The Friday Five Good Things

 Five good things that happened this week.

1. I moved the television from the sunroom to the bedroom

2. I watched the early news in bed while having a cup of tea.

3. I found some fun things at Target for the Young One's upcoming visit.

4. Calli was a lovebug. She sat with me in the rocking chair and wanted a rock and a cuddle. Usually, she only lets us pet her with our eyes.

5. Quill woke me up with a kiss, or maybe it was a taste.

How was your week?

Whatcha Doin?

 

What to do today? Clean the bathroom? Work on a new project? Contact a client? But first, tea. 

Whatcha doin?

The Friday Five Good Things

 

Five good things that happened this week.

1. I saw the male cardinal at the front feeder. It's been a long time since I've seen the cardinals.

2. I finally made the whoopie pies Himself asked for at Christmas

3. The Big Valley is on Amazon Prime.

4. We talked about plans for an after Valentine's Day dinner and where to go for the Teaching Assistants' Lunch

5. I had a play day with Teague. After being sick for so long, it felt good to get out of the house.

How was your week?

Requirements to Be President or Vice President of the United States.

 This is from a blog post 11. October 2011. Somethings just never seem to change. Originally, this post was about the requirements to be President of the United States, but the requirements also cover the Vice President so I changed the blog title to reflect this. 

Normally, I don't write about hot button topics on the blog. I stay away from political and religious debates. I don't bait the bear with whether Heath is a better cowboy than Nick. However, the latest round of presidential candidate bull and the press reporting the stories has put a burr on my shirt tail.

I'm sick of the whining and finger pointing of candidates or their supporters bemoaning their opponent's ability to run for an office because they are not considered a good, practicing, member of a certain religion.  Excuse me?

Have you ,politicians, aspiring politicians, political supporters, members of the Press, and everyday citizens (just for good measure), bothered to read the Constitution? You know, the document that lays out the ground rules for the 3 branches of government (Executive, Legislative, and Judicial)? I realize that reading the original document in its beautiful English Roundhand script might prove difficult for some, but the document has been printed.

Article II, Section I of the Constitution deals with the requirements to run for the office of President of the United States. [ed: the requirements also apply to the office of Vice President of the United States]

 "No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States."

Let's look at this line by line, shall we?

No Person except a natural born Citizen, that means you have to be born in the United States, and not just the 48 contiguous states, but Alaska and Hawaii are also bona fide states. At least that's what I learned in grade school, but I also learned that Pluto was the ninth planet in our solar system. Pluto seems to have lost favored planet status, but I'm pretty sure Alaska and Hawaii are still states.

That phrase Natural Born Citizen means your parents could have emigrated to the USA from Europe, Asia, Africa, etc. or Pluto.  If you were born in this country, you are automatically a citizen and you can become President of the United States even if your parents are citizens of another country or planet!

Let's continue. Or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President . The Constitution was adopted in 1787. Someone around at that time would now be some 224 years old, [ed: now 233 years old] so that ship has already sailed.

neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, You have to be 35 years or older. (And there is no cap on how old is too old) The 15th. Amendment to the Constitution granted male Citizens the privilege to vote regardless of race or color.  The 19th. Amendment to the Constitution extended this right to women. So as long as you are 35 years older or older, it doesn't matter whether you are male, female, blue, green, purple or any other color. You can be President of the United States.

and been fourteen Years a Resident  within the United States. Ok, this last statement may be a little fuzzy as it doesn't address whether your 14 year residency must be consecutive, or residency as an adult.

Let's recap.There are only 3 simple requirements to be President. You must be a natural born Citizen. You must be 35 years old or older, and you have had to reside in the United States for a period of 14 years. Period.

No where in the Constitution does it state you have to be a good, practicing member of a particular religion.

You don't even have to practice a religion. You aren't required to have diplomatic or previous political experience. Being a member of a certain race, color, or sexual orientation is not required. Being married to the opposite sex or same sex is not a requirement. These aspects of a person's background shouldn't even come into question!

And members of the Press? Shame on you for reporting the he said, he said, she said. When ridiculous issues of whether one is a member of a cult or not, arise, set the record straight and remind your readers or viewers that this is not a requirement to be president.

If you're in Washington, DC, you can visit the National Archives and you can see and read the original documents. Admission to the National Archives is free! If you can't travel to Washington, DC. you can visit The National Archives on line and can read the documents and download images of the documents yourself.

Maybe reading The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and The Bill of Rights, should also be a requirement to run for any political office.

The Friday Five Good Things

Heath and me

Five good things that happened this week.

1. Touched base with a friend from high school to see how she was doing. She's an Infection Control Practitioner at Stanford University Hospital. We had a good chat.

2. While Himself was in a Zoom meeting, I thought I'd see if there was something I could watch on Starz, and I found one of my favorite shows, The Big Valley

3. Seeing a rainbow on the kitchen wall made me smile.

4. Got a text from the Eldest that her company decided she could work from home and didn't need to apply for unemployment.

5. Another Dawn Patrol trip to a different store, but I was able to find my beloved King Arthur flour.

How was your week?

Throwback Thursday - First Job

This old post from Saturday, February 16, 2008

In keeping with ripping off Erica's ideas for blog fodder, this week five things learned from the first job I had.

1. The day after my 16th birthday, Ma told me I had to get a job. She had already made arrangements for me to see the neighbor across the street. He sold to retail artificial floral arrangements. I went to talk to his wife. She said they needed some help, offered to drive me to the factory to check it out. She said it was a dirty place and I might not like it there. I told her it didn't matter whether I liked it or not. Ma said I had to have a job. First lesson, when the big boss tells you to do something, you jump to it.

I actually loved working at the factory. The company was small and employed 7 people. They were a great bunch to work with. The boss, George, treated us very well. I learned how to make artificial floral arrangements, bows, how to pack boxes for shipping and other life skills.

2. One of the first arrangements I learned how to make was done using a small (size of your palm) ceramic planter in the shape of a swan The arrangement took 2 flowers at the shoulder, two at the hip and one up the butt. The space in the middle was filled with a filler flower, babies' breath, statice, forge-me-not, or other tiny flowers. The type of flowers and bow colors followed the seasons. , oranges, golds, and browns for the Fall and Thanksgiving, reds and greens for Christmas, pastels for Spring and Easter. One day, I was told 700 of these little arrangements were needed to fill an order. The first 25 were fun to make. After that, the task got old pretty quickly. Lesson learned: sometimes we have to do things that are boring and we don't like.

3. We worked in an old factory building. One area had been partitioned off for a retail sales area. George would sell floral stems, tape, colored pots, etc. to do it yourself crafters. My job on Saturdays was to open and man the retail area. For some reason I was not given a key to the building, so the only way to get in, was to walk across the sloping metal roof to crawl through a second story window. It wasn't bad in dry weather, but was a little dicey in wet or icy weather. I'd like to think the lesson learned was confidence and a sense of adventure. I should have learned assertiveness to tell him I ain't walking across the roof.

4. We had to spray paint 4, 6, and 8 inch plastic pots in seasonal colors. Lesson learned: there is a reason for the warning to do this in a well ventilated area. Always turn on the big fan!

5. I was paid $1.65 per hour which was minimum wage back then. I saved up my money and when I had enough, I bought a pair of Frye cowboy boots. Lessons learned: financial independence, saving for something gives you time to really decide if you really need the item. Those boots were cool, even if I couldn't find a pair like just like Heath's.

What was your first job?

Buckeyes

Since the Eldest had to work second shift at the hospital, and we wouldn't have much time to spend with her during the week, we decided we would take up Moopa's invitation (Himself's college roommate) in South Carolina to spend some time with them.

Before heading down South, we headed four hours West to the Buckeye State aka Ohio. We dropped the Young One at her friend's house so she could spend the week.

As the Young One was getting out of the car, there was a doe on the far side of the yard. The doe leaped into the woods, and I didn't think I got a picture. but I did! See that thing behind the tree in the middle of the picture?

We headed to a Comfort Inn in

Yup, just like the name of my cowboy.

Deep sigh.

Anyway, Finnbadger, blog buddy and a Buckeye resident, had asked if I was treated well in Ohio. And indeed, we were. 

As we settled into our room at the Heath Comfort Inn, there was a horrible smell. A septic smell coming from a bathroom floor drain. I went to the main desk to ask if we could have another room. We were only staying over one night before heading South.

Not only did J.D., the desk clerk, arrange another room for us, but he arranged for us to stay in a suite.

We had a sitting room with a television and oddly, a Jacuzzi tub in the sitting room

and a King-size bed in a separate room with another television

Our stay was very pleasant. Though in the morning after showering, there was a faint whiff of septic gasses. We had reservations at the same Comfort Inn on the return journey. The staff was wonderful even remembered we had stayed with them at the beginning of the week. We didn't get the suite, but a regular room that was comfortable enough, but again as we were leaving that sewer gas whiff.  

Obviously, whoever plumbed the building didn't know how to vent sewer gasses properly. If we ever get back to that part of Ohio again, we'll find another hotel to stay at and not the Heath Comfort Inn.

Glass of Whine

Yesterday, was the Fourth of July. Today is the Fifth of August. Why is Summer going by so quickly?

How To Tell The Bad Aliens from the Good Guys

Himself and I have been enjoying Enterprise (once you get past the sucky opening theme song).

You know how in Westerns you can tell the good guys from the bad guys because the good guys wear a white hat sometimes?

 Well, Himself noticed in Enterprise, the bad aliens have ridges on their foreheads. Also, spikes, nodules or antenna.

So any protruberant feature is a dead give away for a bad guy. Sometimes.

Throwback Thursday

I wore shoes similiar to the picture on a trip to Minnesota for a Western Writers' Convention. Ok, it was for fan fic writers of the 60s television series, The Big Valley. The Young One had come with me because she reminded me as I was making travel plans, I had taken The Eldest to a calligraphy convention when The Eldest was 10 years old. The Young One was 16 years old and had never flown on an airplane. So I took my similar shoes and the Young One to Minnesota.

On the last day of our stay, a riverboat brunch cruise on the Mississippi had been arranged. The Young One and I were waiting to board with our group. A flock of elderly ladies approached us. (They were probably the same age I am now. What a difference in perspective a few years makes.)

This group of women suddenly swarmed around The Young One and me.  They were "oohing" and "aahing" over my shoes. I politely told the ladies what catalog I had found the shoes in when they asked.

Now, I don't have an Inner Child. A combination of  being from New England, a strict upbringing reinforced by parochial school produced my Inner Puritan. I am reserved by nature especially around strangers. I don't like hugs from strangers or other public displays of affection. So when the ladies reached down and began petting and fondling my shoes, my little Inner Puritan  looked liked:

The Friday Five Good Things

Five good things that happened this week.

1. The Eldest and I have been watching a favorite anime, Cardcaptor Sakura, (a kind of Pandora's Box story) My favorite character, Yue, Guardian of the Moon, finally made his appearance. The Eldest told me "You're patience has been rewarded."

2. Finally used gift cards and went out to eat at Longhorn Steakhouse. Love that place even if they updated their Western theme and got rid of Heath's chaps.

3. Master Beef replaced the fan in the old laptop. I can now compute from the sun room.

4. Went to Lambie's to learn about essential oils.  Had tea, sniffed wonderful fragrances. Even got a hug from her oldest grandson to thank me for giving him a lambie blanket when he was born. W is 10 now and he told me he still loves his boo.

5. Went to lunch and ran errands with my friend, Teague. Stayed for dinner which was leftover lunch. Had a great time yacking about houses, furniture, family, movies, genealogy...

How was your week?

The Friday Five Good Things

Five good things that happened this week:

1. After picking up my artwork from the show, Light, Himself and I stopped at a Cracker Barrel in Sturbridge for lunch. I had the BLT on sourdough bread.

2. We bought a new over the range microwave.

3. I took 7,016 steps between walking on the treadmill and at the mall.

4. The Christmas tree got taken down before Valentine's Day

5. I got a prezzie in the mail! A reversible print, polartec, cowboy Heath blankie and a fuzzy, bandana print pillow. Thank you, Sunflower! Perfect gift for the polar weather. Ink thanks you for the box.

Major Deal

for fans of The Six Million Dollar Man starring Lee "He'll Always Be Heath To Me" Majors: the first three seasons at $12.99 each at Target. Sweet!

Keep an eye out for seasons 4 and 5 and let me know if you find them.

Another Visitor

Photo from Morguefile

I first spotted her and her baby in Prissy's front yard while I was chatting on the phone. I've seen the deer at night and coming out of the woods in the early morning mist, but I've never seen them in the middle of the day. Noise from a passing car must have startled the youngster  because he went bounding back into Prissy's woods. I went back to my phone conversation.

I paced back to the sun room and that's when I spotted her. Just like that, in the photo. Well, not quite like that. My photo didn't come out as I shot it with the iPhone camera through the dirty, sun room window and into the noon sun. I couldn't even see the deer through the view finder. But this is what she looked like. Except I had to mirror the Morguefile photo in Paint Shop Pro . And the tree in our yard isn't as wide, and it's surrounded by white heath asters. Yes, that's the real name of the flowers, I didn't just make that up just because I happen to love the cowboy by the same name. The grass in my yard is greener, too. But the deer did look directly at me and Ink. Ink was very interested in watching her even though she probably had a good 100 lbs. over him. When she figured we weren't a threat, she casually munched the grass. Her baby wasn't with her. She probably had him or her safely tucked up in the woods so she could eat her lunch in peace.

What's in your back yard?

The Friday Five

It's a chilly 51o F. outside. Five things I'll need this morning.

1. I'll need a pair of socks

2. A hot cup of tea (actually this is a cheat. I have a hot cup or two of tea every morning)

3. Will have to turn the space heater on in the sun room to take the chill out.

4. Will have to grab a sweater while running errands this morning.

5. And will probably turn the heater on in the car.

What's the weather like in your neck of the woods?

My Influence Map

Found the idea for this creative exercise from my colleague and influencer, Andy Fish. An influence map is a bit like a vision board, but instead of showing where you are going, it shows where you came from, and what or who inspires the art you make.

You can fill your map with anything you want, books, movies, artwork. Whatever your little heart desires. I made my own layout using Paint Shop Pro. I wanted to limit the number of images I used because there would be too many, and the image would be so huge it would take days to download. Each image I used represents more than one influencer.

The influence map isn't limited to artists. You can use it to show what inspired you to become a(n) [insert your profession here].  You can find the influence map template here. If you don't have a program that allows you to manipulate photo images, you can use free, online, image sites to make a collage. Try Photovisi or Fotor.

Have you ever made an influence map?

Letter Play

Fridge magnets for the Gals who like The Boys

Pigma pen, watercolor pencils on Arches 140 lb watercolor paper

The Friday Five

Gone are the days of carving triangle eyes and nose with a toothy grin on a pumpkin and calling it good. These aren't your grandma's jack o'lanterns.

The Tenth Doctor and his TARDIS. Lace up your red Converse high tops and run to Pink Ray Gun's site to get the template. http://www.pinkraygun.com/2008/09/23/free-pumpkin-carving-template-doctor-who-and-tardis/ 

From an Apple a Day comes this beautiful carousel. http://vi.sualize.us/an_apple_a_day_pumpkin_carrousel_halloween_jack-o-lantern_picture_gY1P.html

A good old-fashioned scare from The Creature. Found at Yummies 4 Tummies http://yummies4tummies.com/2008/10/05/pumpkin-carvings/

Lots of amazing jack o'lanterns found on a Greedy or  Needy discussion board. My favorite was the dragon.
http://www.greedyorneedy.com/forum/topic/89122

No surprise I'd pick a cowboy. Stay with 'im, Heath! Found at Wyoming Road Trip. http://www.wyomingroadtrip.com/Photography/photographs-wyoming-jack-o-lantern.aspx

After you've carved your jack o'lantern, do your roast the pumpkin seeds?

My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys

Recently, a friend asked me why the obsession with Westerns. Why cowboys?

I was born in 1955. Yes, I'm that old. As a child of the 50s and 60s, pretty much what we watched on television were Westerns. You couldn't swing a rope without wrangling a cowboy. Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Wanted Dead or Alive, Rawhide, Have Gun Will Travel, Bat Masterson, The Big Valley (when the show first aired in 1965, it was on past my bedtime. Wouldn't have been able to watch it anyway, as we only had one television set, and my dad wasn't a Missy (Barbara Stanwyck) fan. I fell in love with Heath as a teen when I watched the show in reruns after school). Death Valley Days, Wagon Train, The Rifleman. Even children's shows had Western heroes: Howdy Doody (though I barely remember this show), The Lone Ranger, Hopalong Cassidy (my first hero, I even had a Hopalong lunch box. Long gone. Thanks, Ma, that tin box is probably worth a small fortune today). In Boston, Rex Trailer hosted the Saturday morning show, Boomtown. So my heroes have always been cowboys.

But what's the attraction?  For me, the cowboy was someone who didn't go looking for trouble, but when it found him, he wouldn't back down. Brave, courageous. Didn't say much unless there was something to say. And who wouldn't want a pony? Had a moral compass. Was honest. Stood up for those who couldn't stand up for themselves. Chivalrous. Very similar to the knights of the Middle Ages. All this highly romanticized and sanitized.

 As a girl growing up in this time, there weren't a lot of opportunities for us. We could aspire to be moms, nurses, teachers, stewardesses (I couldn't meet the height requirement), and secretaries, and because I went to parochial school, a nun. Definitely not an option!  I didn't want to be Annie Oakley. Even though she had skills that were better than her male counterparts, she was still expected to conform. Paraded out. Shown off. Little Sure Shot.  No one would ever think Little Bat Masterson.

I longed to be a cowboy. The cowboy represented freedom. Choice. Go where you wanted. Be your own person. You were free to like blue and not forced to wear pink. Unless you wanted to. (Heath sported a pink shirt in seasons 3 and 4).

Who was your hero, and why did you aspire to be like him or her?

The Friday Five

Cleaning out the old homestead is making me wax nostalgic. Five things I wanted to be when I grew up:

1. A cowboy, like that's a shocka.

2. A teacher.

3. I wanted to be a biochemist just like the grad student who babysat me the summer I was 10. I had no clue what a biochemist was, but I wanted to be one.

4. Heavily influenced by Dr. Kildare, I wanted to be a doctor.

5. A writer. As close as I got was writing Heath stories (Big Valley fan fiction) for the amusement of high school friends and  writing computer programs.

What did you want to be when you grew up?