So over the weekend we had a barbecue at my house and I was a bit nervous. I don’t have much barbecuing experience and I could just see having to move the party to the emergency room halfway through because I poisoned all the guests.

Who knew that there was a barbecuing genius just waiting to emerge from inside me? I mean I can’t even scramble eggs right! But in front of that grill I was a whizz! Now sure I got laughed at for flipping the occasional burger into the dirt, but dammit it was worth it! Because the 65% of the food that I didn’t ruin was delicious!

My friend Robin is one of those people who like to forward emails. Every once in a while I’ll open one. Usually because I haven’t talked to her in a while and I feel guilty so I open the dumb email. But anyway, today I thought this one was kinda cute. (oh BTW, that’s Robin and her baby Addison)

1. It is important that a man helps you around the house and has a job.
2. It is important that a man makes you laugh.
3. It is important to find a man you can count on and doesn’t lie to you.
4. It is important that a man loves you and spoils you.
5. It is important that these four men don’t know each other.

Here’s to no forwards in your inbox for the rest of today! -Annette

Do you get sh*t for sharing a bed with your kids? Stevie and I co-sleep and it has been the most rewarding thing. Natty is very close so when she wakes up we’re right there. I feel like we’re forming a strong bond. I also love it because waking up next to her and Stevie is the most rewarding thing. I look at the two people who I love the most and I think about how much I appreciate my life and my blessings.

This morning Natty woke up and I was looking at her. She looked at Stevie and whispered, “Da da da da da da da.” She looked at me and whispered the same thing. I guess we’re both da da da da da da but it’s so cute. Her little voice is so beautiful sometimes I think my heart will explode. I have to stop blogging now because I’m about to cry. Jeez, when did I become such a girl?

T-

Hey the 4th of July is almost here, is your checklist complete? Well I’ll let you cheat off of mine:

1. Fireworks with the paper ripped off - You rip off the paper to prevent your dumbass friend from doing whatever the warning label warns you not to do. Cuz you KNOW that thing is like a dare! And you KNOW every year somebody tries it!

2. American flag - the more old and tattered the better - cuz nothing is less patriotic than a brand new out of the box American flag - what you just got around to buying one? Commie!!!

3. Barbecue pit - this one is pretty straightforward. Remember, cook chicken long and hot dogs and hamburgers short… don’t mix that up cuz the hospital is a terrible place to watch fireworks.

4. Sunscreen - even if it’s cloudy. There’s nothing worse than waking up on July 5th, taking off your shirt and seeing your skin fly in all directions. Also bad sunburn feels like a really bad fever and your false alarm at the hospital could make it difficult for them to treat all the salmonella poisonings.

5. Watermelon - one to eat and one to play watermelon toss with. What? You don’t play watermelon toss? It’s the same principle as the egg toss only on a much larger scale. Toss the watermelon to your friend then back up a step. Your friend does the same back to you. Last person at the park standing with a whole watermelon wins! The prize? You have two watermelons.

Hope that helps you out in lieu of your own 4th of July checklist, and have a great long weekend!

The other day I was bored and started thinking about actors who took movie roles and really nailed the character they were playing. You know, hit just the right notes and inhabited that character inside and out. Now there are plenty of great performances, even award winning ones, where the actor didn’t hit the bullseye completely. I mean some very famous actors have never completely nailed a role. So I came up with a by- no - means - complete list of roles where I think the actor really nailed it. Who’s on your list????

Anthony Hopkins - The Silence of the Lambs

Al Pacino - The Godfather and Glengarry Glen Ross

Julia Roberts - Erin Brockovich

Ed Harris - Apollo 13

Johnny Depp - Pirates of the Caribbean

Daniel Day Lewis - Gangs of New York and My Left Foot

Tom Hanks - Forrest Gump, Castaway, and The Terminal

Denzel Washington - Malcolm X and Training Day

Tom Cruise - Jerry Maguire

Jamie Foxx - Ray

Jack Nicholson - One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Chinatown

Michael Cera - Juno

Ellen Page - Juno

Javier Bardem - No Country For Old Men

Diane Keaton - Annie Hall

Robert Deniro - Raging Bull and The King of Comedy

Tommy Lee Jones - No Country For Old Men

Frances McDormand - Fargo

William H. Macy - Fargo

The entire cast of Arrested Development

It takes a lot for a guy to finally admit it, and here I go: I suck at yard work. I cut the grass, trim the bushes, pull the weeds, and every week after I’m done, the yard looks even crappier than before I started. I mean I guess I could make it look good if I spent, like, all weekend working on it. But that’s not what weekends are for! Weekends are for relaxin’!

So we finally gave in and called a landscaper.

I’m secure enough in my masculinity to admit when I need help, and it only took 2 years of destroying the yard for me to do it.

I have always been fond of lizards. When I was just a young girl my aunt used to tell me stories about these lizards who lived in lizard land. They were all happy and played around all day. There were two evil lizards and they weren’t green like the others. They were black and red. Anyway, the lizards used to sing this song. If you want to hear the song you have to call because you have to hear it not read it.

After all these years I still like lizards. The strange thing is, maybe since I have this connection I notice them more, but they are always around me. Every home I’ve lived in has always had a bunch of lizards everywhere. My bff had so many lizards on her fence that we used to sit on her swing and watch them for a pretty good bit of time.

Stevie and I have been living in our house for almost two years and there are lizards all over. I love it. Lizards during the day and geckos at night, it’s great!

This morning as I was looking out at my birds nest to see if my bird babies hatched, I noticed a lizard eating a roach. That lizard saved us. Who knows if that roach would’ve made it’s way in our house. Perish the thought!

Thank you Mr. Lizard, you’re my hero. BTW this pic totally grossed me out but it’s perfect for this post so it’s staying. I can’t even look at it anymore. I’m going to lose my lunch, breakfast, and last nights dinner.

Click here if you want to friend me on facebook. I’m told Facebook is SOOOO much more now than MySpace which is SOOOOOO last year. I guess next year I’ll have to do the same thing again since nobody’s satisfied with the same thing for 10 minutes anymore. Don’t ya just hate trends?

And yes that is my Facebook pic, manly huh? Don’t laugh.

It seems like so many people are going on vacation right now I am so happy to be one of them! I’m leaving this weekend to go on my delayed honeymoon to Mexico! I cannot wait. And because I am so excited…I keep buying stuff for the trip. At this rate my husband will divorce my before the honeymoon because I’m becoming a shop-aholic.

So here’s one of my new vacation themed sandals. I’m wearing them today, but I took my foot out for the picture, cuz that’s weird, ya know?  I know its hard to see with my cameraphone picture, but its like a silky material and I like ‘em. ($25 bucks from TJ Maxx!) Tomorrow I’ll show you my new travel size hair products!!!! I’m kidding. I know you probably didn’t want to see my shoe either. I just wanted an excuse to talk about the trip! -Annette

Whenever I don’t have much to say I put up a picture of my daughter in a funny place. Here she is in a laundry basket:

You’re welcome.