Friday, July 21, 2006

The Oddities of Being Me

It's occurred to me lately that I have a rather strange morning routine. And if you've taken time to procrastinate through the 100 things link on the side, you'll see that I have a minor case of undiagnosed OCD. Which also applies to how I manage my time.

Really it all boils down to the fact that I hate mornings. With a passion. If I could train my children to wake up after 9:00 am on days off, I would cry tears of joy every damn night. Alas, they (along with CB) are all morning people. They cheerily get out of bed around 6:15 every morning, well-rested and ready to face the day. This hour is not an hour meant for cheeriness and happiness. It's barely an hour made for coherent thought. Luckily, they have finally figured out that it's not the best idea to wake me up and try inflict this happiness on me, so I do get to sleep a little bit longer.

But that's just a little aside about my mornings. I have them down to a science. My alarm is set for 7:30 (because the hubs doesn't understand my illness), but little does the man know that the clock is actually 3 minutes fast. Which means that I have my alarm set to go off at 7:27 on mornings that I work. This is because I need exactly 43 minutes to do the things that need to be done before we walk out the door. Here's a rundown of the rest of the morning.

7:27-7:43 am: Watch GMA, shake fist at annoying man who hosts the local news breaks. I hate him with a fiery passion that burns deep inside. Also, take shower, plan outfit and dress.

7:43-8:02 am: Check emails, check message boards, get kids breakfast and anything else that needs to be done.

8:02-8:09 am: Makeup and hair

8:09 am: Leave for work.

8:17 am: Arrive at daycare and drop kidlets off

8:23 am: Arrive at work.

So there you have it, that's my morning routine. I cannot stray from it. Even if I'm done with everything that needs to get done in the allotted time, I CANNOT start the next thing until it's time. And I watch the clock. It's sick really.

It also feeds into my hatred of being early or late. I hate being early because I hate the idea of being the first person anywhere. God forbid I come off looking like a kiss-up or something. And I absolutely cannot be late. It makes me cranky. Even if I arrive at work at 8:24, I feel like I'm behind, which makes the rest of the day seem off-kilter. It's sick really.

And the time thing works its way into any other outings that I am in charge of making us leave for too. I know exactly how long it will take me to get somewhere, so I plan it out to get there exactly when I want to--no earlier, no later.

The worst part about it all is that I am seriously the most unorganized person on the face of this planet. Except for when it comes to my morning routine.

SO there you have it. Verification that I am totally insane. How about you? Any strange rituals you'd care to share so I don't feel all alone here? C'mon! It'll be fun! :)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm curious as to whether you really think that's a symptom of OCD, or if you were just 'bandying the term around'. We all have quirks, but if you really had OCD, not doing things in the right order would make you more than a little cranky.

Anyway: my quirks.

I get upset about limescale marks on dishes.

I sometimes think I can't exhale properly and then try to exhale repeatedly until I get dizzy.

I have to take my trousers off when I go to the toilet.

Fortunately, I work shifts, so there is no room for a rigid morning ritual!

Anonymous said...

Just wanted to let ya know I believe Dierks new CD is due out in November :)

Liberal Banana said...

When I get home from work these days in the hot, hot summer, I take off my clothes (minus underwear) immediately to cool off. (I have to walk about a quarter mile from where the bus drops me off so I get a bit sweaty when it's 94 degrees out.) (And: I live alone.) Then? I must wash my hands. Public transportation makes me nervous with all of the germs on everything... And I guess it works - I never get sick!

Ha!