I've never really told anyone about this, but I play the "catalog game." You know, when you get a new catalog (victoria's secret, j. crew, etc) and you go through each page and have to pick ONE THING to theoretically get, even if you don't like anything. Anyways, I have to touch the picture of the selected item. I can't just say in my head "I pick that sweater." I have to touch the picture with the full pad of my right index finger. I can't turn the page unless I feel that a full touch has occurred (don't ask me why), I get all freaked out.

I can't stand when my bare forearm touches the desk at school when I'm writing... it's always cold and it numbs the underside of my arm in this weird way that really bugs me. I always bring a sweater to class so I will have a layer between my arm and the desk, even in May.

I'm also anal about how I do the crossword puzzle. I feel like my day cannot begin until I've done the Washington Post puzzle... no other puzzle will do (not USA Today, nuh uh). It has to be done in black rolling-ball ink and in a certain print style... if I feel like I've gotten sloppy in filling in the boxes I will go buy another paper and redo it.

Okay, I know I'm weird. I also can't get in an unmade bed- used to drive my boyfriend crazy.

One of my sisters is legit OCD and also suffers from trichtillomania (complusive hair-pulling). She started when she was in thrid grade and pulled all her eyelashes out. She's on meds now to mediate her compulsions, but sometimes we catch her going after her eyelashes (she doesn't even realize she's doing it, and it doesn't hurt her, it just feels good).

I wash each hand 100 times a day because they remind me of my grandmother. J/k.

When I was a little kid I had to do everything in opposites to make sure it was even. Like, if my right hand touched the wall walking to lunch, I had to walk across the hall so my left hand could touch the other wall.

This is such a great topic, i love hearing how everyone is so weird! ;)
Anyway, here is what I am obsessive compulsive about:

when i take a shower, i have to do everything in the same order

when i turn my car off, i have to make sure it is on 104 KRBE before turning it off, even though i might have been listening to another radio station

when im getting ready for bed, i have to look at this guardian angel i have in my room before turning off any of the lights, and then again i have to look at the angel before turning the t.v. off. So, in a way, the angel is the last thing i have to look at before falling asleep.

I have to sleep with socks, everyday of year, otherwise i cant sleep.

My food cannot touch, especially when we eat mashed potatoes and rice.... i know it sounds weird, those are both starches, and shouldnt even be in the same meal, but nonetheless, my mashed potatoes will be on the opposite side of the plate if i decide i want rice as well.

Besides taking a shower, i have to do everything else in order as well while getting ready in the morning.

When i set my alarm clock at night, i click the "radio" button on and off so many times to make sure it will turn on in the morning. However, i almost always wake up about 5 minutes before it goes off, no matter what time it is set on.

My DVDs are all in alphabetical order

When i use a public restroom, I will not use one that hasnt been flushed, and in the ones I do use, I always have to use toilet paper and clean the seat first, or just try my hardest to come close, but not really sit on it.

I dont like people sitting on my bed because then it gets messed up.

I wear the same jewelry everyday, if i add something one day, and my day goes really bad, I blame it on the jewelry and wont wear it again for a really long time. The same thing goes if it turns out to be a good day, then i will start wearing it more often.

There are days where i have to check if the stove is on before i leave for work even though i know i didnt use it.

Re: Coasters, DVDs, and My Closet!!
 

I've done the same thing with my closet, except I haven't sorted them by fabric (yet). I do, however, put them in ROYGBIV order (it makes sense to me). But within that order, its from light to dark. What makes it hard is my closet is too small for all my clothes, so I've taken over part of one of the master closets in my mom's room...

I have this urge, sometimes, to go out and buy a million hangers all the same so all of my clothes can hang on the same type of hanger.

Re: Re: Coasters, DVDs, and My Closet!!
 

I was thinking about doing that this weekend, LOL.

I'm always horrified when I get my stuff from the cleaners and they are on those wire hangers with the paper on them. As soon as I get them home, I immediately take the clothes off the wire hangers and run to the trash chute to throw them away. (And yes, I'm fully aware that I'm channeling mommy dearest).

ZA

God, I'm my mother's child and obsessive about so many odd things...

-routes-i have to drive the same way to work, home, etc.
-my alarm clock is one hour and ten minutes fast, and it HAS to be. I tell people who ask that it's to make me think in the morning to wake me up (doing the math to figure out what time it is) but really it's just a weird little thing.
-i have to spray on perfume as the last beauty routine-type thing I do
-i pluck my eyebrows first thing every morning
-i do the left side first-contacts, putting on pants, gloves, etc.
-i get on "good day" routines-if I have a good day, then the next day I try to do the same things again (i.e. if I stopped at Wendy's for lunch, then I will again, if I wore blue, then I'll wear something blue, etc)

Wow, I'm weird.

Wow, I didn't even realize how many crazy little quirks I have until I read the rest of this thread!

Oh yeah I also have to read a magazine from front to back. I think it is because I am left handed, but I can never start from the beginnning of the magazine.

Great thread - glad to know that many of you share my quirks! (Food cannot touch, french fry ends, alphabetical cd's, several alarm clocks with different times in various places).

One of my major OC concerns that I have not seen is other people's FEET! I hate them! Can't stand to be touched by them, don't want any one else's feet anywhere near my body! Yuck!

OK, so I'm not the only one with this problem. The thing is that I don't worry for no reason. A lot of times the alarm goes off forever and I don't realize it. Sometimes I accidentally put it on PM instead of AM. And I've also just hit snooze repeatedly or just turned it off in a still asleep state. This has caused me a ton of problems and my roommates hate me because i not only blast 3 alarm clocks but have my computer play a CD every morning from across the room. I don't care though. I've gotten to the most important final in my undergrad courses late and gotten up late before work.

-Rudey
--The rest of you are a bunch of freaks for the crap you talk about. No I'm not joking. Not one bit.

Re: Re: Re: Coasters, DVDs, and My Closet!!
 

Because wire hangers are for poor people! LOL. Whenever I talk about the hanger thing my mom tells me that.

I'm also wierd about the alarms. I always check mine 5 or 6 times to make sure its correct.

My CDs are alphabetical, by category.

After my dad died, I really was OCD for awhile, and I compulsively checked the locks on the doors and windows in our house every night, multiple times, for about a period of 6 months. I'm sure it was some manifestation of something or another that I just wasn't dealing with. I couldn't sleep unless I had checked every door and window in the house and made sure it was locked. I was also afraid that the light wouldn't go off in the car (because the door wasn't closed or something) and I'd compulsively check it.

I make my bed within 10 second of getting out of it.

I have to fold my laundry as soon as it is done in the dryer.

All my shoes have to be together in the right way in my closet.

All my clothes have to be arranged perfectly in the closet.

I cant stand anything sticky on my hands. (like when you get jelly on you or whatever.)

I'll wash my hands about 15 times a day. At least hourly. I hate being covered with "public." Yet dirt doesnt bother me.

I wash ice. Yep, when I get it out of the freezer, I'll put it in the glass and rince it off before I put soda in the glass or whatever.

I dont use my gas guage in my truck. I use the odometer instead.

I always have to sleep in my own bed. If I hook up. I'll get up at 5 am to go home and sleep in my own bed for at least a few hours.

I am OCD about grammatical errors. I don't mind, in a forum like this, informal writing. But, all of us have at least attended one year of college--why are there so many spelling errors, failed subject-verb agreements, and other such error's? (That was on purpose!). It's frustrating! Bah!

The 's thing really gets to me too! 's is for POSSESSIVE. plain s is for plural. learn it, live it, love it. :p