Routine and OCD

This morning, we got to talking about routines. I am stuck on my morning deal. I get up, turn the 'puter on, let the dog out, check my email, CNN.com, Hamstertime, and a few other various sites. Then, I put away any dishes or clean clothes from the night before, give Britney breakfast, let her back in, then get in the shower. Once in the shower, I wash my hair, then condition. Then, I wash my face. THEN, I wash - left to right. You know, left arm, left leg, right arm, right leg. Shave, same way. Left, then right. Get out, trip over Britney, and then lotion up. Face, legs, you get the idea. THEN, I get dressed, do my hair, brush my teeth, put on my make-up. Creature of habit. I'm also fairly organized. Only in certain things, though. I LOVE a clean house. It bothers me to leave in the morning and know that I left socks laying on the floor. So far, pretty normal, right?

See the Smarties above? Here's where I get a little . . . well, OCD, I guess. If I have something multi-colored (M&M's, Skittles, etc), I organize them by color, and then eat them 1) to get equal numbers of all color, and then 2) in order from my LEAST favorite to MOST favorite. Yes, I realize that M&M's are all the same flavor, but it's the theory there. When it comes to food, I'll also eat from least to most favorite. It's not to say I don't like the first thing, I just like it less than the next. And, there's none of this, a bite of this, a bite of that. I'll eat ALL the salad, then ALL the meat, you get the idea. Cindy has also noticed that I open things from the bottom. Chips, candy, bags get opened from the bottom. I also use things in equal amounts. It's not 3 shakes of the salt shaker, it's 2, or 4. Paper towels to dry hands? 2, or 4. When I walk/run, I count in my head in increments of 10. I can't end on 993 steps - I'll make it be 1000. Hey, I'm not completely strange - Everytime Stacey leaves the house, she flushes all the toilets in the house. What kind of weird quirks do you have?

"The opposite of love isn't hate--it's indifference. And if you hate me, that means you still care."--Marcia Cross on Desperate Housewives