Been Tagged...
Here is it - ~d, this is for you.

7 HABITS
1. I get up early. Wake up almost without fail, around 3am. Not a happy habit, but a habit, nonetheless. No idea why on earth I have to go through such insomnia either. After becoming conscious, I lay there, pondering the problems of the world, which seem to be compounded by the millions... maybe it is the dark or something. Then I pop the tv on, so softly I can barely hear it, hoping I won't wake the sleeping Bear beside me. After watching the travel channel until about 6:30, I usually get up and make coffee. After the sun comes up, the dreads of the night don't seem so threatening.

2. I feed my birds. Dang things are eating me out of house and home. Tons of peanuts (unsalted, in the shell) I buy for the Stellars and Scrubs, the Acorn Woodpeckers and the squirrels... ; dried corn cobs for everybody, plus grain for the ground feeders... the doves, bandtailed pigeons, juncos, tohees and sparrows...'; next the black oil sunflower seeds for the house finches and titmice..., the thistle for the goldfinches... etc. etc. etc. Don't forget the suet I hang up in the hawthorne tree... nor the sugar water in the hummingbird feeder which the chickadees and orioles also nip at...I spend money to lure them in, the exchange being me being allowed to see and observe them. This is more than a habit for me... it is a ritual. Early early in the morning, they are all there in my yard, making a racket and clamouring for their breakfast. It is glorious :-D


3. When it is one of the kids' birthdays, I will break my neck to make sure they have a balloon in their room when they wake - IF they are under my roof. I had to draw the line somewhere. When they were babes, that was the routine. It meant having to go to the store late enough that they didn't see me escape to do the deed, sneaking it into their room without waking them up , but not so early that the dang thing deflated before the following morning when they woke up in their room to find a lovely balloon floating there on their special day. Once, on my own birthday, I woke up and almost had a heart attack after seeing some gigantic, blow-up butterfly looming over my face... my daughter had decided to reciprocate :-D

4. I must confess I tend to put too much Coffeemate into my coffee. Sweetie abhors it... he tries to substitute 1/2 and 1/2 in my coffee for health reasons when I'm not looking, but it doesn't taste good at all that way. This too has grown to be much more than a mere habit. It is a full blown addiction.


5. When in need of comfort, some folks turn to meatloaf, macaroni or chocolate cake. I turn to SUSHI. Nothing like it - and it soothes the savage beast like nothing else. ummmm.


6. I have a habit of checking my email. It is like my other "habits" ... on par with obsession. I LOVE getting email, and check it rabidly all day, every few minutes. I'm no longer allowed to blog at work... otherwise I would claim that as one of my habits. As it is, I now have to blog in the wee personal hours at home... whenever I can fit it in. It is a terrible loss.

7. Okay, most of my habits involve creature comforts. What does this say about me? Let's not go there. Habitually, I travel. Can't help it. Can't stop it. Can't afford it! Love it, and worry about it. Think about it, dream about it, crave it, plan for it, and eventually, DO IT.

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7 FAVORITE SONGS

This is too hard. I have a kabillion favorite songs. Pinning them down to a mere 7 is unrealistic and impossible.

Here are a few songs I like alot:

RIDERS ON THE STORM: Jim Morrison and the Doors
This song, was "our song" in 1971. Now it is still our song, after all these years. Nothing like it.

JUST A SONG: Crosby, Stills, Nash
Love this song - the words make me imagine parting from my sweetheart and it is always so bittersweet.


FOR A DANCER: Jackson Browne

I came to know this song when my husband died in 2004. I can not hear it without being lost in the words - it just makes sense.

Keep a fire burning in your eye
Pay attention to the open sky
You never know what will be coming down
I don’t remember losing track of you
You were always dancing in and out of view
I must have thought you’d always be around
Always keeping things real by playing the clown
Now you’re nowhere to be found

I don’t know what happens when people die
Can’t seem to grasp it as hard as I try
It’s like a song I can hear playing right in my ear
That I can’t sing
I can’t help listening
And I can’t help feeling stupid standing ’round
Crying as they ease you down
’cause I know that you’d rather we were dancing
Dancing our sorrow away
(right on dancing)
No matter what fate chooses to play
(there’s nothing you can do about it anyway)

Just do the steps that you’ve been shown
By everyone you’ve ever known
Until the dance becomes your very own
No matter how close to yours
Another’s steps have grown
In the end there is one dance you’ll do alone

Keep a fire for the human race
Let your prayers go drifting into space
You never know what will be coming down
Perhaps a better world is drawing near
And just as easily it could all disappear
Along with whatever meaning you might have found
Don’t let the uncertainty turn you around
(the world keeps turning around and around)
Go on and make a joyful sound

Into a dancer you have grown
From a seed somebody else has thrown
Go on ahead and throw some seeds of your own
And somewhere between the time you arrive
And the time you go
May lie a reason you were alive
But you’ll never know

LISTEN TO THE MUSIC - Doobie Brothers
This, is the best song ever made. Rock and roll, music just at its flowing best.

CLAIRE DE LUNE - Debussy

Well, not exactly what I envision when I think of Claire de Lune, but it seems to fit the bill at the moment. Love this beautiful song, and feel joy when ever it happens to come on the classical channel (which is rare) :-)

OH HOLY NIGHT - My mother used to sing this song to me, as we were driving up for Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Northern California... I remember it quite vividly as we drove up over the San Marcos Pass above Santa Barbara off 101... It is a memory I treasure and that comes to mind yet every time I hear it around Christmas time. She had a lovely deep alto voice, and I miss her so.

OH MR. JOHNNY REBEC

Okay, you most likely haven't heard a song like this... my Mom and Dad taught it to us kids and we have sung it with great gusto over the years ever since. I happen to love dried Italian salami, but unfortunately, this is exactly what comes to mind when I hear this song... :-D

(Chorus)
Oh Mr. Johnny Rebec
How could you be so mean,
I told you you'd be sorry for
Inventing that machine....
Now all the neighbor's cats and dogs
Will never more be seen
They've all been turned to sausages
In Johnny Rebec's machine

A little boy went walking
Went walking in a store
He bought a pound of sausages
And laid em on the floor
He puckered up his little lips
And whistled out a tune
Then all the little sausages
Went dancing round the room

Hey Oh(Chorus)

Machine it wasn't working
It simply wouldn't go
So Johnny Rebec he climbed inside
To see what made it so
His wife she had a nightmare
Went walking in her sleep...
She gave the crank
A HECK OF A YANK
And Johnny Rebec was meat!

(Chorus)