I am quirky

If you know me at all, you know I have a whole bunch of quirks.  Some are endearing (or so I've been told).  Some are annoying as hell.  Some make living with me a big ole nightmare and I have no idea how Mark does it.

I have a grease phobia.  Yes, there is a phobia for this, although the name escapes me.  I don't like fried food.  I don't keep oils or butters or margarines in the house.  I will use olive oil sparingly.  This whole part of the country seems obsessed with battering and breading and deep frying everything.  Yuck!

My OCD makes things interesting.  I don't like crooked things.  I need everything even.  Mark is so used to me, thank goodness, that he always checks to make sure everything is okay in my eyes.  The day that we have to change the clocks you can pretty much guarantee that I will need Lorazepam.  If a clock is off by 1/100th of an inch, I can spot it.  And cannot be in the same room with it until remedied.

I believe that I have some sensory issues.  I cannot go into any place that has tiny patterns on the floor.  There's a bookstore in town that I would LOVE to peruse.  Their carpeting has this pattern on it that literally sent me into a panic attack the one time we went into it.  I can barely walk by the store anymore and can't look in the window.

Our Vet's office has some exam rooms that have checkered wallpaper.  I always request NOT to be in those rooms.  When I'm put into one, I need to keep the door open and my eyes focused on the exam table, or I will lose it.

Sounds drive me batty.  The sound of Mrs's nails on our wood floors sets me off.  Mister Petey Picard has this bark that just BOOMS.  I cringe every time he barks.  And Barney.....Barney licks everything.  E V E R Y T H I N G.  And it sounds disgusting.  Mark thinks it's funny to have Barney lick his ears.  I have to leave the room.

The lights in some stores, like Walmart, will cause me anxiety.  When I do go out on my own (I prefer to go everywhere with Mark), I carry lavender essential oils with me.  If I start feeling scared, I sniff the oils and sometimes can make it through the shopping trip.  Most of the time, the lavender calms me enough to get to my car and get home.

I like things a certain way.  Going out to dinner with me is an experience.  My friend Jen calls me "Meg" or "Sally" as in Meg Ryan in "When Harry Met Sally".  I normally have the waitress go back and ask the chef questions at least a couple times when we go out.  I substitute or have it on the side or ask for it a certain way, every time.

Mark is watching something on Roku right now.  It's a streaming something or other.  And the voice is not matching the video and there are echos.  It's driving me nuts!!

I don't walk near the road when it's snowing out.  I can place the blame for that on my ptsd from our car accident when I was a child.  When waiting for a school bus, a car slid on black ice and landed on my two sisters, throwing me across the street into our front yard.  I won't ride in a vehicle if the roads are bad.  I need meds to get through it when Mark drives to work in bad weather.  Mark is the only driver I trust in the winter.

I can pinpoint and put the blame of some things on certain issues I've had in my life.  I'm just thankful for people who understand me (or at least pretend to), and also for my friends who are strong enough to tell me when I might be getting TOO OCD and need to see someone.  And I'm seeing him in a week or so!

For now, we'll just call me quirky.