The original list was completed in September 2007. The only constant is change, so I’ve revisited the list. I’ve updated the list and made it current. Some you’ve seen before, and some are new. So, without further ado, here is the current (as of October 2008) list!
A List of 101 Things about The Casual Perfectionist:
1. I’m a real stickler for details, but I’m trying to be calm about it. (See the name of my blog.)
2. I love being in charge, but I also like surprises.
3. It’s a good thing I like contradictions, too.
4. My favorite number is the number 4. There were four children in my family. I won 4th place in the Spelling Bee in Sixth Grade (out of our whole district). I graduated 4th in my class from High School. My birth date is the 4th.
5. Speaking of my birth date, it’s the only command of the year. March forth! Get it?
6. I’m the Momma. I love being the Momma.
7. My little girl is going to be three at the end of November, and although she’s keeping me young, I sometimes feel very old.
8. I chose to wait until my 30s to have a child, so feeling old is my own fault.
9. Looking back, I’d rather have the patience of my 30s than the energy of my 20s when dealing with a newborn or a toddler.
10. I love to travel and explore new destinations.
11. 11:11 make a wish! I wanted to get married on November 11th, but the Court House was closed, due to the Veterans’ Day holiday. So, we ‘eloped’ on the 15th instead. Technically, it wasn’t a true elopement, because it wasn’t a secret. We didn’t have a traditional wedding, but we did have a reception later.
12. My hubby and I have been in twelve weddings, between the both of us. I’ve been in eight, and he’s been in four. We wanted something a little less traditional for our own wedding, and we got it.
13. The number 13 has never really been an unlucky number for me, and I don’t really consider myself to be superstitious. (Knock on wood)
14. I love getting pictures of my friends’ kids and my nephews in email and snail mail, but we don’t have a lot of pictures out on display.
15. The number of pictures we have on our walls should be no indication of how much we care about our friends and relatives.
16. My hubby didn’t want me to put any pictures of people out, so we compromised and just have a few pictures of Claire in our hallway.
17. I cheated and have two framed pictures of our kitties in my office. Technically, they aren’t people.
18. They were my babies before I had Claire. They will always be my babies. People with pets understand that. People without pets don’t.
19. I wish everything on my list could flow nicely, but sometimes life doesn’t have a segue.
20. Lavender is one of my favorite colors. It’s actually in a tie with cobalt blue.
21. I love my wedding ring. The middle stone is a diamond, and there is an aquamarine on either side. I don’t have a separate wedding band or solitaire. It stands for the past-present-future. My hubby’s birthstone is the diamond, and the aquamarines are my birthstone. They symbolize faithfulness. They also are rumored to ward off poison.
22. I’ve never been poisoned, so they must work.
23. I love the number 23. Have you ever read the Principia Discordia? I totally dug this tome in college and got hooked on the number 23. I even have a copy in my box of treasures. Hail Eris! 
The number 23 is not nearly as malicious as the recent movie The Number 23 would have you believe, but once you read the Principia Discordia (or see the totally unrelated movie), you will see the number 23 everywhere. (cue spooky music here.)
24. I love my Mother’s Ring. My hubby got it for my very first Mother’s Day. It has Claire’s birthstone in the middle and mine and his on either side. It makes me happy every time I look at it, and I wear it every day.
25. As I mentioned, there are four children in my family. I’m the oldest. I tend to be a bossy know-it-all. I’m not sure if this is because I’m the oldest of four or if it’s purely coincidental.
26. Sometimes I believe in coincidences, and sometimes I don’t.
27. I like to know what the rules are. I also love setting the rules. Sometimes, the rules I’m asked to follow are silly. Or, maybe they’re just misunderstood. Surely there’s a good reason for the rules. Or, maybe not.
28. I’m also a very independent thinker.
29. I refuse to register for one single political party. I’m Officially Unaffiliated, and I’m a Registered Independent.
30. I usually vote for the democrats. Not because they are democrats, but because they aren’t republicans. Just kidding. Maybe.
31. No offense to democrats, republicans, or anyone else.
32. I’m not easily offended, so I tend to be rather blunt at times.
33. I’m 34…and a half.
34. My hubby is 35.
35. We are both hovering around The Mid-Thirties. Being categorized as belonging to a new bracket on the age-chart is always an interesting thing. I handle it better than my hubby does.
36. I am very open-minded when it comes to most things.
37. I will stand up for what I believe in.
38. But I’m also very good at choosing my battles.
39. My hubby had longer hair than I did when we first met. And, he still does. I’ve had shorter hair and longer hair, and now I’m in a shorter phase again.
41. I have naturally red hair. The only coloring I’ve had done is some highlights to detract from the gray.
42. Previous to meeting my hubby, one of my ex-boyfriend’s roommates accidentally set my head on fire. I was terrified, but wasn’t injured. The flames didn’t burn my scalp, but my attempt at growing my hair longer was ruined.
43. Thankfully, I remembered “Stop, Drop, and Roll,” and my head didn’t catch the drapes on fire!
44. Surprisingly, being set on fire hasn’t had any lasting effects on me. Luckily, I still love sitting around a campfire at night.
45. Sometimes I marvel at the seemingly random way we meet the most important people in our lives.
46. I’m so glad my hubby and I found each other, and I’m glad I said yes. To everything.
47. I had a miscarriage a couple months before getting pregnant with Claire. That has been the hardest thing I’ve gone through. So far.
48. My hubby still has long hair, and he wears it in a ponytail. I’ve always been a sucker for men with long hair.
49. Oddly enough, I also find bald men very attractive.
50. I actually had a crush on Skinner from The X-Files.
51. The X-Files is one of my absolute favorite shows.
52. I also loved Sex and the City and Six Feet Under.
53. I love going to the dentist.
54. I’ve never had a cavity.
55. I love playing in the pool more than I like “swimming,” but I still say I love swimming.
56. I’m a good swimmer, but the deep-end still makes me nervous.
57. I accidentally broke my swim teacher’s nose when she told me to jump right in front of her. I miscalculated and jumped right on her. I’m still not sure why she didn’t move.
58. I still remember jumping off the high-dive when I was in Swimming Lessons. I was so proud of myself.
59. I can’t wait to take Claire to swimming lessons.
60. I used to babysit a lot, and most of those “kids” are in their mid-20s now! That really makes me feel old.
61. I was eight years old when my baby brother was born.
62. I was almost three when my first sister was born, and I was almost five when my second sister was born.
63. I hated being the “responsible” one.
64. They all knew exactly what buttons to push to get me in trouble.
65. And, I was plenty capable of getting in trouble all on my own.
66. Despite that, I really was a “good girl” growing up.
67. I remember being very jealous when my sister was born.
68. I remember feeling very motherly when my brother was born.
69. I don’t really remember what I felt when my middle sister was born. I was good at being a big sister by then.
70. I moved away from home and left them all behind.
71. We’re much closer now, even though I live in a different state.
72. We hardly ever fight anymore, and we used to fight constantly.
73. I’m not sure how my parents remained sane. Or, have they?
74. I was born in 1974. Every time I see the number 74, I think of that.
75. I still remember the day my brother spit green Kool-Aid on my face and in my hair. He’d puffed out his cheeks, and I thought he was kidding about there being something in there. I squished them together and he spit it all over me. I guess I learned my lesson. I’ve never squished anyone’s puffed out cheeks since then.
76. “Seventy-six trombones led the big parade!” Sorry…every time I see the number 76, that song gets stuck in my head.
77. I still remember the day my baby brother got stung on the head by a bumble bee. He was three, and I was supposed to be watching him. He was in the garage and I was riding my bike in the driveway. I was watching him. I saw him swatting at something, and then I saw him crying. I got in so much trouble that day. He learned not to swat at bumble bees.
78. I remember the day he dangled a fake spider on my face as I was sleeping in the top bunk of our bunk beds. I screamed. He got in so much trouble that day.
79. I have a massive fear of spiders, to this day. It’s not debilitating, but it’s powerful.
80. I used to work with someone from Sweden, and she didn’t believe in killing spiders. She said in her country they say that if you kill a spider, it will rain. I remember telling her, “We’re in the middle of a drought! We really need the rain,” as I smacked a small spider by my desk.
81. Normally, I try my hardest not to hurt other creatures. It’s unfortunate for Spiders that they aren’t included in my definition of worthy creatures.
82. I collect maps and have five of them on the walls of my office right now, but I have even more maps hidden in my box of treasures. The exact number is unknown.
83. My two sisters and I shared a room. We had a bunk bed and a third bed in there.
84. My baby brother got to have his own room because he was the only boy.
85. My baby brother got to have a lot of things because he was the only boy.
86. Part of me felt like my dad blamed me for being a girl, and that being a girl was a bad thing.
87. Luckily, I never let those feelings dictate who I became.
88. I still remember the day my brother fell off the swing-set and hit his head so hard he had amnesia. Luckily, I didn’t get in trouble that time. I remember remaining calm until my parents got home. I remember the details of that day so vividly. I remember the physics homework I was working on, and everything. He still had some of his long-term memory, but his short term memory was messed up for a few days, and he didn’t remember the whole past year. He later regained his memory, but it was months later.
89. Speaking of Physics, I was the only girl in my Advanced Physics class in High School.
90. I excelled in all subjects, but all the aptitude “What Should You Be When You Grow Up” tests all pointed me in the direction of a career in science. It was ranked slightly higher than writing.
91. I refused to listen and went into Spanish and Social Work instead.
92. I graduated from High School in 1992. Every time I see that number, I remember what it felt like to have graduated and how nervous and excited I was for college.
93. I sometimes wonder how my life would be different had I become a scientist.
94. I have a feeling it wouldn’t matter. It’s not like I’m a social worker anymore anyway. Well, I don’t hold the title officially, but a day doesn’t go by where I’m not someone’s counselor, on one level or another.
95. I’ve also been a Corporate Drone, Adventure Vacation Travel Agent, and Sales Director…and have lived to tell about it.
96. I graduated from college in 1996. Every time I see the number 96, I remember wondering what I would do after graduation in “the real world.”
97. I am glad to have gotten more in touch with my inner Writer via this blog. My inner Scientist loves reading Popular Mechanics and watching Mythbusters.
98. I’m a firm believer in getting a college education. There are so many things to learn from the college experience, and some of the most important don’t actually happen within the walls of a classroom.
99. I paid for my entire college education myself. Luckily, I had a lot of scholarships. I worked hard in High School so that I could get the scholarships to make my college education possible. I went to a very expensive Private College, and yet, I was fortunate to have a relatively low college loan.
100. No matter how small the college loan, it can be challenging to pay off. The day I wrote the final check was the date I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.
101. I love writing lists. I love checking off items even more.
102. Did you notice that I purposely skipped #40 for absolutely no other reason than to see if you were paying attention?
And with that…we’re done!
I can’t believe you’ve made it to the end of my list! And, I can’t believe I haven’t even scratched the surface of what it means to be me.
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