CUBS WIN!! HOLY COW!!!

Quiz: What Chicago commentator said that line? It's really easy if you watched even the slightest bit of baseball growing up.

Until 2008 baseball is over, my blog will remain red white and blue in honor of my boys, the Chicago Cubs. I have for years been predicting a 2008 World Series victory.... it's the 100 year anniversary since they last won it, and 8 is my jersey number. It only makes sense. So sit back and watch. They clinched a spot in the playoffs on Saturday. October, here we come!

So I apologize for the annoying colors, and the fact that they didn't have royal blue, which is what color it should be. But I love my team with a dying passion that is much too strong considering the fact that I will never know any of these individuals in reality. But I love what they do and the city and fans they represent. .... or something like that.

Any guesses on who they'll face in the World Series? At this point in time, I'm gonna guess maybe the Red Sox... who will either get the wild card or win their division within the next week. If the Cubs do make it, I am going to sell my soul and buy tickets to a World Series game at Wrigley.

Scatterbrained

Does anyone else do these things, or just me? Yesterday I was leaving the store that I will potentially become an assistant manager at, if all goes well (since I haven't technically started the new job I got... I decided to pursue this when they showed interest in hiring me). I was just finalizing my conversation with the store manager. She was wishing me well, and I was thanking her for the chance to come by and observe how the store operates... so then she said bye and I said bye and thanks... and then as the door was half-closed, I heard her say something else. So I kinda grabbed the door and looked back and said, "Sorry? I didn't catch that." And she just looked back, still smiling, and said, "Oh nothing, I was just saying goodbye and take care." So now I'm standing there holding the door...

...

"Oh yeah. Okay, yeah you too. Bye!"

Awkward. Then the other day I was leaving WalMart. You know how they have someone check your receipt on your way out the door? Well, I come along with my stuff, hand the nice man my receipt, and I ask him "How you doin?" While he puts a yellow marker streak across my receipt, he answers, "I'm doin' well. How's everything going for you?" And as he is handing me my receipt, I answer back, "I'm doing well, thanks. How are you?"

... I had apparently forgotten that I already asked him that. Instead of just staring back at me with a blank expression, which I would've expected, the man was kind enough to just re-answer my question... "I'm doing well. Take care, Miss."

It's not that I wasn't paying attention to him. I'm not one of those people who asks a question and doesn't wait for or listen to the answer. I just really wanted to make sure he knew that I was interested in how his day was going... so I asked him twice... (?) This doesn't happen often with me, but from time to time I get these moments of just not communicating well with people. How you doin? Good, you? Yes, I'm good too. How about you? No? You don't want to play this game? Come on, it'll be fun! Watch, now I'll tag you and run around the building and you'll have to chase me.

OCD

I don't think I have it, OCD, but there are things I can be really anal about. Not sure why. I've been noticing it lately, and I don't know how long this one has been going on for... like last weekend. I was the only one home all weekend, so was the only one adding dishes to the dishwasher during that time. Whenever I put silverware in it, I always put one in each little silverware basket thing (you know those little sections). Then when it was time to double-up, I made sure there were exactly two in each thing, and then moved on to three when the time came. Everything had to be even. Why? Details like this are completely unimportant and make no difference in life. Why was that important and how long have I been doing this?

I do other things that aren't really OCD, but are probably totally unnecessary. Like my car's inside light. I always leave it on the off setting, so it never comes on even when I open my door. I set it that way a couple years ago when I was spending lots of time in East Oakland... not the safest part of Oakland. I would often get home from work early in the morning from working a semi-graveyard shift, and wouldn't want the light in my car to reveal that I was a woman, and a white woman at that. So it was a safety thing. But I no longer frequent that part of the city, yet I leave the light at that setting. Why? Just in case? I no longer have that concern. Even when in Oakland, I felt like if I had ever been approached, I would've put up a pretty good fight (not that my swinging fists would've been much of a match for guns, but still... I'd be lying if I said I never imagined taking down a petty thug with my ready and able fisted knuckles). But it's really not an issue any more, nor is it something I think/worry about. But the light continues to remain off at all times.

When I'm walking to my car, no matter where I'm coming from or what time of day or what city I'm in, I always pull my keys out ahead of time, and have my car key ready to go so I can unlock the door as soon as I approach the vehicle. Why? To save time... yes, I suppose. And just in case the situation changes so that for some reason I have to very quickly enter my car and get the engine going and squeal away. ... ?????

The toilet paper HAS to come over the top of the roll.

There are things that I feel like I obsess about without realizing it. And probably without really caring whether or not they remain the way I prefer them to remain. But then I can be a total mess with how things are kept in my room... or just have far-from-organized habits in so many other aspects of my life. Maybe that's normal. It seems normal, 'cause that seems pretty balanced then, doesn't it? Because I'm so focused on completely useless organization in some areas, I can neglect such organization in other areas. ...? Any other neat freaks and slobs out there?