Hi! I missed a week of the 30 week blog challenge, and I nearly missed another. I figure I’ll do these two weeks and get back on track next week! 🙂

My main nickname is Ronni. That’s how I introduce myself to people, that’s the name I go by on almost all of my social networking profiles, and that’s how I identify myself. My parents gave me that nickname when I was little, only it was spelled Ronnie back then. I am not sure when I dropped the e, but it probably happened while I was in high school. It’s just a lot easier to be “Ronni” than to try to explain why I’m named “Ronica” instead of “Veronica”.

Hmm. Well, last week, I bought the Catching Fire score. I have a thing for movie scores, and I had to have that one because I loved the movie so much. I also bought some things for Thanksgiving, some cat food, a toothbrush, and other assorted boring things. Catching Fire was definitely the most exciting of the purchases!

This week’s blog challenge is pet peeves!

Now, I know that my default nature is to complain. Anyone following my twitter feed knows this. I actually feel guilty because I vent so much on twitter. I think it has to do with being from Cleveland. Most of the Clevelanders I grew up with are still very negative and pessimistic. So it’s in my blood, even though I do try not to be so negative and complainey. Because really, who wants to hear that, right? And there are a lot of amazing things to be happy about.

With that said, I do see the value in venting. Sometimes it’s good to get stuff out so it’s not eating you alive. But it’s all too easy to dwell in it, which is no good.

This blog entry gives me a chance to vent a bit, so here goes…

Rudeness. I cannot stand rude people, and I cannot stand myself when I catch myself being rude. This includes people who interrupt me when I’m talking, people who blast their music and yell and scream so all the world can hear them (like my neighbors who partied until 3am Saturday morning–when I had to be up at 8am for a workshop), people who let their children run wild in stores, people who let their large families take up entire aisles in stores and on sidewalks, people who see that you urgently need to get over on the expressway and they purposefully speed up so you can’t, people who don’t clean up after their dogs so there’s poo all over the sidewalks, people who yell and scream about their lives like everyone gives a shit…I could go on.

Footsteps. I realize this is my issue and no one is really at fault for my eccentrics, but I HATE the sound of footsteps. Poor Adam gets the brunt of it because he’s a pacer. He paces all the time. And I am usually OK with it…unless he puts on shoes. He wears really clicky shoes. And we have hardwood floors. He gets told off so much for pacing, slowly (even more torturous), while wearing his shoes in the house. Personally, I love the idea of not wearing shoes in the house. As someone pointed out, why would you want to bring all that outside crap and track it through your home? But really, it drives me crazy. Oh and when I’m in Target and someone is wearing high heels and it does that extra click? You know what I’m talking about. No, just… NO.

Chewing/Kissing/Other Assorted Non-verbal Mouth Noises. This includes cats cleaning themselves. Gum smacking (and the sad thing is that I’m guilty of smacking my own gum which makes me want to kick my own ass). But the worst is chewing noises. I cannot stand them. Sometimes I even hate the sound of my own chewing. It’s like nails on a chalkboard. It makes me irrationally angry and tense and all icky feeling. Even heavy enough breathing is enough to make me want to curl up in a corner and rock back and forth. It’s so dumb and I wish I wasn’t so sensitive to it.

There is actually a name for those last two items: Misophonia. Makes me feel better that I’m not alone in this, but it doesn’t mean I like it. There are loads of other sounds that trigger anger in me, but they don’t happen as often or make me react so much. And it’s happening to Aidan too. Whistling, humming, singing… those sounds make him so angry. He doesn’t even like attending concerts or listening to his mp3 player anymore.

Being Held Back. This can be due to many ways. People not wanting to spend money for certain things. Red lights. Traffic jams. Hours that take forever to go by. I like to do what I want to do when I want to do it, not have to wait for other people or things to happen or give me permission. I hate that I can’t just walk onto any movie or TV set and play a part. I hate that I have to be judged by others on whether or not I’m worthy to do certain things or another. One of the reasons I’m glad I’m a grown-up is that I can pretty much do what I want (within reason) without other people or things stopping me. So that’s why I think I get so irritated when someone or something DOES get in the way. Especially if *I’M* the someone getting in the way!

When I’m Lazy. I know. How can something I’m in control of be a pet peeve? But it is. For example, right now, the apartment is disgusting and I have no desire to get up and do something about it. Because I’d rather sit here writing and listening to music than clean. But I need to clean. And I will. But I’m annoyed at myself for not being motivated enough to do it right now even though the place is making me hide out in my bedroom because it’s so gross. Pathetic.

Bad Smells. My nose is super sensitive. I don’t know if it’s been like that my whole life or what. I just know that when I was pregnant with Aidan, eleven freaking years ago, my nose was like a sonic radar and I never got over it. So. Bad smells. They haunt me everywhere I go. Good smells are fleeting, bad smells are pungent and everlasting and constant. Neutral smells are OK but those are rarely not interrupted by a bad smell. I probably keep the incense/sage/air freshener/candle companies thriving because I am constantly combatting bad smells. It’s exhausting.

That’s all. I need to get back into a positive headspace. Adam’s taking me out to dinner and then to Half-Price books later!

Till next time….