Taking a break

I didn't actually start till 5 pm, but I've gotten the dishwasher filled, did the hand-washable dishes, rearranged the refrigerator, stocked the cupboards, combined several jars of peanut butter into one, moved the plastic containers temporarily (I'm going to put them in the cabinet under the microwave, which is technically in the dining area (I have a very small kitchen), but I need to clean that out, too, as there are books in there right now. I also boxed up a collection of jars and moved them out of the kitchen. The counters are wiped down, everything's clean and sparkling. I put all the fruit in a bowl. I will make the salad now, as the cilantro may not last very long. So I'm tackling salmon, dough conditioner, bread, and salad tonight, which will make a nice meal and most likely a decent amount of leftovers. I even found a cruet in the cabinet for the dressing.

Okay, I'll start with the dough conditioner and start the bread baking, which will be the easiest part of the evening. Wish me luck--I've broiled white fish like cod before, but never salmon.

Having eggs and peanut butter bread for dinner

So far after work I have taken a nap, boiled a dozen eggs for dinner and breakfast over the next few days, and rearranged the cabinets of my kitchen for ease of use (baking stuff together, pasta and rice, tea and other beverages, that sort of thing). I made room for food when I get paid. I discovered a pretty pasta in tins and put it in a clear bottle for decoration, but sealed it so it would be fresh. A lot of the stuff is pretty old, actually, but much of it doesn't really go bad easily. I was looking for vital wheat gluten because I'm out of my white bread flour and the wheat usually takes gluten to get big and fluffy. Alas, there was none. I did find a recipe online to try that has gluten as an optional ingredient. So I'll try to bake some more bread tonight before going to bed. I boiled the eggs using the cold method, and they're hard to peel. I'll use the hot method next time; that is supposed to work better.

I just called my mom and wished her a happy birthday. I sent her a card last week. I haven't seen her since she was ill earlier in the year, but we talked for awhile.

The sun is going down. The cicadas are very loud outside. My burst of energy is gone. I think I'll set the bread machine up, wipe down the counters and kitchen island, and then go do something relaxing soon. Good night.

With the exception of a few dishes to do

unloading the dishwasher, and going through the refrigerator, I did a pretty decent job of cleaning up the kitchen today. I also am making some bread in the bread machine, as I am out and have all the ingredients and no money to just buy bread. Besides, it tastes better when homemade anyway, even if I'm not doing the kneading myself. :) I don't want to work anymore in there tonight because the bread will be rising, so it's time to move to other parts of the apartment and get things that were in the walk-in closet that leaked back in (they're mostly plastic, so they should be okay if it should happen again). I also want to wash the couple of clothes baskets I have (they got wet, and stained with rusty water), so that I can use them to corral the clothes in the bedroom, which have become a problem.

I just read a book I got out of the library called Organizing Solutions for People with ADHD : Tips and Tools to help You Take Charge of Your Life and Get Organized by Sarah Pinsky. While I'm not going to take all of her suggestions (I think my apartment leasing agent would be less than thrilled if I took all the cabinet doors off their hinges in the kitchen), a lot makes sense, and I'm going to try to put some of them into action. Her theory is that the best system for someone with attention-deficit disorder is to make things convenient, fast, easy, and efficient, so no beautiful baskets for magazines to languish in or using staging areas such as the main kitchen table for craft projects. Storage should be open and so easy to use it takes less effort to throw a sock into a hamper rather than on the floor. The book is organised by room of the house. Some areas don't apply to me, like the garage, or the playroom, but a lot did. And once I have money again, I really need to get a bigger trash can (not the tiny ones you see in bathrooms) for the bedroom, and one for the living room (not for food, obviously) and maybe a small recycling bin for both, as I tend to strew packaging and papers around in both places. I think that will cut down on a lot of that.

I also want to go through the many boxes (both plastic and cardboard) of paper that I have here and there in the closets and some behind the couch. Most of that stuff can probably go. They're old bills I wanted to shred, or school material copies, or stuff to do with my accident three years ago--that sort of thing. She argues that really, very little needs to be shredded these days, as account numbers are masked, etc. Simply tearing them in half and putting them in different bags is probably enough. So that's a goal to finish by the end of the year. First I have to get things passable in the bedroom. At sometime in the next month, the fire department is supposed to come check our fire alarms, smoke detectors, and that our windows open. The bedroom is very cluttered, and while, yes, I can get to the window, it's not exactly clear and easy, either. Plus, I may need to rethink my plants and try to come up with a better solution for them. They effectively block the windows. The living room has several on some blocks and boards, and the bedroom has a end table with two rows of plants on it. The living room isn't so much a concern--the door is there, so I'd likely not go out the window there anyway. But the bedroom is definitely an issue. I am going to try to consolidate my plants and move things around, use the space better. Hmmm...maybe I'll do that now.

One last thing, did you know 'Bloom County' is back???? I loved that comic strip when I was in college. You can get the new strips by liking Berkeley Breathed on Facebook. So far, Opus has awakened 25 years later and discovered the Internet. There have been three strips so far, released as Breathed feels like, rather than a daily schedule. But I'm happy it's back!

Got to take a break

I've been working on the kitchen, and I'm about halfway through. I've gone through all the cabinets, gotten rid of things that are very old and expired, and cleaned out the refrigerator, among other things. But the former meant standing on a folding chair to reach the top shelf, and that's not a great thing to do when you're six months out from a broken ankle and nearly 300 lbs. :) I managed not to fall; it just hurts when I do that. I filled up two trash bags of stuff, some of which moved with me with from the old apartment nine years ago. Yes, really. The next step is to wash the hand-wash dishes, wipe down the counters and sink, put some baking materials back in the oven (sadly, my kitchen is so small I have to keep them there, and then unload them when I want to bake. Even my microwave is actually in my dining area and not the kitchen. I do have a butcher-block style 'kitchen island', but it is against the wall and the leaf that expands it is on the wall side, with a drawer on the open side and two shelves below, the latter of which is full of cookbooks and cooking pots. One day, maybe, I'll have some proper cabinets, but since I don't cook much, it works for now. I am hoping to cook more often now that YKWIA is teaching me, though. Okay, I'm going to prop my ankle up and maybe ice it for a few minutes before tackling the rest of the kitchen. Then I'll try to move on to the living area, which was the planned area for tonight.