In any given intimate relationship, you should prepare yourself to learn one or more  things that are strange, odd or just plain weird about this person with whom you're sharing your time and space and maybe life, too.

I blame childhood for most of my own personal oddities.

Most of us picked up at least a few weird habits, odd tics and quirky behaviors when we were kids.

Things that are a part of us to this day.

Maybe your family had a huge snack before bed and called it “Midnight lunch”.

Or your parents showered in the dark --so you learned to do the same.

You can't pay any attention to the microwave count-down because you learned it's more important to squeeze in a short kitchen chore or two than wait salivating for the beep

I'll admit it first.

I'm kinda weird.

Even so, what some people call "weird"... it might be more fair to call eclectic, unique or special. "Weird" is a relative and highly subjective term, but my husband really does think some of my lifetime habits are particularly strange (Mr. Cubic Zirconia edit: bordering on bizarre).

Fortunately, the thoroughbred guy I chose to hitch to my wifely wagon has some frankly weird freakin' habits, too, which you can read about in a related post-- if you're so starved for entertainment that learning to juggle scimitars is beginning to seem like an appealing hobby.

So, here are 7 habits I didn’t think were weird until my husband told me...

Frugal (To a Fault?)

I don't think frugality is faulty, but my husband thinks the pleasure I take in being frugal is on the weird side. When in Costco, sure, I'll fill up a cart of toilet paper and cheaper-in-bulk snacks but most stores I'm smiling with my single-bag carryout. It drives him bonkers sometimes that I'll get in the car, drive to the store and come out with only the same 6 items I told him I'd go and get. Not a single splurge to see.

And don't even get me started on the decade-long, pre-Instacart spousal argument we had over his desire to pay someone to do our grocery shopping since he felt our time was better used elsewhere (uhh, if they can't compare unit prices of the same item and get the cheapest-price-per-unit then I don't want their help).

I guess I don't find much joy in spending money. It's always been that way. One of the oldest stories told about me as a kid was being in a museum with my cousins and they're all mad at me because Grammy said the kids can all get a gift shop souvenir-- or none of them (and I was the vocal holdout insisting I didn't want or need anything).

On the contrary, I find joy in not spending money. It makes me feel good to find the best deals on the products I need, digital coupons are my friends, and it's the times I entertain my family without spending money that bring the biggest smile to my face.

And yeah, I absolutely love it that I’m able to make a living and employ people with a living wage by offering 5A cubic zirconia jewelry products that are well-made with precious metals and considered super-affordable compared to the lookalike alternative (diamond jewelry).

Elusive Birthday Party Guest

When your birthday falls on Jesus's birthday...well, you don't often get a party that's separate from holiday celebrations. It's just been a fact of life for me. I believe my first gift of clothing was a Christmas stocking!

After a lifetime of sharing my December 25th birthday with Christmas, I'm used to this shared celebration where a family get-together is all about holiday decor-- without birthday hats, balloons, and party invitations just for me.

My husband thinks I'm weird, a bit sad and totally TOO unselfish, but honestly I don't think twice about it now. My grandparents have always done something special just for me. And the family still sings and brings a birthday cake-- even though in their head they're thinking about going to the family Christmas party. Honestly, I kind of like my Christmas birthday, which is always festive, is guaranteed to have a party on my day-- and includes plenty of cookies and other treats.

Wedding Band Absentee

So, maybe it is a little weird that I own a jewelry store but don't wear jewelry very often myself. I have some pearls I wear only on special occasions. And cheap earrings my kids bought me. A nice engagement ring that has a center stone too big to be a daily jewelry piece with my understated style. Those are easy to explain, but TBH I don't even wear my own simple wedding band very often.

I'm sentimental about my wedding jewelry. I love it, but I don't choose to wear the pieces day in and day out. When I realized it doesn't bother my husband, a habit of taking the jewelry off some days became most days. I know for some couples this is a definite NO-NO that they wouldn't be comfortable with, but I guess maybe I feel like I don't need to wear wedding rings to remember my love or that I'm married? I dunno. I just know that I like my hands to be ring-free when I'm working.

My husband only thinks I'm weird for this habit of mine because of how much of our monthly income is derived from the sale of engagement and wedding rings-- but he's had years to get used to it.

And the reason I don't own or wear many of the custom cubic zirconia rings we've made on commission for "design your own jewelry" customers is even easier to explain...there are so many great styles that I personally helped the customer to bring to life-- I ran our company's custom jewelry program myself for many years-- that I wouldn't know which to buy! Besides, for quite a few of those years, our family and little business didn't throw off enough profit to indulge in a bunch of splurge fashion purchases. Combine the two of those reasons and-- even when times change and you have a bigger biz and some extra cash-- which of those fabulously unique and fashionable rings would you choose?

Recycling Neurosis

Do I take recycling seriously? You bet I do! I recycle glass, plastics, paper, and metals. Plus it's one of my favorite things to give stuff away not just to a thrift store but directly to one person who has expressed an interest in giving that specific item I no longer want or need a second use life.

I'm weirdly neurotic about my re-use and recycle habit:

• Abstaining from using single-use straws (silicone straw in my purse!).
  
• Not buying any new clothes for a same-sex younger child.
• Turning bulk-grocery cardboard boxes into faux tables for kid play.
• Driving my own recycling to the center when there's no local pickup.

But plenty of non-neurotic people might do those things...hmmm...how about this one? I once organized a recycling group in the neighborhood where I was staying just short-term in a vacation rental (I still get the weekly recycling group Whatsapp updates years later and feel a small warm glow that I started that).

Why not? Reusing stuff when we can is good for the environment and that means its a gift to humanity, too. Honestly, I enjoy doing my part. Why would you want your old aluminum cans rusting away for hundreds of years in a landfill when they can be remade into something useful like a new bike for a little kid?

My recycling bins for this and that aren't weird; they're helpful! But I have learned that my husband does not share my enthusiasm: toss the right thing in the right bin, sure, but actually be responsible for seeing that any given recyclable item actually gets recycled...nah, that's too weird for Mr. Cubic Zirconia.

TV Season Skipper

During my 20s, I didn't own a television. Wasn't able to watch the Super Bowl without going to a party (isn't that the idea?). Couldn't tune in to the television news. Didn't know what was happening in everyone's favorite shows that they talked about. But I also avoided the 100s of daily TV commercial advertisements that most of my peers were subjected to in exchange for a few hours of entertainment.

It's like in the television show of life, I skipped that whole season. From what I hear, that's kind of weird. After all, most everyone owns a TV who wants one. Televisions are cheap compared to the hours of entertainment the average buyer gets out of them. So yeah it's strange...odd...WEIRD.

But like must attract like because my future husband, Mr. Cubic Zirconia, didn't own a television in his 20s either. Had streaming services not made their rise in the culture, it's doubtful we'd have a television today.

Hubby acknowledges the weirdness in us both for this decade-plus rejection of melodramas and sitcoms. What can I say? It is weird. But don't get me wrong: I'm not an anti-TV televangelist. I learned to love to relax with a movie and enjoy a laugh without laughtracks, too. These days, I watch movies and ad-free television shows via a couple streaming services. Current favorites include Friends, CSI, Modern Family, House of Cards, Criminal Minds, and The Closer.

Name and Talk to My Wheels

My husband thinks it's pretty weird that I name my cars. And even weirder that I cannot seem to decide by how I talk to these rolling hunks of metal whether these vehicles are my best friend, mother or daughter (they are all female).

I named my first car Azli. She was a Ford Taurus and the name suited her– really!There was Gisele, too-- who carried me through a dozen years and hundreds of thousands of miles of adventures in dozens of states and countries. Not to be confused with Sexy Zeta the boxy 4-door sedan who was anything but sexy.

All the vehicles in my household get a name-- including the one I drive today. It's not that weird, right? I mean, it'd be a lot weirder if I got license plates with their names. I've yet to take my strange affinity for naming vehicles to that level. Truthfully, I do not think she would be amused if I did that to her.

I doubt I’ll tell my husband the next name I give our next car. Why give him an easy reason to laugh at me instead of with me? But it's doubtful I can keep the secret considering how often he says I speak out loud to my girl.

Soap Is Soap

You know those effervescent, rose- or orchid-scented body washes that they sell in the stores and market especially to women? I don't buy those. Never have, probably never will. When it comes to soaping up in the shower, I'll use bar soap, hand soap, shampoo-- even my husband's body wash. For the reason why maybe see weirdness reason number one (frugality). I just can't see caving into the marketing execs on this and getting sucked into the female body wash gimmick. Soap is soap!

Why spend $7.99 USD on body wash when a $0.59 bar of soap will do the trick?

Those are some of my weird quirks for anyone still reading this dumb post the marketing director requested me to write.

I suppose everyone has the stuff that makes you wonder about that person.

Mr. Cubic Zirconia routinely comments on some of these (and for others, he shares my weirdness or he's learned to keep his damn mouth shut).

Luckily, most often my husband tends to laugh with me-- and not at me!

What are some of your weird habits?

What are some of your wife or husband's weird habits?

I promise...I won't laugh!

-- Mrs. Cubic Zirconia

P.S. I'm especially interested to hear if one of your weird habits overlaps with one of your significant other's quirks! Do you have a weird-thing attraction with at least one odd habit overlapping with the person you married / plan to marry?

Something you maybe didn't even realize was weird until the two of you recognized it in each other and saw, too, that your strange tic isn't exactly the norm?