Weird, me?

First off, let me share the joyous news that Dolly, my "stray" cat, ate dinner last night, breakfast this morning and lunch about an hour ago. Apparently the fluids were the extra kick she needed, and I'm very, very pleased.

The "Six Weird Things" meme has been going around. No one in particular has tagged me, but since I'm quite sure I can easily come up with plenty of weirdness, I'll have a go.

1. I can't have dirty dishes in my sink. At all. EVER. I don't just mean between dish washings, either, I mean that I will wash the dishes I used to prepare the meal before I sit down to eat said meal. If a pan still has enough food in it, I will let it stay unwashed, on the stove or in the microwave, on the pretext that I might want another helping. Otherwise it must be washed and put away immediately. The eating dishes, too, must be dried and put away immediately. It's an OCD thing. If I leave the dirty dishes in the sink while I'm eating, I can't enjoy the meal, since gnawing at the edges of my mind is the knowledge that there are dirty dishes in the sink. Note: this only applies to MY house. I don't care if there are dirty dishes in your sink while I'm eating at your house. A couple of my friends don't really believe this, and think I'm judging them the whole time I'm there. I'M NOT, I promise. My weirdnesses are my own.

2. I can not only curl my tongue, I can then whistle through my curled tongue. Feel free to picture that--it's undoubtedly as ridiculous as you think. (I can also touch my tongue to my nose, by the way.)

3. More often than I'd care to admit, I am mentally (and sometimes physically, if nobody's watching) typing the words that I hear. So if you see me and think "gee, her fingers twitch a lot," I'm probably just air-typing. No, I don't get it, either. It's probably OCD-related, as well.

4. I don't like hot or sweet beverages with a meal. Tea, water, beer--but it must be cold and there must be many refills. I like to keep the food washed down, apparently.

5. Right sock, left sock, right shoe, left shoe. That's the order.

6. I have to make one last trip to the bathroom right before going to bed, or going onstage. Even if I just went a few minutes earlier. I fully realize it's all in my head, and I've never come close to wetting my pants either in bed or in the middle of a scene. But what if I don't go one more time, and something like that happens? I suppose if something prevented me from making that last trip, I would still be able to go to bed/go on with the show, but why find out?

Okay, there's six, and I realize looking at them that they're almost completely OCD-related. For the record, though, I will stipulate that while I certainly HAVE my OCD "things," they do not completely control my life. I am not Mr. Monk. (Though I lurve him, and Tony Shalhoub, as well.) I can suppress them if I need to, but if giving in to the OCD keeps my kitchen clean (and my house neat and my keys un-lost and myself not locked out, and my clothes all facing the same way in the closet, etc.) and saves me from an embarrassing Fergie-type pants-wetting incident, well...why not? I promise to keep it to myself. I won't come to your house and do your dishes or adjust your tchotchkes or shriek if you have coffee with a meal. I might, however, pluck the yellow leaves off your house plants. I'm only human.