December's Fledgling Flyers: Christmas time, swish and swipe and wine, flyers sing to the fat fairy rhyme.

[elliepac]

Welcome to the December 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 DEM/DID who looked after us last month and did a fantabulous job

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.

I love a bit of singing me.....nettie would be proud did . (using right name now seeing as you namechanged......AGAIN....you cheeky monkey)

Fantastic news for you and your DS, he's done very very well! Congrats!

Oh dear, I've lost track of names again......

Hello to SC, OM (congrats to your ds), Linze, Toffee, Nettie, Madwoman, Deck, MiniM Systems, Feetheart, Bob, PA and last but not least, Ellie! Big waves to anyone I've missed, and if I've confused your name, sorry!

I am now off until the new year, so time to relax (oh yeah?). Just one or two things to get, it's mainly food shopping now.

So far today:
Morning routine (kids last day at school)
washing out, and another load in
dishwasher

Later:
shopping
lunch (maybe out with DP)
collect kids
dinner
and not much else today

I haven't been on MN much for a couple of days as I was busy blitzing the house, and even DP helped out. Just a last little bit of decorating to do and all is set (unlike my usual last minute panic).

The cake has been well-fed and there's brandy left over . However, DP has been using it to make hot toddies for his cold, so it might all be gone soon........(well, not that soon) I'm decorating it tomorrow with dd's help (she's after the marzipan trimmings

OM - brilliant news! Well done to your son! You must be so, so proud of him. Goodness, you are going to have a very, very happy Christmas! I think I would be on cloud 9 for a very long time if either of my children achieved this.

Linzer - what a terrible day. You poor thing. Sounds as if you just had too much going on. Hope today is better.

Waves to Ellie, Arabella, Did and Darts and anyone else lurking.

List today looks like this:

Put rubbish out done
Swish and swipe in b/rm done
Unload d/w
Find cards for MIL and boys
Put first wash on - white stuff done
Put second wash on - our sheets
Look after DS2's best friend and his brother whilst mum goes shopping
Find playdough recipe for above visit (hoping this will keep them quiet and busy )
Tumbledry
Put washing away (rather than leaving it for a week as usual)
Ironing?????
Put Xmas boxes away
Deliver cards to neighbours
Borrow hammer
Hang cards up
Lunch
Piano top - clear clutter
Boys - wrap presents for each other
PM - visit CM with presents
Dinner - easy stuff from freezer
Make our bed

Off to find playdough recipe.

well Christmas rot has set in,
already had an argument with DSIS on the phone about why I had not sent presents off already to what now appears to be snowed in Somerset ...mutter mutter mutter...and she sends me all her presents from Amazon which I then have to wrap myself and they are not a surprise...mutter mutter mutter...

Dd willnot let me use the laptop because she refuses to watch anything boys are watching
mutter mutter grumble

now..stop muttering Swan!

done
tidied dcs bedrooms yesterday
washed up quite a lot from party
hoovered playroom
lots of washing in progress

need to do massive amounts today, but do not think collective consciousness is up to it

Deck I am forcing myself to think cheerful and think of lovely craft projects for next year!
OM that is truly fantastic. I spent rather a lot of my undergraduate years hanging around Oxford quadrangles (don't ask - I wasn't at Oxford, but in Oxford) It is a mind changing place.

SC I like your new name, very cheery! At least guests have arrived,somehow it takes the pressure off in a curious way...Enjoy them! Sorry about dh's work, that must be a real worry. I think it is comforting to think that Christmas time doesn't have to mean airbrushing out RL worries, after all they are still everywhere... more like you can see everything can be simultaneously difficult and joyful...aka giving birth on the run..in a barn...

Swan stops muttering and starts going going off on mad tangent...

got to go..children

Oh swan :(

Unfortunatly its the craft projects for this year that have been sidelined by illness that have been the problem so not thinking about them. I am just trying to be realistic about what I can and cant get done. There is so much that is being left until after christmas. including christmas cards. My family are being great and have said as and when with the christmas presents that havent been completed.

So 3 presents to make before then: Ds' marzipan shapes for gran's birthday,
Grandma's present which is about 1/3 done.
salt dough hand prints - if the source of the idea managed to get them to work.

PLus raisin and current free mince pies for ds. Promised i would get this done so really do have to.

But not thinking about any of that today.

List update:
Dig car out done
buy ss present done
panic done
wrap up ss present cant find the bloody tape
panic done
christmas cards All but 3 of those going before chirstmas gone already, 3 awaiting addressing, rest will wait til 27th.
panic done
stand in queue at post office for ages
stick 100s of stamps on
panic
collect ds from school (really hoping its a full school day today)
put away clothes
collaspe into bed.

Also done:
Bank
Sort ds' present for his aunt's birthday in feb by fluke i hasten to add
Speak to ds' teacher.

Yet more non-Christmas-related time wasting going on this morning. I spent far too long looking for a nice normal version of Jingle Bells to download for tomorrow's English lesson - I could find instrumentals, a techno version, even sheep baaing along to the tune, but a normal version? Then remembered that we have a CD of Christmas songs in the cellar (which I spent a while searching for before discovering that DH had put it with the rest of the CDs upstairs) and sure enough, it was on that.

Despite a thorough search, the missing birthday card has failed to materialise. I think I may have to try your trick Toffee, and buy a replacement this afternoon.

Spent 15 minutes waiting at kindergarten (halfway between home and school) for DD2 to turn up before receiving a phone call from her teacher to say that DD2 was waiting for a friend who didn't finish for another hour. (Said friend's lovely but unreliable mum had told us that her DD was finishing at 11.50 today so would be able to walk home with DD2.)

Now about to go to hairdresser's, although DD1 is refusing to come with us. Am giving her two minutes. Note to self: remember purse and house keys.

Morning routine part done
Prepare English lesson part done
Find, write and post birthday card card still MIA
Post other birthday card done
Finish letter given up for today
Wrap DH's presents done
Find veggie Christmas recipe
Menu planning
DDs and me to hairdresser's (attempt no. 2) about to do
Afternoon routine
Pick up DS and friends
Evening routine

feeling slightly like I might tackle today after all...
done
posted a few more essential parcels and extra christmas cards to outliers
searching for a few addresses along the way - ho hum always one of the pleasures of Christmas, that elusive temporary address...

managed to only get cross with children a few times and get them to post some letters and write some xmas greetings to cousins etc, get dressed, have breakfast, switch off Wii and talk to each other instead!

Still need todo
more washing up
postoffice
get kids outside
& go to shops and buy wellington boots for dd, as none in her size round here (might make a good bus outing for us combined with hot choc and cafe etc)

Ok...back on with a proper list!

to do:
Go to shopping centre so DS2/DD can buy their xmas pressies done
clear snow from front of house again Done
finish writing and posting cards
wrap and deliver friends' children's xmas pressies (x3)
pin up xmas cards that have arrived
IRONING!!!!!!!!!
washingx1
Get DS2/DD to tidy their bedrooms or brandish a big black sack!!

Let's see how I get on with that lot before I add any more!

Thanks for all your good wishes regarding DS1. Tbh I can't really take it in atm but, yes, I have a big smile on my face!!!!

Linzer I think it is amazing how much you manage, I personally could not get all the things done that you get done, so don't feel cast down. Three kids is either like runnign an office or pretending to be a tightrope walker, or the patience of a saint.

OM you have cheered up my day I keep remembering Hume and Kant (I had a boyfriend at Oxford who did PPE

Did what has saved mylife this year is a scale of post office charges, stamps of diff denominations, and lots of packing tape. And weighing scales.

And to my amazement I do seem to have presents for everyone, even emergency presents. Sis is now getting Welly Socks [fcross]

sorry that was meant to be and tbh she must clearly be suffering from christmas stress at her end too...so I forgive her.

If she orders your stuff from amazon, could it be that her stuff for the kids is also amazon stuff and that hasnt arrived - hence her being so stressed.

However, dsis sent ds his present from amazon and it came lovely wrapped but she did click on the gift wrapped option which i think add a little to the price. Looked bloody amazing though. Could you suggest it to her another time when there is less stress?

Afternoon ladies

Christmas plans are now all up the creek due to the weather, DH is working from home and driving me dotty (is currently in living room on webcam conference call thingy and expecting DS to keep quiet , and DS is poorly, best temp so far is 39.1

We dug the car out yesterday and went to town to do the shopping - only 4x4 can get out at the moment, and thats with plenty of slipping. Did LOTS of shopping, more groceries than I've ever done before, so am now set up for this week, Christmas, and the weeks following. Cupboards are full, freezers are full, and fruit and veg are in baskets in the porch. (The porch is so cold that yesterday's snow from boots is still on the floor!)

So today so far:
Morning routine
Clean washing away
Vacuum living room
Clean kitchen
Scrub DS floor again - he was sick in there yesterday, and its still a bit smelly (yuck)
Clear snow again from front door and patio door, make area for cats to go out
Christmas craft with DS
Make beds
S/s
Lunch
Sort out bulb planters (got them in yesterday, and needed to clean them up - are supposed to be Christmas presents)
Check oil level

To Do
Put bins out (apparently we are supposed to put them out, and binmen will collect if they can get into village - some hope!)
Sit with DH and make decision about his family coming for Boxing Day. Opinions please - I think we need to decide whether to cancel or not in the next day or so, he'd like to leave it until the end of the week. As a mummy I prefer to know what I am doing, and what food I will need, and not just find out the day before - is it just me, or do others feel like that as well? BTW, one SIL is about 1 1/2 hours away in good weather, the other about an hour away, and both have children.
Menu plan (and decide what we're having for tea)
Finish living room curtains
More sorting in living room (if DH allows!)
Tea
Evening routine
Quiet sit down with some needlecraft (time permitting)

Keep finding myself wandering around aimlessly, so must repost this afternoon's/evening's list:

Prepare English lesson part done
Find, write and post birthday card new card bought
Find veggie Christmas recipe
Menu planning
DDs and me to hairdresser's (attempt no. 2) done only for DD2
Afternoon routine doing
Pick up DS and friends done very late
Evening routine

Thank you for your kind words swan, but I don't feel like I'm getting much done at all at the moment. In fact, I am quite tempted to go back to bed until it is Christmas Day and hope that everything will miraculously sort itself out.

Arrived at hairdresser's to be told there was a 45 minute wait, so quickly gave up on the idea of having my hair cut but decided there was still time for the girls to have theirs done. An hour later, and they'd only just started cutting DD2's hair - which ended up taking 15 minutes rather than the 5 minutes I'd hoped. Mad dash back to kindergarten turned out to be mad dash into a traffic jam, but luckily the teacher was very nice about me being 20 minutes late (they're normally very strict about timekeeping). Was also half an hour late picking up DS's friend. On the plus side, his little sister didn't want to come so the two boys have been entertaining themselves very well for once (will inspect the damage later); DD2 also has a friend over so I haven't seen much of her/them either.

Ihate I would also prefer to know if I had guests coming a few days in advance; if it's not cancelled until the day before, you'll probably have bought most of the food (in fact, you will have as I don't expect you'll have been shopping on Christmas Day!) and already started to make arrangements.

Right, that's it: I'm going to hibernate until the New Year. My dad has just phoned to say that the train company are planning a strike on the 27th - the very day that we're flying back, of course.

Whey hey Optimistle that is FANTASTIC NEWS!! Many, many congratulations to your son!! He's done brilliantly!!! I bet you are on cloud nine aren't you? What a great start to the Christmas hols ...

Ihate sorry the snow is causing you so many dilemmas and difficulties!! Like you, I would prefer to make a definitive decision early on. That way both you and your relatives know what they are doing. Are your relatives giving you any signals about what they want to do? Would they be deeply offended if you postponed? Hope you manage to get it sorted. The weather is meant to get warmer over here towards the weekend but I know that is not the case for everyone.

Hope your ds feels better soon too.

DEM my list is looking very much like yours today (interspersed with panic that is!!) but reading your alternative Christmas carol has really helped (plus more swigs of Dart's brandy of course) Good luck with it all. Ummm, you've got my brain ticking now ...

God rest ye Fledgling Flyers
Let nothing you dismay
For shiny sinks and lace up shoes
Will help us on our way
To save us all from CH-A-OS
We've tossed a lot away

Oh-oh .. etc... can't think ...

Not nearly rude enough methinks

Top marks to Swan - sounds as though you have cracked the presents and cards and are generally on top of things. Sorry about your dsis though. And thanks for words of comfort - agree - about things being simultaneously difficult and joyful (perfect description of dd atm actually !!

Linzer at techno jingle bells!! Poor you! What a horrible day you are having. You've got such a lot on your plate... I totally agree with Swan looking after 3 young dc is a job on its own ...I think you are doing brilliantly to just get out the house!! [Hands over Darts brandy bottle]

Ellie hope your dd feels better soon and that it warms up in your neck of the woods. [Hands over hip flask]

Just came back on here to mention veggie dishes that some of you were asking about (if not too late)

Nigella does a complete vegetarian Christmas lunch:
chilli-cheese crostini
seasonally spiced nuts
roast stuffed pumpkin with gingery tomato sauce (tomato & ginger - not sure aobut that combination but looks impressive in pic)
Christmas salad (three of them - various combos of chicory, raddichio, red peppers + pomegranates + dressing)
Australian christmas pud with hot choc and chestnut sauce ( = christmas pud ingreds stirred in to vanilla ice cream)

Sarah Raven Xmas veggie repertoire consists of:
celeriac remoulade with horseradish (I can vouch for this one - excellent)
cheese fondue
chicory gratin with winter garden salad (haven't tried but looks good)
fennel and gorgonzola souffle tart
shallot tatin with leftover cheese
spinach and ricotta agnolotti (good but huge faddle)
warm Christmas salad - I really recommend this as a vegetarian main dish - contains squash, shallots, red peppies, chillies, cashews - very good
chicory gratin with winter garden salad
winter salad with pecorino, gorgonzola and walnuts oil - lovely, tart, fresh, side dish

If anyone wants further details I can post late tonight or tomorrow at some point

Take care everyone ...

Mahoosive waves to all

Oh no Linzer !! That's terrible ... [passes over even bigger hip flask]

Thanks SC! The recipes sounds lovely; my only concern is whether I'd be able to get all the ingredients here (a constant problem in fact, as I almost always use British recipes). Am pretty sure I wouldn't be able to get hold of chicory or ricotta, but the celeriac remoulade sounds very appetising and I think I could probably find celeriac.

Must start putting the DC to bed; DH will be back late tonight (or at least not until they're in bed), so I may get a few quiet minutes on my own with a glass of wine if I start bedtime now!

linzer I started drinking cold leftover mulled wine (from party on Sat - I knew it would come in useful...)at 4.00 pm yesterday...it really helped.. I think we had five extra children in house at that point and I was meant to making polite conversation/cup of tea to a mum I didn't know very well and stop her setting foot in filthy kitchen whilst simultaneously preventing her two year old dismantling the scaletrix track...

So it is clear you are a saint as well as very good at having children round to play..

done
posted and wrapped (and sent loving individual messages ) to 10 people. Luckily all but two fitted in postbox.
taken kids to postoffice for last two parcels
bought fruit and veg and protein for Morrisons with kids
Morrison's cafe

now will attempt to persuade re-invigorated children to make Xmas cards for gps in Berlin! On pain of death.
They have at least stopped fighting since their outing!

I have the Sarah Raven book SC Nigella I have been avoiding as she may cause me to combust. I have celeriac, ricotta, chicory, walnut oil, butternut squash, pecans somewhere...so I am in luck really!
And lots of dried cranberries And some old fresh ones at the back of fridge, I wonder how long they last?

deck no, my sister lives elsewhere, she is visiting England for xmas only, so all a bit confusing and then she is going to Scotland [harrumph] to stay with my godchild who I haven't found the address for yet, but don't dare ask...We have a very large extended family....

Linzer 5.30 beginning bedtime does sound lovely, ours are not out cold till 9pm..though they do wake a bit later I suppose (8.30 onwards, ds1 only woke at 10am today)

swan - I'm glad I cheered your day! Thb I still can't quite get my head around it all!I just want to say though that my DS is a normal boy in a normal state school, the process was very impressive and transparent contrary to popular opinion. He had no extra interviews or prep and there were no surprises as he was informed what to expect all the way through by the college. I'm sure your little cygnets will have every opportunity in about 10 years!