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.

That sounds like quite an eventful breakfast time, MrsD. You have to look on the bright side, though - at least you got some cleaning and decluttering done! DD1 is also addicted to electronic gadgets; I've had to put a password on my iPod as she would just disappear with it for hours otherwise.

I was only translating the Icelandic macaroons, unfortunately - I'm in the middle of a job translating recipes from around the world. I only speak German (and obviously English) fluently now, although I studied French too, but I could ask for a large cup of black coffee in Norwegian (as DEM may remember) and tell you that Dad is in the toilet and we'll be arriving at Cardiff station soon in Welsh - it's funny which sentences you retain!

I promised myself I'd be in bed by 11 pm tonight (I almost fell asleep on DD2's bed yesterday afternoon), which was 5 minutes ago, so I suppose I'd better start turning the computer off and aim for 11.30 pm instead. Night all.

Good evening everyone :) I had a very productive day after two lazy days, with ds at school and dd and myself a little stranded I've made some progress.

Todays list
-Morning routine done
-Clean bathroom done
-Load of washing done
-Dust throughout done
-Hoover throughout done
-Room rescue in lounge done
-Hotspots in hall done
-Window sills, ceilings, cobwebs in dining room done
-Finally make banana bread done
-Make pizza dough done
-4 x 15 mins DS' room done
-4 x 15 mins DD's room done
-2 x 15 mins my bedroom
-Finish my wrapping done hurrah

Tomorrow however I will be treading water I think as DP is away all weekend and I'm taking DC out for lunch and going to get crafty bits to make some cards on Sunday.

Mmmm they sound nice Linzer how many pages do you have left? DS learnt how to say bum and fart at french club last week, he was very pleased!

I'm not quite there yet with the decluttering MrsD I have to actively tell myself to get rid of bits, I'm glad it gets easier. Oooh are the crumpets difficult to make? DS would love it.

Is how to train a dragon or whatever it's called good ellie ? Might persuade DS to watch it with me tomorrow evening

I wouldn't mind posting you wrapping paper SC but it's probably a bit late now. Hope you enjoyed your DVD and dinner.

Hope you're feeling better Deck sounds horrid.

I have visions of you staggering back with a sledge piled high with boxes of wine swan

Hope your platter was not too damaged after it's escapades this morning PA

PA good on you looking after your neighbour. Quite amused at the silver platter story though.

Hope you feel better soon Deck. Am a big fan of oral steroids, having seen them sort out my daughter from barely breathing to fine within hours. Hope they do the trick.

Have had somewhat productive evening, did an important health-related letter about ds which has been preying on my mind and tidied kitchen again. PILs coming tomorrow at noon so by hook or by crook house will be lovely but we are looking at a stressful morning; but dp had done a lot of tidying today in preparation. Please remind me of this tomorrow when he is a screaming banshee and I am ready to walk out . It is after all his birthday and PILs are coming so we can Go Out!! in the evening for a meal together - think this may be for the first time in 4 years .... snow permitting of course.

Still haven't scooped the cat litter though. This really is counter-productive because in protest she pooed on the rug yesterday.

Dramas aplenty here today I think Ellie and Bob had the calmest days really...SC that sounds perfectly stylish - are Belgians very co-ordinated?
MrsD the sound of breaking glass is a familiar one here and not the high notes either..

didn't get wine in the end, as things got a bit bloodcurdling at bedtime

but have
cleared kitchen a bit done
cooked supper done
cooked a large pasta bake for school fair done need to put white sauce on top when cooler...
organised some stuff for tomorrow (more to do alas - seem to have ended up with three stalls to run [hmm?] feeling a bit annoyed with some of the tidy mums who are doing minimum PTA stuff whilst us slovens slave away...perhaps that is the way with slovens

oh yes, children actually did some Xmas crafts today too the sight of all that PTA glitter was too much for them,. As result there is even more mess, but felt v. relieved they even wanted to do any...

Ellie love your roundup esp inner life of tray PA I think you are back to your old self

Ho Ho HO good morning to all you lovely ladies

just read through yesterdays thread as didnt manage to get on at all yesterday. it looks like everyone have a washing, working,flying, snowing, silver platter sledging kinda day .

Yesterday i happily ignored all of the fat fairys advise apart from doing one load of laundry and i never finished that

I did however,

s/s to remove paint from sink
get dc ready for nursery
work, very productive proud of me.
afternoon spent ignoring dc and not making cakes as previously promised but spent it instead. decluttering my kitchen before my drawers broke with the load of toot that was in there. Now have to decide what to do with 10 marble place settings which i bought pre children and are too heavy and breakable to use just now.
hoovered whole house apart from dh side of the bed which i couldnt get too
almost bar a few address request i have finished my christmas cards woohoo

i would like to say i did it all in 15 minute bursts but no i spent all afternoon and evening doing it and ignored dh and dc.

todays plans

got to post office, post present for early january birthday and christmas cards. Slip sliding all the way. The thaw is on but it still looks pretty icy out there. Was -6 last night.
Supposed to be going out tonight if not too cold!!

hope you all have a fantabulous kinda day.

dd is shouting wahey from her bed so better go get her.

just popping back in to say.......PANIC PANIC PANIC.......

just realised dh and i have 2 free days to do all the shopping in before christmas!!!!!!!!!!

Another day at the computer here, so absolutely no flying to report.

Don't panic, Nettie! (which actually means "glowing wine" and has absolutely nothing to do with glue you'll be relieved to hear, ellie!) Can you do any of the shopping online?

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

Love this, I always set myself unrealistic goals.

Have read through many of the threads and Ladies I would like to join you please?

A year ago I never would have believed that I would need some support to get my house and self in order but since having DD2 4 months ago I am a wee bit behind in my chores.

I work full time, DH works full time, DD1 is 7yr and DD2 is 4mths.

Today I would like to accomplish the following;

Me and kids up/dressed/fed DONE
Beds made/bedrooms quick tidy up DONE
Load of washing on DONE
GO OUTSIDE (been housebound for almost a week thanks to the bloody snow)
Address Christmas cards
Do some ironing (not much as washing pile is higher

morning. feel like shit. about to take the meds so give me 3 hours. Interesting night last night. Went training but took things very very very very gently, but discovered that am much iller then i was prepared to admit to myself. I have now canceled training for the start of the next week. Had to call the firebrigade out on the way over as there was a roof on fire. Fire was fairly quickly put out but as there was a very large police prescence at the scene when i went home i guess it must have been arson type thing

ds and mum are starting the christmas baking today and i am going to continue taming the lounge with what ever energy i have.

hope you have lovely fun filled weekends with a good mix of flying and fun!!!!

morning all,

Welcome on board Mumtoblaire, good list to start with there, getting those basics done makes you feel a lot better I find.

Snow is thawing rapidly here which is good. We have postponed our planned trip to the inlaws 100 miles away this weekend in case we get stranded, also DS isn't completely better yet, so a free weekend in prospect, with limitations on getting out till the snow clears more though.

plan

Washing
sort out large pile of already done washing
Write Christmas cards
get out of the house with the DCs

I started the job of gathering all the small bits of toys and returning them to their rightful homes yesterday, tis a mammoth job but would like to finish it this weekend.

Morning all and welcome to mumtoblaire. Snow not thawing rapidly here, more like a constant drip. DH has taken the car out for the first time in days and I am going to attempt a bit of crisis cleaning in the meantime. DC's are ensconced in bedrooms playing so hopefully will be able to make real inroads.

Back later to report on progress. Also thinking we might get out in the snow for a bit before it goes and then reality tv heaven all night long!

Hello Mumtoblair and welcome.

Very little flying done yesterday, thanks to snow and visit from friend. No snow today - it all melted overnight.

Today, I plan to:

Go out on my own and get some shopping done (DH is here to cover lunchtime for MIL and boys)

Tackle several hotspots

Iron and put washing away

Cook beef stew

That'll do, apart from the usual routines. Some things really have become habitual with me now, eg swishing and swiping in the bathroom.

Bye for now.

Morning all (still just about morning).

Yesterday, I struggled through my first list and, as usual, got nothing done on my 'later on' list. Oh well. The snow is thawing which means 'clear steps' is no longer on the list. Hurrah! We have 16 very steep slate steps up to our front door and they have been absolutely lethal. Yesterday I was out salting them three times as the roof icicles kept dripping and refreezing on them. The thaw also means we have a reasonbable chance of getting tomorrow's weekly shop done as normal.

sit about pontificating on MN all morning done
pin up hair properly (this is far more useful than wearing bluddy shoes IMO)
brunch
wash up
shine sink
wipe and sweep kitchen
HAND CREAM

later on (haha)
muck out fridge
plan next week's meals and do shopping list for tomorrow.

Hope everybody is well, welcome Mumtoblair

oh yeah - laundry too. The no-washing-pile situation only lasted a day.

SC - Sudafed is on the shopping list. I have Vick's sinex at the moment which is rubbish. Sinus is a lot better today though. I think a lot of it is bad posture/tension. When I do neck excercises I can feel it draining somewhat (sorry, TMI)

What's the point of having a lovely tidy clean home and then sticking post-it notes all over it?

Hi all

Just a quickie as have been frustrated in my attempts to get ahead this morning.

Massive snow blizzard here and dd claiming to be poorly again... and instead of putting the time I was going to use to go shopping to good use ... I am sitting here with steam coming out of my ears feeling frustrated as hell!!! Arrrrrgggghhh!!! Got so much to do to prepare for my legions of visitors it is untrue ....so Nettie ... I feel your pain!!!

Parnsnips may be too late posting this but have you tried Nasa Sinutab (or whatever UK equivalent is)? I find it very good.

A warm welcome to MumtoBlair House keeping is hard with a baby. Just take small steps and you will be fine!

Hope you feel better soon Deck

Swan yes - Belgians tend to be quite coordinated in a demure/classic kind of way - there tends to be just one or two colours that everyone wears that particular season without much variety (same as France). I've been looked at oddly for wearing a navy coat in winter for example (navy being a colour reserved for summer apparently ). Every so often, I get desperate to see someone with green or purple hair!!

Ellie I found some wrapping paper I actually like (well, I don't hate it). I'm sitting here stroking it right now!! [saddo emotion]

Wow Bob what's your secret? That's a massive list - well done. And congrats to your ds on his new found French vocab

Hope you have a lovely evening tonight Systems

Linzer yes, Amazon has done very well out of the SC household this year!! You sound like you get a lot of variety in your work (Icelandic recipes for eg) which is a bonus. (I always had boring articles about gas pipe lines in Kazakhstan ...) Hope it is going well.

OOOh, ooh, breaking news, my lavs have thawed!! Hurray!!!

Sorry no more personal messages must try and make something more of the day ....

Mahoosive waves to all ...

That wasn't very quick actually ...

... and I forgot to say "hello" to MrsDingDong love the idea of transporting dc by sledge - MUST try and track one down ...

Have been given exactly two minutes more computer time..
so Done
manned tombola/raffly scrunchy tickety stuff
made mulled wine for fair, and bought wine
took pasta bake to fair

bought an Advent candle wreath from Fair in fit of extravagance as mine has already collapsed

Collapsed, and dealt with bad tempered screaming children for rest of afternoon.
House horrid, one child in bubble bath, one is now making a curry with her Dad, other gone to a friend for impromptu Wii

Very happy and relaxed, just wish I could send everyone out for the whole of tomorrow and clean the house, or that they would magically materialise into a UNITED FAMILY and sit around kitchen table doing charming things like chatting to each other and making Xmas cards [ho ho ho] or even at a stretch Hide and Seek/Dressing Up.
On second thoughts, more mess there. No.

Dh has reverted to GOOD DAD and now has everyone behaving a bit better by paying them loads of attention, but in the long term what we want is the Children TO AMUSE THEMSELVES...why in a house full of toys can they not?? Arrgh.

sitting here after a real tiring day thinking about everything i need to tackle tomorrow and hoping there'll be some support around !
xx

Went out to do errands, leaving DH in charge. DS2 desperate to make cakes and I suggested maybe DH could make them with him. Arrived home to find MIL looking after DS2 whilst DH was upstairs in bed because he was feeling ill (note: he was in bed all day yesterday as well ). She's supposed to be convalescing! Needless to say, cakes had not been made and I ended up making cakes with DS whilst cooking beef stew for dinner and unpacking the shopping .

Afraid I am a very unsympathetic wife. It's just that if I feel ill I have to take pills and get on with it, but if DH feels ill (particularly now his mum is here) he goes to bed for two days!

Rant over .

How did I get on today?

Go out on my own and get some shopping done done

Tackle several hotspots one done

Iron and put washing away not done

Cook beef stew done - very nice actually, even though I simply threw it all into a casserole dish and into the oven

Loosina - not sure how much support I can be, as i failed to even get through my very short list today. But I can offer you this, at least....

Off to catch up with the X Factor now. Bye.

Loosina cant offer support be can offer something

deck the ice....... LOL hahahaha that was so what i needed today !!

Evening all,

Don't feel as though too much got done today here either, several loads of washing but that was about it. Took the DCs out sledging again but the snow was disappearing fast. We just drag them around on the green near our house and send them down the very small slope on the far side. A lot of people tow their small DCs (or shopping) around on sledges here when it snows now, a nice thing to do, and easier than carrying the shopping home in bags.

Loosinas - sending you some support now in case I'm not around in the morning. Maybe make a list before you go to bed so you are not lying awake thinking about everything that needs doing? I really ought to do that tonight too.

Swan - sympathies in your direction too, I get days like that. Tempers were stretched at times here today, but didn't quite break (mainly because we all spread ourselves out as far as possible around the house).

Toffee - oh dear, another one. You are bearing up very well considering! Enjoy X-factor.

SC - you as well! There must be something about this bad weather!

Plenty - hope sinuses are improving. When mine are bad I lie on the bed with my head hanging upside down off the side for drainage, gives quite a bit of relief.

Ellie - hope your productive day continued

Deck - hope the steroids are working

Linzer - thinking of you as are probably working again this evening

MumtoBlaire - hope you managed your list

See you all tomorrow.

oooh a list what a plan!! i was thinking i cant do anything tonight but i think i could just about manage to get it down on paper which youre right will help me sleep better !!
hope everyones feeling a bit better
xx