Things that Make You Go Hmmm. . . A Pie Hole Series: Casey Anthony vs. Scott Petterson’ s Case and Jury

     

VS. 

I am going to go there and question what the heck the Casey Anthony jury were doing while days of damaging testimony and evidence was presented to them?  Before you boo and hiss me, please hear the Pie Hole out. 

I keep hearing the jury tell in interviews that they “kept to the facts” when making the final decision.   There were a few pieces of key evidence that were pretty factual that somehow they seem to not take those as facts.   I have been doing some serious thinking on both of the Casey Anthony case  and the Scott Peterson case.  Even though the cases were different in nature, the evidence and crime seem to have a lot in common,  and yet the verdicts were polar opposites. How is that possible?    Here are some observations I came up with.

Cadaver Dogs:

Anthony: Cadaver dogs hitting on the trunk of the car after three separate people at three separate times reported to authorities that the trunk smelled of death.  They also hit on areas within the Anthony’s backyard.  

Peterson:  Cadaver dogs did a mild hit on the boat.

Hair Samples:

Anthony: One hair sample was found in the trunk of the car.

Peterson: One hair sample was found on a pair of needle nose plies in the boat.

Lying:

Anthony:  Lied to everyone including authorities and allowed a huge search to go underway costing organizations nd the state hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Peterson:  Lied to everyone including authorities and allowed a huge search to go underway costing organization and the state hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Behavior Post Crime:

Anthony: Partying, tattoo, stealing checks from friends, lying shopping,  having lots of sex and texting or calling anyone and everyone she knew.  Hard evidence shows that behavior.

Peterson: Maintaining relationship with mistress, Amber Frey – even called  Amber from a vigil service saying he was in Paris.

Ditching Cars:

Anthony: Ditched her car.

Peterson: Sold his car.

Recovered Bodies:

Anthony:  Found months after the crime . Could not pinpoint time of death or cause of death in an area Casey could be linked to.

Peterson:  Found months after the crime. Could not pinpoint time of death or cause of death in an area Peterson could be linked to.

Reporting the “Kidnapping”

Anthony: Not reporting your kid missing for 31 days and having hard evidence to proof she was parting like a wild banchie during that time.

Peterson: Scott Patterson reported it right away when he got home from his fishing trip.

Motive:

Anthony: Feeling  trapped in her life. Wanted to do her own thing – behaviors screamed this!

Peterson: Felling trapped in his life. Wanted to do his own thing – behaviors screamed this!

Additional “facts” of the Casey Anthony case that is strong circumstantial evidence:

• The FBI testifying that traces of chloroform were found in the trunk post the evidence that there were 87 searches on chloroform and neck breaking.
• Grandma Cindy LYING on the stand saying that she did the searches and was busted a few days later.
• The opening statements from Jose Baez, that George and Lee Anthony sexually abused her starting at the age of 8 when this was the first time in 3 years anyone heard that accusation AND there is jailhouse video of Casey telling her dad that, “He will always be her buddy and the she loved him”. 
• The baby found wrapped in her blanket from home, in plastic bags with duck tape (that matched the same tape recovered from the home) in an area where the Anthony family has buried their family pets only a 2 minute walk from their house.
• Sending the authorities on wild goose chases that would be completely debunked in five minutes.
• Accusing some random stranger of kidnapping your kid.

Jury:

Anthony: From a state that does not know how to count votes or have a problem with capital punishment.

Peterson: From a state that just does not know how to vote and does not like capital punishment.

Bottom line is, this was one of the most insane  saddest verdicts (outside of OJ – which I think this state learned from) I have ever heard.  The “justifications” the jury gives the press and American people, can’t convince me otherwise.   I hold them accountable for her walking free and for them NOT giving at least a  child abuse and manslaughter charge.  When they went into deliberate two jury members wanted capital and half wanted manslaughter.  No one asked for additional evidence to review  and they only deliberated for 11 hours.   Some member or members of the jury were as convincing as Jose Baez in that deliberation room . . .

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Soap Box Sunday: Whatever Just Happend to Reading ,Writing and Arithmetic?

The other day I was listening to the news while driving my kids to the doctor’s office.  Let’s not forget to mention that I was spiking a fever of over 101 and had not had a full night sleep in nearly a week and I had two sick kids in the car. I thought I was hallucinating what I was hearing until later that night I saw the same coverage. 

A school district in Oakland, California has just launched its first teaching curriculum of  “gender diversity” as early as Kindergarten.  I went online and reviewed the curriculum.  It was a bit puzzling the comparison of the animal kingdom (fish and reptiles) they used to make the point about “gender diversity”; none of it made sense to me.  The reason those species change gender and/or transgender  is to keep the species in existence.  I don’t see how teaching that concept really reinforces pro-tolerance and ” human gender diversity”.  That is like comparing apples to oranges.   The reason people are gay or transgender has nothing to do with saving a species.  

However, this segment is not about pro or against gender diversity; this is about our schools doing the jobs of what should be done at home and since it is not being done at home (by a very small minority),they are taking on the responsibility.  The problem is that not only are they doing a poor job at taking on the job, they are losing sight that the Chinese are passing us by in the science and math department.  So while they are going to space and forming new ground breaking patents we will be well versed in the ill-informed information on hermaphrodite amphibians.  

 Is spending the VERY limited resources we have on education, teaching “gender diversity” in the  early elementary years really going to solve our problem of bullying, lack of tolerance and hate?  The sad thing is we will never be able to eradicate that from the human race.  Is this in the early classroom really going to set up our kids for success in competing with the dog eat dog socio-economic world? 

As you know I am not a fan of the Chinese government, they are not the beacon of good will and humanity towards mankind, but the one thing they understand is that knowledge and discipline is power. We have such a cutting  edge on true balance of both discipline with good boundaries and good education, but we fail to no longer combine them and that is to our losing race to countries like China.

Kids no longer have a healthy respect and sovereign fear of their educators.  Not because the educators have grown soft, but the educators are govern by out of touch legislation and administration that no longer allow the educator to hold true and meaningful consequences. 

I have several friends that teach, and the number one complaint they all have is that they have a few in the class that are just rotten kids that make educating challenging and downright impossible. The good kids suffer, the bad kids win in ruling the classroom.   The administration does not back them to get those few bad apples out of the mix, hold those parents responsible and get on with teaching the core subjects.  Instead they throw a new “teaching curriculum” at them to try to intercept the ill-behavior of a few.

I will be teaching my children “gender diversity” when it is appropriate and I will be using a realistic approach instead of felt boards filled with hermaphrodite amphibians and reptiles to pled my case.   I know that 99.9% of my friends and circle of influence will be doing the same.  Early elementary years is not the place or forum.  I expect my kids to be taught reading, writing, and arithmetic and be in a setting that reinforces respect for authority figures. 

It appears my choice to be sending my kids to Catholic school (even if it means I have to work two jobs to do it) will be in the cards for our family and we are not even Catholic.   It is known the Catholic school system knows how to produce competing test scores, reinforce respect and moral code, and demand parent involvement on a budget grossly less than what the public schools require.

Come on America, let’s get involved on the future of our kid’s education and support the educators do what they went to school to do; teach these kids how to achieve academic greatness! Especially since we are paying for it greatly in both tax dollars and competing with the rest of the world for economic security.

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D-Day is Around the Corner, You Better Not Blow It!

So Mother’s Day is right around the corner, if this was your first indication of that, you are in a pretty sticky situation.   I have always wondered why if you forget Mother’s Day it is far worse of a crime, almost unforgivable, than forgetting Father’s Day.  Maybe it is because we, mothers, carry you nine long months, all the while puking our brains out, and having our bodies turn into the close replica of the local “Holiday Inn”.   Then we have the pleasure of either having to push out or reenact the infamous Alien scene in birthing an 8 pound bowling ball. 

Then there are the endless nights of the lack of sleep, diapers, and vomit flu fests.  Let’s not forget to mention being the sucker that drew the shortest straw and now has to drive you and four of your troglodyte peers to and from practice for the season and then has the joys of having to fill in as the “team laundry” mom since the coach wants to save money. 

These said hardships are only the tip of the iceberg of what moms endure for the sake of loving her kids.  Most of  us never complain, unless we have a blog to carry that burden, and we take our job seriously.  So, if you forgot that special mom, get your butt in gear and go take care of business in doing something that shows her that you appreciate her and the role that she had in your life.  Buying a card isn’t going to cut it. 

If you are still stumped, you can go on over to my recent cold hard cash published piece for a few ideas (yes, I am tooting my horn… TOOT, TOOT!) that is on the new and updated Blissfully Domestic  web-based magizine. 

Good luck and may I only hear of wonderful “Mama is happy” stories come Monday!

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This Tiger Mother is Done with the Tiger Blood!

Soapbox Sundays! Better Late than Never!

Yes, I am the Chinese sign of the Tiger and I actually loved the book ,Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.  I am not saying that I am for not allowing  my kids to attend sleep overs or make them practice the piano a million hours a day.  I just like the fundamentals of the book and the author is hilarious and laughing all the way to the bank because she has roused up a whole sect of “soccer moms”.  I digress . . .   What my Soapbox Sunday is about is good ‘ol Charlie Sheen and his “tiger blood” syndrome.

 I am going to own that I am going to be guilty of doing exactly what I am on my soapbox about, but maybe if I can get enough of you to agree with me, words like Charlie Sheen and tiger blood will fade away as quickly as it  ignited.

I get that for some sick and strange reason America loves to watch train wrecks of humanity Hollywood.  No one really wants to face the reality that the world is in economic crisis, the Middle East is in civil distress, the Mid-West is in civil unrest, we are going to be bellying up to the pump at $5.00 a gallon soon  and there are only three episodes left of Big Love.   I get watching some “fictious” character of Hollywood on his crash and burn tour to either Promises Rehab Facility or to something far worse with only a True Hollywood Story episode to be remembered by, seems to be a good way to fill up the days of our pathetic lives. 

Unfortunately, Charlie is not a fictious character. He has people who actually love him and hates seeing this happening.  You have the mothers of his children trying to shelter them from them seeing their dad self destruct and a family that just don’t know what to do, so they are just bracing themselves for his rock bottom moment, ready to pick up the broken pieces, if there is any left to pick up.

This is a man who is not fueled by “Tiger Blood”, even thought my Sirius Radio has a whole station dedicated to “Charlie Sheen’s Tiger Blood Radio”, like it is something real.   What he is fueled by is all the attention he is getting out of this.  He is an addict and this is classic text-book addict behavior, I should know I grew up with addicts my whole life.

The media, the fans or non-fans need to leave him alone; he should be hearing a million crickets, not a million tweets. No one should be adding fuel to this train wreck.  

He is losing everything tangible and in his surreal false reality he is thinking he IS gaining everything and has an edge on the market of life.  A life that is troubled, disturbed, and wounded.   Please America, can we please stop with the tiger blood and get back to True Blood.  At least that is fiction and not someone’s true reality.

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If You Can’t Take Care of Your Teeth, You Probably Can’t Take Care of an Exotic.

There was this documentary I saw a while ago that disturbed me to the core.  It was on all the Burmese Pythons that are being released into the wild by their irresponsible owners here in the US.  Most of the offences are in the Florida and surrounding states, but it is expanding into the western states. 

Apparently, these snakes can pretty much adapt to any environments and they are at the very top of any ecological food chain destroying the balance of the natural habitat.  That was just one part of the documentary, the other part of the documentary is what shook me to the core and exposed the core to the problem of why these exotic monsters should be left where they belong.

People are dumping these snakes because when the 20 somethings buy them, they are a manageable baby snake and in a couple of years it is eating thier 3-year-old toddler while they are helplessly sleeping in their crib.  Really that has happen several times. 

First off, let’s just address that NO one should ever own something this insane and wild with small children.  I would go as far as to say that there should be legislation passed where if it is legal to have those types of “exotics” that you must meet certain criteria and responsibility levels and safe guards (like owning a gun) and if you don’t then no exotic for you.  

In each case I read about a snake of this magnitude killing a small child, it got out of its cage.  If you saw the people who owned these lethal animals, they barely could take care of themselves and their dental hygiene let alone take care of a snake that was 15 feet long and weighed more than they did. 

Personally, I think exotics being owned by uncertified personnel (meaning you need to be a zoo keeper in a zoo) should be outlawed completely and this is coming from someone who  has  libertarian view points.  But at the end of the day, it is the government agencies and taxpayer’s monies that have to clean up the mess and infestation of biting off more than one can chew owning animals like this so to me legislating heavy handed is fair.   

To conclude my segment of Soap Box Sundays, I feel animals, even the domesticated dog and cat don’t have fair legislation on protecting them from being placed into bad situations.  They have decent legislation of getting them out of horrific situations, but preventing it, is a whole beast in and of its self.  Owning an animal of any kind is a privilege, not a right and it is the owner’s fiduciary duty to be able to take care of it without putting the environment and people at risk.

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The First of Foodie Fridays

So I love cook!  OK,  I am in love with cooking.  Since this blog is an extension of me, I thought it would be a fun idea to add a post a week on a recipe of what I got cookin’ over here at Camp Pie Hole – hence the birth of Foodie Fridays. This is also a great venue to dust off the old camera and start embracing a little still life photography that does not cry, run or hide on me.   I hope that it brings you an appetite and a desire to get in the kitchen and reap the rewards of some good eatin’. 

First on the Foodie Friday’s Menu is an oldie but goodie re-created in the Pie Hole kitchen.  This is a recipe that warms the soul and brings back the kid in you and will be something that you can get your kids to eat. 

Pie Hole’s Frito Pie!

First pre-heat over at 375 degrees.

Combine ground meat, canned of drained beans, 1 cup of corn, 1/2 stuck of Velveeta cubed, canned diced tomatoes, 1/4 cup of salsa verde, 1/2 cup of olives sliced, 1 package of taco seasoning in bowl.

Spray casserole dish with cooking spray and spread a layer of Fritos, about half of the bag.

Pour the bowl of combined ingredients over the top of the layer of Fritos and spread out evenly.

Top the combined ingredients with the remaining Fritos.

Sprinkle 1/2 cup of mexican blend shredded cheese.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes and then remove cover and continue to bake for an additional 15 minutes or until cheese is slightly browned and Fritos are nice and crispy. 

Bon Appetite!

Ingredients:

1 bag of Frito Chips

1 lb of browned ground meat.

1 can of diced tomatoes

1 can of black beans

1/2 cup olives sliced

1 cup of frozen corn

1/4 cup of salsa verde

1 package of taco seasoning

1/2 cup of Mexican Shredded Cheese

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Top Ten Reasons Kid Birthday Parties Are Not My Favorite Weekend Plans

I am in back-to-back birthday party hell mode this month.  It seems all my friends that are really close to me are having birthday parties for their little ones that are in the same age range as PD1 and PD2.   It is one of those things that you know you need to do to be a good friend and to encourage your kids to enjoy.  Let’s be honest here, if  all you parents sit down and truly assess the whole “other” kid birthday parties, you would have to agree most of you would rather watch paint dry, have hemorrhoid surgery or endure physical therapy (that’s for you, Idiot) than have to sit through a weekend afternoon with the results of other people’s bad parenting mistakes kids.  This is the inspiration to my Top Ten Tuesday!

10.  You get the invitation for a 3-year-old birthday party that says “NO GIFTS” or “Only Educational Toys Please”.  Seriously, it is a kid’s birthday party!  If I have to go to it at least let me go pick out the most cool but  annoyingly loud and obnoxious toy and relish in the fact that it is not at my house.  And really, aren’t all toys educational?  Heck even “adult toys” have some level of educational value to them!

9.  The party starts right smack in the middle of nap time hours.  Oh joy! Nothing excites me more that sleep deprived toddlers hopped up on sugar! 

8.  No booze.  OK, I get it is for the kids, but if it is a party that requires me to have to schlep two kids, by myself, and all the swag that goes along with it, then go sit and watch the organized chaos, or not, for two hours, shouldn’t I be at least rewarded with a glass of wine or cocktail?  Again, it all goes back to booze makes everything better.

7. Gift Bags.  I get that is nice to have a little parting prize for the kiddos but do we have to try to reenact the Oscar’s after-party swag bags?  A sandbox bucket, a thing of bubbles and a sticker is more than enough!  Even though the gesture is nice, the toddler did not need a cruise on Carnival along with the bucket and few sand toys.

6.  Games.  Having small children try to play musical chairs is a lot like trying to herd cats. Again, I have a lot more patience for that, with a cocktail in my hand! 

5. Cake.  Now, I love cake!  I love to make cakes!  At this age cupcakes are the way to go.  Nothing is harder to manage than a piece of cake for two small children.  At least with a cupcake, it is a finger food and can be manhandled and tolerate the mutilation a small child can bring upon the situation.  Clean up is still bad, just not as nearly as bad.

4.  Rain.  NOTHING is worse than being cooped up in a house with ten small children and their parents all hopped up on sugar, not napped and stir crazy.  Again, where is my cocktail?

3. No Bounce House/Jolly Jump.  Pulling up to a party, nothing is more relieving for me to see  than a Bounce House/Jolly Jump.  I actually get some mingle time and the kids will sleep like champs that night!  Oh, bless the creator of the Bounce House/Jolly Jump.

2. No Opening of the Presents.  What?  That is the best part!  Sure it makes the kids a bit antsy and some may feel left out, but IT IS NOT THEIR BIRTHDAY!  This is the first lesson on self-control and being happy on the outside even though you are green with envy on the inside and want to kick that kid’s ass for getting cooler toys than you have.  I love seeing the expression of the kid as he/she opens the gift we took all the time and effort to get, wrap and drag to the party.  I have also noticed it brings a very early stage of  joy to PD2 to see that her little buddy liked what she got them. Maybe I am a freak, but I love giving more than receiving! Get you minds out of the gutters, this a post about kid birthday parties!

1. Other People’s Kids.  Need I say more?

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A Brief Visit from an Old Nemesis

Last night I snuggled in and turned on the TV for my Sunday drool fest of watching Bill Paxton in Big Love.   About half-way through I found my stomach not feeling so hot.  I tried to ignore it and follow the plot, but it got stronger and stronger.  Dagnamit! I think I am getting what my two petri dishes had the latter part of the week! 

I finished the show and headed upstairs and went to bed.   I laid there negotiating with my new visitor, but old nemesis, Linda Blair who was sitting on my bed,  that since I had hyperemesis (extreme morning sickness) during both of my pregnancies for a combined 50 plus weeks that I paid my dues of having stomach ailments and that she needs to move along to another house, preferably to the a-hole that cut me off in the rain driving like a jackalope. 

She stayed and proceeded to move closer and closer to me.  I practiced meditating (that by the way is a total crock and don’t waste your time), breathed through the nausea and prayed that I was not going to be reliving the wonderful Sunday dinner I made that night. 

Now she is sitting on top of me, just like she did when I was pregnant!  I am sweating, the room is spinning and my stomach is on fire, but I am determined I am not going to toss my cookies.  That only pissed her off and now she has somehow managed to reach in and twist my insides and jump up and down on my stomach at the same time. ” Uncle! Uncle!”, I screamed as I sprinted to the bathroom and  . . . I don’t need to get that graphic, you all get what just happened. 

That whole scenario went on four more times until the around 4 am.  Finally Linda Blair lost interests in me and headed off to bother some other petri dish infected house or newly pregnant woman. 

I laid there exhausted and a little traumatized that I did this day in and day out 24-hours a day for weeks months on end and one of the pregnancies I was caring for an infant/toddler without help outside of the hubs that had to work everyday and leave me with that wretched Linda Blair, my IV bag and my infant who turned into a toddler while I was still going through it.  I found out this morning, the hubs laid there traumatized reliving our hell in his head too.

This morning when I woke up I had that same stomach flu nausea feeling that set the pace for each and every waking minute of my day while incubating my two kids. With two miscarriages with no symptoms of being pregnant, I knew both times with my two viable pregnancies that they were sticking by how sick I was.   I had a moment of confusion and can I say dispair, was I pregnant again?  That can’t be, I shut the plant down during the birth of PD2! 

Borrowed from blog buddy,Your Personal Super Hero!

I looked at the bottom of my bed and she was not there, Linda Blair that is.  Oh, thank God!  I am at the tail end of the stomach flu! I got up, got dressed and forced myself down stairs and started my day and even mopped my floors. 

I feel pretty crappy and my stomach is pretty unhappy, but hey, I not only survived Linda Blair last night, but I survived her for over a year and half of my life with both pregnancies combined.  Nothing could ever be that bad, so Linda Blair may of won last night, but she is not going to win today!

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The Clock Just Struck!

Well, as in my pervious blog, I had a little bit of concern that the car sickness may be upgraded to the horrid bug that is going around.  Tick-tock – bong, my initial diagnosis was wrong!  Now PD1 has just christened the porcelain  god for the first time of many in her life AND I just got a call from a friend that watched Pd2 yesterday that her rug rat is has been paid a visit by Linda Blair.   So now I am on “super mommy” duty or as the hubs says, ” earning your keep duty”. 

Sound the alarm, the house has been placed on “The House of Petri Dish” status.  Meals for all will consist of apple sauce, oatmeal, dry toast, eggs, broth frozen fruit pops and wine (for the adults in the house – the best coping Rx a person can find.)  I will be disinfecting everything that moves and stands like mad and the washing machine is getting a good work out.  I will let you know how I fair and if I can dodge the visit from Linda Blair myself. 

Now back to my duties.  . . where did I place my glass of wine kiddie pool on a stem?

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No Gold Star for Me!

Today I took PD2 to her 18-month check-up.  I grabbed a bag that I have packed with diapers, wipes and diaper rash cream and added a toy to the mix for the wait.  We headed out and all was well until Linda Blair showed up in the backseat as we were pulling into the doctor’s office parking area.  There is PD2 strapped down in  a five-point harness car seat spewing the contents of her very healthy and nutritious breakfast of chocolate milk and Apple Jacks; yes, a breakfast for future champions!  On a side note I am holding my breath if this was a bout of her random car sickness issues or if she has that god-awful bug that is going around, only time will tell on that one! 

I look back and she is covered from head to toe in stomach contents and I think know that a colorful metaphor flew out of my mouth that refers to another body content that also expels out of your body!  I did not have another change of clothes on hand, which is beyond me why not.  I never EVER leave without an extra change of clothes.  So there I am gagging (I have a high gag reflux, which came after spending 18- long months with Linda Blair while I was pregnant with both kids) while I scooping up the mess with wipes into a few zip lock baggies I had on hand.  I finally strip and clean off PD2 and wrap her in my sweater coat since is cold here right now. . . or should I rephrase for my fellow bloggers that live anywhere but sunny Southern California that it is cooler now, and headed into the doctor’s office. 

As I walk in, I am greeted by the doc himself and he laughed at the sight that just walked in shaking his head.  We have grown a professional fondness for each other over the past three years.  I admire and respect his style of treatment and I think he likes that I refer the heck out to him and I tend to amuse him with my quirky personality and sayings.   There is a new family with their days old baby sitting in the corner and I am trying to play off the fact that I am bringing in my kid in almost her birthday suit so they don’t run screaming for the hills that their baby is going to get horribly sick from my pukie smelling bundle of  joy!   I also heard a mother sitting on the other side of the room tell another mother that now she feels better that she did not put shoes or socks on her kid as she looks my direction. 

I was quickly called into the exam room and when the doc came into examine her, I told him what happened.  I was sheepish in the fact I SUCKED as a mother in not being prepared and of all times to blow it, is to be in front of the pediatrician!  He went on with his exam telling me that he once was thrown up on by his daughter as they were taking off on a flight and had to deal with wearing it for two hours.  Ok, so this happens to the best of us, even a doctor.  I am feeling more comfortable and thinking at the end of the visit I will get my normal gold star stamp of approval of my excellent care of my rug rats! 

So, as he was leaving, I asked, “Sooooo, I know the kid will get the sucker, but am I going to get my gold star?”  He laughed and shook his head  and he followed it up with, “I like PD2’s new fashion statement, but be thankful that it was not raining today.”

Rat Bastard! No Gold Star for me and I now must go and clean up after Pukefest 2011!

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