holy Cullens! Hold onto your seats, all you Twilight fanatics. This is the first official ensemble piece with final hair, makeup and costume (those other photos, we believe, were test shots, but this one gives our first official look at the characters inside the Twilight universe) Click on the image for a larger view -- you know you want to -- then let's take a moment to dissect the loveliness, shall we?

I know all you hardcore Twilighters know these characters, but for those who don't, we have, from left to right: Ashley Greene as Alice Cullen; Kellan Lutz as Emmett Cullen; Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan; Robert Pattinson as uber-hot vampire Edward Cullen; Nikki Reed as Rosalie Hale; and Jackson Rathbone as Jasper Hale.

We've been covering the various bits of Twilight news, set visit write-ups and behind-the-scenes goodies extensively here, but this is the first time that we've seen the cast in character like this. Aside from the fact that the image looks totally cool and perfectly captures that "Twilight-vibe," can I just say that any doubts anyone out there is still harboring about Robert Pattinson as Edward should be totally laid to rest by this picture?

Twilight fans can almost universally agree on one thing: the book's single most romantic moment is the first time Edward plays the lullaby he wrote for Bella on the grand piano in his home. It's a lovely scene, partly because it's the first time Bella has been invited into the home of Edward's vampire family and been accepted into their midst, and partly because, well, what girl wouldn't swoon having a guy like Edward compose a beautiful song, written just for her?

Twilighters have discussed endlessly which song should be "Bella's Lullaby;" now, via MTV's blog, which has an excellent piece full of yummy interviews with Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Catherine Hardwicke and Stephenie Meyer comes word that Pattinson himself may compose the lullaby.

Twilight author Stephenie Meyer added an update to her blog today after a visit to the Twilight set. She shares some nice tidbits about how she felt watching the "humans" in the cast bring their characters to life, and has a funny anecdote about a prank pulled on her by Peter Facinelli (Carlisle) over the crucial issue of what happens to food vampires eat if they ever have to pretend to eat to fool humans (kinda gross answer: they eventually have to regurgitate it!).

Most interesting to me of Meyer's thoughts on how the filming is going, though, is what she has to say about Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson "channeling" Bella and Edward. Meyer seems very pleased with the performances by both actors so far, and notes that the chemistry between the two is so good that fans "might want to bring a paper bag to the movie, because their on-screen chemistry may cause hyperventilation." Dang.

Oh, those Twilight Moms. How great are they? Only a truly obsessed fan would brave a rainy, dreary Pacific Northwest day to go watch part of the shoot for Twilight -- and have the presence of mind to get some great pics as well. Although, as a mom myself, I can attest that if you've been through childbirth, staying home with kids building block towers all day, and picking up formerly wet Cheerios that have crusted dry onto pile carpeting, a day spent in the rain watching a movie you can't wait to see be filmed is the best mom field trip ever. And if I was still in Seattle, you can bet that my daughter and I would be having some bonding time driving down to Oregon to catch the film being shot, too.

Here are my thoughts of what I've seen of the shoot and behind-the-scenes stuff so far. The setting in the pics from this shoot is absolutely gorgeous and really captures the beauty and essence of the Pacific Northwest. As for the potential of the film to not suck, the casting of Bella and Edward in particular was crucial to the book series' ardent fans accepting the film, and I'm digging the casting at this point. Having just seen Kristen Stewart in What Just Happened?, I think she has exactly the right look and attitude to play Bella; she does the brooding teen thing well, but also has the softness and intelligence that's such a part of who Bella is. She kind of reminds me of early Christina Ricci, minus the edge and acerbity that Ricci tended toward.

My daughter and I are huge fans of the Twilight series. We've both read all three existing books -- Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse -- and are marking the days off on a mental calendar until the August 2 release date of the fourth book, Breaking Dawn, and my daughter and I could discuss the books endlessly.

We've had countless conversations about whether Bella should become a vampire, or if Stephenie Meyer will ever stop teasing us with that and let Edward turn her, already. And whether Bella will have a vampire "superpower" once she does turn, and what that power might be. And which characters we like the most. And so on, and so on, as I'm sure the rest of you hardcore Twilight fans do.