Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Let's Call Them 'Quirks'

I think everyone has a teensy bit of OCD in them.

(I’m talking minor silly OCD tendencies, not full-blown Jack Nicholson in ‘As Good As It Gets’)

For example, my mother has to turn all the lights and electricity off, the minute you leave a room. Growing up I would be watching TV, get up to go to the bathroom, and come back and the room would be completely dark and silent.

A few years ago I worked with a girl who would check her alarm 47 times before she could peacefully drift off to sleep.

And I love my favorite house flipper Jeff Lewis on BRAVO, who will move a planter a quarter of an inch in every direction for twenty minutes.

I am not above admitting that I have a FEW things that make me a little bit…quirky.

My Own Little OCD

Locked doors.
I am a FREAK when it comes to locking doors. I have been known on many occasions to get up out of bed to double-check to make sure the house is secure.
Number of times this happens a week: 3


The car alarm.
I will beep the car two or three times after getting out. (You know, in case the first one didn’t take?) ((I have also been known to creep out of bed and point my keys out the upstairs hallway window at 3am…just to be sure))


• The grocery store.
Two things here:
One, I have to make my list out in the order the items appear in the store (Ridiculous, right?).
Two, I must unload my cart and place my grocery items on the conveyor belt in the order in which I’d like them bagged.
Number of times nothing is bagged how I like: every time


Magazines.
Okay, this one is a little strange/weak, but I’m not a fan when you read one of my magazines before I do.
EXTRA ANNOYING: when you read my new magazine TO me.


Milk dates.
(I don’t think this qualifies as OCD, but you can definitely put it in the category of ‘things that make kk slightly…eccentric’) I obsess over the date stamp on milk. If milk’s Sell By date is today, I might drink it. If it’s dated yesterday, forget it.


I KNOW I’m not the only one with these – um, idiosyncrasies.

What are YOUR “healthy obsessions”???

9 comments:

Living Well said...

I totally agree with you on the magazine reading bit! I hate hate hate when someone cracks open one of my new magazines! I've been known to rip it out of someone's hands and then try to gracefully recover from acting like a crazy person!

Lori Whitwam said...

Oh, so numerous! (Blogged extensively on Fermented Fur) But the one that comes to mind right now, since I'm about to drive home from work, is that I must take the same route, and change lanes in exactly the same spots on my commute. If someone blocks me, instant nervous wreck (not a literal wreck. yet.). I also have two cigarettes per commute, and light them in the same spots along the way. Oh, and feeding the dogs... the bowls go in the same order on the counter, filled exactly the same way, and distributed in pre-determined order. I wish I could develop at least some slight OCD that involved cleaning. (No I don't.)

kolls said...

OMG, I totally agree on the magazine thing! I also have to check my phone alarms at least four times each night, but that's because I'm SUCH a heavy sleeper :)

Muffy Willowbrook said...

How my bras are placed in my dresser drawer. I don't like them shoved in there (Commander does the laundry), so I have to take them all out, reposition everything so the cups stay nice and undisturbed!

I don't like creased boobs!

Little Ms Blogger said...

I actually grocery shop the same way you do. The list is organized by the aisles. However, they are placed on the conveyer belt with no specific order.

The Sorority said...

I have so many - where to begin:
- I have to have my towels folded exactly the way I like or it makes me crazy. Have been known to re-fold them just to have them look appropriate. It makes me crazy when my husband moves my stuff around in the car when he drives it. Also, I can't sleep at night unless the bed is completely made -you know how sometimes you are so tired and you think that you can just sleep under the duvet without the duvet cover on it - well I can't.

I too hate it when people read my magazines before I do. I have been known to hide them so that I have the 'first' read.

Sarah Elizabeth said...

I do the grocery list thing and the car alarm thing as well. One more for the books is-I can't leave anything on an odd number (ex. TV volume, thermostat/car temp)

--- said...

i agree with you on the magazine thing 100%...it drives me insane when someone reads them before i can.

i don't like it if someone takes the first drink out of what i'm drinking (soda, water, beer, wine) i just feel that the first drink should be reserved for me..after that i'll share.

Beth said...

Oh OCD. Yeah... I may have some of those... tenancies.

Like how when I write I like everything to be evenly spaced on the page.

Or if someone leaves the water running even for a second, I lose my mind.

And... I may check my cell phone compulsively before I go to bed to assure the alarm is on as well.

Or that everything in the dishwasher or dish drying thing has to be grouped appropriately and placed in the spots it was meant to be placed.

I could go on forever. It amazes me that my boyfriend still finds me fairly normal....