So not OCD

A group of teachers from my school all signed up for a Masters class together a couple of weeks ago.  Classes are way more fun when you have lots of friends to goof off with.  I forgot that about college.  All of my memories seem to revolve around G-Phi and Aggieville.  Now that I think of it, there were classes involved... occasionally.

Anyways... our instructor asked us to share with the group something in our lives that we had to have just so.  I knew mine right away, but was amazed that I was pretty much the only one at the table who isn't a self-declared Type A perfectionist.  People talked about how they can't go to bed at night if their house isn't spotless, how they menu-plan and grocery shop for exactly what meals & snacks they will eat, how their classroom and desk must be in exact order, and how their OCD tendencies drive everyone in their families crazy.

Whoa.  That is so not me.  Sure, I'd like my house to be clean and orderly.  It would be great to have a desk where I could actually find things.  Menu planning?  That sounds awesome.  But if those things don't get done... meh.  Surely they can get done the next day week year.  I have no trouble turning a blind eye to the disaster in my living room and hitting the sack for a good night's sleep.  No trouble at all.

Perhaps I could use a tad more OCD in my life. 

There are however, some things that I'm a bit particular about.  These are the Top 10 Things I'm Slightly Kind-Of A Little Bit OCD about.  Enjoy.

1.  The bed must be made every day.  Every day.  This is the only real one on this list.  Seriously, it will be made.  If Drew gets up after I leave for work, he knows he must (MUST!) make the bed.  If I come home and it is un-made, things will get real. 

2.  Recycling.  This one drives everyone crazy.  But if you can recycle it, then you should.  I'll see kids throw a piece of paper away and I make them dig it out and walk the 3 feet to the recycle bin.  They always complain that it is just one piece of paper.  IT ALL ADDS UP!  I will not stand on my soap box and tell you what a wasteful society we are (at least not right now) but seriously, if you can recycle it, you should.  Even if it requires a small amount more effort than just throwing it away.

3.  Sharp Pencils.  Oh how I love sharp pencils!  A box of #2's is the best part of being a teacher*!  I love love love sitting down and filling out my lesson planner with an extra sharp pencil.  I will get up to re-sharpen it every 3 minutes because I love them nice and pointy.

4.  Flossing.  I floss every day.  Every day.  I do not skip a day.  I floss every day. 

5.  Fruits & Veggies.  I'm of the opinion that there is nothing better that you can do for your health than eat more fruits and veggies.  I eat a lot of them.  Sometimes I'm a bit crazy about it.  You should see my smoothies.  If there is a way to squeeze more veggies into what I'm eating, I'll do it.  My favorite quote from someone at lunch, "Whoa, that's a lot of broccoli".  Yes, it is.  It's also a lot of cancer-fighting power, mofo.

6.  Running the Numbers.  Exact Numbers.  My running buddy Britt always laughs at me because I must run exact numbers.  If my training plan calls for 16 miles, I will run 16 miles.  I will not run 15.97.  I will not run 16.02.  I will run 16.00 miles.  If necessary, I will run back and forth in front of my house to get my Garmin to register the exact number.  I'm a finance girl at heart.  15.97 makes me itchy.

7.  HFCS.  Reading ingredient labels has become second nature to me.  And I refuse to purchase anything that contains high fructose corn syrup or any kind of hydrogenated fat.  Yes, I know that there is conflicting evidence about HFCS.  But the best advice I ever heard was from Michael Pollan when he said that if a product contains HFCS, it is probably overly processed and not good for you anyway.  So I won't buy it.  That does not mean I won't buy overly processed junk food.  It just can't contain HFCS.  Whatever helps you me sleep at night.

8.  Reading a Magazine.  Oh how I love magazines!  But I have a severe problem in that I must read it cover to cover.  Even if there is just one article I'm buying the magazine for, I have to start at page 1 and work my way through.  I probably have five Runner's World Magazines that are marked at the page I left off on because I never had time to read the whole thing and I CAN'T just read the interesting articles!  And I can't just throw them away recycle them without reading the entire thing. 

9.  Drinking Water.  I think all runners worry about proper hydration.  I'm a bit on the crazy end of this.  I'm always so thirsty.  And I drink a lot... of water.  I bring two large water bottles to work every day and refill them often and drink all day and feel like I'm completely parched all the time.  Once I read that excessive thirst is a sign of diabetes.  So I had my doctor run a test.  Diagnosis: Hypochondria.  I'm so thirsty.  I'm gonna go chug some water.

10.  Washing my hands.  Okay, this one might also be considered a real OCD habit.  Sometimes I do it and don't even realize I'm doing it until I'm in the middle of it and I'm all like, "Why am I washing my hands?"  My kids at school always comment on how I'm always washing my hands.  But seriously, stuff is dirty.  And when I start thinking about touching dirty things I start thinking about how the dirt is on my hands... and I can't stand it.  This also leads to my love affair with Clorox wipes.  I like to disinfect things so I don't have to wash my hands so often.  But then I really don't like the smell of the wipes, so I have to wash my hands after.  Yeesh. 

Ummm... and there you have all of my crazy OCD habits.  If only I could be slightly less OCD about how clean my hands are and slightly more OCD about how clean my house is.  I'm going to go drink some water and ponder those points.

*My God, please do not take that out of context.