My wife and I have had a running battle over OCD vs Organization. It's quite funny and I am sure others out there have the same situation (if they married their opposite). I thought I would share a few tidbits.
I'll start by saying there a few things I must, absolutely must, know where they are at all times. My keys, my cell phone, my money clip (with DL, credit card, other card things, and of course money), my Burt's Bees lip balm, and my sunglasses. These are non-negotiable. No matter where I am, knowing their whereabouts is sacred. I prepare breakfast each morning exactly the same way in the same order. I am accused of being OCD...I say it is a well-honed routine.
My wife on the other hand has what I term a "put it down and walk away" view of life. Then the funniest thing of all, I'll hear, "Honey, have you seen my ______". At which point I immediately laugh my ass off. Then she expects me to stop whatever I am doing and go off Indiana Jones-style and search for the item with no map or compass or clue as to where it could be. She'll get mad when I search an area she has already searched right before she searches an area I just searched. Also it is always the last minute and it is something like her iPhone or car keys. And we are at defcon 5. Even the dogs leave the room.
"Where the F&^% could it be," she screams and I reply, "almost anywhere I imagine". Of course the humor is completely lost on her and I now I'm a "f&*^ing ass!"
Sometimes I head off the tragedy but spotting an item that is sure to be missed later (or very soon). An open Dr Pepper she was carrying a few minutes earlier, or a dinner fork. I will make a pre-emptive strike and pick up said item and take it to her before it can become "missing".
The latest game of "who the hell knows where it is" was played out when she decided to trim the dogs nails with the Dremel. I of course was busy with a blog post and really in a zone, when I hear, "Chuck, where the F*&# is the Dremel"? Since I don't immediately recall the last time I used the Dremel let alone the last time I saw it, I knew what was coming. I tried to beg out by saying, "I have no earthly idea, I wasn't the last one to use it". That bought me about 5 minutes.
Then she comes bursting into the room and says, "Will you please help me find it." Shit. "Where would you like me to look?", I say. "I don't know but just don't sit there, get up and help me find it", she glares.
I know what is coming next...since she has been looking for 15 minutes already I am sure to retrace her steps and start looking in the same places. This garners responses like, "don't you think I already looked there." "I already looked in that room". etc. I am like a wounded animal bouncing from previously looked at logical places to the most impossible of locations (think toliet tank).
After ten minutes of tearing apart two or three rooms (including the disaster of a craft room) we still cannot find it. The next phase of this nightmare is someone must have come in to our home and taken it. I logically reply that is unlikely, very unlikely. To which I get, "Well then where the hell did it go!!" Got me! I have no answer.
She gives up and I go back to my keyboard. Twenty minutes later she comes in the room and tells me she found it and the dogs nails are done. I am sure I asked her where she found it but to this day I have absolutely no idea where that was. So....
I am sure we will do this dance the next time the dogs nails need trimmed.
15 comments:
LOL! This made me laugh because I tend to be like your wife. I'm doing 10 things at once and never remember when the hell I put this or that. Then I get aggravated when trying to find what ever the heck I need which is usually the car keys or my sunglasses. It's a miracle I haven't misplaced a kid yet. (:
You are so lucky to have a wife who gives you this number of opportunities to be her gallant knight without ever having to risk your life or limb!
The swan is real life too - fortunately standing still, along with the other birds whose feet I photographed for yesterday's post on Loose and Leafy http://goo.gl/hSVjx
And now . . . how about a guest post from your wife about what it's like to have a husband so committed to blogging he's glued to a screen just when you want him to help find something!?
Sorry not to be visiting more often. I have lots of things to catch up with and I find it much easier to take a break from blogs while I get things done than to try to limit my reading / writing. (Though I'm trying to keep my hand in with Loose and Leafy once a week.) When the 'to do list' has . . . say . . . halved (!) I'll be back on a regular basis.
Lucy
It sounds if someone has the married face of "ugh"... I have that too, but it is more of a "yes dear"...
Jeremy [Retro-Zombie]
My New Book:
Retro-Zombie: Art and Words
I laughed so hard reading this! Neither of us is an extreme either way, although my wife is a little more organized than I am.
Recently I couldn't find one of the two Best Buy gift cards I got for Christmas. So we spent thirty minutes looking before we gave up and left for the store. I'd used $25 on the $50 one and was annoyed I'd lost the $25 card. When we got to the store, come to find out nothing had been used on the $50 card - obviously, I'd used the other one and threw it away. Oh yeah, I got "The Look!"
I usually as the people where they were when last remembered having it. I'm usually pretty organized, but I have my moments. The older I get the more of them I have. lol
I'm the same as you. I must know where all my most important items are at all times. Then I too get punished when my mother or girlfriend require assistance in finding something they've lost.
I just bought my girlfriend a necklace for our anniversary and she lost it the next day. Well, luckily she found it. It was in the trash can.
P.S. I like the new blog banner.
I'm usually pretty organized so it drives me CRAZY when something goes missing.
Hee hee hee. You wouldn't want things to be boring, would you? My hubby and I are opposite in many ways, but we are both fairly OCD about our things. Still, he has caused me to coin the term "man-looking," because he'll just look on the surface for things and I can usually find it quickly in the place he's already looked by moving something out of the way. My kids do the same darned thing as him. Sigh.
Elise: I can't imagine how it's going to be in a week when we head to Belize to live on a boat for 7 days. Then again, things can't get too far except going overboard! Don't lose the kid!!
Lucy: Ya know I never thought of it that way...and probably won't next time either! :) Thanks for letting me know about the swan, it was very cool looking. I am glad every time you stop by no matter how much time passes, you were an early follower and as such...very appreciated! And I love your photography!!
Jeremy: It varies with the season, at least that's what I found. Football season = more annoying...you get the idea.
Alex: Funny you mentioned the Best Buy card thing...when we bought our new living room furniture, one of the promos was a free 51" plasma 3-D TV from Best Buy. When you are all done with the paperwork the salesman gives you a BB card to use when you pick up the TV (after your furniture is delivered). I gave the card to my wife because I didn't want to leave it in the slot of the document holder with the receipts because I was concerned it would fall out and get lost. She put it in "her bag" somewhere. Month later after the furniture was delivered I ask her for the card so we could go get the TV...you guessed it, first she swore I never gave it to her...then we looked for like 30 minutes and realized it was lost. Called Rooms To Go and had them cancel the first card and issue a new one. Funny stuff...
Donna: I cannot ask that question because that implies she has some idea where it might be!! Dangerous trap to fall into, trust me.
Chiz: Oh yeah, she "lost "it, right...dude, if it was in the trash, she didn't "like" it. :) Thanks on the new header...Fiji photo from last vacay.
Johanna: Me too!
Shannon: Well I guess you could call it "spending quality time" together. Man-looking...now that's funny.
Chuck, I have not laughed so hard in months. This same scene has played out in our house almost daily. But, with us it is the reverse. I am the one who has a place for everything and always put things back in their place. Hubby, on the other hand ----- well you know the rest of the story.
This sounds so much like my wife and I. She is forever losing track of keys, glasses, and cell phone. I tell her to do like I do and always keep them in the same place. Now in other things like drawers, closets, and files she can be meticulous. My home office space looks like a disaster area, but I usually know where everything is.
Lee
A Faraway View
Rita: I suspect there are variations of this happening as we speak...or type.
Lee: My work area and desk are in confusion too...to the untrained eye, but I know where everything is. And my wifes closet looks like a good will store...before everything is sorted and hung on hangers!!
A wife, four daughters and a MIL (and me) were all living in the same house for a long time. I've been through this nightmare more times than I can count! The funny part, is that 99% of the time, whatever was missing, wass usually found right in their purse!
Pat: I usually start out by asking my wife if she looked in her purse and when she gets irritated about it...she dumps the whole thing on the table to prove it's not in there...mission accomplished for me!
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