Oh My God, She's Such A Good Liar

Casey's former boyfriend, Tony Lazzaro, was on the stand for a second day.

"She was a great little girl," Lazzaro said when he described Caylee. He also said that Caylee could count in Spanish to 40 and loved Dora the Explorer.

Lazzaro said the two would talk on the phone until they fell asleep and confirmed that Anthony confided a secret about her family with him before she was arrested in July 2008, but said she never mentioned that her daughter had gone missing. Am I the only one who finds this...ODD?

We also got to hear from Melissa England who met Casey Anthony during the July 4 weekend in 2008 said that Anthony gloated about her ability to lie after telling someone on the phone that she couldn't pick them up because she had a flat tire.

"She threw the phone on the dashboard and said, 'Oh my God, I'm such a good liar,'" said witness Melissa England.

This is the first witness who says that Casey Anthony actually did appear distraught during the time her daughter was missing. According to her testimony, while hanging out at Chillers Bar in Orlando, on "She was very upset, she was crying often…she was clearly not doing well and ultimately wanted to leave,"

After jurors were recessed this afternoon, former boyfriend Lazzaro testified that Casey Anthony confided she had been physically abused by her father, but made no mention of sexual abuse.

"Hitting, that's all I can remember…I took it as discipline," said Lazzaro.

So wait, let me get this straight. Baez said that George sexually abused Casey, as a matter of fact it was pretty explicit abuse involving putting his "penis" in her mouth when she was eight. Does this mean that we will have to wait for Casey to testify to this because obviously Tony's testimony does not point to any sexual abuse.

If in fact Casey doesn't testify, and why would she, how in the HELL do they plan to prove this? Can't Baez get in trouble for lying as an officer of the court?

Shot Girls, Lazarro, & Baez Oh My

Today the two former lovers reunite but in far different surroundings than their last encounter.

On the stand Tony Lazzaro recalled meeting Casey Anthony on Facebook, and they struck up a relationship.

Casey Anthony started coming around and staying overnight with Tony sans her daughter as the relationship progressed. She told Lazarro that her daughter Caylee was staying with her grandmother or with a babysitter named Zanny.

Tony's roommates, Nathan Lezniewicz and Cameron Campana testified that Caylee never spent the night at the apartment.

We also got to hear from several women, who worked at Fusion Nightclub as shot girls that testified that Anthony was their supervisor at the time .

None of the people who testified today mentioned Casey appearing express any sadness or regret. You know the kind of thing that one might actually expressed by someone who's daughter was missing and/or died.

Bombshells On Day One Of Casey Anthony Trial

Nearly three years after the murder of 2-year-old Caylee Anthony, her the highly anticipated murder trial against Casey Anthony began today.

Prosecutor Linda Drane-Burdick, said Casey Anthony's appearance as a hard-working single mother was an illusion, recounting what Casey allegedly told her parents she was doing during the 31 days Caylee was missing before it was reported, saying evidence will show Casey was really doing during that time.

As Drane-Burdick recounted the events of each of the 31 days, sge repeated the question: "Where was Caylee?"

That is indeed the question that so many of us hope to answer by the close of this case. What truly happened to Caylee and will there finally be Justice for Caylee.

After court returned from recess for lunch, defense attorney Jose Baez unleashed a series of bombshells which include the following:

* Caylee drowned in the Anthony family's swimming pool. He said Caylee died June 16, 2008, the day after the Anthonys claimed they last saw her alive.

* George Anthony sexually abused Casey when she was 8 years old. Baez also claimed Casey's brother, Lee Anthony, also tried to sexually abuse Casey years ago.

* George helped Casey cover up Caylee's death. Baez did made it clear that George Anthony was not to blame for Caylee's death, calling it "an accident that snowballed out of control."

* Roy Kronk, a morally corrupt meter reader, took Caylee's body and hid it. Baez claimed Roy Kronk told his son overseas "I found Caylee. Watch for me on TV."

* The so-called "smell of death" in Casey's car came from garbage left in the trunk.

* George Anthony had a mistress who gave him money so he could pretend to be working. According to Baez the mistress, Crystal Holloway, will testify that she had an affair with George Anthony, and when she asked him what happened to Caylee, he replied, "It was an accident."

This isn't a murder case, a manslaughter case, or a child abuse case. So what the heck is it Baez? If Casey drowned, then what in the world does Kronk have to do with this at all other than having found the body? Just curious Baez, did Caylee often swim with duct tape covering her mouth and nose?

I honestly felt that you could hear the oxygen sucked out of the room when Baez told the court that Caylee drowned in the pool as a result of the accident. One would then wonder why she had refused to tell authorities this years ago and avoided all of this.

When court was put into recess for the day, Mark Lippman, the Anthony family attorney released the following statement:

George and Cindy Anthony are shocked and appalled that the defense would resort to lies about them in today's opening statement.

Baez's idle speculation today certainly are not facts. The only result achieved by the defense in this statement was to further hurt this grieving family.

George Anthony maintains that he never had anything to do with the death of Caylee Marie Anthony, including what happened to her remains after she allegedly drowned. The sworn testimony given today shows that he has never wavered about his knowledge regarding these events. He, like the rest of the Anthony family, only seeks the truth about what happened to their granddaughter.

Who Are The Jurors In The Casey Anthony Case?

As with any trial, the members of the jury each bring their own personal experiences, beliefs, and prejudice into the court. This is why the voir dire is so important.

During the voir dire attorneys try to gain as much information as possible from potential jurors. It is the only chance an attorney has to affect the composition of the jury. Jury selection is the only time that they can directly interact with the people who will decide a defendant’s fate.


Here is a brief description of the jurors in the Casey Anthony case.

Let us all hope and pray that at the end of this trial, there will be justice for Caylee once and for all.

Juror 1
White female in 60s
Retired nurse and volunteer counselor.
She is married with two children.
Death penalty stance: “I value life. I also value the criminal justice system

Juror 2
African American male in 30s
An IT Worker
He is married, two children: a daughter that is four and son who is nine.
Death penalty stance: Does not believe in the death penalty. “God is the one that makes the final judgment.

Juror 3
White female, age 32, who has moved back in with her mom
Student in RN program
On a scale of 1 to 10, she rates the death penalty at “a three or a five.”

Juror 4
African American woman, about 40
Occupation Unknown
Prosecution tried to preempt challenge her. Defense objected that she was being eliminated just because of her race. Judge agreed
Plays games like Farmville
Doesn’t watch news
Does not like to judge people by what other people say about them.

Juror 5
White female in her 60s
Retired Nurse’s Aid
She had a DUI in 1998, and her son and grandson both had drug problems.
Death penalty stance: “I guess I believe in the death penalty. I’d have to know a lot of facts before I really considered it.”

Juror 6
White male, aged 33
Chef
He is married with two children, ages six and 21 months.
Could vote for the death penalty; “If the law dictated it, I would be able to follow it.”

Juror 7
White female, 41 years old
Works as administrative assistance in juvenile justice welfare
She maintains that she could vote to recommend the death penalty. “It would be — gosh — a solemn decision, but it is an option under the law.”

Juror 8
White female in 50s
Service rep and former manager for Verizon
She is married with two grown sons in their mid-twenties.
She would have no problem with the death penalty if warranted, provided she had heard “all the facts.”

Juror 9
White male, aged 53
Former Logger.
Has never married.
He supports the death penalty, and could vote to recommend it “in the proper situation.”

Juror 10
White male, aged 57
Verizon Retention Specialist:
Has never married.
His sister, along with her boyfriend, committed a violent crime against their dad. She spent time in prison.
He regards the death penalty as a “necessary option.”"It's set. It's an unfortunate result of actions."


Juror 11
White male in 30s
High school Physical Education and Health Teacher
States the death penalty is a “necessary option.”

Juror 12
White female in 40s
Publix supermarket employee
She has two children and one young grandchild.
Rating the death penalty as ten on a scale of one to ten, she would have no problem deciding on Life without Opportunity for Parole or the death penalty.

In My Mind I'm At The Beach

Don't Forget it's Five O'Clock Somewhere. The problem is that someplaces are better to be at Five O'Clock than others.

Why not pour me somethin' tall an' strong, don't forget that pretty tiny umbrella.

Chaos In The Court As The Jury is Selected In The Casey Anthony Trial

Today, 30 yr old Elizabeth Ann Rogers had an emotional outburst at the Pinellas County Florida Courthouse during jury selection for the upcoming Casey Anthony Murder Trial.

Ms. Rogers had been in the courthouse for another reason and said she was curious about the Anthony trial.

As a perspective juror was being questioned, Ms. Rogers yelled out "She killed someone anyway!"

Judge Perry had to dismiss the juror which definitely raised his ire. He then had the bailiffs bring Ms. Rogers back to court to face contempt of court charges.

In between her sobs, she said she had no idea why she yelled this out and never meant to do what she did. She begged Judge Perry not to punish her telling him that she was NOT a bad person.

It was pretty sad to watch Ms. Rogers ramble on about being sorry and the various mental challenges from which she suffered which included being bipolar, manic depressive, multiple personality disorder, and ADHD.

Judge Perry obviously did not want this trial to become a three ring circus and found her in contempt of court. He informed her that he could imprison her for 179 days. Judge Perry did decide to take her disability into account and sentenced her to two days in jail.

I Was Really Hoe-ing Today

Made ya look. I woke up this morning threw up some content on ThriftyMaven. Then I tweeted about it, Kirtsied it, and also put it on Digg. After that I head outside to work on our little garden which is about to move from the containers and into the ground.

Darryl had run it over with a tiller the other day but there were still big clumps of grass. I worked on it with a hoe for about an hour. My hands hurt and I have some blisters. I still can't believe how excited I am about this whole little garden. What's wrong with me anyway? One might wonder why we are even bothering this late in the season but it seemed almost every weekend was filled with rain or too many things scheduled. I do have some things growing in empty cupcake containers, plastic bottles, and of course large flower pots.

It's all over but the waiting as far as the recipe contest goes. At this point I either made the top three or I didn't. I look around other people's sites and see that they ask people to vote for them on various other contests offering them extra entries in a contest. How many people wind up actually doing that I really have no clue. I guess that just causes me more aggravation and grief as I wonder if i should have tried doing something like that or if morally that is really a good thing do do.

Today is another bar for ThriftyMaven. I now have 400 registered users. I was pretty sad because there weren't that many people checking the site today. Right about 260 so far. However two people did sign up to be subscribers bringing me up to 400 new readers.

Blog Contests I entered today:

Prize: 100 Personalized Fortune Cookies in your choice of flavor (ARV $48).

Prize: RCA Small Wonder HC camcorder.

Prize: (5) Mac Microsoft Office 2008 Software (ARV $150)

Prize: Vera Wang Rock Princess, and $20 iTunes Gift Card (ARV $65).

Prizes (3): Strawberry Shortcake: Berry Big Journeys on DVD.

Fernbank Museum Celebrates Georgia Archaeology Month

Fernbank Museum will offer a variety of special programming throughout May in celebration of Georgia Archaeology Month, a statewide platform to promote the archaeological resources present in the state and create awareness about the importance of protecting Georgia’s archaeological heritage.

Opportunities to enjoy Georgia Archaeology Month at Fernbank Museum range from archaeological artifacts on display in the exhibitions Conveyed in Clay and DeSoto’s Footprints; to exploring a simulated dig in the all-new permanent children’s exhibition, Fernbank NatureQuest; to a variety of special programs that include activities for families, Scouts and adults.

Explore Fernbank’s exhibitions:

* Conveyed in Clay: Stories from St Catherines Island

* DeSoto’s Footsteps: New Archaeological Evidence from Georgia

* Fernbank NatureQuest

Enjoy a Special Program:

* Boy Scout Merit Badge Archaeology Program

Saturday, May 7, 9 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

$25 per Scout

To register, call 404.929.6379 or download registration form at www.fernbankmuseum.org.

This special program, led by a Fernbank Museum archaeologist, is designed to help Boy Scouts working on their Archaeology Merit Badge. You’ll have fun and fulfill several requirements at the same time!

* Weekend Wonders: I Dig Archaeology

Saturday May 7, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and Sunday, May 8, Noon – 2pm, Naturalist Center

Included with Museum admission and free for Members. Call 404.929.6400 for tickets.

Dig in for family fun with archaeology-themed activities that focus on Native American crafts and technologies.

* DeSoto’s Footsteps: New Archaeological Evidence from Georgia

Presentation by Dennis Blanton, Fernbank Curator of Native American Archaeology

Tuesday, May 24, 7 p.m., Fernbank Auditorium

Free, RSVP required at 404.929.6400

Fernbank archaeological expeditions in southeastern Georgia have turned up rare evidence that challenge our ideas about early history, specifically regarding Spanish exploration and interactions between the Spanish and the established Native American communities in the early 1500s. Join project leader and Fernbank archaeology curator Dennis Blanton for an enlightening presentation as he shares details of the discoveries and explains their impact.

This program is appropriate for ages 16 and up.

Fernbank Museum of Natural History is located at 767 Clifton Road in Atlanta. For visitor information and tickets, visit fernbankmuseum.org or call 404.929.6300 (automated information) or 404.929.6400 (ticketing office). 

Contracts Are In

Contracts came today. When I walked into the faculty room the long sheaves of paper poked out of the teacher boxes like pale yellow jonquils in the red Georgia clay. I pulled mine from my box and stared at the Notary Stamp. It’s now official I will be back for yet another year.

Last year I was biting at the bit to leave so I could find some place closer to home. Home being Acworth, my Barbie Dreamhouse home. I had been so frustrated that I couldn’t seem to get a position in another school despite the fact that they seemed to be throwing new schools up like concert flyers on telephone poles. One school seemed larger and grander than the next and certainly they needed more teachers.

Now of course I’m lucky I didn’t get a job at one of those schools. I’ve lost that home. I would have lost my seniority. It was truly a blessing in disguise but I didn’t realize it then.

Now that Darryl’s lost his job I find a certain peace knowing that for at least this next year I have a job. It will be my eighth year at RHS, the longest I have ever stayed at one job before. When I was younger I changed jobs sometimes twice a year. I would work at this restaurant or that retail store chasing nickel an hour raises. Even when I became a secretary I might stay at a location for two years before I was ready to move on to greener pastures.

Now I’m looking at my eighth year in a single school. This means that at the end of that year I will have seen two sets of students who started out with me in the ninth grade. It’s an interesting perspective. You watch them shuffle in uncertainly that first day of their Freshman year. By the time their Senior year rolls around you’ve watched them get their license, attend their prom, and then finally you wonder if that’s really the same kid you knew for years ago as they walk across the stage to receive their diploma.

There’s another wrinkle in the phone call story from earlier this week. One of my students had walked in just as the phone was ringing and said, “I just have this feeling that phone call is for me.” Yes I’m certain he did. The student at the other end of the phone told me that another teacher was busy right that second and asked him to call me to send my student down to his classroom. Since that teacher was the swimming coach, I thought it might make sense that he might ask a student to call because he was supervising kids in the pool. I sent the young man down to the teacher’s classroom.

Two days later I ran into the coach. “How long did you keep G because he never returned to class?” “What? I didn’t send for him.” The teacher replied. “REALLY?”

The trap slammed shut. I wrote the student up but the difficult question was, who was the student who called? Wouldn’t you know his classmates had heard I had figured out the deception and asked me if I had written up P also. P is not my student. I didn’t even know that P had called me. “Yes. Of course I wrote him up. That was crazy that he would call and think I wouldn’t check on it.” Two of my students laughed and said “Yeah that really was stupid that P would do that.” SCORE!!!!!!!!!!! So I wrote him up also delivering the referral to the Assistant principal personally. I’m certain P feels that his friend G snitched. I don't think I will go out of my way to correct this perception.

Today is also candy day. Every week until the end of September, Mars is giving away a candy bar. I won one last week. I hope I win one again this week. I posted it on ThriftyMaven but I wonder how much traffic it will get.

Here are the blog contests I entered today:

Prize: $50 Red Lobster gift card.

Prize: Pair of eyeglasses from EyeBuyDirect.com [excludes designer frames and sunglasses].

Prize: $25 Build-a-Bear Workshop Bear Bucks gift card.

Prize: HomeFree Treats Organic Cookies sampler pack.

Prize: One-year supply of all small & mighty detergent, The Apprentice Complete Season 1 DVD, autographed photograph of Donald Trump and You're Fired! promotional items (ARV $160).

Prize: 8-day/7-night trip for two to a JetBlue Getaways destination city of winner's choice (ARV $3,296).

Prize: Flip Ultra Series II Camcorder (ARV $149.99).

Fernbank Museum Packs the Summer with 97 Days (and Ways) to Play,

Fernbank Museum of Natural History is packing the summer with lots of reasons to spend the year’s longest, hottest days on an adventure that is filled with hands-on science, culture and the natural world. From May 31-September 4, 2011, Fernbank will celebrate 97 Days (and Ways) to Play, featuring a variety of great activities, events and fun-filled ways to keep families entertained and inspired during the summer months.

97 Days to Play highlights include:

* Superhero Day (inspired by the special exhibition Mythic Creatures: Unicorns, Dragons & Mermaids) on June 19 for Father’s Day;
Pirate and Princess Day (inspired by the special exhibition Mythic Creatures: Unicorns, Dragons & Mermaids) on July 9;
Reptile Day, featuring an assortment of live lizards, snakes and turtles on July 30;

* Fernbank’s Dinosaur Birthday Bash Weekend, celebrating the world’s largest dinosaurs in the permanent Giants of the Mesozoic exhibition, on August 20-21; Plus, an assortment of other family activity days, special activities, celebrations and more.

* In addition to the special weekend programming days, the Museum will offer a weekly line-up featuring:

* Mythic Mondays, featuring scavenger hunts, giveaways, and family-friendly activities;

* Free Hot Dog Wednesdays, where each museum admission ticket is also valid for one free hotdog that day in the Fernbank Cafe;

* Safari Sundays, offering the first 250 children a free safari hat with their museum ticket.

There are also plenty of everyday ways to enjoy summer at Fernbank Museum, including the all-new permanent children’s exhibition, Fernbank NatureQuest, which is filled with more than 100 ways to interact within the 7,000 square feet of nature-inspired habitats and ecosystems. With so many exploration paths in the exhibition, many families are returning to continue their investigation of all the discoveries found within the immersive environment, which includes live animals, hands-on activities, chances to observe nature’s wonder, a working clubhouse filled with added activities, and ecosystems that include a river, a swamp, the ocean, the pine flat woods, a forest, a waterfall and a cave.

The special exhibition Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids, on view through August 11, explores the cultural beliefs and origins of mythical creatures that have inspired stories, songs, celebrations and more for centuries. Featuring “life-sized” models of dragons, a mermaid, a unicorn, a Roc, a Kraken and more, plus artifacts and fossils of living beings that could have led to the tales of creatures like the Cyclops and Griffin.

Most activities offered in conjunction with 97 Days to Play are included with Museum admission, which is $17.50 for adults, $16.50 for students/seniors, $15.50 for children ages 3 to 12; free for children ages 2 and younger, and free for Members. For tickets and more information, visit fernbankmuseum.org or call 404.929.6300.

Fernbank Museum of Natural History is located at 767 Clifton Road, NE in Atlanta

Malt-o-Meal & Terracycle Challenge

I entered my classroom into this Earth-Friendly contest. I explained the simple things that we do to have a more earth-friendly classrom.

This grant is an amazing opportunity for my students. If we get the most votes then we will get a $2,500 grant. Trust me, this would be a HUGE BLESSING in this time of cut-backs and more headed our way.

This contest was sponsored by Malt-o-Meal and it's now in the voting stage. All you need to do is just vote for our entry. Thank you so very much

http://tinyurl.com/3fwyslm
We need votes so please, please, help us!