I've been tagged

And a kind thank-you to Sven/Steven for something a little lighter to blog about today. He tagged me with this "Seven by seven" meme:

1. Seven things to do before I die
2. Seven things I cannot do
3. Seven things that attract me to (...)
4. Seven things I say most often
5. Seven books (or series) that I love
6. Seven movies I watch over and over again (or would if I had time)
7. Seven people I want to join in, too.

Seven things to do before I die
I'm such a dreamer but as Popeye used to say, I yam what I yam.
1. Write the definitive, God-honoring work on comparative religion
2. Restore respectability to an orthodox Christian mystic tradition
3. See my children become mature, God-loving adults instilled with a love of truth, a sense of humor, and a deep sense of fairness
4. Arrange for Chinese translations of Athanasius' On the Incarnation and Eusebius' History of the Church
5. Establish mercy missions in my city to be "hands of Christ" for providing medical care for the poor and for meeting the needs of local people hurt by any disaster that was worthy of making the news (e.g. house fire)
6. Improve my proficiency in Arabic.
7. When I find my days are numbered shortly anyway, go recite the Sermon on the Mount and other selections from the gospels in Arabic in Mecca during the annual pilgrimage. It won't be a pretty end, but who wants to go out in a nursing home anyway?

Seven things I cannot do
1. Be satisfied with only the 7 things on my "to do before I die" list
2. Pass up chocolate
3. Spend less than an hour inside a book store
4. Care whether the garage is clean
5. Get the hang of knitting, no matter how patiently BH tries to teach me
6. Stay awake through another chapter of Brothers Karamazov
7. Quit blogging at a reasonable hour

Seven things that attract me to (...)
Now, since my husband left me and has since remarried, I don't think I can remarry in good conscience. So these comments are on a man that I admire very much, though I keep that to myself since I wish him the best and don't want to waste his time.
1. He is the most forgiving person I have ever met
2. Honest
3. Outgoing
4. Fun-loving
5. Knows a hundred good movies to watch
6. Doesn't take himself too seriously
7. Passionate about taking good care of people

Seven things I say most often
1. Don't interrupt your brother.
2. Don't interrupt your sister.
3. Stop picking on each other.
4. Much better.
5. Not again.
6. Really, just stop it.
7. Thank you.
(Entire sequence is repeated at odd intervals during the day.)

Seven books (or series) that I love
1. LOTR (J.R.R. Tolkien)
2. Travels (Marco Polo)
3. Chronicles of Narnia (C.S. Lewis)
4. A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens)
5. Dilbert (series/Scott Adams)
6. Carry On, Mr. Bowditch (Jean Lee Latham; #1 childhood favorite)
7. Indian Captive (Lois Lenski; #2 childhood favorite)

Seven movies I watch over and over again (or would if I had time)
1. LOTR
2. Apollo 13
3. Wrath of Khan
4. Riverdance (Michael Flatley/Jean Butler)
5. Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein
6. Monk (TV mystery series)
7. Gilligan's Island re-runs (don't know if TV series count but I hope so)

Seven people I want to join in, too.
1. Metacrock
2. Dawn Treader
3. The guys over at the CADRE
4. Darrell Pursiful
5. Richard Hall
6. Diane
7. Silas Jones
(Some of you are old friends, and some of you are commenters or people I've met around the blogosphere and just wanted to meet.)

And as they say no offense taken if you don't join in.