If your nest is cluttered and getting you down, join February's Fledgling Flyers and turn it around

[pushmepullyou]

Welcome to the February Fledgling Flyers' thread. A very big thankyou to ToffeeChristmasCake (who will presumably return under her non-Christmas name ) for seeing us through the thick and thin of January decluttering.

All flyers and fledgings old and new are very welcome - we have a fairly relaxed attitude to flying and take some of the babysteps - such as getting dressed to lace-up shoes - with a pinch of salt. We also strongly advise against signing up for the FlyLady emails.

From the first of the month, we will be following Flylady's tips on restoring order to our homes, using one of the following methods:

1. Babysteps
2. Babysteps + 15 mins daily decluttering
3. Babysteps + daily missions

Following the babysteps helps to establish daily routines and build a weekly plan.

If you are overwhelmed by the mess in your home, start with just one thing: shine your sink. It's amazing what you can achieve by just doing a bit at a time!

Pleased be warned that my month's leadership comes with a bit of a caveat as I am due to have DC2 at the beginning of March so there is a chance I may disappear mid month! Thankfully Toffee has very kindly offered to deputise in the event of the unexpected appearance of DS .

Apologies to Toffee (and by extension Ellie) for blatant intro plagarising and thankyou to Nettie for the thread title

See you all in February!

Morning all, and happy birthday to your DD ellie.

DH's work dinner was cancelled last night - or rather, turned into a breakfast meeting today so he had to rush off even earlier than usual - so I didn't have the evening of MNing and playing with my new iPod app that I'd been looking forward to. (Need an emoticon but I think the sad one might be overdoing it a bit.)

On the plus side, the DDs are definitely two Flybabies in the making - in one aspect, at least. When I went to wake them yesterday morning, they'd laid out all their clothes for the entire week (including underwear - with the correct day on it in DD1's case). It was great just being able to pick up two piles of clothes for the next day last night.

pinkcushion Sorry to see you go, but good luck with the renovation - and please come back whenever you feel like it (the thread may even have quietened down a bit by then; I haven't known it to be this busy since I joined almost a year ago).

Thanks for the links SC and hope you're OK PMPY.

Today's list:

Morning routine
Mission - bathroom
Mission - office
15 mins decluttering in office
Polish mirrors
Purge magazines
Pay hotel deposit
Make appointment at orthodontist for DD1
Phone DS's friend's mum re playdate
English lesson
Afternoon routine
DD1 to IT class
DD1: thank you letters x2
DD2: letters x2
DD1: homework for dyslexia lesson
Buy exercise book for DD1
Find knee-length white T-shirt for DS's Fasching party at kindergarten
Evening routine

Off to play with iPod make a start on my morning routine now.

Happy Bithday Little-Ellie Hope the pary goes well Ellie

Really enjoyed swimming lesson after I relaxed and stopped panicing and she seemed really nice and said I'd done more than she expected. Ended up in the jacuzzi so was nice and am going to do a crash course next week if she can provide me with hours to suit (6 lessons in 6 days Eeek).

Was all spoilt by car breaking down in multistorey dark car park afterwards and having to wait ages for breakdown. Turns out was just battery coming un-connected since last breakdown last week

Uni morning this morning so no flying done. Also have a scary meeting with tutor which really not looking forward to.

I will be back this afternoon with list and catch-up. Off to brave the long traffic queues on the motorway no doubt

feetheart Now I remember why I really, really don't want a cat (even if DS and I weren't allergic to them).

Makingchanges Glad to hear the swimming went well and good luck for today's meeting.

Happy Birthday to Little Ellie!!!!

Have a lovely day!

BBL with a list!

Morning all

A very, very Happy 3rd birthday to mini-Elliepac!! Hope you all have a lovely day (very impressed by Peppa Pig plates and balloons at breakfast)

Pinkcushion sorry you are leaving us. (Hope all the chat didn't put you off!!) Good luck with your renovations and come back and see us some time!!

Congrats on your five bags Swan

Awwww at your two Flybabies Linzer!!

Well done on moonlit Flying MissJulie

Feetheart respect at handling dead bird before 8am !!

So glad your swimming lesson went well MakinChanges - you did brilliantly to "face the fear"!! Good luck with your scary meeting today!

I'm a little bit bozz-eyed this morning because I did not sleep at all - for one minute - last night - just lay there counting the hours. I haven't had enough exercise because of this lurgy (dd still at home with it) and I can never sleep after school meetings for some reason ...

Anyway, going to crack on this morning and hopefully I'll sleep tonight! Thankfully it is a sunny day which should help ...

Morning routine inc dw on, wm on, s&s done
15mins x 4 throughout day in master bedroom
Declutter sock/tights drawer
Declutter underwear drawer
Tidy sitting room and play room and clear dining room table hotspot
DD to doctor
Laundry
15 mins office decluttering
write a long list of things I have to do in next three months

Loads more but that should be enough to start ...

Waves to Pushme and everyone else! Hope you have a good day ...

oh dear SC and Miss Julie too!
the last time I couldn't sleep all night it was from worrying about next door's cat which had got locked out from her kittens (nothing else has ever kept me awake - it's odd) oh and worrying I had said the wrong thing to someone once kept me awake all night...as you say it's the restless brain that at fault, only the supertired body can zonk it..

Today I am wrestling with old carpet. Now I need a knife.
Our life is so topsy turvy. Dd was sitting at 9pm determined to do crochet, having watched telly when she should have been crocheting, and ds1 was glued to the radio listening to sports news..Everyone went to bed too late again after football, and no sinks were shone..

missjulie I remember actually beginning to resent the presents and feel cross that I had to worry about thank you letters Brilliant to have written them, and of course there is more to say now that baby's older!

Linzer dd got dressed in 2 mins this morning from her self laid out clothes, but then managed to forget her waterbottle and crochet so we had to go back for them and were late Luckily boys walked to school themselves. Well, I walked back and forth several times I suppose....Ds2 is so completely disorganised that I've now got a choice between sending him to school in his vest and and a pair of gumboots with no homework and no music, or doing what appears to be everything for him..And he blames me when I forget something
I need to have a visual chart for him - it is just that there are sooo many things to remember...

I suppose it is getting a bit better along lines of
Music in Red Bag
Shoes in Box in Hall
Homework in Bag next to Box
Coat on Hook
and Football stuff in drawer under the bed

but we haven't really cracked the uniform or laundry side, and it all gets muddled up (my fault I know)

happy birthday little ellie

Morning all

Am at work but thought I'd better check in lest everyone think I have have disappeared for a more exciting reason!

Had a big plan for bathroom flying last night, but DD did a poo in the bath so didn't manage much else. She told DH aboutit with great enthusiasm over tea (yum) and was last heard regaling granny with the story this morning!

Back later to catch up - hoping to even manage link posting and round up tonight!

Morning! Happy 3 to little ellie

I feel as if I've don tons of vicarious cleaning just by reading this thread. Am very new so just enjoying the banter still working out what I'm meant to be doing. Not sure I'm meant to be spending more time reading than cleaning .

makingchanges how was the swim?

My Fasching story is that I was working in a bar in Switzerland, near Brig which is the last stop before Italy. My boss wanted me to be a hula girl so I dyed my very long curly brown hair black. They told me it would wash out. It did not. I spent a further month of having the adams family tune sung to me every time I got on the bus to go skiing. Finally I had it bleached and dyed it back and all my student photos show me with three tone hair (the redyed bit, the strip that had grown back, then my natural colour at the top). Not a good look. Be very afraid of Fasching..

I'm going to do my sink today (during my lunch hour as am working from home )

afternoon. Been strangely productive today

This was my original list:
ring pead for new prescription of sleep meds done
sort out dvd thingy (cancel or update card details hmm)done and updated rental list
sort ds' room out from tonights events
try to have a better evening with ds - ds dependant
make appointment with gp to discuss sleep med dose did with pead
try to sort alternative child care for half term will leave til weekend and sort then when can get hold of all persons
ensure house looks tidy at bedtime (well the bit that is currently tidy)

Also:
box of paperwork sorted into like piles on lounge floor ready for filing.
Clear out junk from email and highligh articles needing reading done

lunch break

Dh has popped in for lunch and still feels ill from virus. He's meant to be relieving his sil this w/e looking after pils ...but he's not getting better. They won't let him on the geriartric ward with la grippe.

I pointed out to him that if he refuses to take any time off work, still continues to work 10 hrs a day full tilt same as when he is well, he is not likely to get better any time soon [unsympathetic wife emoticon]. I don't think this helped

Good to see you Pushme - yes, we are all at that annoying stage when we start speculating if you disappear for more than half a day ...!! See you later ...

lol at 120s 3-tone hair and Swan's ds in vest and gumboots

Yay, go CHB!!!

Morning routine inc dw on, wm on, s&s done
15mins x 4 throughout day in master bedroom
Declutter sock/tights drawer
Declutter underwear drawer
Tidy sitting room and play room and clear dining room table hotspot done
DD to doctor done
Laundry done
15 mins office declutteringdone
write a long list of things I have to do in next three months - half way

Hi everyone,
project completed PHEW!!!!
Swan my project was part of a course I was doing with the Open university on HIV.

Sorry have not caught with the hundred or so posts I have missed and if I start reading them now I will never get any Flying done :)

So my list for today
School run done
post very important letter done
check emails done
supermarket done
lunch done
dinner

Living room
dust
declutter
hoover

Kitchen
clean the dishwasher filters
load dw
washing
declutter the kitchen counters
shine sink

upstairs
make beds
dusting

bathrooms
clean shower
and
loos

hallway
put away shoes and coats that "no one" leaves there

It is amazing that the house can look like a natural disaster area because I have only been doing the bare minimum since saturday!
Obviously no one else pick up anything...

Brief update:

piano practice done
old carpet wrestled with and removed done
hoovered and swept landing and stairs done
floor swept done

otherwise, slightly becalmed by presence of carpet fitter on stairs etc.

SC hope he sees the light, and realises he might end up better equipped to run business if he's not ill, as well as look after PILS. Very difficult though for him I can imagine.

Washing up one dw load behind, so have filled sink with soapy water...as I'm stuck in the house..and can't face the playroom

Feeling incredibly tired due to too many coal heaver type activities in last 24 hours.

SC Well I am officially full term now - 37 weeks today . Hadn't realised that until I wrote it down. I am sooo not ready. I'm sure he wouldn't dare arrive until my big pre-baby house and work lists are finished .

Happy birthday little-ellie . DD is just turning in to a little girl now (rather than a baby/toddler) - I can't wait for 3!

Hello to 120 - noticed you marking your place a couple of days ago and wondered when we'd be seeing you again

My list today (albeit I a short one as i am at work) is:

Do at least 10 small work related tasks (emails etc) I have been putting off. done
Finish big report
Pick up DD from MIL
Get home in time for Sainsbury's man
Put away shopping
Dishwasher
Clean washing away
Clean loo
Make DH clean floor round loo (not my job as I cannot be blamed for the faint smell of wee! Think it is BIL actually, but still not my responsibility!)
Take out glass recycling done
Room rescue living room
Pu away clean washing

...and that will do

SC Commiserations on the lack of sleep; it's horrible when you lie there counting the hours, isn't it? I am always worrying that I've said the wrong thing to people swan - I find Radio 4 podcasts very useful when I can't get to sleep as they stop me thinking/worrying too much.

PMPY I was indeed wondering whether anything exciting might have happened.

120 They're very keen on unnaturally black hair here. Still, it's better than the "subtle" shade of purple that I was persuaded to try by a hairdresser in Germany (and not for Fasching).

Well done on your productive morning CHB and on completing your project leo.

I optimistically decided to make chicken cassoulet for lunch today despite DD2 having a friend over. Actually, optimism had nothing to do with it; I'd taken the chicken out of the freezer a few days ago so really wanted to use it today. DD2's friend inevitably announced that she didn't like any of it (I'd made potatoes too) so I did her some plain pasta instead (but was too annoyed to defrost any sauce to go with it, which she quite likely wouldn't have eaten anyway). When will I ever learn?

I do like my new app; it informs me that I've already completed 12 tasks (most of them part of my morning routine) and even has a 15 minute timer on it - although not one that can be paused, unfortunately. (I don't have shares in it, honestly. ) However, I spent far too much of the morning setting it all up so have been much less productive than usual. Am not going to repost my list as I've actually completed very little of it; just need to get on with it now.

Linzer that made me spit out my tea. Oh my, have you a photo on your profile? The app sounds interesting; I like that sort of thing. I love my little running gadget that tracks runs and gives breadcrumb trails of where I walked ran.

list:
dd to school
2 hours work/emails
receive and unpack internet shop
1 hour trying to cram into fridge/freezer then cooking and eating some as it seemed easier.

still have
3 hours work
watercolour portrait for friend to finish (but the light is bad today so that's my excuse)
dinner to cook for tomorrow eve (more attempts to empty fridge)

am a bit scared of the sink thing. there seem to be so many steps

PMPY hello, yes did rudely just bookmark and run but am determined to get this fly business cracked!

Sadly I think I've managed to destroy all the evidence, 120 - although given the fact that DH has boxes and boxes of photos that I can't get him to declutter, there may be some that I've overlooked.

The Home Routines app is great if you have an iPod or iPhone; I normally like writing my lists down rather than having them electronically, but I think this may have converted me. The only downside is that it's not free, so I'll have to make sure I get my money's worth out of it.

Must go as DD1 wants me to play a game with her - Gallows Humour (we haven't played it before, but it just looks like a version of hangman).

Hi all I havnt been on here much since summer when I did my big clean up (have kept a reasonable modifies version of fly since)

I am actually coming on to say I knew you were all nice but just didnt realise how nice after coming back in here this week and being on some other threads.

You really are a great bunch and the perons who lead the thread set a lovely firendly tone, its a shame other thread arent like this.

May the fat fairy fly to the end of feb for you all.

Or was that too cheesy

not cheesey LNC1. I've just found them and am planning to stay (unless very politely asked to leave ). Have yet to actually do the cleaning but am easing myself in slowly. I read the skiver's guide when I was about 7 and have been applying it to housework ever since. It's going to take some undoing, I tell ya.

Namechange - it has been really weird around mn recently. Reallyy weird. But I will agree though, they are lovely.

i have been skiving this afternoon because i cba to look for the stapler and some files. Now have ds due home in half hour and there is no way that i can let him lose in the lounge.

Do i move paperwork to my bed and deal with after bedtime. Or do i stick it back into the box?

CHB move it quickly to bedroom! Anything for a calm afternoon {crosses fingers against whingers and wailers at school gate ths afternoon) Mine have suffered a lot from trip over mum's stuff itis lately..