My Seven Things (in no particular order)
in response to a challenge from Simon

Seven Things to Do Before I Die

1. Be a great dad and husband
2. See Western Europe
3. Run my own photography business
4. Have a book published
5. Make my son proud to be my son
6. Stop trying to please everyone
7. Don’t think about dying

Seven Things to Do Before I Die (when I was an idealistic teenager)

1. Start my own photography business
2. Become a published author
3. Marry my (then) girlfriend
4. Become a Dentist
5. Become an English Professor
6. Become a Preacher
7. See Western Europe

Seven Things I Cannot Do

1. Dunk a basketball
2. Understand hatred
3. Feel a child kicking inside me
4. Intentionally hurt someone except in defense
5. Get to bed early
6. Keep a hula hoop spinning around my waist
7. Sit through a Chuck Norris movie or TV show

Seven Things That Attract Me to My Spouse

1. Sense of humour
2. Smarts
3. Compassion
4. Mothering our son
5. Organizational skills
6. Friendliness
7. Outer beauty

Seven Things I Say Most Often

1. Ben, did you have a good day?
2. (Company name), this is Mark.
3. Wait a minute, I can’t hear you, the water’s running.
4. Yes, that’s my phone.
5. Hey, Sweetness?
6. Hang on, I can’t hear you, Ben’s talking.
7. No, it’s not time for breakfast right now.

Seven Books I Love

1. Lord of the Rings (whole thing – J.R.R. Tolkien)
2. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
3. The Eyes of the Dragon (Stephen King)
4. Guess How Much I Love You (a Ben favorite)
5. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
6. Donnie Brasco : My Undercover Life in the Mafia (Joseph D. Pistone)
7. Rage (by Richard Bachman – i.e. Stephen King)

Seven Movies I Would Watch Over and Over Again

1. Fletch
2. Star Wars movies
3. The Princess Bride
4. The Incredibles
5. Lord of the Rings (trilogy)
6. A Christmas Story
7. Pulp Fiction