On having perfectionistic tendencies

I don't like wasting food. I get a sense of satisfaction when amounts of different foods work out together. For example, we were camping and had hoagie rolls for sandwiches. A part of me felt relieved when one of the rolls fell on the ground; we then had the perfect amount. I bought feta for something last week. I planned recipes this week that will use all the feta and not leave me with other extra ingredients to use.

I don't like using the same sponge to clean dishes that I use to wipe counters or the stovetop.

I threw away a toothbrush because it fell over and the bristles touched the big brush Blake uses to clean the tub.

I keep lists. I plan ahead.

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I was laughing with some coworkers once about our specific OCD-like behaviors. The clinic I work at still uses paper charts. I can't handle having the papers punched unevenly. I am careful with my charts to make sure the hole punches are all lined up. If I get a chart from someone else and they didn't punch carefully, I will take apart and re-punch the entire chart so they line up. V thought this was totally unbelievable and nuts. Then C said, "Yeah, but I've seen how you have the shoes in your closet!" and we all laughed. It started when D said how much it bothers her when people leave time on the microwave and don't push cancel to revert to 0 or to the clock. I agreed and said at home if I walk by the microwave and it's still showing some time, I will always push cancel to get it back to 0.

I was relaying this conversation to Blake at home, and he was surprised by a lot of the little things I do. He said, "Wow! It must be really difficult for you to live with me." We laughed.

Is it difficult? Yes and no. Sure, it'd be great if he were exactly like me on some of these things. But he's not, and that's okay. I learned with college roommates that if I wanted to have something clean or done a certain way, I should just do it myself. It's not fair for me to impose my standards on others. I get that. It's probably kind of good that Blake and I aren't the same on all the cleaning things. Because then our house would never get dusted (I hate dusting) or decorated. We'd be way too practical for our own good.