...I was tagged by Autumn recently and I figured I'd better do this sooner rather than later before I get tagged by lots of people. But before I move on, for those who were keeping score on the nature I've seen in my neighborhood...

...this morning I saw something large and low to the ground crossing the road in front of me right where the middle school is. As I pass, I slow down to see what it was and I think it was either a rather large fox or a very small coyote. Couldn't tell - it was dark, all I had was a single streetlight to see by and it was across the road from me. Really bushy tail. Muzzle was short to medium, pointy snout. Very low to the ground slinky sort of thing. I know that there are coyotes in the area, but I don't recall hearing about foxes. I'm more inclined to think that it's a fox. But that's not all I saw today.

The road I was on dead ends into another road, and there's the side of a hill right in front of you (so your only choices are turning right or turning left. As I glide into the right turn lane, what do I see? Standing as still as if it were a statue, but perfectly alert about 2 feet up from street level on the side of this steep hill? A *BIG* 4-point buck. I tell ya, I probably wouldn't have noticed him if I hadn't been aware of the fox/coyote/whatever it was.

You just have to be aware of your surroundings, and you'll never know what you find. Now, onto the tag!

7 Things I Want To Do Before I Die:
See my great-grandchildren
Visit Europe
Go back to Fiji – just once more is fine.
Master the perfect pie crust
Write a book
See a pic of a Giant Squid (couple of researchers took care of this one for me very recently)
Get over my fear of ladders

...and since I have to add one more because of the Giant Squid thing...

Go camping (whatever am I letting myself in for with this one)

7 Things I can do:
Cross-Stitch
Crochet
Build complex data models *and* debug other people’s data models
Give Magical Mommy Kisses that make it all better
Make people laugh
Bake 24 dozen cookies in about 4 hours
Make spaghetti sauce *and* tennis ball sized meatballs completely from scratch (may I also mention that I can make the noodles to go with it from scratch too...)

7 Things I cannot do: (which may or may not include things that I want to do someday)
Knit
Disassemble a car engine
Touch my tongue to the tip of my nose
Wink both eyes (I can only wink one)
Roller blade
Solve a moderate Suduko puzzle (But I’m working on that one)
Skydive

7 Things that attract me to another person:
Sense of humor
Good eyes – ones that are open, not shifty looking
Good sense/opinion of self, but not egotistical
Intelligence
A sense of knowing when to quit but not giving up
Someone who can dream – isn’t 100% realist/practical
A good and welcoming smile

7 Celebrity crushes:
Bill Champlin (but the crush exists only on his voice)
John Cusack
Michael Vartan
Ben Browder
Michael Shanks
Harrison Ford
William Petersen

7 Things I say the most:
"There you go"
"Oh Good Gravy"
"Ah, but I digress"
"It’s my Blue Eyed Boo!"
"...and your point is...?"
"Come on, A..."
"They’re broken again" (Meaning data monitors)

(I suppose I could have included 3 of George Carlin’s famous ‘7 Words you can Never Say on Television”, but I didn’t think that that would be appropriate. That and I’m trying to lessen my usage of those words significantly)

7 Bloggers I will tag:
Stasha – you’re double tagged now!
Wendy
Kirsten
Dana
Margaret
Belinda
Nicole
Annette (hey, it never said *just* seven)