Welcome to week 4 of my weird friend Mental Mama’s challenge 7 Weeks Of Weird.

Weirdest habit/routine you have.

Hm. This is a tough one since, by way of habits and routines, I’m really rather normal. On an average day, the things I do routinely are: noodle on the internet, write, play stupid games on my phone/ipad, pee, work, drive, eat, go to the dog park, drink coffee, sleep. None of those habits are particularly weird when you consider that I don’t do them all at the same time.

From an extrovert’s perspective, probably the strangest habit I have is a need to be alone for a bare minimum of one hour a day. By alone, I mean not talking to/sitting next to/in the same room with another human (dogs and cats don’t count). I need at least one hour a day to be completely alone in order to recharge my people batteries.

For an introvert, especially one with social phobia like me, it takes a great deal of energy to be around people, even people I’m very close to, even if I don’t talk to them. Just being around people is draining. People are unpredictable. They often talk to you without warning or provocation. They start up conversations when you are lost in your own thoughts and would prefer to stay there.

Last week, Male stayed at my house again. His stuff exploded everywhere. While I didn’t want him to leave, by the end of the week, I was looking forward to having my own space again. I wanted him to stay… somewhere else. He could have his own place somewhere nearby and just come over at night to snuggle. That would be fine with me.

I’m not über particular about my space. I’m not a neat freak. I didn’t freak the fuck out because he left his drawers on the floor. They’re his drawers; he can do with them what he wants.

I’m not a neat freak, but I do tend to have a place for everything and everything is usually in its place. I find life easier when things are where they are supposed to be. When I got hit on the head, I picked up this habit because it’s the only way I have a snowball’s chance of remembering where things are.

Having Male all up in my space made it difficult to get lost in my silly thoughts. For example, I’d be wandering around my house thinking a random thought…

I’d get interrupted by, “What the hell did I just step on?” I’d look down and find a pair of drawers. I don’t typically wear boxer shorts and If I did, I wouldn’t store them in the middle of the living room floor.

This need to be alone is exactly the reason that I will always own a car. Public transportation does not provide the same amount of isolation as your own car, even with headphones.

So, I suppose, my weirdest routine is spending at least an hour a day completely alone thinking about stupid things. Seriously, how do you married people live with a significant other?