I'm Not Crazy - My Mother Had Me Tested

One of my favorite shows is The Big Bang Theory.  It is well-written, and I often laugh out loud (really) at some of the unexpected things Sheldon Cooper says. ("It's ON, bitch!")

I find Sheldon's determination to adhere to a self-imposed schedule entertaining.  Sheldon has laundry night, pizza night, comic book night, and vintage video game night, among others.  Similarly, Sheldon has bus pants, elaborate disaster planning, and even a napkin plan.  These things are designed to mitigate risk and impose structure, which presumably makes him more comfortable in life.

This was all just entertainment until I started to notice (to a lesser degree, surely!) that I have similar tendencies.  I tend to embrace the sameness that seems to keep me in my comfort zone.  While I don't have bus pants, I do make every effort to park in the very same area of the parking deck, if not spot, every day.  While I don't have laundry night, there is a point in the week that if this task hasn't been completed, I'm sure that the end of times is near.  I don't have a disaster plan, but I take great comfort in knowing what exactly I will do if there's a roof leak, or a broken pipe. I've even gone so far as to quiz the vet on what happens if my beloved Snickers comes to the end of her life on a Sunday!

This sounds mostly reasonable, until I think of some of the ways I limit myself.  Spare work, I only travel when accompanied by certain, select people.  I'm not a "joiner", so I'm sure to see if attendees of a particular event are familiar prior to accepting an invitation.  The idea of going to a restaurant or movie solo is incomprehensible. Based on the parameters I've assigned to stay in my comfort zone, I now spend large spans of time at home, where I can completely control my surroundings.

My sister pointed out recently that I over-plan and over-think everything and that there are just some things I need to stop thinking about and just DO. In theory, I agree with her, but somewhere in the back of my head, there's a voice saying, "That's just short-sighted! What if....".

All this said to say that while I don't buy in to resolutions, it wouldn't kill me to wage a campaign (in baby steps) to become more social, adaptable, and less fearful in 2013.  I'll let you know how that goes.

PS: That reminds me; I need to check on those plane tickets I booked last August for my May trip to Iowa.  Surely planning ahead can't be all bad, right?

New Phone!

When did it become such a big deal to get a new cell phone? Not sure, but it has. I previously had the HTC Pocket PC from Sprint. Here lately it's been acting kind of hinky; low battery life, dumping calls, Internet connection hanging, etc. I approached this as a warning shot prior to more insidious failures. My most recent former husband gifted me the delightful Palm Pre. Clearly, this is an iPhone wannabe, but the best Sprint has to offer at this time. I've heard good things about it; that it's actually better than the iPhone, but with a smaller marketing budget. I know one thing for certain; there are waaaaay less apps available than on the iPhone, but you can use multiple apps simultaneously. I'm sure there are geeks somewhere furiously developing new apps for the Pre, so I am going to patiently wait it out. I am vigilantly trying to learn this new thing; the previous phone navigated much like a PC, hence it's name. This, however, does not. Hopefully, by Monday I will have learned enough to make a call or send an email without having a meltdown of some nature.