Weird Obsessions, Quirks, OCD, Strange Habits

I love sorting things. My nephews have an insane amount of Lego, most bought by me, and there is nothing I love better than sorting them into separate drawers.

I'm the same way with scrapbook supplies. Sometimes I find sorting them as satisfying as scrapping with them.

I make lists. And more lists. And even more lists. I love making lists.

And then crossing things off the lists. But....if the list gets too messy, I have to/need to/compulsion write a new list with the remaining items.

I find making lists very comforting. I think it helps organize my chaotic mind. Even though my DH makes fun of me. (Even though he often asks me if I have a grocery list, shopping list, to do list. Ha) It’s just one of my quirks and makes me happy.

I too am a sorter. I LOVE putting like things together. My standard reply to my husband who is forever looking for something he misplaced is, if you would just put like things together you would always know where things are.

Not too long ago I sorted about twenty jars of change. Now that was fun! 

I am a list maker.

I have routines and I don't any disruptions to them. 
Morning wake up routine
Shower routine
Evening routine (this one varies slightly depending on what needs to be done....all dishes washed, straighten up purse, kitty litter, check bank account, update tomorrows to do list, etc...)

I take picture of the oven, stove, etc before I leave the house or go to bed. I take pictures of most every outlet in my houses and spend time having a kid go through the house and check it before a trip. And I have a neighbor come by a few hours after we leave and check it again. I never worry about leaving the doors unlocked! Just worried about fires or water leaks.

Well, you can have OCD that is mild and not debilitating, so I don't think this is inappropriate.

Like I have a compulsion to check the dryer for cats at least three times before running it, even though I just saw them in the hallway. And the straightening iron after I unplug it, I have to say UNPLUGGED out loud as I move the plug to the other side of the counter. And then I get another visual before leaving, or I will obsess over whether I left it on or not. And the basement door locks.

When I am sitting waiting somewhere I count the ceiling tiles or patterns on carpet or number of stairs or whatever I can count. I take photos of carpet in hotels and other places because I like the patterns and might replicate the colors/patterns on cards or something during paper crafting.

I must eat small treats (donut holes, m&ms, cookies) in even numbers so that they each have a friend to perish with in my stomach.

When going up stairs but not down stairs for some reason I count my steps for each foot. Like one one two two three three. No idea why I do this though

This counting thing. I do this. It’s a bit OCD for me, and bugs me. I’ve tried to stop it, but it’s better if I just count. Seriously it’s pretty annoying to me.

I used to spell everything out in my mind. I started it in college when I was taking some language courses, and the spelling helped me learn the words, and of course the spelling. But then it changed, and I started spelling my English words too. It took years to break this habit.

I like to sort. I tried so hard to sort the boys' Legos. They wouldn't follow it so I gave up and tried to ignore it.

I make lists. Graduation party? I have three different lists so far. I also plan in advance. Lists help me with that. I keep telling older ds to make a list of what he needs to do to help him stay organised and on track. He tells me "good idea" and promptly forgets or simply doesn't bother.

Even if I know I locked the car earlier in the day, I have to hit the lock button on each car's fob every night before I go to bed. I'm sure the neighbor thinks I'm nuts and probably knows my bedtime by now. Thankfully, only one car honks when I hit lock. I check the doors and lock the cars even after DH tells me he locked up.

I used to do this too. Not so much anymore. ( sure I will now. Ha )

Picking (popping) black heads on a relative. Must be a blood relative. I get great satisfaction out of this. Don’t do it very often. Just when needed. 

I count things, sometimes.  Little, tedious chores keep me occupied for hours. 

I used to be a counter when I was young, how many steps to the top of the stairs, how many steps between home and school, how many concrete slabs between my house and the corner. Now I have too many other thoughts rattling around in my head to do that so I don’t anymore.

I guess the thing I get most weirdly obsessed about is when I can FEEL a coarse goat hair just before it protrudes from the skin under my chin. I KNOW it’s there and will keep feeling for it, feeling for it, until it finally pokes out it’s dastardly little self. It will barely be out enough to grab it with a tweezer and I’m going after it. And then I obsess about getting it OUT. Like RIGHT NOW. And heaven forbid if I notice it when I’m not somewhere with a tweezer, mirror and bright enough light, because then it really will send me straight to the edges of my sanity until I can get it plucked out.

I also can’t stand bumpy scabs on my skin regardless of where they are. If they are flat they don’t bother me at all.

I’m also a collector of sets. If there is a full set of colors of something, I have a compulsion to have every color in the set even if I know there are some colors I will likely never use. For example, I was at JoAnn’s and they had some sprinkles in jars on clearance. I put the red, white and blue in my cart to make some 4th of July cookies. Then I was thinking, the pink and purple are pretty and I could see using them. Then I kept thinking, should I just buy the orange, yellow, green, brown and black too? Then I’d have THE WHOLE SET!!!!   No, no, NO. Just no! They were over $5 a bottle, and buying the ones I didn’t immediately need would be an extra $30 once the sales tax was added in. (Of course I’m going to have an almost immediate need for those other colors, will go back to buy them, and of course they will then be SOLD OUT. Which happens to me approximately 90% of the time, and then I will go out of my way to go to EVERY.OTHER.STORE to find the missing ones. Ugh.)

My psych says he is ocd about things all the time. I used to ruminate. Those were not fun days. I see where you are coming from but I have had to learn to laugh at my mental illness. Hating it has only made it and me worse.