52 Weeks - OCD Habits

Today's 52 Weeks Blog Challenge topic is my OCD habits, more specifically, what are they.  I don't know if they can truly be considered OCD, but they are weird little habits that I obsess over.  Except 'obsess over' isn't exactly right.  I don't sit around thinking about them, but I sure do throw a fit if they aren't done or aren't done right.

So, my list of OCD habits:

1.  The dishwasher.  The dishwasher has to be loaded correctly or I loose my flipping mind.  And by "correctly," I mean the coffee cups on the right side, the glasses on the left.  And for damn sure, you better load the plates into the back row before you start putting them in the front. 

The plate thing is more a matter of convenience.  If someone loads the front row with dinner plates, they block the back row and it's hard to get anything back there without pulling the rack so far out it comes off the hinges.  The coffee cups vs. glasses is just .... well, it's just the way it should be.  And thus, it's my #1 OCD habit.

2.  When starting out on a journey in the car, I have to apply my lipstick before I buckle my seat belt.  Have to. When my husband drives, it makes me a little nuts because he doesn't wait for me to go through the ritual before he starts off down the driveway.  We'll be moving before I get my seat belt buckled and that makes me a little crazy too.

3.  I have a thing about 'finishing' a pen.  I love LOVE pens where you can see the ink level and I get a weird amount of joy out of using the last of the ink.  That joy almost ranks up there with the thrill of yarn shopping.  

Acceptable pen, photo courtesy of officeworks.com.au

4.  Another pen thing - pens with removable caps MUST have their cap put on the end of the pen or I can't write with it.  If the cap is missing, I can't deal.  The pen becomes unbalanced in my hand and I just can't deal with the sensation.  The pen above is fine.  The idea of writing with the one pictured below makes me so uncomfortable I can barely look at it.

Unacceptable!  Photo courtesly of recyclenation.com

5.  The knives in the kitchen knife rack have assigned slots and although the different knives may fit in various slots, you better put them in the right slot or I loose my mind.  Knives put in the wrong slots bug me maybe even worse than misplaced dishes in the dishwasher.

And last but not least (apparently my OCD is most prevalent in the kitchen,)

6.  Hanging pots and pans should be hung in size order, smallest on the left.  Nobody in my family understands this and it drives me completely crazy.  I feel like I spend more time rearranging the hanging pots and pans than I do doing laundry.  And I do an awful lot of laundry.

Now, don't you feel mentally healthy and normal?