Five things ~ a meme

Amy of Mediterranean Views has tagged me for a meme. Read to the bottom of this post to see if I tagged YOU. Now you may sing along with me:

Getting to know you,
Getting to know all about you.
Getting to like you,
Getting to hope you like me.

Getting to know you,
Putting it my way,
But nicely,
You are precisely,
My cup of tea.

Getting to know you,
Getting to feel free and easy.
When I am with you,
Getting to know what to say.

Haven't you noticed
Suddenly I'm bright and breezy?
Because of all the beautiful and new
Things I'm learning about you
Day .. by ... day.

1. What were you doing 10 years ago?

I didn't retire until 2002, so I was working while trying to take care of my mother full time. She had Alzheimer's disease, which had gotten to the point that I couldn't get her to do what I asked. In the summer of 1998, Mother was among the dozen A.D. patients who took part in the first Alzheimer's camp in the nation, provided so caregivers could have a break. Realizing it's been ten years, this past weekend I watched the video provided to me by the Alzheimer's Association; it shows the campers swimming, singing, doing crafts, and generally having fun. Only two of the twelve were verbal, my mother and an elderly man, so they're the only talking campers on the video. The first thing Mother says on the tape is, "I like the people, and I haven't met anybody I don't like. Isn't that great?" A few minutes later she's singing, "Getting to know you, getting to feel free and easy." (What synchronicity! I had chosen the song above before watching this video again so I could tell you what Mother says on the tape.) The tape ends with Mother saying, "Go and try your best and learn. That's the only way it works. You can't do it for me and I can't do it for you, but I can learn to do it, whatever I'm trying to do. Might take me forever! But I have learned that ... just join in and try. You have to try." Mother died in 2004.

2. Name five things on your to-do list for today.

Post another book review (or two?)

Read more about Carl Jung

Kick-off a new blog called Tell us a story

Attend our book club discussion

De-clutter the stuff piled around the computer (click to enlarge cartoon)

3. What would you do if you were a billionaire?

Provide money for everyone in my family to go to college ... or finish college ... or take additional courses that interest them.
Improve educational opportunities in as many places as possible.
Provide education (or continuing education) for those who love to learn.
Set up classes so I can teach diversity, coexistence, and understanding.
Provide childcare so single parents would be able to study.

4. Name three of your bad habits.

Clutter (see above)
Procrastination (putting off writing book reviews)
Trying to do too many things (see my lists of books below)

5. What snacks do you enjoy?

Veggies like celery and cauliflower with dip
Popcorn, natural, without butter
Black cherry ice cream

6. What were the last five books you read?

Five? How about seven? in each category? during in the past couple of months?

FICTION

Property ~ by Valerie Martin, 2003
Staircase of a Thousand Steps ~ by Masha Hamilton, 2001
Windfalls ~ by Jean Hegland, 2004
Forgive Me ~ by Amanda Eyre Ward, 2007
The Distance Between Us ~ by Masha Hamilton, 2004
Change of Heart ~ by Jodi Picoult, 2008
The Camel Bookmobile ~ by Masha Hamilton, 2007

NONFICTION

Why Women Should Rule the World ~ by Dee Dee Myers, 2008
Great Possessions: An Amish Farmer's Journal ~ by David Kline, 1990
On Writing ~ by Stephen King, 2000
God and Empire ~ by John Dominic Crossan, 2007
The Soul Genome ~ by Paul Von Ward, 2008
The Cherokee Nation and the Trail of Tears ~ by Theda Perdue and Michael D. Green, 2007
Cherokee Women ~ by Theda Perdue, 1998

CHILDREN'S

Winston of Churchill ~ by Jean Davies Okimoto, 2007
Rules Are Rules ~ by Julie Scandora, 2008
Read All About It! ~ by Laura Bush and Jenna Bush, 2008
Kersplatypus ~ by Susan K. Mitchell, 2008
And Tango Makes Three ~ by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, 2005
Life as We Knew It ~ by Susan Beth Pfeffer, 2006
Other Goose ~ by Barbara Klunder, 2007

CURRENTLY READING

Memories, Dreams, Reflections ~ by Carl Jung, 1961
The Portable Jung ~ edited by Joseph Campbell, 1971
Maggie Again ~ by John D. Husband, 2008
Fever 1793 ~ by Laurie Halse Anderson, 2000
Einstein's Dreams ~ by Alan Lightman, 1993
1858: Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, and the War They Failed to See ~ by Bruce Chadwick, 2008
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America ~ Erik Larson, 2003

7. What are five jobs you have had?

Babysitter
Management trainer
Ordained minister
Bookstore owner
College instructor

8. What are five places where you have lived?

Chattanooga, Tennessee
Signal Mountain, Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee
Atlanta, Georgia
Morristown, Tennessee

9. What five people do you want to tag?

You, you, you, you, and you (yes, YOU).

10. Extra credit reading

If you want to see how I answered a very similar meme back in the olden days (almost three months ago) when I was asked for only FOUR things, click here.