To distract me from the blargh in my tummy...

I'm mid-allergic reaction to a chai that I made, to which had I added powdered milk (for lack of milk/soy milk). I don't know what specifically caused it, but I'm all kinds of ouch right now in my tummy. Ouch. And tomorrow's my birthday! Not fair.

So, I'm going to distract myself with filling out this "Seven Things" meme, because Dixie tagged me. I warn you that my answers are probably going to be particularly emotional/girly/like I feel like curling up with my teddy bear.

Seven things to do before I die:

1. return to Europe many more times
2. be fluent in German and French
3. maintain a clean home, so that it's not a panic if company shows up, and so that I don't feel stressed at home
4. have a book published
5. own a home with a ginormous bathtub
6. raise a family
7. have someone recognise me, as a result of something that I've written

Seven things to do before I die (when I was an idealistic teenager):

1. write poetry and get it published
2. be a jazz singer OR perform on Broadway (in a musical)
3. be a novelist
4. grow to be taller than 5'8" (I'm still bitter about that one)
5. go to Prince Edward Island and England
6. nothing short of world domination
7. get married, if it didn't interfere with my world domination plans

Seven things I cannot do:

1. ride a bicycle
2. (Chris's answer: "pass up a blogging opportunity")
3. not start crying, if someone else is crying (I'm a sympathetic cryer)
4. stand on my head or perform a cartwheel
5. eat calimari without needing an Epi-Pen
6. chew gum
7. give blood (I get woozy and sick just with blood tests -- I think it's because of how tiny I am.)

Seven things that attract me to my spouse:

1. how very thoughtful he is
2. his good hugs
3. how he takes care of me
4. his insane sense of humour
5. how he gets excited about things, like a puppy (this also makes me insane, when it's morning and I'm sleepy)
6. his hands
7. he wears casually rolled-up sleeves well.

Seven things I say most often:

1. "Ummmm..."
2. "Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease?"
3. "Did I tell you about the time..."
4. "While you're up, can you..."
5. "Okay. So..."
6. "Chriiiiiis!" (especially if he's done something inappropriate in public, or mysteriously using power tools in the other room, or there's suddenly a giant spider that needs killing)
7. (Insert random noises that are fun to make here, to be used when I'm bored.) "Bizoooo!" "Bees. Bees. Bees." "Deedlydeedlydee!"

Seven books I love:

1. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
2. The Blue Castle
3. Eats, Shoots and Leaves
4. Summer Gone (by David McFarlane)
5. Persuasion
6. Beyond Ourselves (Catherine Marshall) (honestly, it changes my life, every time I read the book)
7. um, The Bible?

Seven movies I would watch over and over again:

1. Newsies
2. What To Do In Case of Fire
3. Little Women (newest version)
4. Sense & Sensibility
5. A Mighty Wind
6. You've Got Mail
7. Casablanca

Seven people I want to join in too: (NOTE: If you don't have a spouse, make it seven things that you think will attract you/ that you admire/ notice in the opposite sex, or a potential mate)

1. Meg, because she needs some more procrastination incentives.
2. Jen D, because she loves these sorts of things.
3. LynnieC, because I'd love to hear her answers, and because her birthday's on Friday and she might feel like some reflection.
4. Shannon, because she's being so proficient as a new blogger.
5. Kristin, because she's awesome.
6. Sistah Janny, because I miss her lots.
7. Ariann, because she's a funny-coloured ladybug.