Thursday, October 09, 2008

My Obsessive Compulsive Issues




Calm down everyone, I don't really have OCD (**I don't think**). But I have noticed that I am incredibly obsessive about certain things. And in my humble opinion, I think most people probably have it effect something in their lives.

In my case, I have a thing. About wrapping paper. Wrapping ribbons. The whole NO TAPE SHOWING. Creasing the edges and corners. Folding edges under. Such a perfectionist that it takes me 30 to 45 minute to wrap one present. Yes, THAT obsessed. For something that a person will destroy within 20 seconds. I know, it's crazy.

I am constantly buying new paper even though I already have 20 at home. I don't use the sub-par plastic-y ribbon that curls oh-so-well. I must have the fabric ribbon. and I have so much of it, it is overflowing the box I have alotted for such trimmings. If I use a bow, it can't be lop-sided or have creases. (without a spot or wrinkle haha I crack myself up!)

Now that I've told you about my obsession, what are some of yours? Does it bug you that something that is seemingly unimportant to everyone else has to be "just-so" for you? Or do you think that everyone else is crazy for not being like you?

19 comments:

Mindy said...

..... Will you wrap my Christmas presents this year?

I'm that way about a lot of things. Did I ever tell you about the clay baby shoe project in high school? I worked on it for two or three weeks after everyone else had finished theirs, and the only reason I "finished" it was because my teacher took it and fired it without telling me.

My desk HAS to be arranged the way I arranged it and I've been known to straighten business cards and such on other peoples' desks. And don't even get me started on grammar/spelling/punctuation!!

Zachary J. Miles said...

Okay so as many know I am oh so obsessive about my music. Not only do they have to be in alphabetical order but within that (meaning more than one album by an artist) the albums must be chronological.

Also, I picked one up from my days in retail. When I'm walking through a department store or any store with clothing, I always have to pull the hangers and clothes forward on the 4-way racks so that the metal end isn't exposed.

NitaBonita said...

At least you wrap presents PRETTY!! I don't know if I have one. That i can think of that is...hmmm...I'll have to ponder this a while....

Mandy Sue said...

@mindy I also do the business cards thing. I thought of it when I was starting the blog and then forgot about it.

I also had a problem in high school with my painting. We were supposed to do 2 paintings in my art class in high school, but it was taking me so long on my first one that my teacher gave me an extension and I got to work on it through the second project!

@zachary j. miles We already know that one. Got any other juicy secrets??

@nitabonita You'd better get back to us. We all just shared our dirty secrets!

NitaBonita said...

Okay.. I say my prayers at night while laying in bed sometimes,thats If I forget to kneel infront of my bed. Anyways I obviously close my eyes when I do it but when I'm done I have to open my eyes then close them again to go back to sleep. Does that count. Oh and I like my clothes to be hung up and sorted by color. Oh and I don't know if this "qualifies" but when I prepare my tooth brush I have to rinse it with water first, then apply the tooth paste, then apply water on it again, and FLICK the water off and then brush my teeth. If I don't flick the water off the second time I CANNOT brush my teeth it irritates me.

Falling LEAVes said...

I do the same thing with my music Zach, but I think for me it comes with my library background. I also have my books listed in an excel worksheet, divided up into general, serials, and Christian (then they are listed by author, title, price, location bought, read/unread, ISBN#s). Ask anyone ... I probably have one too many compulsive issues. My clothes (when I get around to it) are arranged by brand. My books used to be arranged in a certain way until they all had to go into storage. Now when I go shopping, if I unfold or take something off a hanger, I have to put it back like if I was at my store.

Here's the kicker... my photos are arranged on my computer very specifically. The photos are named by the date they're taken (i.e. 2008-10-04 xyz - xyz being the number as they're downloaded). Then they're are placed into folders with the same date (2008-10-04) and then placed into folders for the month or season, depending how many folders I have. If there are a lot in one year, then I do it by month. If not a lot, then season. Then the photos are placed by year. However, I divide the photos into different categories, such as "church", "family", and "Dodgers". Any photos not categorized as such go into a general photo folder.

mandy said...

Ok Ok. I'll bite. But, first, lemme say that your dream job (although, for efficiency reasons they probably wouldn't hire you) would be a seasonal wrapper at the mall or something. I'm just sayin - a little extra cash flow for insanity doesn't hurt anybody!

Ok. Me? well. I'm not all that weird (in my own eyes) but I do have this thing where all logos/tops/covers of my Starbucks cup has to be lined up. Straight down the middle.
There. I said it.

Mandy Sue said...

@nitabonita I do the prayer thing as well. Something about separating the praying and sleeping a little more since I'm already in bed.

@mandy I wish! Actually I think if it was my job I would go clinically INSANE! However, i will say it would be nice to get paid for my obsessive issue to perfectly wrap things!

As for the coffee cup thing...not too crazy. My boyfriend who used to be a barista always has to make sure the opening on the lid is a perfect 180 away from the seem of the cup because he's convinced it leaks more if its closer to the seam (if that makes sense).

Zachary J. Miles said...

It soo does make a difference! If the lid opening is directly over the seem then when you hold the cup, your thumb would naturally be placed over the seem as well, thereby putting more pressure on an already week location of the cup and leading to more leaks. See. It all makes sense.

Mandy Sue said...

@zachary j. miles I wasn't rebuking what you do, simply saying, that it IS a compulsive thing you do. Usually without even thinking about it. : P Hmm...is rebuke the right word?

Mandy Sue said...

@falling leaves Sorry I seem to have missed your comment! I can't imagine putting that much thought into my cds. Of course my collection is much smaller than Zachs. I stick to straight alphabetical by first name (thanks to Zach, it used to be by last name) and then if I have more than one CD by an artist, it is in chronological order. It works for me.

As for arranging my photos, since I take so many, I also seperate them into month folders, within year folders. It works for me, because when I'm looking for a specific photo I can usually narrow it down to a 1 - 2 month window.

Falling LEAVes said...

one more thing that a friend reminded me about! on my Ipod ... if a song is playing and I haven't skipped it within the first few seconds of it starting ... even if there's a few seconds left to play ... I refuse to skip to the next song ... cuz then it messes with the play/skip count on my Itunes

Zachary J. Miles said...

Thanks for reminding me about my iPod. I absolutely HAVE to have a photo to accompany each song or it drives me nuts. I will take it off of my iPod until I can find the appropriate picture for each song, album, artist, etc.

Mandy Sue said...

@falling leaves That is pretty quirky!

I also remembered something new this morning while getting ready. When I put away my blow dryer and straightener I HAVE to untangle the cord so it isn't all twisted. It bugs me up to the nines when I use someone elses blow dryer and the cord has been wound in hundreds of circles!

Polka Dot Bride said...

I can never find the perfect wrap- and then someone ruins it by placing the really bad santa and beer covered paper under the tree. haha!

I have plenty of nuances...cupboard doors have to be shut at night (you know the boogey men and all!) and about a trillion more!

Stacy said...

Oh dear I wanted WAY to long to respond to this....where to I begin?

1. All clothes must be hung in theire respective spot (ie: skirts - long together, short together; long sleeve; short sleeve), and then by color/pattern.

2. My closet door MUST be shut before I go to sleep.

3. Phone cord at my desk must be untangled at all times.

4. Any papers that are put in my inbox in a sloppy fashion, will be pulled out and stacked together nicely and then put back in the basket (I do this MANY times through out the day).

5. My desk can't have anything "extra" on it when I leave for the night, and my chair MUST be pushed in when I leave.

6. Yup I'm a business card FREAK also...glad I'm not the only one out there :)

7. And yes you can tell we're related when I say I COMPLETELY agree with Zach in that my lid on my coffee cups must also be on the complete opposite side of the seem. Can't drink it until its in the right spot.

Ok I think I'll stop there until I think of more.

Bryan said...

I think I might have taught Zach that little coffee trick, so you can blame me.

I honestly can't think of anything I'm OCD about anymore. I had some quirks when I was younger, but I've outgrown them. I'm still a little overly cautious about the doors being locked. When I was a kid, I would have to check them usually three separate times before I allowed myself to go to sleep (and there were three entrances to the house). Other than that, I pretty normal for being weird.

Stacy said...

Oh yeah I'm door checker also...and i only have one, you would think I would be able to remember if I had locked it or not?

LaDonna said...

I'm a little late to be commenting, but oh well. I think we all have a little OCness in us to some extent. I have a thing w/ symmetry. And yes, I am aware that my last name is Monk and have already suffered enough ridicule as it is for this particular issue I share w/ the T.V. charactor. I just don't like things to be off-balance.