and you thought you were weird...

well it didn't take long for me to lose my "tagged virginity" :)  jess blessed me with the wonderful privilege of admitting 7 of my quirks.  i'm only going to do 5 because they'll be crazy enough to count for 7...trust me.  so here are 2 reasons why this will be a good thing.  first, it's always nice not needing to think of a post (even though i just began and actually have a few in my hip pocket).  second, and most importantly, this will make each and every one of you feel 10,000 times better about yourself and your quirks.  let the fun begin...

1)  shoes.  ok, so i know this would be more of an addiction than a quirk, but how many guys do you know of that could fill up 16 closets full if he had the money and still go shoe shopping every weekend?  yes, this may be typical for most of you ladies out there, but ask your men if they'd do the same...maybe i should start a support group for guys :)  i confided in another guy friend about this who has the same problem and we could only come to one conclusion: basketball players.  you get so used to spending so much time shopping for basketball shoes until you find the perfect pair that it must get ingrained into your head that this is the way you're supposed to shop for shoes.  i could go on about dress clothes, too, but i don't know where that one came from...although i was voted best dressed in h.s. (not sure how that happened when i look back at pictures from back in the day--i rationalize it by saying "that was the style back then" lol).

2)  pacing on the phone.  now you can have a visual if you ever call me.  i can't stop walking back and forth...around in circles...doesn't matter.  gotta. keep. moving.  the funny thing is that my 23 month old daughter has picked up on it and now when she grabs the phone to gab on and on, she's walking around and around the entire townhouse.  i'll have to get a video of it sometime :)

3)  "even-ness":  let me try and explain this.  if i'm walking and step on a crack near the heel of my left foot, i have to, at some point, step on a crack in the exact same spot on my right foot.  obviously i can't always do this immediately on the next step (cuz that would just look goofy right? lol) so i have to keep track and eventually get back to "even".  if this isn't possible, then i revert to looking goofy and making things right in my world :)  this is just the beginning...i have to stretch the same amount on each side.  if i have a song in my head, the syllables in the lyrics have to be even...if not, i'll "accidentally" skip a word or add a word or sing the lyric twice in my head to get it even.  wow, this is getting bad isn't it...and i'm only on #3!!!

4)  numbers: adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing...why were these invented???  apparently for me.  if i add two numbers together, i have to add them a different way to see if i get the same answer (which is always the case...isn't math beautiful?? haha)  e.g. 12+8=20...but if you just take 2 off the 12 you can add 10 and 10 and it becomes an easier way to get to 20.  this is a very simple example...believe me, it gets waaaaaaaaaaay worse.

5)  efficiency.  ok, this is the absolute BANE of my existence.  i was destined to be an engineer looooooooong before i knew what one was and what they did.  here's where engineers really came from: lazy people.  if there is a way to make something to easier to do (most of the time in theory :) ha!)...if there's a way for something to be done just by pushing a button, or simply to do nothing at all, call an engineer and he'll spend hours, days, years, trying to figure a way out to be lazier.  ok, so back to efficiency.  it begins in the morning.  if i'm wasting time, it drives me crazy.  another example: why stand in the front of mirror and swish mouthwash while staring at myself in the mirror when i could be putting deodorant on or putting toothpaste on my tooth brush or putting away my contact solution while doing it.  i drive wifey crazy in stores (especially the grocery store)--me: ok you go down this aisle while i go grab this this and this and i'll meet you here.  each item is picked up in a specific order to prevent wasted steps.

OK...i think i'm going to stop now.  i doubt anybody is still reading this since it's like 12 pages long.  but, if you are...don't you feel sooooooooooo much better about yourself???  i'm pretty sure i've assured myself that nobody will tag me about quirks again so they don't fall asleep :)

Comments

[jessica]

you were not kidding. holy crap, you are a freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeak. we can not have the same bloodlines. although, i *might* admit to #2. ok, i will. and i'm pretty sure my husband is an engineer at heart. he will spend FOREVER working on making something 'simpler' but could have done it six times the normal way by time the process has been perfected.

dang. i'm speechless when i re-read this.

although you're ridiculously quirky, i still love ya!

[Jaime]

The funniest thing about quirks is that, they are NOT quirks. I think most people DO each others quirks. I've read a few quirk lists in the past month. Let me see, I am with you on #2, #4, and #5.
Do you do this? The number/math thing, with the digits on any digital clock? It makes me crazy... how I'm constantly doing combos on the alarm clock, the cable box, microwave, etc.!

[jenny]

i already knew you had issues with shoes! will you come rub off on matt - he never gets new shoes (it drives me insane). i can picture you pacing on the phone - did you do something like this in high school? hmmm. number 3/4/5 put you into freak status! hahaha! you crack me up.

[Kristi S]

Okay, reading the first two...I thought this was my man posting it! We just cleaned out and reorganized our closets on Monday and he had at least 10-15 boxes of brand new sneakers, basketball shoes, etc. And he is always pacing around while on the phone, doesn't mater who he is talking to or about what.
As for the counting thing...those are good strategies that I also teach my students. Use whatever works for you and don't be embarrassed! Now if you started to get like Jim Carey in "23", then you'd have to start to worry! LOL

[jessica]

james taught me how to do #4, btw. he's a freak too. must have gotten it from you. but you can probably make some money off of that one. to buy shoes.

[Tim]

Although I was originally disappionted that I had to find out that you were expecting from your wife's facebook page, I realize that had less to do with me and more to do with your freakiness, I mean "quirks." I knew all of those though, so I guess I'm not shocked. We've all changed over the years, but it's good to see some of the basics are still the same.