I have been following the highlights of the Casey Anthony trial on the nightly news.  I am very shocked by the outcome of the trial, as I know many thousands of others are also.  I truly thought that Casey would be found guilty for sure.

There are so many things that don’t make sense.  First of all, there is the claim that she accidentally drowned in the family pool.  That is totally absurd.  Why would Casey’s father, a former police officer, try to cover up an accidental death?   That makes no sense at all.  If it was an accident, then it was an accident and no charges would have been brought against Casey, so why cover it up?  And Mr. Anthony knew that.  If she drowned, then why was there duct tape over little Caylee’s mouth and nose?  I guess to make it look like an abduction maybe.

Also, if she were abducted, or even if she had drowned as was claimed, why would Casey be out partying at a time like that?  Some of the witnesses stated that she was a good mother, but for heaven’s sake, you don’t go out to party if your child is missing!

I feel as if there was no justice done for this little girl.  She was sweet an innocent and her life ended far too soon.  My hope is that some kind of evidence comes out that let’s the world know what really happened to Caylee Anthony, even though her mother can never be charged again for the same crime, at least the world will know.  Rest in Peace, Caylee.

Happy 235th birthday, U.S.A.!!!!  I am proud to be an American.  What with a niece and a nephew both in the Army and both war veterans, it is difficult not to puff out my chest when the flag goes by in the annual parade.

Although the country is going through some difficult times right now, what with two wars and the economy, most people in this country are still proud to call it home.  And, I believe, our country will survive and prosper in generations to come.  We have always done it in the past, and after all, history does tend to repeat itself.

Think about what you did to celebrate this year.  Did you go to a parade? Did you go watch some fireworks? Or maybe you attended a cookout with family and friends.  I did all of the above.  I stood proudly with my hand over my heart as the American Legion post marched by with 13 flags to symbolize the original 13 colonies.  I do live in an area where a lot of the Civil War was fought and where many many soldiers died to give us the country we have today, and I am proud of it.

Think about all the lives that have been lost and wars that have been fought the next time the flag passes by you in a parade or you notice it flying over the Post Office, and be proud to be an American.

I hate watching the news these days.  There seems to be nothing but muggings, murders, shootings, accidents and then there is the economy.  Tonight they tell us that Medicaid will be out of money soon and those people who depend on it will be out of luck and won’t be able to get health care.  So much for Obama Care.  I also hear that in 3 weeks the Federal Government will be out of money (again) and will not be able to pay its debt (so much for the big bail out).

I wonder how much of our hard-earned social security funds they will dip into this time?  It seems strange…if an individual person can’t pay their bills, they are taken to court and a judgment is put against them.  Their wages are garnished.  They have to find a way to deal with it.  Why is our government different?  They just simply dip into reserve funds for the elderly and the disabled whenever they feel like it and we are supposed to sit here and take it?

I don’t know about the rest of the country, but I am tired of paying taxes and then have our government programs taken away from us.  I realize that we have to pay taxes and taxes have to go up in order to keep these programs alive, but this is starting to get out of hand.  What am I supposed to do when I retire (if that ever happens)?  I think that I will be working until the day I die.  What do you think?

Today our friend, Larry, used his Char Broil Big Easy Infrared  Turkey Fryer/Grill for the first time.  We cooked chicken thighs and drumsticks.

The infrared heat locks in flavor and keeps the food moist; you use no oil, so there is no chance that it will burn, splatter or spill and there is no oil to recycle or to clean up.  The infrared heat circles the cooker and penetrates the meat evenly, so it is moist and juicy on the inside and nice and crispy on the outside.

The meat is healthier too, because any grease or fat drips away into the drip pan located at the bottom of the cooker.

It cooks much more quickly than traditional methods too, it only took 1/2 hour to cook several pieces of chicken and they were done to perfection with the skin cooked crisp and the color was a beautiful golden brown.  And, there were no uneven burned areas such as when you use a grill.

I highly recommend this cooker.  I thoroughly enjoyed using it and the food was delicious!!!!

Yesterday, as I left the office, with thoughts of my aquatic aerobics class and the pool rattling around in my head, I walked to my car and proceeded to make the short trek to the gym.  Well,  as I was leisurely  traveling down Main Street, the driver of a vehicle coming in the opposite direction decided that she wanted a parking space located on my side of the street.  So, she turned her big SUV around in the middle of the street and proceeded to parallel park!!!

I thought I had seen everything!!!  I was surfing the net the other night and it said that people in the Washington, DC area were the worst drivers, and I have traveled that area many times and I have to agree, but I would say that this driver rated right up there among the worst of them.  As I drove away with my thoughts turning back to the gym, I found myself wishing that there had been a police officer there to see this and wondering if she would have gotten a ticket.