Monthly Archive for December, 2009

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General Blogkeeping & a Sneak Peek at a Review of Winter WonderLights

Published on Wednesday, December 9, 2009 in Blog Business, Christmas, Claire, Featured Elsewhere, Fun, Mile High Mamas and Photos. 1 Comment Tags: , , , .

I’ve got a project brewing that requires me to stir it more often than it did before, so I’m going to be posting on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays here at The Casual Perfectionist. I also reserve the right to switch that up at any time, but if you know me, you’ll know the thought of ruining the little pattern this will create on the month of December on the sidebar is enough to make me break out in hives.

In fact, I had this post written yesterday, but I couldn’t bring myself to light-up a random Tuesday on that little calendar.

So, what’s happening today? I’ve got a writing piece featured at Mile High Mamas! It’s a little review I did of Winter WonderLights, at The Wildlife Experience.

Here’s a sneak peek of our adventure:

Claire was so excited to see Santa that this is what her face looked like the whole way there.

On our way to see Santa

I love it so much that I made it my Twitter photo.  :)

She got to see Santa AND tell him what she wanted in her stocking. He had some good goals for her. I’m expecting a better-than-average month.

Big Hug for Santa

Wanna know more?

Click here to check it out!

Click here to check it out!

Do I tell her that I’ve been crazy for years?

Published on Monday, December 7, 2009 in Claire, Conversations and Parenting 101. 2 Comments

“I’m doing that to try to make you crazy,” she said to me.

I had to laugh at the pure sincerity of it all.
I love the honesty of 4-year olds.

You’ll notice he didn’t question the fact that I communicated with the aliens.

Published on Friday, December 4, 2009 in Conversations. 2 Comments

Setting the scene: The temperature outside is hovering around 3-degrees Fahrenheit. It’s after midnight.  We are snuggled in bed. The house is dark.  All of a sudden, there is a loud motor-like noise outside.

Him, mumbling under the covers: What is that noise?

Me, yanked from the verge of slumber by his question: It’s the aliens. They’ve come to get you. I told them where you’d be tonight.

Him: But it’s so cold outside. I thought it would be hot when they came for me.

Me: Space is cold. Space is a very, very cold place.

Him: True. But, you’d think their engines would warm it up a bit. I hope it’s warm in the Mothership.

Cheaper Than Therapy

Published on Thursday, December 3, 2009 in Artwork, Fun, Gift Ideas and Photos. 3 Comments

Alternate title: @casualperfect paints a piece of @casualperfect pottery

casualperfect mug 5On November 20th, I organized a get together with some friends at a local paint-your-own-pottery place. I’ve been there before, more than once, and they were going to have later hours in honor of Twilight’s New Moon movie on that particular Friday night. The later hours made it perfect for our monthly Moms Night Out event with my MOMS Club.

I’m not into Twilight, but I am into painting pottery.  I love it.  I could do it every day, if given a chance.  I’m not into vampires, but I couldn’t make fun of the people who painted pottery in honor of Twilight…especially since I put my twitter name on my mug.

I mean, both Pot and Kettle were sitting at my table, so I had to be nice.

casualperfect mug 1

casualperfect mug 2

casualperfect mug 3

casualperfect mug 4

I love how it turned out!Spiral Plate

I love the plate I painted there (it was the first piece I’ve done there!), and I wrote down the numbers of my glazes, because I knew I’d be adding to my collection eventually.  There are so many colors to choose from, and I knew I’d never remember the exact numbers.

See?  It matches!  The differences in the backgrounds make them look slightly different, but the colors are the same.  Trust me.  The Perfectionist is SO glad I remembered my glaze numbers, and the Casual is SO glad she doesn’t have to listen to the Perfectionist complain.  It’s a win-win situation!

I wonder what I’ll make next time?

Confessions of a Casual Perfectionist: A List

Published on Wednesday, December 2, 2009 in Confessions and NaBloPoMo 2009. Closed Tags: , .

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I did it! All 30 Days of NaBloPoMo are done!

Now that December is here, and I’ve feverishly written for the last thirty days, I may be taking a break.  Or not.  I guess you’ll just have to see what happens.  Every time I say I’ll take a break, I get more blog fodder dumped on me than I know how to sort.

It’s kinda like laundry. . .but not really.

Anyway…

Like any good perfectionist, I’d like to give you a handy list of all my confessions. So…here they are!

  1. How this project began: The thought of breaking the “NaBloPoMo” chain makes me sick.
  2. I remember very vividly the day I thought I’d gone crazy, and I remember being totally okay with that.
  3. I’m the Grammar Snob about whom your mother warned, and even I sing the “I before E” song in my head.
  4. I will spend more time avoiding little projects I hate, than it would actually take to get them done.
  5. I tried to learn how to be patient, but it took way too long, so I gave that up. Now, I just pretend.
  6. There isn’t a word to describe how much I love puzzles.
  7. While cleaning, I’ll bend over, pick a small piece of trash up off the floor, and if it’s small enough, I’ll drop it in the path of the vacuum.
  8. I love to be spontaneous. In fact, I always try to leave time in the schedule for lots of impromptu things.
  9. If I complete something that wasn’t on my To Do List, it takes every ounce of my being not to write it on there anyway, just so I can cross it off.
  10. I love taking things literally, sometimes too literally, but I never take things to Literally. I mean, I’ve never been to Literally, so how could I take things there?
  11. I named my BlackBerry, and I refer to her as a she.
  12. I have my Holiday Letter done, and they’ll be ready to mail by the December 1st deadline.
  13. I love numbers.
  14. I’m not bossy; you’re just not very good at taking direction. Okay, maybe I’m a little bossy.
  15. Nine years ago today we eloped. Kinda.
  16. I have a super power, but it’s only effective in the winter.
  17. I don’t like holiday decorations.
  18. I used to be a wizard, and I had a dragon as a pet.
  19. My daughter told everyone I had a boyfriend named David. Our imaginary relationship lasted for over a year, and I missed him when he left me.
  20. Sometimes I’m the one who wants chicken nuggets for lunch.
  21. I never really worry about something dreadful happening to my daughter’s stuffed-lovey, because we have an exact replica hidden in a secret location, and they trade places often.
  22. I have created an effective Queue Management system that creates less stress while providing more drama, and when we’re talking about movies, more drama and less stress is always a good thing.
  23. If you don’t show up when you said you would, I’ll assume you’re dead in a ditch somewhere.
  24. Some people are “Glass Half-Empty” kinda people. Some people are “Glass Half-Full” kinda people. I’m more of a “Please Don’t Put the Glass Too Close to the Edge of the Table” kinda person.
  25. I’m a scientist at heart.
  26. I wanted to skip a post today, since it’s Thanksgiving, and just do a “Happy Thanksgiving! This totally counts as a post today” post. But I can’t bring myself to do it. (In other words, if I say I’ll do something, I’ll do it.)
  27. I am a Night Owl. In a perfect world, I’d get up at the crack of Noon.
  28. I’m a time traveler.
  29. I have a really cool process that combines a fun photo of the party with a Thank You Card. It works like a charm!
  30. I love milestones.

So, now what?  I have big plans for this little list.  ;)   It’s helping me jumpstart a project I’ve had brewing for a while.  So, stay tuned!

Has anyone seen where Grinch is hiding today?

Published on Tuesday, December 1, 2009 in Featured Elsewhere and Mile High Mamas. Closed Tags: .

Now that December is here…what traditions do you have in your house? Do you put up a Christmas Tree? Do you hang Stockings by the Chimney with care? Do you light the Menorah? Is an unadorned Festivus Pole more your style? Do you hide a stuffed Grinch somewhere in the house every day in December and wait to see who finds him first?

I’m writing about traditions – new and old – today at Mile High Mamas, the Denver Post‘s parenting blog!

Go check it out!

Traditionally Speaking

The comments are closed here, but I’d love to hear from you over there!