Me and My OCD

As my family knows, I have some obsessive-compulsive behaviors. I go through phases with different matters. This spring when I started this blog I was continually thinking about--and having to write about--all sorts of subjects. After a while, though, I got that out of my system and it was on to something else.

For another while I played bridge on line almost every day. Some days, with nothing else on my schedule, I was at it all day and evening. That compulsion has subsided too.

Lately it's been Sudoku--you know those numbers-in-the-boxes puzzles that are in the newspaper and in cheap little booklets. I couldn't "figure" how to do them until Cathy showed me how. I mastered level one but still make enough mistakes on level 2--the medium difficulty ones--that I'm sticking with them for now. I print them out from the computer and keep them on a clipboard on my dinette table "desk". Sometimes I complete as many as ten a day. Big waste of time, but good for the brain.

For a few days this year it was "pootie" jokes. (Ask Kim or Clint Whitlow or Nicole McPhail about them!)

There are other on-going obsessions--like having to have the glasses lined up in groups in the cabinet. When I had blue and yellow bowls they had to be stacked in alternating colors both in the cabinet and the dishwasher. (Now everything's the same design and color.)

Currency in my wallet must all face the same way and be in descending order. I keep track of all income and expenses and balance my cash expenses list at least weekly and the rest monthly. It drives me crazy to see people throw away their credit and/or debit card receipts. I HAVE to save all mine to balance against the statements.

When I entertain for dinner I want the dishes, glassware and flatware to match, so I have services for 12 or more--including Christmas dishes. If there are more than 12 guests, and some sit at a different table, their place settings can be different from those on the main table, but they must "match" too.

Tchotchkes (decor items) have to be in just the "right" places--which was a problem when I had housekeeping help because they would always be moved for dusting and never put back where they belonged. (Guess it was to show she had dusted.) I solved that problem by not having help nor dusting now.

I don't fall apart when things aren't "right" but I "fix" them as soon as I can. I know I don't have really bad OCD that interferes with my ability to function as some people do, thank goodness. One old friend is a hoarder whose piles of possessions limit his movement around his house and keep him from having guests. I'm sure I have other friends or acquaintances whose obsessions are hidden as well.

Now that I've written this essay I don't feel any better, except that at least I've made another entry in my blog. I hope it inspires me to do more--but I'm not obsessed by it.