Blog Awards Series #5: B is for Blog Awards

I am not saying “B is for Bedbugs,” because supposedly things are “happening” with that. The home is hiring a new exterminator to come tomorrow and – again supposedly – is going to deal with the code violations that resulted in the scary green notice. I’m not sure how much faith I have in either of these things, but there’s not much I can actively do until I’ve given them a chance to fail all on their own.

Having learned entirely too much about what to do to keep bedbugs out even before an exterminator comes by when a complex I lived in during graduate school got them – and finding the agency rather lackadaisical about learning from my lived experience – I’ll share it with you all. Food-grade diatomaceous earth lining the walls and furniture is a great way to stop bed bugs and other nasties from getting in if the neighbors have an infestation. It’s also a cheap and surprisingly effective after-care product once the exterminator does treat. I did my research as soon as I discovered my neighbors had them, bought that, and was the only person in a ten-unit apartment that didn’t get bedbugs back in the day.  I don’t think it was strictly allowed by my lease to do my own treatments, but at the time management didn’t care since it worked.

There’s no point in putting it down in my sibling’s room until the infestation is handled with entomological nukes first, but I keep hoping the agency will at least allow me to do the same after-care measures for my sibling’s room later. I’m not quite daring enough to just do them anyway as I did in grad school, because I’ve seen agencies use any technicality to boot someone, they barely wanted someone with a trauma history to begin with, and there aren’t really any other openings.

So instead B is for Blog Awards like C is for Cookie. If I have an enforced sit-on-my-hands week, I probably should get back to that “mental health sabbatical” portion of my not-FMLA. I’m hoping to do some baking. Baking too often seems incredibly overwhelming and not worth the spoons when the world is falling apart. But, I’ve always deeply enjoyed it when I can manage it. My original “balanced scorecard” included playing with inventing recipes as a thing that made me feel more like me.

Today’s other balanced scorecard questions are courtesy of Fibronacci:

What makes you happy? (Is it a person, a hobby, a food?)

Do you remember when Sesame Street tried to give Cookie Monster a makeover and make him eat his vegetables?  I’m about to do the equivalent to this post about sweet treats by saying “parsnips.” I’ve talked about restaurants, travel and my Partner on practically every other blog award, so I figure I should at least be a little different this time around. And, parsnips are one of those foods that I continually forget exist, but are actually kind of the perfect “I think they work on every illness management diet out there” food that nobody ever thinks of. Cookies, sadly, are not recommended on any illness management diet, but I’m claiming them as self-care anyway!

I made a parsnip soup in the slow cooker that was easy, low-FODMAP and delicious. I had some ham bones left over (you could also use chicken bones or store-bought stock and add the spices directly to the slow cooker), and I made a stock out of them by adding water, rosemary, thyme, sage, black pepper, dill, allspice, and ginger.

I added six cups of my homemade stock, two large loosely chopped carrots, two large loosely chopped parsnips, two medium chopped potatoes, and hot sauce to my crock pot. I cooked it on high for 4-5 hours then blended it with my immersion blender. (I’m pretty sure that “my stand mixer” and “my immersion blender” could also qualify as viable answers to this question.) I was very happy with the result. If I wanted to be fancy, I might have garnished with green onion tips and bacon, but I was just hungry!

What is one goal you want to accomplish?

I think I want to eventually be brave enough to make a stand-up routine out of the most ridiculous crap that the 9th Circle of Hell bureaucracy has put me through. Since I wrote about just how perfectly ironic the state motto would be for the title of such a show, I can’t seem to forget it. It’s like the state is just begging to be eviscerated on stage at some obscure coastal open-mic night. And, if I ever have the guts to do that, it means that I’m no longer so afraid of what anyone there can do in retaliation that I have to hide behind pseudonyms. Wouldn’t that be nice?

I don’t even actually do stand up, though, so I guess there’s a subgoal in there of “try stand up,” as well.

If you could talk to your teenage self what kind of advice would you give yourself?

Figure out a safer place to hide your notes so that someday you’ll have them to aid in writing that stand-up routine with your lousy memory? C is for cookie – not crazy – despite what you keep hearing, and, p.s., it’s not you that is crazy, anyway, it’s the world?

What makes you tick?

I do understand the concept of homophones, but now I’m envisioning actual ticks showing up alongside the bedbugs, and that is absolutely making me “tick.” Or, maybe “tic” since I have ADHD, and we do tend to also do that when we’re anxious…

Also, having to sit idly by and wait for anything to happen that is out of my control. And, trying to relax. There is nothing less relaxing than trying very hard to actually relax and take care of yourself, then critiquing yourself for not doing it right!

If a genie could fulfill only one wish for you, what would you wish for? (Fine print: no wishing for more wishes!)

Make the world be less crazy?

What’s the first thing that popped into your head when you awoke this morning?

I am deeply grateful that nothing literally “popped” when I first woke up because dislocating things while I sleep sucks…

Figuratively, though, “I’m hungry.” (That probably contributed to the topic of this post!)

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Need a recap of anything I’m talking about in any post? Check out the Glossary of Terms.

 

 

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