I'm new to this site - my story

I have found I pick less during winter since I wear gloves driving (I get numb fingers easily since I had surgery on my hand, so keeping the gloves on is easier for me), & I wear long pants & sleeves (and a coat when out of the house), so much less of my time is exposed to my exposed skin. Ya know? I also sew anything that needs mending when I watchTV or movies at home. I have many OCD manifestations. I try NOT to curb most if they don't interfere with my daily life and help me stop picking. Some of the following are obsessions/compulsions, some are constructive outlets to help curb my picking: picking lint or hair off my carpets or clothes; weeding my yard obsessively... or the rest of my neighborhood when there are no more weeds to pull at my place; solving word, logic, jigsaw or number puzzles whenever I can get away with it- especially if I must sit & wait (like at the Dr. office); playing games on my PDA or phone; building with Legos, especially with my 9 yr old son; playing board games with my family; modeling clay; painting; or any other hands-on crafts. Computer stuff counts. I find ways to de-stress and keep my stress as low as I can. Not easy!!! Especially now with 2 teen boys! Before I became a mom I obsessively vacuumed, dusted, cleaned, organized, mopped, scrubbed, etc. I was very OCD at this to the point that if I wasn't finished with the task at hand and the place was literally on fire... well, I still had to finish! This was actually tested- but not by choice- and it scared me when I realized just how obsessed and compelled to finish cleaning I was at the time of the crisis!! When each of my boys were babies they were ill and needed SO much! Very stressful on both my body & mind. My hubby had to work a lot of overtime since our finances were tight. My time was totally consumed with just the survival of my babies. When that finally passed I found that just being a mommy of young'uns was still very stressful, but I still had little 'me' time. I didn't have that much time to 'pick'. Now I have more 'free' or 'me' time, but the stress levels are WAY high! I now have to deal with lots of minor AND major crises, some are real life or death choices! Some are life or death lessons to teach. There are the "all nighters" (not childhood/adolescent/preteen sleepover party stuff, but friends being kicked out, or they are too drunk to drive and need either a ride home or a safe couch to crash on; runaways; girlfriend's with parents out of town; prom nights; video game all night parties; late night car racing; falling asleep while watching a movie at {friend's name}'s house, etc.) And the speeding tickets; car accidents; violent/possessive/vengeful/stalker/psycho current girlfriend OR former boyfriend of current girlfriend, or parent of any kind of friend. Then there's the sky high hike in car insurance; car repairs; stolen stereos & other items from lockers & cars; 'growing boy' food/snackage/vitamins/Gatorade; injury copayments; snowboards & related expenses; skateboards & related expenses; video gaming & related expenses; cell phones; ACT/SAT testing; MP4 players; 'cool' clothes; fainting & seizures of my one son; phobias of another son; braces & impacted wisdom teeth removal of both my teens; airfare & moving expenses to fly 1 son away and back for a 3 month job; and airfare across the country to & back to visit a girlfriend at her university; punching bag, gloves, dumbells, & other sports equipment; college tuition; swimming & Karate lessons; Driver's Ed. lessons; drivers' lisences; Graduation pictures, parties, school rings, school fees, school dances, cap & gown rentals, tuxedoes, grad. invites, announcements, school keys, tassels, etc.; Boy Scouting camps & related expenses; gifts for girlfriends; car gas/maintainance/registration/insurance/tires, etc. for each driver to ensure school/JOB/dating etc. is possible. Yes, there's more. Yes, the boys' pay quite a lot of their own expenses. And we haven't had any weddings or grandchildren to deal with yet. It could be worse ~much worse~ : like lawyers, prison, bastards, funerals, cancer treatments, STD's, drugs, my own children running away, etc. etc. ~knock on wood~ & all that! Well, I ask me, what's my point in all this? Hmmm... I must manage my stress! There are other outlets that won't result in ugly sores/scars/infection, that are less embarrassing! How embarrassing to be enjoying a special time with my son when a total stranger walks up to me and states quite loudly, "I know what all those sores and spots on you are! You have Chicken Pox! My son had chicken pox and he looked just like you!" I frantically looked for the nearest rock to crawl under! Then there is the fact that I'm a 'health risk' to anyone else who enters the swimming pool if I decide to get in (but I wouldn't be aloud since there isn't enough bandages in the world to cover all my open wounds so that I could be in compiance with the local health code to enter the pool.) I don't have HIV or anything, but, .... and if I saw anyone else with as many open wounds as I have- get into the pool!!... well, I'd just leave... maybe even file a complaint first. Could you imagine? Well, this is long enough.