seven lists a-listing

Much working! Much reading! Little blogging! All items in no particular order!

Seven awesome birthday gifts I received:
1. A handknit cashmere scarf from my favorite knitter, plus pumpkin swirl brownies
2. A Wii Fit
3. A mug with an electoral map that turns red states to blue when you pour hot water in it
4. An awesome iron skillet that fries things astoundingly well
5. Bananagrams, a word game so addictive I played it in a crowded bar
6. A journal in which you write a few lines every day for 10 years
7. Very nice Facebook messages, emails, phone calls, Hoops and YoYo e-cards, etc., plus a visit from my parents

Six pieces of garden news:
1. The mysterious orange tomatoes from my neighbor are Brandywines, and they were delicious, and I'll be planting them again
2. There was a nest of baby rats -- yes, rats -- beneath a sheet I'd put up to try to protect the tomato plants, and they were cute, and some of them probably aren't doing so well now, and I feel bad about that despite my profound ambivalence about rats in general
3. Parsley is undaunted by frost
4. Basil is not
5. Neither are the season's last tomatoes
6. Lettuce gets sweeter the longer it's allowed to grow

Five things I am looking forward to learning in the next few weeks:
1. How to make soap
2. How to make necklaces with beads and crocheted hemp
3. Who is the next president
4. Whether I am going to need to move to Israel/Canada/the moon because of No. 3
5. How long fall can hang on

Four dead things I recently saw while walking up the hill:
1. Squirrel
2. Crow (West Nile, anyone?)
3. Impossibly large worm
4. Used condom

Three things I should do that I don't want to do:
1. Laundry
2. Take giant terrifying spider spinning web in kitchen window outside in some sort of humane way
3. Call the Fidelity guy and figure out how to transfer my 401(k) that I don't want to think about

Two things I did recently that I'm proud of/excited about:
1. Got a flu shot
2. Found an African dance class

One new blog I created today:
1. Has Shannon Gone Into Labor Yet? (Dot Blogspot Dot Com)