Every morning when my alarm goes off I immediately go in to the bathroom and brush and floss my teeth. Then I turn on the iron, and go in the kitchen and put all the dishes on the drying mat away. Then I empty the litterbox and sweep around it. Then I wash my hands. I go in to the room and pick out my work clothes, iron them, and lay them out. I go in to the bathroom and turn the shower on, then go back and unplug the iron and fold up the ironing board. By this time the shower is nice and warm. I do everything in the shower in the same order every day. Unless I skip a day. And I'm not going to lie, sometimes I skip a day. But rarely, since I now do a lot more exercising. I need to shower sometimes more than once a day. Before I leave the house I make sure my lunch and a piece of fruit are in my bag, and I have closed all the windows. I then pull out stuff from the freezer for dinner.
I used to always find something I liked at a restaurant and order it every time, because of fear I would order something else and not like it. I have broken out of that habit. Because there are so many things I HAVE to do the same every day, I try and create variety in other places in my life. Like the books I read, the music I listen to, the movies I watch, etc.
I walk to work the same way every day, and my path back to the car is a different route. I get home, check the mailbox, get inside and put all my stuff back where it belongs (coffee cup and phone charger), then feed the cats. I sweep around the litterbox and go in to my room. If I am not going anywhere or having company, I put on my pajamas. Then depending on what day it is sometimes I water my lawns. Then I pull out what I'm having for dinner 'cause it usually has an hour more to thaw.
I work out in my living room, or in the backyard every week night except Friday. Sometimes I put on workout clothes, but sometimes I just do it in my pj's. It depends. Sometimes if I want to have a lazy night I set my alarm for 5 am so I can go for a run or workout in the backyard in the morning, when it's cool outside. It gets pretty hot here in the summer, and I hate being hot.
I like my things just so. Not only do I like them just so, I NEED them just so. Since I know I can not control the world around me when I am outside my home, I really like that I can control the environment inside my home. It makes me feel safe. If something in my house is out of order it throws me off and makes me really uncomfortable. This is why the thought of sharing my home with someone has always frightened me. It's also why getting the cats was kind of a test. I had to see if I could still operate with things in the house not exactly how I wanted them to be. I'm slowly relaxing about some of my control issues, but I know for a fact some of them will be with me forever. Like the need to do the dishes before I go to bed (which I have now not done a total of three times since I've owned my home. Go me!)
There are some things that I can't stand when other people do, that I am slowly realizing aren't that big of a deal. There is one thing in particular Dave does that I HATE. But it's not rude, and doesn't really negatively effect me, so I'm trying to just let it go and get over it. That is huge for me. To have someone sitting next to me fiddling with their phone makes my fucking skin crawl. But I'm working on it. I don't need to understand why someone is so attached to their phone, or playing Boggle while we're watching tv. I just need to understand that it is something they enjoy doing, and be okay with that. Just like they have a lot of stuff I'm sure bugs them about me, like having to have my books just so. Or the fact that I go behind them and wipe down the counters after them. And the million other things that are totally annoying that I know I do. :)
I am a total creature of habit and I admit it. Some of those habits are good, and some I need to let go of. Some are a complete necessity so that I can continue to go through life without taking meds. Some are just habits I got in to from living alone so long that really are of no importance whatsoever. I am constantly learning about which ones are fluid and which ones are rigid. There aren't as many rigid ones as I thought there were. And hopefully, as I grow, there will be less and less rigid ones. That sure would be keen.
Happy picture of the day: here's Kymberley and I on the Giant Dipper. We had to buy the picture because we look so ridiculous. I love this picture.
You, (unfortunately) sound so much like me, I can't stop laughing. I do almost all the same things you listed here, and more.
ReplyDeleteI forget EVERYTHING. I have (more than once), tied one shoe and actually forgotten to tie the other. I've put shampoo in my hair, but forgotten to wash it out. It's that bad.
I, also, order the same thing in certain restaurants, cause I know what I'll get, and I won't be disappointed. I also, loose my ever loving mind when people are eating and they scrape their silverware across their teeth. Ugh. Just thinking about it makes my skin crawl.
Here's hoping one day, I can find a way to loosen up, and let some of these things go :)
I have never left shampoo in my hair. One day when I didn't put my keys where they belong I lost them for HOURS. I found them in the garbage. Don't ask. I have no idea.
ReplyDeleteAs a person who doesn't need to have everything the same, this was a fascinating read! I mean, sure, I put my keys in the same spot every day when I come home, but there is no essential to my routine.
ReplyDeleteEven given that, I still find it hard to live with other people, too. For me it's just more about my alone time and personal space :)
My friend and I were discussing how everyone has preferences. We just have them to the extent that if we don't do them they make us physically ill, or we just lose stuff forever. haha.
ReplyDeleteI have a REALLY hard time living with people. Mostly because people are slobs with no consideration for others though. I had one roommate who was awesome. I really like living alone.
I never realized that people are that systematic. I forget things all the time. I blame menopause. Ugh!
ReplyDeleteLove that picture!! Things that scream 'happy' make me happy. That is a happy picture. How many times can I say happy in a paragraph?
ReplyDeleteThe phone thing.....okay...I've wondered if I am the only one that has been having this nagging fear that this insane attachment to phones will one day prove to be disastrous to humanity and the world as a whole. Pardon - my 'gloom and doom mentality' is showing. First of all, let me say that I have one of those smart phones...and I do find that it can be incredibly tempting to default to that when I'm bored/waiting in line/etc etc.....but then I wonder, what the???? Why not make eye contact with people? Compliment the person in front of me in line???
I keenly observe people. I"m noticing this particular way that EVERYONE holds their phones as they walk about with it. It's like this upturned claw. Will peoples' limbs morph and adapt to this grip (pun intended) of technology?
I feel ya - I am married to a phone fiddler. Hubs never has that thing farther than arm's length away, and it dings and bings with different notifications. He is a game app junkie. Yesterday at our favorite restaurant over chips and salsa, he reached for that thing to glance at the message while I was talking (PET PEEVE!!). I sighed...heavily and asked him to please not touch his phone while we're together talking. He's a good sport. He agreed. We have also instructed our kids that when we are at the table together (or in a group setting socially) to put the phones away. We didn't succumb to giving them smart phones, but they aren't to text at the table.
Anyhoo - I can relate. I bet Dave would respect that if you spoke a nice request to put a hiatus on the tech gadgets when you're supposed to be together. You think?
CLR,
ReplyDeleteIf you lived close we would be best friends. While in Santa Cruz we had a very long discussion about how tech gadgets are ruining people's ability to communicate face to face. And not only that, but how WE'RE the assholes because we think it's not appropriate to text someone while in the middle of a face to face conversation.
I think he will get better about it. I've told him, "That really bugs me." He usually doesn't like to do things that he knows annoy me.