And I was right – I’m a Barb.

Which Big Love sister-wife are you? Take the quiz and leave your answers in the comments.

Why would the Patriots even resort to cheating? They seem to be doing just fine on the basis of sheer talent. I watched part of their game on Sunday and the Tom Brady / Randy Moss connection seemed to be a match made in Heaven. I hope there is some punishment for this – it wouldn’t be fair if they got away with it – the NFL needs to make an example out of them so other teams don’t start following suit.

In other news around the NFL, Kevin Everett from the Buffalo Bills seems to be making some progress after his devastating spinal injury on Sunday. Thankfully!!

I never felt strongly about her one way or the other as she made her rise to fame, so I’m kind of surprised at how much I enjoy reading her blog. I also can not stand people who type like this, “u r great” – but guess what? That’s what Rosie does and it doesn’t bother me in the least. I don’t know what it is about her style that sucks me in – maybe it’s her honesty and the sense I get that she is just a very real, down to earth person who happens to be rich and famous.

Whatever it is… it’s got me, but good.

If you’ll excuse me, I need to go leave her another message in hopes that she posts and responds to it.

Shut up.

Here’s what my viewing schedule is looking like for the next few months unless I get tired of some of these shows.

Monday
8:00 – Monday Night Football, baby!
10:00 – The Bachelor

Tuesday
9:30 – The Singing Bee
10:00 – Boston Legal Denny Crane

Wednesday
8:00 – Pushing Daisies
8:00 – Back to You
10:00 – Dirty Sexy Money

Thursday
8:00 – Survivor
9:00 – Grey’s Anatomy
9:00 – The Office

Sunday
All Day – FOOTBALL!!
9:00 – Desperate Housewives
9:00 – Dexter
10:00 – Curb Your Enthusiasm

What are you going to be watching?

We had a fabulous weekend filled with spending all of our money in as many different stores as possible. *cough*

Saturday morning I headed to Rice’s Flea Market for the first time ever. I’m not a big fan of flea markets because it seems like there is usually nothing but junk to be found there. However, there have been several times now where a friend or co-worker has something I covet and I ask them where they got it, their response has been, “Rice’s”. So, to Rice’s I went. And it was great! I know “upscale flea market” is an oxymoron, but this place really does fit the bill. There was lots of name-brand (or knock-off) merchandise there including hordes of jewelry. You know I was in heaven. Funnily enough, I did not spend anything, though. I was getting a very strong intuition to not buy that day, so I just browsed. I must have known on some level that I was going to need every last penny to pay for all the stuff that would be bought the rest of the weekend!

After the flea market, I stopped at the grocery store in hopes that my favorite Greek yogurt, tofu steak, and vanilla seltzer would be in stock. They’ve been out for almost 2 weeks straight, and it’s been driving me bonkers! I need my special food, damn it. The store netted me 2 out of 3, as they were still out of vanilla seltzer, but I was happy with that anyway. I’ll just keep stalking them for my seltzer to come in.

Once I got home, I was hit with a request from Connor that just floored me. He asked to go to Michael’s to buy a heart-shaped piece of wood and a wood burner tool. I had a feeling as soon as I got the request what it was for, and was almost afraid to ask, but you know I asked anyway. Sure enough, he wanted to make something for his girlfriend. Apparently it is their “2 month anniversary on August 1st, mom, duh”. Two month anniversary of what, exactly, I wanted to know. Turns out he asked her “something” on IM. I can only imagine how that conversation went. This whole thing has been haunting my dreams, man. I mean, the kid is not even 13 for two more weeks. Oh, but it gets better! We get the craft supplies and he makes this incredible piece of art – the boy is definitely talented – and I about choked on my tongue when I saw what was written. I’ll let you see for yourself:

It gets better, still:

Oh no he di’unt just get all free with the “L” word. Oh, yes he did. Sigh. Like Rob and I discussed yesterday – what happened to that word being sacred? I was very protective of that word, and did not give it out freely at all, and certainly not at the tender age of 12. Wahhh! I don’t like this development, I don’t like it one little bit.

So anyway, my parents came over Saturday afternoon and Aric and I headed with them to my favorite Vera Bradley retailer to check out the latest colors and styles. I have picked my fall color, you will be happy to know, I’m sure. The thing is, I’m still undecided about the bag style. It’s a toss-up between the On The Go, the Bowler, and the new Cargo Sling. I bought the zip-around wallet, small cosmetic bag, and new Clip Zip ID case in Kensington; once I decide on the bag style, I’ll go back and get that, too. I’m so excited because I’m just head over heels in love with this pattern. I am to the Kensington pattern as Connor is to Alexis. Heh.

After our Vera Bradley jaunt, we met up with Rob (who was painting at his friend Kevin’s inlaws all morning) at Peddler’s Village where we found a bunch of cool retro stuff to decorate our basement. We decided to go with a Coca-Cola theme in the bar area and spent a pretty penny on some things for it. Of course, once we got home, it looked like we hardly bought much, but that’s always the way. There was also some cool scented rock thingies we found in a new age store – we bought a bag of the serenity scent and a nice ceramic plate to hold them. All of this shopping built up our appetites – well, it was just plain dinner time for me – and we ventured over to the Cock ‘N Bull where we had dinner reservations. My parents came back to our house with us after dinner where we indulged in some Cinnamon Hazelnut coffee and watermelon. Rob and I put up the decorations in the bar and I believe there were several games of pool played, as well.

On Sunday, I got up early and went to a meeting. When I came home, Rob and I went to another flea market in search of more Coke items. The flea market gods were not shining on us, though, because as soon as we walked in, it started sprinkling rain and it soon turned into a full-blown down pour. All of the vendors were packing up shop as we walked around, so we decided to head to that cool, new Wal-Mart where I found the laptop trays instead. I don’t even remember everything we bought, nor do you probably care for a line item, detailed account, but we did end up with some nice plastic patio chairs and a table. We figured it was better than nothing. We also found some pretty candles and more ceramic trays to complete the stuff we got from the new age shop.

Afterwards, we stopped at Lowe’s and found a tempered glass-top patio table for $35, so we ended up with two patio tables, which worked out perfectly in the end. Down the road we’ll get “real” chairs to go with the table, but for now, the nice plastic ones are just fine. We also bought a chiminea and a bug zapper and torch fuel for our tiki-style lamps on the deck.

You can check out the pictures of us having the time of our lives on our back patio on my Flickr. How great are these tiki lamps, though? The flames were so high, we felt like we were on the set of Survivor. When Connor walked outside and saw them all lit up, he kind of jumped back and I said, “Connor, the tribe has spoken, bring me your torch.” hehe! The guys all enjoyed S’mores by the fire and we just generally had some really great family bonding time last night. Aric repeated the line, “Now this is the life!,” more than once, so I’m pretty sure they loved being able to hang out in the backyard as much as we did.

This morning, I was so excited about the table being out back, I woke up before my alarm and immediately made coffee and jumped in the shower so I would have plenty of time to just sit out back before work. It was pure bliss. We’re really looking forward to the fall, when we can truly enjoy it outside, although I really don’t have any complaints now. The heat does not typically bother me in the least!

I really do need to check in and blog over the weekends so I don’t have these monumental posts on Mondays. But, when we’re doing all the family stuff and I’m relishing every second of it, I don’t have any desire to do the blog thing. I might check in and read my feeds, but that’s about it. So, for now, you get the Monumental Monday Message. Maybe I should start a Meme.

How much did I love the drinking game Mike and Zach had going on where they drank every time Jen said the word “I”? I loved it too much for words, that’s how much. I was just sitting there dying laughing, much like they did after Jen walked out to the backyard. There were so many other gems from this episode:

• Finding out that Jen was the only one in the house who voted for Amber. Talk about being out of the loop!
• Nick trying (and failing) to keep a straight face when Jen was talking to him about who to nominate and she said, “I’m not stupid.” Heh. Heh. Heh!!!
• MAGNUS AND KRAGNUS!!!!
• Evil Dick going into the bedroom to tell Jen off, but good.
• Jen’s nervous little laugh and wave to the camera after Dick told her off.
• Nick trying to sex up Daniele and Daniele playing hard to get. My word is he hot, though.

The casting people over at CBS did a rip-roaring job this time – major props to them. Loving it.