October is here, leaves are swirly, Fly with the Fledglings if your sink is surly

[MrsDinky]

Welcome to the October 2010 Fledgling Flying thread!

This is where from the 1st of the month, we attempt to declutter and follow the 30-step wisdom of the Fat Fairy, with lots of chat and support and mutual motivation along the way. (More info available here!

Many thanks to our September thread leader StillCounting for guiding us through the traumatic back to work and school period with lots of support and guidance!

As usual we will be following a three-pronged approach (and don't worry - we are all at different stages):

• repeat or start baby steps (again!)

• repeat baby steps + do 15 mins a day decluttering in the current zone

or

• reinforce babysteps and do daily missions if you have finished decluttering.

Together we can do it! All newcomers welcome!

Oh, I too am quite worried about all the proof readers on here. Especially as I am liberal with my comas,,,,,

Goodnight Batbrains.

Its just gone 11pm, DS is asleep, and I'm just about to start the financial report for playgroup. Remind me never to volunteer for anything again, ever, and to duck and run away anytime anybody mentions the word "Treasurer"!

Wow! A playgroup treasurer that actually treasurers? I run a playgroup and have to do the work myself and just get the "treasurer" to verify and sign it. Actually the whole committee thing is getting to be a bit of a joke. I wish there were more people like you out there Ihate.

Funny story (not funny Ha Ha but funny I'm an idiot)
My washing machine has not been working for a couple of months. I've been dragging laundry down to my MIL's for a while. Couldn't afford to buy one as we had spent all our money to fly to Canada - Just returned on Saturday. Talked to DH this morning stating the desperation for a new washing machine even though we can't really afford it right now. He agreed. So anyway, I was cleaning the dreaded cupboard under the kitchen sink and I noticed that the plumbing for the washing machine had been turned off!
Moral: Flying saves you money

Yes, a treasurer that does the maths! No chance of our Chairs doing it

Right, I'm done for the night (sort of). Bank recs done, debtors & creditors updated, sitrep for meeting done, new fee invs created, statements calc'd - need to print out stuff tomorrow (and write proposal for new sub-com).
Washing machine to set up, DS to check and then bed.

Totaly missing the point of the first babystep this evening. What can I say...I'm a night owl.

Bat - well done on making it to the master bedroom. Baby steps, remember!

Ihate - I was thinking of volunteering for the PTA. You are making me have second thoughts now!

Imhere - had to laugh at your washing-machine story. That's the sort of thing I'd do, being entirely untechnically minded.

Yes, it's strange how many proofreaders there are on this thread. Something to do with being a perfectionist maybe? Don't worry - we won't pick you up on grammar or spelling (except to say that comas are something you get after drinking too much wine !)

Am not doing very well at the going-to-bed babystep either. I am also a night owl, Imhere - the trouble is that family life doesn't work like that and I still have to be up by 7 tomorrow to get DC to school. Plus there always seems to be so much to do after the DC have gone to bed. Have two friends coming round tomorrow morning and am very conscious that they both have incredibly tidy houses, so have spent the last couple of hours trying to get downstairs looking presentable, interspersed by several trips upstairs to deal with DS2, who is still full of cold and also had a nosebleed, poor thing.

Ok, it's after 1am now, so really do have to go to bed. Was just checking quickly here on MN, which is always dangerous, but am really going to switch off now. Night all.

Right, I am off! I am going!!

So many new people here, huge waves to you all, I am a regular (original), but have taken a bit of a back seat for a while.

Another treasurer here, not for playgroup, but 2 charities, plus its my paid job in 3 different places. love the bank recs!!

I will be back to join you all next weekend, all being well. I have no worries leaving Dh in charge of the house, due to his OCD tendencies it will be in so much better state when I get home! And this time I wont feel guilty about it!!

Have a good week.

How much can you lot discuss over one weekend???
No time to catch up at all but will have a go later.

Right, serious stuff now! My Mum turns up on Thursday night, I am not in a panic yet but need to do LOTS today (supposedly working Tues and Weds and Thurs will be too late!). List goes like this:

• Bath and hairwash for me
• All up and out without shouting
• Banners down from side of school (advertising last w/e's Fayre - only spotted them on Sat)
• Morning routine
• Ironing away
• 2 mins hotspot in kitchen, living room and hall
• 15mins x MANY in DD's room (hell-hole), DS's room (not quite so bad) and ours (dumping ground) Will go for crisis clean method and see how far I get
• Laminating for 2nd hand Uniform sale (this Wednesday of course!)

Will report back later (after I've had a sit down and a catch up) and then post afternoon list if its not too late by then!

Hope everyone else has a good start to the week.

Just back from finishing off the weekly food shop; I stocked up on ski wear as well, as it was on offer this week and DH thinks it's about time that DD2 and DS learned to ski. I have decided that I am far too old to even think about it and am not a great fan of cold weather either (I don't mind ice skating and took DD1 to the outdoor rink a couple of times last year, but that's as far as it goes), so will leave it up to DH to take them.

Right, must make a start on my list before I waste too much time on MN:

Food shopping done
Morning routine
Post class photo to GPs (I will get this done today)
Post new baby present done as it has disappeared from hall, so I assume DH has taken it
Sort out travel insurance
Update calendar
Finish filling in form for translation agency
Bank/pay bills x3

Morning all. I have been a very good girl this morning as part of my determined effort not to be a lazy slattern.

I have:-
Washing on
Washed breakfast pots
Swished and swiped
Made beds
Made pack ups
Drier on
Dc's and me dressed and out (am posting from work).

Today I WILL
Bank to pay in cheque
Washing on
Other away
Ds to beavers
Dinner
Tidy up Fter dc to bed
Shine sink
Make packups

Bonjour! Dag!

No need to be worried by the presence of proof-readers on here - personally - as you can tell by my posts - I can't spot my own typos even when they jump up and hit me on the nose! (It's a bit like dentists having bad teeth and stylists dressing head to foot in baggy black ... you can do it for others but not yourself!!)

Bright, cold but sunny day here. Feeling slightly fatigued because I was up at 3 am listening to an owl in the garden (not often heard as we live in the middle of a city!) it made an amazingly haunting noise (neighbours must think I'm a mad old bat - if they didn't already ). Anyway dd back at school, I am here at work and all is good to go! Hope you are all having a good morning.

Following Elliepac's good example and all of you busy Sunday Flyers, I am determined to get back on track this week and so far today have:

done my morning routine inc wm & dw on, s&s, master swipe
made a packed lunch
done school run
went to post office
sitting room tidy
dining room table hot-spot cleared
did a bit of hasty ironing

now must do 'work' work (started a bit late but fairly quiet atm)

then errand shopping + school run in reverse
music lesson
hwk/play/supper/bath/bed routine (supper already ready as made spag bol sauce yesterday)
three more loads of washing
sort dh's shirt/laundry order
clean out guinea pigs
clear kitchen basket hot spot
afternoon/evening routine
French study
early night!

Will do master bedroom missions tomorrow.

Thanks for indoctrination steps and lovely round-up MrsD - glad your back is feeling a bit better

PA sorry!!! - somehow yesterday, managed to miss the fact that you were about to depart! Hope you have a fantabulous time and can put all medical issues out of your mind for a bit and enjoy a bit of fun and well-deserved r & r!! Safe travelling x

That's EXACTLY it Toffee re: the light edit ... it always returns to haunt one (in a very negative way)!!

Sympathies Linzer ... I used to edit docs written by committees of non-English speakers which in no way represented English as we know it! A complete nightmare! It was almost quicker to re-write from the beginning. Having said all that, some of the folk over here who have learnt English as a second language have a better grasp of grammar than many native Brits my age (things much improved in schools now I think) ...Well done to getting the wretched task done anyway!! (Oh and 911 worry whilst pregnant sounds awful - can totally sympathise!)

Good luck with the painting today Sittinghippo

Hope it goes a bit better at work today Ellie

Cillit Bang Inhaler I'mhere good luck with your bin bag challenge!

Arrgh - am all scrolled out and bozz-eyed !! Sorry to everyone I've left out - I've probably missed all the salient bits too!

Waves to MrsD, Feetheart Ihate (hope your ds feels better soon) Batbrains Pushme (thinking of you and your family) Bob MissB Darts and everyone else!

[Still wondering if any news from Mini (nosey emoticon) and hope you and your Flybaby are all OK Chairmum!!]

Have a productive week everyone!!

Forgot to say Just13 hope your dd feels better soon - nasty chest infections are horrid.

[SC wanders off and ponders Toffee's thought about perfectionism ... ....]

"Striving to better, oft we mar what's well" ~William Shakespeare, King Lear, 1605

"Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it"~Salvador Dali

[can you tell it's a slow day in the office???]

Back to work tomorrow after a glorious year off on mat leave. Time for me to get more organised again. I haven't been doing too badly but I had felt I would achieve more if I spent less time on the computer! So, enough lurking, I am back...

Bring self to look at kitchen Decluttered, 1/2 benches cleaned, DW on, Washing up done with exception of one dish that is soaking.
Finish preping room for painting. 15mins done
hit bedroom and discover desk and floor. Just started
Important phone call!!!!!!!!
Important letter!!!!!!!!!!!!
Post important letter and postcard for linzer's dd
Paint ceiling
put clothes away ds' done, need to clear access to my wardrobe first
laundry 1st load which was wet bedding
Burn music to cd ready for training tuesday
Make and print worksheets for ds

Hi all - been at the hospital for a check-up for DD. Her chest's on the mend now, thanks justcounting, but we still have to do nebulisers for the next few days. Dragged a very reluctant DS2 (10) out with me and they bickered merrily. He thinks he should be able to stay home alone like DS1 (14), who's only just emerged from his room to make messy porridge and grump around a bit, mumbling about how unfair it is that he should have homework during half-term...

Linzertortured - I worked as an in-house translator for about 15 months in the pre-internet days, so it was a different world. I think translation is best done freelance these days. It was awful having to sit in front of a screen for a set number of hours. I used to write poetry to stop myself going mad with boredom!!

To do:
DD meds, lunches, trip to building society, laundry on, fill dishwasher.

Hope you all have a good afternoon xx

Good morning so far. Just having a sit down and catch up before making lunch/dinner and attempting more crisis cleaning (this 15 min burst thing is working at the moment :))

Welcome to Just13, Hippo and Imhere, lovely to see you have found us. I have been here since January and although my house still drives me to distraction I do feel a lot more in control a lot of the time.

Glad you decided to go PA, hope you have a lovely time.

Hope poorly people, and poorly DC, are on the mend.

All this talk of internet shopping leads me to make a cheeky request - if you fancy helping us to raise money for our school when you shop online please go to this site, register and do your shopping via the site. All the usual retailers are there and there are usually offers, free P&P, etc through the site. For those who are on committees or part of a group then you can set up your own easyfundraising site. If you do it with my recommendation (I think we have a code somewhere) we will get a 'Thank you donation' Its a doddle to raise money this way, especially at Christmas. Shameless plug over

This morning's list:

• Bath and hairwash for me - done
• All up and out without shouting - done :)
• Banners down from side of school - done
• Morning routine - done
• Ironing away
• 2 mins hotspot in kitchen, living room and hall
• 15mins x MANY in DD's room (hell-hole), DS's room (not quite so bad) and ours (dumping ground) Will go for crisis clean method and see how far I get - 1 15 mins in DD and DS's rooms, 3 x 15 in ours. Need more but its working
• Laminating for 2nd hand Uniform sale (this Wednesday of course!)

Afternoon list:

• Lunch
• Make Cobbler for dinner
• Ironing away
• 2 mins hotspot in kitchen, living room and hall
• Laminating for 2nd hand Uniform sale
• More 15 mins x lots crisis cleaning upstairs
• Hoovering - do some
• Mop kitchen floor
• Posters up for uniform sale
• Talk to DD's teacher re her spelling group - DD miffed as she is in lower group than she thinks she should be
• Dinner
• Homework
• DC to bed at reasonable time
• Me to bed at reasonable time

Right, enough of a break, need to get on.
Have a good afternoon everyone.

PA - hope you have a great time. 'See' you next weekend.

Have spent pleasant, sociable morning catching up with two good friends. Asked them how they keep their houses so tidy - the answer is: no clutter. Also - no young children. So all I need to do is declutter and wait for DS2 to grow up a bit .

Am going to try decluttering a bit every day. DH managed to get two binbagfuls of stuff from our bedroom yesterday. Embarrassingly, there is much more to do.

Morning routine mostly done. Shopping delivered. Lunch eaten. Emails checked.

Not going to make a list, but will be doing a general declutter and washing this afternoon before collecting the boys from school.

Sorry for lack of personal messages. Have had a quick read through to keep up with you all though. What a busy lot!

Hi all, I was just wondering if I could join in? I've just started the whole baby steps process and could probably use a bit of support and reminding that these are good, abeit, small things.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh. Ofsted on Wednesday/Thursday.

Nothing more to say except oh fuck a doodle doo.

Ellie - Focus on the lesson plans, marking and dont panic. You have been teaching for 11 years. You can do this. We'll fetch some wine for you for thursday evening! Good Luck.

I have been thinking about what i am doing and discovered that one of the main problems is the half started projects that are for christmas so i am trying to be clever with my clearing out and tackling the projects. major area declutering etc will be on the plan tomo.

Welcome, Scout. Plenty of support here .

Ellie - don't panic! Listen to Bat's wise words.

Afternoon everyone.

Today

-Morning routine done I just put the washing machine on
-Home blessing - Dust done
- Hoover
- Mop done
- Empty bins done
- Change sheets dc done
- Polish doors and mirrors done
-Done 27 fling boogie in master bedroom
-Kelly's mission done
-Dinner done
-Evening routine

Was at school with dd until 12, so I've had a mad few hours trying to get sorted. Having a sit down and cup of tea before it's time to get ds.

Hope you have a lovely week PA

Oh ellie with two teachers as parents I feel for you

We have an incredible amount of clutter Toffee my house will never be minimalist but it needs to be a bit more manageable. I'm sticking with the zones and decluttering as I go. The house is noticeably different to two months ago.

I'm new too Scout but feel free to jump right in.

Goodness me feetheart your day looks very very busy, hope it's going ok and you've had time to put your feet up for 5 minutes too.

Glad to hear your dd is on the mend Just13

Was it you, the owl or both in the garden SC Dd was up then too and I'm flagging big time now I've sat down.

Back ache is rubbish, glad yours is feeling better MrsD, hope you've not gone too mad today.

Hope everyone is having a nice and productive day :)

I'm following the baby steps, but there are a couple of things it's time to do in my normal routine but could use some advice. Where I come from (am an American living in the UK), we have separate washers and dryers. That means the lint (fluff) trap is easy to clean -- dry fluff that you scoop out every time you finish a load (or before you start a load, depending on your routine). But over here I have an all-in-one washer/dryer. I can never seem to get the fluff trap clean of wet sopping fluff, even if I haven't used the machine in a week. It drives me CRAZY that I can't ever seem to get it immaculate. Obviously I get it clean enough to work, but I would really like to get it completely clear/free from wet fluff. Help! How do I do it?

No idea we have separate machines. I have been owkring on a few of the things on my list from earlier. Stalling this afternoon. Have 20mins before picking ds up. then it is all go tea and stuff

As you can probably guess my spelling, gammar and ability to type straight is very lacking.

No idea what a owkring is I meant working