Quirks

Quirks, we all have them.  Some of them are cute, some are annoying, some are noticeable only to our loved ones.   Some may only be noticeable to our coworkers since they are with us sometimes more then our actual loved ones.  Good or bad we all have little ticks, isms, habits, etc.

Before I got married I knew I had some…let’s call them habits.  I’m anal  type A.  I grew up with parents who expected a clean room, clean car, clean house.  I like order & so having all of those spaces in my life clean caused me to have a clear mind.  I remember getting frustrated when my notes in school didn’t look neat or organized.  It caused me a lot of anguish over the years.  You can stop laughing now.  

When I went to college I was probably the worst roommate known to man, because I just thought everyone made their bed daily or at least before they got in them to go to bed.  Or perhaps when guests came to your dorm room you’d want it to look neat & tidy.  Imagine my horror to find out this was not the case.  Living on the sorority hall didn’t make things any easier.  Just because someone is in a sorority does not a neat freak make.   Senior year when a group of us moved into an apartment off campus I was constantly running the dishwasher, wiping down the counters, vacuuming the carpet.  I may or may not have been difficult to live with that year.

As an “adult” with an adult condo & and an adult job I calmed down a little bit, but not too much.  Luckily, I had the pleasure of living with a former college roommate who was always sweet enough to overlook my quirks.  Both of us traveled extensively for work & so when we got home if common areas were clean that was all that mattered.  

On my first official date with REF his car & swanky uptown town home were immaculate.  I so relieved to have met someone who shared my crazy  thoughts on cleanliness.  It wasn’t until we had been dating for several months that I realized this initial car/home cleanliness was a rouse to impress me.  Obviously, it worked.

REF & I spent a lot of time together before we got married, but we didn’t live together.  Once we were married & I moved into REF’s home he tried really hard to make it feel like our home.  He didn’t want me to feel like a guest.  After a few months of living together each other’s QUIRKS came more present.  

We often say that REF is the king of wounded soldiers. I think this is some frat boy saying for when  you open a beer & don’t finish it , but in our house it just means that at any point in time he has 238,789,526 cups, glasses or mugs with water, lemonade, coffee, etc. in them.   I also realized that I had some BAD HABITS quirks of my own.  I’ve never been a fan of wearing shoes.  I like them & think they are pretty, but I want to take them off the second I get in the house.  This means that at any given moment I have 236 pairs of shoes throughout the house.  I also have had  a bad habit of putting dry cleaning only clothes in the regular laundry basket.  While I sorted my laundry, REF did not The first time I said goodbye to my beloved winter white wool skirt… Lesson Learned.

Over our 3 and 3 quarters years of marriage we’ve both learned to help our marriage by watching out for these quirks.  REF’s really awesome at making the bed the correct way  way I like it & I’ve learned to relax about some things.  I had to understand that the world wasn’t going to end if we didn’t clean up before bed after a party or if REF needed 3,589 cups next to bed that was okay.   I also driven in REF’s car in over a year.  It’s all about balance & compromise.  It’s also another reason why I’m mowing the lawn.  We both understand that I would want it done a particular way & to avoid an unnecessary fight I should just do it myself.  ;)

Do you have an quirks?  Have they changed over the years?