q is for...

queen anne

this is the neighborhood where I live and I cannot say enough wonderful things about it. I live almost at the top of the hill where there is our own little "main street" with restaurants and shops galore. there is the best pizza place, cheap (but good) nail place, grocery stores (even a trader joes!), my favorite bagel place, a 7-11, four coffee shops (of which I don’t partake but it is classic seattle for you), and other lovely little shops I can get lost in on a weekend afternoon. most everything I need is within walking distance and it’s only a short commute to downtown for more shopping as well as my work during the week. for me, it’s the best of both worlds...a residential neighborhood within the city.

quirks

I've been told I have "issues" when it comes to some of my little quirks. here is a smattering of what I think they were talking about...

the lid on the toilet must be down…ALWAYS down. previously living in a small studio apartment with a TINY bathroom taught me to always close the lid, things have a tendency to fall in when the space is small, trust me, I know!

there are two stairwells in my building and I use each of them but for different purposes. one is only for when I go the basement to do laundry and/or visit my neighbors/friends on the first and second floors. the other is for entering and exiting the building. there is usually no deviation from this unless I have company and they don’t know the stairway “rules”…for this I extend grace.

I have a hard time watching movies (outside of those in the theater) with people because, inevitably, people talk and I CANNOT stand people talking during a movie. this is also true for my favorite tv shows, etc. truthfully, when watching movies or tv at home, it must be alone. my shows are just too good to be interrupted by other people.

my computer at work is started every morning the same way. besides the usual logging in, etc., the programs are opened in the same order each and every day...first outlook for email, then internet explorer for hotmail, then my explorer window to file search, then adobe acrobat. after that, programs open and close when needed. but the first few always stay the same. I'd like to say it's because I work more efficiently that way but I haven't proven that yet...I just like it this way.

as much as I'd love to be a napper, it is never going to happen. when I do attempt, I wake up mean and with a headache. the mean part isn't intentional, its just a side effect of sleeping during the day. the thought of sleeping while its light out is a delicious feeling, like I'm cheating, but the aftermath is too much for me...and others! this fact also crosses over to evenings and the "doze in front of the tv" syndrome that is so common for people. not me. there is a distinct cutoff for awake and sleep time. I can be watching tv very late and be very tired but once I cross that line of feeling like I could fall asleep, it's time to get up and turn all lights off and get into bed. I do not fall asleep on the couch or chair...only my bed.

there are many more I am not mentioning here (as I’m sure my friends and family will attest to!) but these are the only ones I had the guts to mention.