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.

Ooh you've all been really busy. I am just muddling through and getting nowhere fast. I have done nearly all the christmas pressie shopping though.

I do like to pop on here and keep in touch but i get so much more done in the house if i don't go near the computer - especially as i end up looking at the AIBU threads and get distracted by the crap.

Have started looking at my online job application. I sooo want an interview this year.

Have shined my sink (hooray) and done a reasonable eve routine. Now off for a glass of wine and will pop back later to say hello again!

Hello all!!

Hope you all well!!

Can't believe how busy this thread is! Can't keep up!

Today
Went to Pharmacy to buy some suppplies
Swept floors downstairs
Unloaded DW
Made Lunch
Ordered Taxi to bring DH home from airport, he's due home around 11ish!!
Washed DDs bottles

Our Mission was cleaning glass surfaces, windows, glass table-tops etc so got 3yo and 5yo armed with Windowlene and kitchen towel and they did fab job with little help from me!!

Tomoro
Lie in! (Hopefully DH will get up with DCs)
Put on Laundry
Go food shopping
Enjoy some Quality time with DH and DC!

I've finally finished work for the day, so just time for a quick catch-up before I go to bed. DH has been a star again today; he took the DC out to play in the snow, baked biscuits with them this afternoon, gave them lunch and dinner, and generally did everything with them apart from supervise their piano practice (neither of the girls wanted to practice, but I had to force persuade them as they have a concert on Tuesday evening).

Was slightly to discover today that I have been recognised by a friend in RL! Although I suppose I shouldn't be, as I must be instantly recognisable to anyone who knows me. Which is probably why I always post very mundane stuff.

purple I also get far too distracted by MN; I actually find it easier to stay away when I'm not working as I can stay away from the computer then. Whereas if I'm working, I'll just have a quick look at the threads I'm on... and find myself posting... and suddenly 10-15 minutes have gone by.

Toffee I know exactly what you mean - I have absolutely no sympathy with DH when he's ill as he can just go to bed and doesn't have to struggle on as usual. Last time he was ill and feeling sorry for himself in bed, I threatened to send the three DC to him to look after just so that he could see what it was like!

swan I sometimes wonder the very same thing. Sometimes I wonder if the reason they don't play with things is because they simply have too much. It's not that long since we declutterered the playroom, but they seem to accumulate a ridiculous amount (mainly little bits and pieces) in a ridiculously short space of time.

SC I thought of you today when I had to translate a recipe for Belgian chocolates! (Have PMed you but it's sorted itself out now so no need to reply.) Which reminds me - I'm running short of Cadburys so must put it on my list of things to bring back from the UK; I've been eating far too much over the last week, but it keeps me going when I'm working!

Progress dh and I have compiled list of 60 guests (most of whom we hope won't make it ) for Xmas party, without inviting their children which is a bit mean of us, but it means we can finally invite some friends who aren't local.

Actually we locals get a bit bored of each other nice to throw a few maverick guests in from say Islington or even Kensington. Dh said not to invite Kensington lot, as too posh

We have agreed on food we have agreed on invite format and he bought the alcohol already

Apart from that little done except
I wash
cooked curry and curried veg
cleared table
watched Merlin instead of washing up oh there will be trouble with Lancelot and Gwen

Toffee Ah, frustrating, but he is clearly trying. I don't think my dh can make cakes at all or biscuits - Linzer very impressed by your dh's talents!

Just as well I didn't have high hopes for flying today, lunch and shopping took us nearly 6 hours in all! It was lovely though :)

Today
-Morning routine done
-Washing done
-S&S done
-Bookshelves in DS' room done

Just on my way to bed, will catch up with the chat tomorrow. Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend :)

Morning all,

Today's babystep is writing down what you hear. Another one which is a little superfluous in my humble opinion .

No missions today as it is the weekend so enjoy your family fly time! (I know I posted missions yesterday, I have lost all track of what day it is with being off work this week!)

I didn't get back on yesterday as was feeling rough and took to my bed. Feeling a bit better today fingers crossed. It is round-up time so here we go!

boblob had a successful day although it did take 6 hours for lunch and shopping...my kind of day

sr has been planning Christams festivities with posh people...oooh get her

linzer was today treating herself to Belgian chocolates instead of icelandic macaroons. Her DH was being a star although he chickened out of the tricky issue of piano practice....chicken!

dolanette used child labour to do a mission which she didn't have to do as it was a Saturday (sorry!). Respect! She has a lovely day planned today!

purplewednesday popped by to say hello as she is trying to stay away from the computer. Now that takes will power!

mrsd did some washing and went sledging before the snow goes. I was hopeing for a thaw here but it didn't really happen. Still over a foot in our garden although we did manage to dig the car out and the roads were passable for the first time in several day!

toffee had a poorly husband which,quite understandably, led her to a small rant about the essentially selfish nature of the male species. SHe then did some drinking .

loosinas popped by after a tough day and requested some support. deck offered some in her own special way with a rude youtube clip...did the trick though . Support unbounded here. As we say all the time, you can only do what you can do, 15 mins at a time and NEVER beat yourself up about it.

Biggest news of the day in the sc household was unfrozen lavs....yeeha. And she stroked some wrapping paper

plenty was another one pleased about the impending thaw....supermarket shopping possible!

mumtoblair joined us and was looking forward to getting outside! I too work full time as a teacher and have a 7yr old DS and a 2 yr old DD. I also went back to work when DD was 4 months and know how tiring and frustrating it can be. Almost impossible in fact so my only advice is to keep on going, just do what you can and lower your standards a little . That helped me loads!

That's it for now. Not sure what I am going to do today. Will see how it pans out and how I am feeling. Back later.

Turned out the person doing the washing up when I last wrote was my 81-year-old MIL, not my DH, who was lying on the sofa. However, after X Factor, I suddenly felt so ill I had to go to bed and ask DS1 to put himself to bed, at which point DH said, "That's how I've been feeling!" To be fair to him, I felt terrible - pounding headache, aching, sick. Fell asleep at 10 and didn't wake up until 8 this morning, when 5-year old climbed into bed with us, bringing Baby, Tigger and Teddy too. Reminded DH that it was my lie-in this morning, so he has dressed and taken ds2 downstairs. Am not feeling too bad now, but will make the most of my lie in .

Today's list:

Check uniforms are ready for tomorrow
Check stocking fillers (have bought loads for ds2, but hardly any for ds1 - much harder to buy for an 11-year old who only wants to play on the computer)
Wrap some presents
Start writing Xmas cards
Make Xmas cards with Ds2
Remind DS1 to do his homework for tomorrow

Reminder for next week: buy material and tinsel to make ds2's Xmas costume (uh oh - needlework was my worst subject at school).

Deck - I enjoyed the YouTube clip

Linzer - glad I'm not the only one who gets cross when DH goes to bed for two days when he's ill. I know I must try to be sympathetic, but ....grrr....

Purple - well done on having done all your Xmas present shopping . I agree with you about keeping away from the computer. I try not to turn the computer on until after I've done my morning chores. It's tricky when I'm expecting work to be emailed to me though, because then I have to look and before i know it I'm checking through active threads and hours have passed.

Dolanette - well done on doing the mission with your DC's help. I have stopped missions at the moment as I'm concentrating on decluttering, but it always made me feel as if I'd achieved something when I did them.

Swan - ooh, like your party idea! I am very impressed by your organisational skills. I am struggling enough with planning Xmas.

Bob - glad you had a lovely Saturday.

Loosina - hope making the list helped you sleep better last night. I usually make my list the day before as I'm too sleepy when I come downstairs first thing to remember what I have to do. It's good to have it written down.

Ellie - hope you are feeling better today. Thanks for the round up (much needed on this busy thread).

Waves to all above, plus MrsD, Plenty, MumtoB, Still, Nettie, Insane, Systems, Madwoman, PA, Namechange and Tea (apologies to anyone left out - really must write it all down sometime!).

I've done even less flying than usual so far this morning - the beds are still not made, the dishwasher hasn't been emptied, etc etc - but as DH has taken the DC out sledging so that I can work, I don't feel like I should spend the time doing housework. Well, that's my excuse... I'll probably empty the dishwasher when I go down and make myself a coffee in a bit.

I'm looking forward to a break from work this afternoon when a MN friend is coming over for mince pies and sherry. Otherwise, it's work, work, work all day and minimal flying once again.

mumtoblair Welcome! Sorry, forgot to say hello yesterday.

swan DH can bake, but only does so once in a blue moon (usually after phoning MIL for the recipe). He cheated yesterday by buying ready-made Christmas biscuit pastry, so the only skills required were rolling out, cutting and putting in the oven. I can hardly complain though, as I can't remember the last time I did any baking with the DC. Or even without the DC.

ellie Sorry to hear you weren't feeling well yesterday; hope you're on the mend today.

Toffee Sorry to hear that you're another one under the weather; hope you're still enjoying your lie-in! I'm itching to make a start on my Christmas cards and present wrapping, but everything has been put on hold until this job is finished - I can't wait to have it out of the way.

Hope everyone's having a lovely weekend.

Morning all

I did manage to get out yesterday even if it was only to my parents for a few hours and then to Tesco for a couple of things. Even ventured out later on to pick DH up from work. The snow has managed to cancel the local buses so he now has a 40 minute walk twice daily to get to the main bus station.

I also need to stay away from the computer until I know I have time to play on it as I do get carried away and when I think right time to do some housework the baby decides to wake up. I try to use the computer as a reward, 15 mins cleaning = 15 mins computer time

Thankfully we go out on Christmas day and Boxing day so I don't have stress of cooking or even organising any of the eventful stuff. DD1 did say yesterday that she would like to have Christmas at our house one year and invite all the inlaws

6 hours shopping would have me in tears, I hate shopping....for anything, food, clothes...tis all a nightmare.

Today
Me and kids up/dressed/fed DONE
Beds made/bedrooms quick tidy up DONE
Load of washing on DONE
Address Christmas cards DONE
Do some more ironing
Buy stamps and post cards
Make sure that uniforms ready for myself and DD1 for tomorrow(hoping that the schools are open as I really need to get into work tomorrow)
Start searching for Christmas outfits for myself and DDs
Do more online shopping

hey all just checking in
ive got my four year old today.. when he was meant to be at his dads so i dunno how much ill get done :( hes not very well yet hes just the right side of ill to still be a picle...
really need to do ironing of uniform and mop floors at least.....

Morning. I am still not feeling grat but can breathe a bit better. Ds is trying my patience and i am about ready to lay down the law completely. But i dont have the energy to be mean shouty mummy which is what is needed. Instead i going to be quiet christmas removing mummy and remove his christmas decorations until he can be bothered to follow instructions and basic behaviour rewards.

list:
washing
run 1 errand
tidy floor to move chair
move chair
rest alot.
Txt coach re training this week
try not to kill ds who is being rude and provoking thankfully easy as i barely have the energy to move. :(

Crisis Cleaning at moment!

good luck swanriver and Deck the ice... I FEEL YOUR PAIN

making some progress - neat stacks of stuff appearing instead of heaps of rubble

Just saw on another thread about a sick husband. It made me laugh.

same swan river!! lol im looking at the piles and thinking eek but it has to be better than before.... doesnt it ???

SWANRIVER making some progress - neat stacks of stuff appearing instead of heaps of rubble

Brilliant, that's what I do. Makes me feel so much more in control lol.

Not getting much done here today. About to start the ironing and thinking about dinner.

Ds has been helping me to declutter. I have a very very large pile of stuff that he has broken mid tempers this morning. I am not fixing any of it. it is all going

Just about managed to get up and now off to try to do something today. it is taking alot of effort. i would be mad to go over for training tomo am wouldnt i. Wasnt planning on actually training just wathcing to see how the team works.

Oh flippin heck!!! Help Help Help!!!!

Well, to start with MRSD, did you mean that I am back to normal because I was shouting like a fisherwife?

Right, so to keep the DCs happy after taking away the "best sledge of the neighbourhood" I came up with the fantastic plan of dismantling a draw bottom and allowing them to use that instead. So, I took one of DHs draws apart, carefully replaced things so that it would not be discovered until I had time to replace it. Dcs were happy, all going well. DH at work today, snow all gone, so I thought I would be able to replace the draw bottom and DH would NEVER know!!! UNTIL! Cat jumped into the draw and fell through due to lack of bottom!! I have tried and tried until I am blue in the face to get the now slightly distortedly, bum shaped draw bottom back to where it should be and I'll be darned if the bloomin thing just wont go!! I think I am am just going to have to own up!! The annoying thing is, the drawers cost way more than the silver platter that I was trying to preserve in the first place!!

Still not a lot of flying going on here!! Still looking after elderly neighbour, which is wearing me out TBH. I will have empty washbins by the end of today, htough, so one achievement.

Sorry for lack of personal messages. Brilliant roundups, Ellie.

Love to you all, and massive waves.

Done
some meal planning and food shopping

completed very long and perfectly tedious Morrisons Survey in store( I love Morrisons, my fave shop and round the corner LOL) but nowhere did you get to say what you wanted them to stock! What fools - if they are going to conduct market research they should do better than that! Today I couldn't find
Thai Jasmine Rice
own brand risotto rice
Bottled morello cherries
Branded Toys like Lego/playmobil
Presents for teens
why didn't anyone want to know????
Also they kept on banging on about promotions - is that how most people shop? Lured in by promotions?

I think my week in Santa's gift shop has changed my view of merchandising considerably..

going to now tackle rubbish since I've bought bin bags (2 for price of 1!)

Also attempt to remake my bed
then ice dh cake

Oh I must be better, just made a cake. First time for at least 6 weeks!! Longest abstinence of my married life.

Evening all! Not much FLYing here today as we went for a long walk in the woods in the sunshine! It was a bit squelchy underfoot but blew away a lot of cobwebs.

Done
shopping (no milk though so need to go down road)
put away laundry - mixed cool wash
new load of laundry - mixed cool wash

to do
hang laundry
dinner - pie, mash, cabbage, carrots
wash up
shine sink
wipe and sweep kitchen

Can't wait for DP and DCs to bugger off back to work and school tomorrow. I'm planning a BIG housework day.

PA LOL @ your cat - could you perhaps blame it for the broken drawer?

Deck, hope you feel better soon

Toffee, thanks for the man-flu link

Evening all,

PA - I never said that! Must have been someone else.... The tone of your posts definitely suggests that the old PA is coming back though, which I am very pleased about. I repaired a drawer bottom with No more Nails a few months ago. Dolloped it all round the joins, squeezed it all into place and then tied the entire thing in place very tightly with string for 24 hours, it's still in place.

Swan - I sent a snotty email to Sainsburys last week about all the things they seem to keep discontinuing (the only other supermarkets less than 20mins drive away here are Iceland and small M&S, so a bit tied to Sainsbos). I told them I couldn't wait for Waitrose to open up here (fingers crossed).

MumtoBlaire - hope you got the ironing done, that's next on my list

Deck - look after yourself, sounds like a tough day with DS.

We went to the Christmas Fair in town this morning, which was very nice, the weather was sunny and (relatively) warm. This afternoon I whizzed over to nearest big town for an Argos shop, my goodness it was hectic in there. Then home and church for the Christingle Service, which was held at a different church in our parish this year (all the churches in our town have merged into one parish this year), always a lovely service, but not quite the same in a brand new building as in our lovely old church.

DH and Dcs are on the Wii (again), I really need to get off the computer and do stuff as I guess the schools will be open tomorrow. Have a good evening everyone.