Quirky, moi?

It took me a while to notice I had been tagged by Tawni (see "blogs I read" for Tawni's link) for the personal weirdness confession blog. I had a hard time thinking of quirks at first (that may come as a shock, I know.) But after a while I discovered I'm more strange than I realized. ;)
Not many of my posse are fellow-bloggers, and those who are have probably already done this, so I'm going to break the rules and not tag anyone. Except for Erica; I don't think I've read about her quirks yet. :)

Here are the rules I am breaking/loosely following:
- Link the Person who Tagged you.
- Mention rules on your blog.
- Tell about 6 quirks of yours.
- Tag 6 fellow bloggers to do the same.
- Leave a comment to let them know.

Quirky Sheryl:
1- I save my fortune cookie fortunes if I like them. I save a lot of silly/sentimental things, actually. While I’m not a total pack-rat, I do like to save memorabilia– anything that is “history”– ticket stubs, programs, stuff that reminds me of a fun event, etc. Oh, and I make a photo copy of my correspondence to someone (ie: a letter, or a card) so that I remember what I said when I hear back from them. This was really helpful when I wrote to friends on missions– by the time I got something back it would sometimes say, “In answer to your first question, yes I am.” Uh...what was my first question, again? Since I had a copy of my letter, I could find out.

2- I have to eat right away when I get up in the morning or I will be sick and nauseated. On trips, I always pack a granola bar or something in my bag, because I can't wait until people are ready to go get breakfast. Along the same line, I have to drink something with all my meals or I can't eat very much at all. If there's no milk, I'll have water with breakfast; I've gotta have something. Apparently my grandma is the same way.

3- I remember my dreams everyday when I wake up. I guess some people don't? I hate waking up to an alarm clock, and I'm slightly less likely to recall what I was dreaming if I'm awakened in this rude manner. ;)

4- I have a mental visualization of the calendar year, and of time. This is always really hard to explain. Since I was five years old or earlier, I've pictured the year as a sort of elongated oval stretched out horizontally. Here's my rough illustration:

Anyway, it works sort of like a game board in space. In my mind I spatially move around the circle during the year. (Like I said, it's really difficult to explain.) August is at the top in my mental picture, probably for two reasons: I was born at the beginning of August, and August is about where a new school year starts, which is an easier reckoning of time for a child than the actual new year.
So the circle is lying down, August is physically at the north, and December is in the south, if you will. It's also interesting to note that the months are not equal in length. (?) Don't ask me! When I hear about a future event, I put it in its place on my visual calendar. When I remember something from the past, I remember where I was on my oval. People sometimes wonder how I can remember things so amazingly well; I credit it to my brain's calendar.

When I think of several years, it is a long horizontal line in space that "begins" (kind of) in the west, and goes out forever toward the east. Now you're all going to really think I'm nuts, but it works well for me!

5- Because I was sick for four years as a teenager and the medical profession did absolutely nothing to help, I am into natural medicine and health. I think it's great, but some people might think it's quirky if they haven't studied, or been sick for an extended period of time. Some of my "wierdisms" include: not owning a microwave (I truly don't even miss it); giving up fingernail polish (the 80's are over, I don't miss it either); using natural products-- from shampoo without sodium laurel sulfate, to makeup without propylene glycol; not eating foods with nitrates or aspartame; rarely if ever drinking a soda; not using any nonstick cookware; NOT using sunblock; etc., etc. Besides the list of things I don't do, there are plenty of things I do do that may seem a little odd, but like I said, I think it's great, and I feel soo much better.

6- I am a habitual list maker and thought-writer. I can't remember a time that I haven't done this, but I've done it more especially since junior high school days. I write all the time. I have notebooks and files, and binders... hopefully I'll have a chance to put some of my ideas to good use in my lifetime.

7- Bonus quirk: I love name dictionaries. I bought my first baby name book when I was thirteen. I was checking them out of the library long before that. I think now I have four different name books.

There you go! Feel free to let me in on your own quirks, or fill me in if I have some I've failed to mention. :)