tookandbaggins

[tookandbaggins]

Hey i’m a fashion design student so i have tons and tons of pdfs and docs with basic sewing techniques, pattern how-tos, and resources for fabric and trims. I’ve compiled it all into a shareable folder for anyone who wants to look into sewing and making their own clothing. I’ll be adding to this folder whenever i come across new resources

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16uhmMb8kE4P_vOSycr6XSa9zpmDijZSd?usp=sharing

[tookandbaggins]

Withers are at the top of my list along with ghasts and endermen

What’s one aspect about Minecraft you wish would be different?

[tookandbaggins]

in mesopotamia there were no 'cover letters' or 'curriculum vitaes'. there were just, pots.

[tookandbaggins]

getting advice from other adhd people is endlessly interesting to me because what’s revolutionary for one person is never going to work for another but also I can see a tip and think “that’ll never work” but two years later it comes back to me and it’s Magical. And vice versa, I can swear by a method for years and one day, it just stops for no discernible difference

[tookandbaggins]

i am a:

⚪️ man

⚪️ woman

🔘 person with adhd

and i am seeking:

⚪️ men

⚪️ women

🔘 meals that can be prepared in under 5 minutes

[tookandbaggins]

So admittedly this is kind of an ugly way of doing things but it’s super cheap and way more customizable than the stuff they sell in stores.

I’ve created sets of “drawers” out of boxes that I got bulk food in and I stack them in a bookshelf, which really maximizes how much I can store in each section.

Probably my favorite one uses the cans from canned chicken. They’re really good because they’re shallow and wide

And I stack them and leave them on my desk to hold little things I often need. I painted mine but that’s optional. Here’s what’s in these three

Pen cups are always too small for me. These are yogurt containers.

And then I have a few things Velcro’d on the side of my bookshelf, near the head of my bed

list of things i’ve done to make my home more ADHD friendly

1. waterproof clock in the shower

2. laundry baskets in the bedroom, bathroom, and laundry room

[tookandbaggins]

I would like to propose that everyone joins me on the evening of November 3 to make a big vat of your favorite soup or stew. No matter what ends up happening, it’s a good idea to do something that’ll take your attention away from the news cycle briefly while you’re cooking and ensure you have a number of meals pre-prepped for the days to come. If you’re a poll worker or an organizer, do the same on the 2nd so you’ve got something nutritious to come home to. Check my ‘recipe’ tag for some ideas if you need them, and tell me what you plan to make!

[tookandbaggins]

I wasn’t very clear writing out this recipe two years ago, so I’ll need to rework it when winter comes. But it was a nice for dealing with a cold

saute garlic, onion, celery carrots, garlic, ginger, thai chili

add chicken, chicken broth, lime, (some sort of heat. I had a ginger lime sauce last time as well as as a sesame oil marinade of some kind)

rice noodles/wanton wrappers

near the end add spinach

[tookandbaggins]

saute onion, garlic, & ginger.

add chicken

add potatoes

coriander, garam masala, tumeric, salt, paprika

tomato sauce, coconut milk, butter

thicken with cornstarch if needed

rice

Lesson for the night: don’t do curry in the instant pot. I guess thick tomato based sauces burn easily in them. Salvageable though, moved it to the stovetop.

[tookandbaggins]

Lesson for the night: don’t do curry in the instant pot. I guess thick tomato based sauces burn easily in them. Salvageable though, moved it to the stovetop.

[tookandbaggins]

tips for dealing with sticky messes

so my best advice for cleaning up something like honey or jam is to use very hot water and a lot of it. Rinse your washcloth out with hot water, wring most but not all of the water out. Run your cloth through the mess once, trying to sort of scoop as much of it up as you can. Experiment with sort of tilting your hand with the rag in it so that it doesn’t drip out, then hold your other hand under that to catch any drips. Immediately go back to the sink and rinse it out again, thoroughly.

Basically you want to get most of the gunk out before trying to clean the whole area and you want to keep your rag not-sticky so that you don’t wind up spreading sticky all over.

Repeat this until most of the actual substance is gone, then you can start cleaning the general area, again rinse thoroughly.

Using some sort of cleaner would be a good idea, especially if you have ants, but wait until you’ve already cleaned the area up

[tookandbaggins]

i’m constantly amazed at just how good a makeshift sauce of just an onion, garlic, mushrooms, italian sausage, and a can of crushed tomatoes simmered together for a little bit is

[tookandbaggins]

I think the most helpful practice I employ is the one I call “last looks”. This is just the silly name that helps me remember to take a visual sweep over a space as I’m leaving it to make sure I’m not leaving things behind. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve looked back and seen my phone, wallet, water, or keys on the bus seat, but I’ve definitely had to replace all of those things at least once in my life, and more. (RIP to my leather jacket)

I try to look on and under tables/chairs and the floor around them. I do this on the bus, at the doctors office, the park, friends’ houses, bars, hotels, everywhere I think to.

It started as a practice for when I’m out in public, but now I try to do it when I move between areas of the house, too.

When I leave the bathroom I check the counter, the floor, and the top of the toilet. This lets me make sure I don’t spend the next hour wondering where my phone went, don’t leave trash or personal hygiene items lying around, and that my clothes make it back to my room after a shower.

When I’m leaving the kitchen, I look to see if I left any food, dishes, or trash out, or if there are any spills I should clean up.

I’m not as good with this but I try to do it in my room. For instance, when I run to refill my water bottle, I grab a couple dishes. Or if I’m leaving the house, I might take the trash out with me.

I wish I had better advice on how to develop the habit, but for me it was really driven by feeling out of control and finding comfort in the ritual of it.

[tookandbaggins]

My roommate made steak, I did potatoes in the instant pot. I haven’t made a meal without that thing since I got it. Guess I’m a real food blogger now

[tookandbaggins]

-sauté onion, garlic, bell pepper, celery in olive oil

-season with salt, Cajun blend, yellow curry powder, cinnamon, thyme, lime juice

-4c chicken broth

-1lb kidney beans

High pressure in pressure cooker for 75 min, still a little crunchy. May want to let depressurizing happen naturally. Serve with rice and cilantro

I thought this would be one of those times I tried to do too many things at once but this is really enjoyable!

[tookandbaggins]

These are the basic guidelines of what I do when dealing with clutter kinds of mess. I like to leave organization for last because it's where I generally get  bogged down and if I do it first I generally end up doing some of it over.  I have it in stages so I can tell myself "I don't have to ____ right now, just focus on this step". I start by picking a spot where collect important things and items I use every day: keys, wallet, phone, meds. When I’m working on a really messy house, I keep a box handy for stuff that isn't trash but doesn't really have a home so that they don't slow me down. If I encounter someone else's things they go in this area, too.

The first stage is a set of focused sweeps through the whole area.

First I pick out the garbage and get rid of it.

The next sweep is for dirty dishes.

Then laundry: a clean pile and a dirty pile. You could stop to do the dishes here or have the laundry running through the next stages, but it throws off my groove. Also, I always seem to miss a mug or some socks.

The place generally looks a lot better at this point. If that took a while, I might take a break here. I might also just do these sweeps and call it a day. Every bit helps and I find if I'm gentle on myself with cleaning, I don't dread it so much.

The second stage is kinda weird because it feels like I'm making more of a mess, but what I’m doing is getting storage areas prepared for stage 3.

I focus on storage areas in a room one by one: desks, closets, dressers, anywhere I'll want to put stuff away, flat surfaces that collect clutter. I'm not organizing, I'm just taking out anything that doesn't live there and setting it in a pile. When my desk only has desk things on it, I move on to the next storage place and do the same thing.

You can either do this to the whole house if you thrive on chaos like me (and won’t drive others up the wall) or you could kind of alternate between 2 and 3 for each room. Whatever works best for you

Stage three is going through each pile and organizing the items into their places.

I save that box of odds and ends for last and I generally have a better idea of what to do with them at that point. Or maybe they actually belonged in the box the whole time and I just didn't know it? Also, I tend to have shallow boxes or baskets around my room to keep things in. I need to be able to see the stuff I use regularly. It’s not as tidy looking as how I was taught was clean, but this works for me.

It’s going to be a lot easier to do things like vacuum, sweep, clean the bathroom, after you’ve done all that de-cluttering.

Sweeping

Always sweep and mop last after you’ve wiped down tables, counters, etc. so that you're not getting stuff on your clean floor. That’s the worst.

Work from the edges of the room towards the middle.

Move furniture chairs and things around, if you can, rather than trying to get the broom under them.

I find that making small sweeping motions, not long swipes is most effective, but you should experiment a bit. When I do longer motions, I generally leave a trail of debris behind.

I find that frequently using the dustpan to gather up the pile that forms is easier than trying to get everything into one big pile and then that into the pan, especially if you’re dealing with a lot of pet fur.

If you are dealing with pet fur and it sticks to your broom, it might make it less effective. Pulling it off from time to time will help.

You might need to go over spots more than once and that's fine! You want to get as much up as you can before you mop, since mops will only push stuff around.

Mopping

Mops are more for getting up dust and stains, I think? Mopping is my weakness, but I’ll tell you what I can

Most of the time I sweep and never get around to mopping

When you mop, try not to step on or put anything on the wet parts. How do you accomplish this?

Before you start, figure out where you want to end up and work towards there from the farthest point so you don't mop yourself into a corner like I always do.

It’s not the end of the world to walk on it, just try to minimize it.

Mopping must be the most reliable summoning spell in the world. When you start mopping it is only a matter of time before someone wants to walk on it. I’m sorry.

Bathroom

In the bathroom, I clear items off the counter so I can spray it and the sink, the shower, and the toilet.

For the toilet, spray both sides of the lid and seat. If you're using all one kind of cleaner spray in around the bowl too. I usually let that sit for a bit while I wipe down the sink. Especially if you’re using one cloth rag, you want to do the toilet last.

Use the scrub brush on the inside of the toilet. There’s a lip right under the seat where the water comes out, and it tends to be one of the more neglected and therefore grosser parts of a toilet, so spend a bit more time scrubbing there.

Optional: If you have rings that build up where the water sits and you can’t scrub them off with the brush, a pumice stone can be use to scrub the rings. Flush first! If you’re not familiar with pumice, it’s a very porous stone that can float in water. It’s also soft enough that it won’t scratch the porcelain. People use them for their feet but definitely have a separate one for your toilet if you do this. (Sometimes they’re sold with cleaning supplies, otherwise look with the shower stuff.)

Frequent cleanings will help the ring from building up or really setting in, but... I would say as long as you’ve given them a good scrubbing with the brush and some cleaner, completely eliminating the rings isn’t necessary.

Mirror

You can use a cleaner, or white vinegar, or possibly just water.  I wouldn’t use an all-purpose cleaner for a mirror, they often leave a residue.

Some people use a wet and a separate dry cloth, but I find paper towel is the easiest way to get rid of the streaks

Spray the mirror with your cleaner or flick water on it, then use your towel to clean of any water stains or spots. Once those are gone, you want your mirror to still be a bit wet.

Then, starting at the top and working down with a dry cloth or paper towel, you want to dry it. This is also an area you should experiment with. I find it works best if I move my cloth is small circles, moving downward but kind of blending back up just a little.

Mirrors took a while for me to get the hang of, so don’t worry if it’s a little streaky.

Your arm will probably be tired.

Things I (or friends) learned the hard way:

don’t use any sort of scrubby on nice stainless steel surfaces, it leaves lots of scratches. If you can’t get something off: just keep spraying the spot, give it time, then scrub away at it with a soft cloth or sponge.

don’t use hot water/rags on cold glass (i.e. inside the fridge); it will shatter

NEVER MIX CLEANERS. There are a lot of different chemicals used in cleaners that can be very bad for you/fatal if you mix them. (I don’t know anyone who did this personally, it’s just good to keep in mind).

I won’t recommend too many products, but magic erasers do feel like magic when dealing with stubborn stains. They’re good for showers and bathroom surfaces as well as kitchen stuff (use a separate one for your kitchen though). Make sure when you’re done cleaning you wring it out and store it somewhere it can dry, otherwise it’ll dissolve.

Final word of encouragement for if you’re new to cleaning and your house is already kind of messy: remember that it’s going to be less work to clean the second time than it was the first time, assuming you clean even just a little more regularly from now on. There will be less build-up and you’re going to have some experience under your belt.

Take breaks, hydrate, and be kind to yourself!

[tookandbaggins]

Vietnamese Coffee Buns