Quirks

Alright. My friend Christina tagged me to write six quirks about myself. Christina had a hard time coming up with a 6th quirk. I’m afraid I’m going to have a hard time limiting myself to 6 quirks.


Most of you are probably pretty familiar with my quirks, but here it goes.


1. I like to sort, dissect, & categorize my food. If it’s colored candy, I like to put in piles of each color. Then I have to find the color that has the least amount in it. Then I create piles based on the amount of candy in the color. For example, if I have 4 red skittles and 6 yellow skittles, & 8 green skittles. Then I will create a pull out 4 red skittles, 4 yellow skittles, & 4 green skittles. Then I go through the same process with the left over skittle pile. Once I get down to skittles that don’t have a matching family, I can eat those however I want. The other skittles I like to color coordinate or eat a matching pair. If they are matching though, I like to suck on them. No chewing there. If the food I’m eating is more of a bread item like Hostess cup cakes or Nutrigrain bars, I like to dissect it differently. I usually pull the sides off, dissect the top from the bottom, throw out the middle if it’s jelly, save it if it’s whip cream & then eat it in the order of worst part to best part. You always have to save the best part for last.

2. I have a fear of anything that is old, dusty, or antique. In general, this includes people as well. When I go into an old person’s home I have to hold my breath & I don’t like sitting on their couches or touching their stuff. I’m pretty sure this fear goes back to my Grandma Derrick. She suffered from Alzheimer’s in the later years of her life. I can recall pouring a bowl of shredded wheat in her house as a young child. I eating the bowl of cereal when I noticed that my shredded wheat was swimming on it’s own. My brother Jon & I discovered that our so called shredded wheat was actually a bowl full of weevils. I believe that it was at this point that my fear of eating anything older than 2-3 days old set in as well.


3. I really can’t stand it if someone farts in my house. I have a standing rule that if you have to fart, you have to go do it in the bathroom. I feel like the fart is going to seep into my clothes, into my couch and my skin & it will stay there forever. If I’m eating food, I have to cover my food & run as fast as I can. If I don’t get out in time, I can’t eat the food as it has been tainted by passed gas.


4. I can’t wear other people’s stuff unless I know them really well or I know that they have good cleanly habits. If I’m cold & someone offers me a jacket, I can’t accept it unless I trust them & know them well. I’d rather freeze then wear someone’s jacket or borrow a blanket from someone that I don’t trust. Sometimes I’m forced to wear it because they are so insistent that they put it on me without my permission. At this point I have to stop breathing through my nose and I hold very still so it will touch me as little as possible. I just don’t like other people’s stuff touching me unless I know & trust their hygiene. No real fear of germs, just a weird quirk.


5. I can’t sleep if Jake & I are face to face in bed. If I’m facing the middle of the bed and he rolls over & faces me, I’ll wake up instantly & then I have to roll over. I just don’t like breath on me. I’m like a cat. If you blow on their face, they start to freak out. I really hate lipstick breath as well. It’s just not cool.


6. My final quirk is the way I have to sleep. In order to fall asleep, I have to lie on my side, wrap my hair around the top of my head so it’s not on my neck. I have to pull & cross my pinkie toes towards my big toe. It’s a matter of getting the right sensation. I do this during the day as well. If I’m sitting, laying, reading, studying, or even making out with Jake, I have to have my pinkie tossed crossed in just the perfect way to get the right sensation. The final component to a restful nights sleep is my ear. I have to fold my ear toward my head & the lay down on my pillow. I sleep like this all night. Often when I wake up in the morning, my ear will be stuck to the side of my head.

I’m sure some of those quirks sound a little clinical. But what am I if not a little bit odd.