So awhile back, my friend Brandy posted a blog about her “quirks.” It gave me a good belly laugh when I read it, and actually, the idea to write one myself kept slipping into my mind. But I didn’t want to seem like some sort of non-original blog stealer. (In actuality, I am just that, so why was I concerned? Who knows!) So, because I’m really not in the zone yet as far as working and need to do something that exercises my brain while I finish my coffee, here’s a few of my quirks. Enjoy! Point and laugh. Make comments. I base my self-esteem and worth on how many I get. (OK, not seriously. But I do like comments a lot.)

• I don’t like my toast to be “too brown.” I basically just use the toaster to warm the bread. It can get a little golden, but I don’t want it super crunchy or dark brown. I think the people who use the toaster after me at work hate me, because I always leave it set to 1. As an aside, I also don’t like my pancakes to be really brown. I don’t want them underdone, just slightly golden. You know, that color that’s impossible to achieve on both sides.

• I read too many books at once. Right now I’m reading Pride and Prejudice (an old fave, but the first selection for my book club over at A Novel Idea), The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (by Anne Bronte, because I was on an English lit kick and had never read it and now just want to finish it); and Atonement, because seriously, if the movie got this much hype, the book has to be better. That doesn’t include Leaving Church, a spiritual memoir I’ve been reading off and on for like 3 months at work.

• I’m crazy picky about how my sheets are placed on the bed. I want the flat sheet tucked in very tightly. When I lie in bed, I don’t like the sheets to be wrinkled. I actually fix the flat sheet if I wake up in the night and it’s all wrinkly over my feet. I know this is abnormal, but it’s the way I am. And I’m not changing it.

• Apparently, on my birth certificate, my middle name is just M. My mom meant to bless my brother with an initial for a middle name (though all of the Crows think his name is Jason Wenzil. Wenzil was my grandpa’s name on my dad’s side. He died before we were born. He had no middle name and Mom couldn’t bear to give 4 lb. Baby Jason the name Wenzil.) I, in turn, weighed in at 3 lbs and was supposed to be named Mandy Marianne, in honor of my maternal grandfather, Marion. And thought that was my name. . . .until my mom gave me my birth certificate to get my passport 2 years ago. And there I was listed as Mandy M. I’m choosing to go by Mandy Marianne.

• If I can’t sleep, I often make up fictional stories involving made-up characters in my mind until I fall asleep. The next time I can’t sleep, I usually try to start back at the point of the story I left off the previous time. Sometimes I’ll start doing this if I’m in a particularly boring meeting or my brain is not engaged. I really should attempt to write them down, but I doubt they’d amount to much.

• I already have my next dogs’ names picked out: Bennett, McGwire (Mac), and Tony LaRussa.

• I’d rather ride than drive at every opportunity. I get nervous when I have responsibility for more than one life in my car.

ASIDE: Someone found my blog today with the search term I’m boring. Should I be hurt? Or should I pick myself off the floor and stop laughing?