6 Unspectacular Quirks Redux

I decided my quirks weren't quirky enough. So here's a second shot. The blog entry that officially seals my fate as a crazy person.

1) I have a strangely awesome memory. While it can be a great asset (I barely studied in school and made great grades), it can also be a pit of uselessness. However, I have entertained many friends with my account of events that they can't seem to recall, yet I know every detail of...I have kicked butt on many trivia games (well, tv/music trivia) because I knew the actor who played Skippy on Family Ties or the French restaurant Tony and Angela went to on an episode of Who's The Boss...etc, etc, etc.

2) I'm a stickler for planning/routine. You've heard the saying "a place for everything and everything in its place", well my motto would be "a time for everything and everything in its time". Example: lunch must be between 11 and 1. I don't know what would happen if lunch was eaten at 10:45 or 1:30. The earth would probably implode from the ensuing chaos. Another example: If my husband and I make plans with friends to go out to dinner, a specific time had better be mentioned...or I might self-destruct. How can I plan my day with dinner in limbo floating around out there? I CAN'T! Anal, huh?

3) I will not watch a movie or show about animals. Not even a cartoon. (Scooby Doo is okay, The Fox and the Hound is NOT...Dog Whisperer is okay, Canine 911 is NOT...) Animals in peril, in reality, fiction, or cartoon is off-limits for me. And that ASPCA commercial will ruin my entire day. I even cried at the beginning of Ace Ventura...I'd rather eat glass than watch Bambi. If the TV guide synopsis of a show says "Rudy and Vanessa bring home a stray dog..." I'm NOT watching. Don't even TALK to me about it - or talk about it with me around. Got it?

4) I make up names for people. This started, I guess, in middle school when my friends and I would make up code names for the guys we liked. There would be kind of a stream of consciousness thing to it, actually. It was a way to talk about someone without using their actual name. And somehow this stuck and I still do it. People in my neighborhood have alternate names...There's no point to it. It's just something I do. "Big Hair almost hit the Vandersnoot's dog when it was going over to the Smokerson's yard..." This is NOT normal...but it IS fun.

5) I have weird germ phobias. I will not flush a public toilet with my hand (I use my foot) - and, actually, it's VERY rare that I even use a public toilet - I try very hard to avoid them. I hold my breath when I go by a garbage can. I am very careful about where I set my food/drink down - because germs can and will crawl right up onto them - that means no food/drink in the bathroom or near the kitchen sink or anywhere close to a garbage can. I must get a new toothbrush once a month. Every house cleaning session ends with me pouring straight bleach on my toilet brush. Oh, I could go on and on with this one...

6) If you and I are walking down the street and pass a street sign, for example, we MUST go around it on the SAME side. Why? I don't know. My grandmother started this. And my mom is a stickler for it, too. There is no reason for it, but I must abide. If you go on the other side of the sign/light post/fire hydrant, I will go back and reroute. If that's not quirky, I don't know what is...