Remember Remember, Fledglings Fly through November

[DidEinsteinsMum]

Welcome to the November Fledgling Flying thread.

From the 1st of the month we shall be decluttering and taming the chaos using baby steps, missions and zones. A great big thank you to MrsDinky who looked after us last month.

We are not strict followers of the fat fairy and take some of the babysteps wearing shoes indoors with a pinch of salt. Also advise against signing up for the fairy's emails.

All are welcome, jump on board for one of our three methods of chaos attack:

1. Baby steps
2. Baby steps and 15mins decluttering in current zone
3. Re-inforce the baby steps and daily mission

This month the fat fairy is gearing up for the feastive period. So I shall also post the christmas mission for those who wish are brave enough to look.

In here the motto is:

*"No perfection! Do what you can, but be realistic about what you can do."

Happy flying.

Great news highlighter
bob hope things get better

Am feeling smug as I started todays mission yesterday.

Today

Dishwasher
Finish mission
Bank appointment
Return library books
swish and swipe
Collect Ds from school
Parents evening
Filing
Study 15 minutes
Start Christmas cards

Highlighter I must apologise for calling you highlander below! since you are probably not actually a sword-wielding immortal Scottish clansman. (I actually woke up last night in a cold sweat about having typed the wrong nn - overdeveloped sense of responsibility going into overkill there I think! ) Glad dt is doing well.

Sorry to have caused a cold sweat systemsaddict- rest assured I hadn't even noticed!

Afternoon all :)

Didn't get back on yesterday as was trying to be good and get to bed on time - it worked, asleep by 10.30pm. 2 nights in a row, MUST keep it up.

Thanks for thoughts about IR DEM. Did get some of it done but had to do HUGE paperwork sort out in order to find stuff I needed so good spin-off. However very little other Flying got done.

Bob - I'm always at the prices of specialist equipment. Looks lovely though, hope DD enjoys it.
Well done on leaving her at school too, very brave :)

Swan - how is DS today? That must have been a hell of a break. Think he did it at a similar time to my DS though luckily 3 yr olds heal very fast and thankfully we didn't need any more intervention.

Probably not much Flying to be done today either as other stuff seems to be taking over as usual:

• Morning routine - need to finish
• Work - SAGE working today so catching up
• Make Spaghetti bolognese for dinner/freezer
• To school to photocopy School Assoc stuff and make display for Parents Evenings this week
• Pick up DC and try to allay disappointment as they think they are going to friends, sadly friends are poorly.
• Help a bit at Parents Evening though may be limited as DC in tow
• Dinner
• DD to Brownies
• Try and sneak out to help at Parents evening again if DH is home
• Evening routine
• Bed at decent time

done
2 lots of sheets changed/in wash
ds lunch
ironing

now thinking tanglingmyself xmas thoughts/plans Winter Wonderland? Panto?
local panto? homemade stuff? lay in groceries? any space for such exertions No...

back to ds now, (femoral facture Oct 09, just removing the plate thatheld the bone together)

I know about Xmas flylady, looks even more frightening on there... well apart from the stamps, that is quite a good idea [grudging admiration for flylady]

I know from experience that Advent is nightmarishly over-sociable (considering its meant to be preparing for the Feast, not the feast itself), just makes thoughts of more outings, parties rather overwhelming.

Dh wants to give on on 18th. [sigh]

give one, not give on

Thanks for the roundup DID

5yo and 3yo dressed their beds this morning, so proud!!

School run
Then brought 3yo and 1yo to Tumble Tots.
Home now, 1 yo asleep, having a cuppa.
Then will:
S& S Kitchen and Bathrooms
Do general tidy-up
Iron few bits
Sort out laundry
Put on new load
Declutter some more!!

Well done to everyone on fab flying!!

Swan - have just bought my Xmas stamps! I made myself queue up at the PO to get them - usually I can't be bothered and then the corner shop runs out of second class and I end up having to send everything first class a day before Xmas Day.

Dolanette - well done to your DC!

Feet - congratulations on achieving your early night two nights in a row. Wish I could do that. I always stay up ridiculously late. MN doesn't help!

Thanks for a great round-up, DEM.

Have done all my errands. Am having to get everything done today, because I'm assuming MIL will need me at home for the next few days. So did last-minute shopping for DS2's party today.

List looks like this:

Put rubbish out done
Morning routine
School run done
Meet friend for tea done
Put washing away
Bag up old clothes for school fundraising
Finish tidying DS2's bedroom ready for MIL
Online order from Tesco done
Defrost freezer doing
Wrap DS2's presents
Errands in town (including taking a bag of old toys to charity shop - am getting the hang of decluttering!) done
PM and eve routine

Must have a go at tidying the MIL's room before school pick up. Waves to all.

my 11 year old makes his bed! (very badly, but still, a habit has been instilled

I've realised what a skilled art changing a duvet cover is, ds1 certainly can't manage it. Even the pillowcase has him stumped usually.

done
ironing
finished brssels sprouts
changed sheets/washed them/hung them out
degorged aubergines
made veg soup (not quite minestrone, may be safer to call it veg soup in case Dh complains about size of chunks
keeping ds happy and topped up wth chat and painkillers

I'm struggling to stay motivated at the moment; the last few mornings have been taken up with work and I haven't managed more than the odd 5 minute room rescue in the afternoons. I know I ought to be getting organised for Christmas too, but keep pushing it to the back of my mind - definitely not the right approach!

Bob The beanbag looks great; I hadn't realised it can be taken out too. Am still a little shocked at the price, but it looks like it will be well worth the money!

highlighter Great news about DT1; hope DT2 is better soon too.

swan / Toffee DH asked if the Christmas stamps were out at the post office last week, and they just laughed at him! Have been trying to find out online when they'll be out, so searched for "stamps" on the post office website but no results found.

Must go and pick up DD2 from friend's - although DS is walking around naked at the moment, so getting him dressed probably has top priority.

Hello everyone. Having promised to catch up with this thread and catch up with the Flying since coming back from Blighty, I have done neither. RL has conspired to intervene yet again!! Mahoosive problems with website at work (my overall responsibility although I don't do actual technical bits thankfully) with American clients telling us it has infected their system with a virus which (being one of our main sources of income) is horribly serious. Clients using Microsoft affected but not those using Apple. Yikes! So I've been on it 16 hrs a day since I came back.

Flying has gone terribly badly in November so far despite all my good intentions. Sitting room is looking a bit cluttered but relatively dust-free and clean. Rest of house a disaster and laundry pile up to ceiling.

Just stopping in though to say:

• "hallo" to all!
• a warm welcome to Loosinas
• wow, what a fantastic round-up DID/DEM !!
• Highlighter so glad your dt is back at home with you

-*PA - thinking of you this week - hope you are not getting too nervous.

• Linzer (from waaay down thread (apologies) yes - I feel exactly the same way - the trouble with going back to Blightly now is that having lived abroad abroad for so long, I no longer feel at home in the UK and yet I'm still an outsider here too!! This isn't as bad as it sounds!! Has huge positives too in that it can be very liberating but can be difficult too.

Mahoosive waves to one and all! Back properly once work problem resolved!

One positive: have managed to track down charity Christmas cards on-line and they arrived yesterday. Have also found my address book which has been missing for many months! So I have no excuse for being late with cards this year.

Been training today. Not happy though as didnt have the whole rink to train on. they needed a 1/3rd of it for other purposes.

Loved being back on training and with a choice of a stomp in the breeze or flying, i am going to take ds out for a stomp. Might consider flying later. I am all bouncy and singing.

Linzer - the Xmas stamps were out on 2 November here, so the PO staff had no business laughing at your DH. I know that from the Flylady Xmas thread on MN, though, not from the Post Office. You'd think they'd manage to get that info on their website.

Still - sorry to hear you are having such a stressful time at work. Hope it is resolved soon. I'm not surprised flying has taken a back seat. The trouble with the Flylady system is that it depends on a routine existence. As soon as life throws a spanner in the works and you don't have time, the system fails. There is just too much to do sometimes, especially with small children and work.

Swan - you have given me the nudge I needed. Must get DS to make his own bed in the morning. He only has to pull the duvet up - it's not hard.

PA - thinking of you. Hope you are OK.

Back to my list now. Have to tackle the fridge - it has been defrosting all day, but there is a huge wall of ice on the back of it which won't shift .

Today
-Morning routine done
-Washing done
-S&S done
-Kitchen mission
-Blitz lounge done
-Drs appt done
-Make curry for tea done
-15 minutes decluttering
-Hot spots in bedrooms done

I twisted my ankle and fell down the steps earlier, so sitting with dd feeling sorry for myself

Mmm red cabbage swan one of my fsvourite things to eat, might have to get one tomorrow.

That's lovely news about your DT highlighter hope they're both feeling well soon.

Very organised Sylvia I'm impressed

I was pleasantly surprised feet but that compares to the £1400 sleep system which is 4 pieces of plastic, 4 cushions and 2 sheets, ridiculous! Hope you've had a nice day, you are very busy.

I looked at christmas flylady too Swan then bought some stamps and abandoned everything else, apart from buying something for christmas each week with the shopping, mostly alcohol!

I just started making ds make his bed in the morning too Dolanette he's becoming quite the perfectionist.

You're a lovely dil toffee hope it goes smoothly with your house guest :)

It's very light Linzer big and slightly awkward but very light so a lot easier than her current chairs to lug up steps. Lol at your ds

Oh no SC sounds very stressful, hope you can get it sorted out soon.

Stomp in the breeze sounds lovely DiD dp is currently playing football with ds in the driving rain, not so appealing.

I am going to now remake our bed and wipe down the cupboard doors in the kitchen.

dsis is on way to a&e so if i have to go rescue her, the round up might be abscent again. Appologisies in adavnce.

The stomp in the cold was lovely. just not long enough. Ds decided his hands were too cold and he wanted to go home. Wimp. i wasnt even wearing a jumper. I love the cold though, it puts me in a good mood.

Bob - owch. That sounds painful. Hope it gets better soon.

Dancing - sorry your stomp was curtailed. But I have to agree with your son - it was too cold today.

Fridge defrosting still ongoing - in fact, now I think of it, I am even decluttering the fridge. Between us, DH and I have managed to wrench out an iceberg from the back wall of the fridge. I will actually have extra space in the fridge once that's gone! Then I have to chuck out all the out-of-date food from the freezer. Looking forward to a nice empty fridge/freezer to restock.

MIL's bedroom is looking lovely. Sometimes, it takes a deadline to give DH and me the kick up the arse we need to get anything done. DS2's toys are all organised now and I have thrown out/given away any broken toys/half sets. If only every room in our house looked like this one.

Am really enjoying decluttering. Will tackle our bedroom next.

MIL arrives tomorrow afternoon. (Will do my best to be a 'lovely DIL', Bob. Nice of you to say it - I hope I can live up to it).

Busy day, but not much flying

Done
Morning routine
DS to playgroup
Pack overnight bag for DS
Collect mother, shopping then hospital trip
Collect DS from playgroup
DS and mother to her house (DS to stay overnight)
Paperwork all afternoon!
WI meeting this evening

Tomorrow, I will really try to get some zone cleaning and zone missions done. I may have the kitchen available as DH will be back at work. He has been on holiday yesterday and today, working on his hobby - using all free surfaces in kitchen, living room and the hobby room! I've not dared to clean in there in case I upset something.

Tomorrow's list (hopefully)

Morning routine
Collect DS from mother
DS to playgroup

As much as following before pick up, then carry on after if time and DS allows:
Zone cleaning
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday zone mission
Change our bed
s/s
Filing 15 mins
Shredding - one bin load
Mending - 30 mins
Menu plan
Clean fridge
One item from "To Do" paper file
Garden 15 mins
Book Aga service
Update Christmas plans in file
Update food prep/making plans in file
Finalise Christmas shopping lists
List materials needed for DS Christmas crafts
Start Christmas craft materials shopping list
Create Christmas storage space in kitchen
Finish lavender bags
Hotspot x 2

Cook tea
Wash up
Shine sink
Clean Aga
Set breakfast table
Evening routine - DS to bed

Doing some serious lurking on the precipice of flying!!

You all doing brill

Missed making my bed 2days in a row haven't not done it since march

To make me feel better
Presents wrapped some
Dd haircut and Jo jingles
Wm x 2
Mac cheese made (dc refused to eat)
more Christmas shopping done oops forgot stamps

That's all!

I'd like to send you all huge fly lady pats on back doing brill. Sorry I'm not about much hope to get back into swing soon

There has been too much excitement today. will do links in a mo. still sorting the mess out from today. and i havent even done any flying.

well bed making is a bit passe, Nettie especially if one leaves it till bedtime like here (I omit ds's bed of course [proud pushy mum emoticon] luckily kids don't realise I never make my own bed...

What really counts is getting that shopping done!

Toffee I'm glad your MIL has this lovely haven to recover in.

Cobweb tell us what Xmas crafts you are doing! and DID.

So today

done

Dishwasher
Finish mission
Bank appointment - Good meeting sorted better rate on credit card and insurance deal.
Return library books
swish and swipe
Collect Ds from school
Parents evening - lovely reports on DD
Filing
Study 15 minutes

Not done!

Start Christmas cards