If your house is calling May Day, do not fear: May's Fledgling Flyers are here

[LinzerTorte]

Welcome to the May edition of the Fledgling Flyers' thread. Thank you to Nettie for her splendid leadership of last month's thread.

If you're living in CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome), this is the thread for you! We follow the tips on the FlyLady website in an attempt to restore order to our homes, but advise against signing up for the e-mails; all the information you need is on this thread.

Each day, I'll be posting the links that will enable you to do any of the following:

• start or repeat baby steps

• repeat babysteps and do 15 mins a day decluttering in the current zone

or

• reinforce babysteps and do daily missions if you have finished decluttering.

More information about the babysteps is here.

So please join us - there's always plenty of chat, tea, cake, encouragement and the occasional to help us on our way!

You can have my Mum

she is staying

LONGER

keels over

Blimey you lot have been super busy today.

I have been in a terrible grumpy, weepy, angry (hopefully pmt) mood all day. Have tried very hard not to take to dh on the basis that if haven't got anything good to say don't say anything at all

As a result I have achieved

Dw/wm/td/clothes hung out
Bins out
Work-recons, invoices, payment processing, filing.
Picked dc up
Brought washing in, swept floors
Put away clothes
Left dh to bathe/bedtime routine with dc

Am now ready for the gym.

On a plus, gardener came today and he has dug out my small veggie patch and planted some runner beans.

whoknows yes I love ocado delivery pass it's brill
pa sorry having a rough day. Hope it got better
toffee sorry to hear about knee hope feel better soon

Better go, try and come back later if just to read what you all being up to. My babysitter is here so I can go to the gym. Dh is going boating today.

Bbl

Not to talk to dh I meant. Oh and I suppose it's take out on as well!!

Oh no PA what a disaster (multiple disasters). Has your driveway been restored?

Oh dear cinders stick in!

Have been chasing my tail all week. DS Roman costume has taken over our lives!!
Finally done last weeks dusting .

It?s been hot and sunny here today, but I managed to get out of taking the DC to the outdoor pool ? it looked like it was ridiculously busy there too. We?ll probably go on Saturday morning if it?s still as hot, when I can get DH to help supervise the DC while I read.

We?ve been doing lots of cycling now that summer finally seems to be here, but DD2?s bike is much too small for her. I got her to try out DD1?s bike this afternoon, which would be the perfect size for her ? it?s getting too small for DD1 (who could have her cousin?s old bike, which would be just the right size), but DD1 refuses to give her old bike up. DS is still riding a balance bike, but I asked him if he wanted to try DD1?s bike for size ? he sat on it and started cycling straight away. So the balance bike is one more thing we can declutter; we now just have to work on persuading DD1 to let DD2 have her bike.

As for the other fledglings...

ellie was hoping for a more relaxing day today and is still working on getting her DD settled at nursery.

CHB had a nice surprise to start her day - a sock-folding DS.

PA was finding that work was getting in the way of her social life, that cooking and baking were taking precedence over flying, and had a driveway crisis and a generally fairly disastrous start to the day (fingers crossed that it got better).

Cinders decided to take her stress out on some bread dough and hid the computer, but returned to tell us that her mum would be staying longer than planned.

swan had a very early start, has a tidy kitchen, ran errands, struggled with a waltz and decided that her DH is best appreciated first thing in the morning.

DWM is avoiding her spare room but has done well with the bathroom, and is finding it difficult to get on with things with her DH around.

Toffee is crisis cleaning now that her knee is better and posted an impressively long list.

Lady had a home office day (aha! so "home office day" is proper English ? I had thought it was Denglish, although DH has now taken to using "teleworking day").

feeetheart has been dealing with night-time training, frequenting ToysRUs and getting ready for a camping trip.

Nettie has been feeling grumpy and has tried to avoid taking it out on her DH (poor DH is always the one to suffer when I?m in a mood), and was off to the gym.

scatty's life has been taken over by her DS's Roman costume and she has done her dusting.

Hope everyone's having a good evening. Have just finished my , so am off to bed now - just need to lay out my (running) clothes for tomorrow.

tomorrow's list: early training, panic. that is all.

night.

keels over

okay so ds will be home ill
my Mum will be home

and dd will be flying to England

and she will make it back for her interview on monday

which she will pass

like her exams ...she will she will
because we need champagne

Today?s babystep is to include laundry in your routines. Quote of the day: ?Nothing says I love you more than clean underwear.?

The mission today is to use a toothbrush to scrub the taps in your bathroom and to hoover the extra room.

Friday is Declutter Your Handbag and Car Day.

This week?s FLY spot (which I?ve only just noticed ) is towels and flannels: do you have enough? Do you have threadbare towels that need replacing? Alternatively, you may just need to declutter your towel cupboard.

Towels . We have too many towels with ducks and disney characters on that no one will use (so I have too). I can feel a fling coming on.

Today:
school/work with friends ds.
collect dd from school
collect ds from judo
Dh to Lidl
encourage ds to finish Roman costume.

LOL at bike swap linzer these things always look simple on paper don't they? We had a similar thing with handing down of swimming bag and goggles (ds wanted to keep 2 swimming bags and 2 prs of goggles, dd didn't want ds old bag and goggles as they were blue!) I put my foor down.

Done
packed lunch for ds1 (made egg mayo last night Imperial War Museum trip this morning - sent him off to shop to buy the extras
swimming stuff dd (she organised it)
ds2 to school - prise him away from some lego pistons

Choir was excellent, 5 different local primary choirs, beautiful Vict Church. But I'd never thought I'd say this...too much singing and not enough interval (in fact no interval - I was so desperate for a glass of wine

ds1 loved it all though, and seems to have an encylopaedic memory for songs (they must have sung about 12 different songs en masse without any music sheets) [gripe Why don't they teach the children long and beautiful poems anymore, I'm sure they'd find it easy to remember them.. ]

So everyone is in a good mood, it's only me..still feeling bleugh about house/general organisation which seems to be worse than ever
Anyway, off to SIL now to walk in the park with baby!

Scatty it must be a thrill though for ds to imagine himself marching up and down Hadrian's Wall. I found it so weird, rather like thinking about dinosaur bones in Dorset - I can't believe they actually got here all the way from Italy. It seems so far away, so alien.

Oh I can hear the children marching past our house on their way to school trip...

bbl

Just a quick post as DH is sitting opposite me, working on his laptop, and I don't want to give him the wrong impression about how much time I spend on MN in the mornings.

We have too many towels as well, scatty. I was quite surprised that FlyLady seemed to be suggesting that most of us would need to buy more, as I thought the Hot Spot was all about decluttering.

Enjoy your walk swan - getting out of the house always improves my mood. I went to a wedding once where I was desperate for a glass of wine.

We temporarily solved the bike problem this morning as DD1 wanted to go to school on her scooter. DS was desperate to cycle to kindergarten on "his" new bike, provided we took DD2's pink Princess Lillifee bell off it, and DD2 was able to borrow DD1's bike as she wanted to cycle too. It's not a long-term solution, however. At least we'll be able to declutter some bikes; DD1 counted 24 (and I'm not even sure that included scooters, of which we have three) in the garage yesterday. I must hasten to point out that we share the garage with two other houses and two flats, but I think virtually all the bikes belong to us and one other family (who also have three DC).

Must get back to my morning routine as soon as I've finished my . We have friends coming over this afternoon so I really want to tidy up downstairs as well, although we'll probably spend most of the time in the garden. DH suggested we all go swimming (the town's entire population seems to flock to the outdoor pools, a few minutes' walk from us, as soon as it's sunny), but my friend lives near to a "swimming lake" that she can use for free and I wasn't that keen either tbh (I can think of better ways to spend the afternoon than bumping into everyone I know while wearing my bikini). He's said he can still take DD1 and my friend's two boys (DD2 and DS will be at friends' - DD2 will be going to the pool with her friend, in fact) but I think it will be more relaxing if we all stay here and the children just play in the garden.

So much for a quick post - am rather at how little actually relates to flying. Have just finished my second cup of coffee, so really must get on now.

Fuck.

It was such a simple list.

Fail.

Missed early training - overslept.

now for panicing and coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.

Morning all

This morning I have done

School run
Bank for both DH and I
Back to school to drop off DD elocution book she i'd forgotten
Handed out birthday invites
Scrubbed shower and delimescaled it all
Washed and hung out 1 load of washing
Wrap present and write card for nephew

Still to do:

Pack for weekend away
Take DD to dsis for cousins birthday party (have to forego Rainbows)
Office work (tho lots done already)
Water garden thoroughly as it won't get done for 2 days now

Don't need to worry about towel cupboard as did it last week - YAY!

Swan prefer singing myself as DD has to learn poetry for her elocution competition coming up (on her birthday no less) and it is stressful. She won last year so the pressure is on.

BBL

Fuck. sewing machine is playing up and have to restitch everything stitched so far.

Today will be a great big fail :(

would panic but no energy to.

Good afternoon.

DH has gone back to work at last. DS2 is going back to his CM's this afternoon, so I don't have the school run to worry about. And DS1 is working on his deep-sea stuff at the moment (at least, I hope he is ). The house is feeling a lot quieter for once.

This morning's 'dones':

Usual morning routine
School run
S&S
Unload d/w
Extra washing up
Put recycling boxes out for collection
Kitchen hotspot
Cleaned and cleared out fridge ready for...
Tesco delivery. Put away all the shopping.
Home ed - Spanish (DS1 has suddenly decided he wants to learn it because he knows a boy who can speak it); Maths-Whizz; English (letter-writing); topic work.
Lunch

Still to do....

White wash
Ironing
Hoovering
Mirrors
Put washing away
Dinner
etc etc etc

DS1 made me laugh this morning when he was trying to write a card to our sick relative (attempt no 2). I explained that it would be good to start by saying he was sorry she was ill, then go on to tell her a bit about himself and what he is doing these days, as she is very fond of him and would like to know. After several minutes of labouring over the card, he showed it to me: 'Dear X,' it said, ' I'm sorry you are unwell. I'm learning Spanish at the moment. Love DS1'. I laughed so much I was weeping. DS was completely bewildered by me and kept asking me why it was funny. He thought it was funny too when I explained how abrupt it sounded. We made it work by him adding 'Get Well Soon' in Spanish, which made it all relevant again.

Right, I don't see MN on my list, above, so I'd better get on with stuff now. Hope you all have a good day.

PS: Lady - hope you have a nice weekend away

Mn is never on my 'to do' list either Toffee but it's always on my done list Your DS1's card writing reminds me of DD efforts too. Thankyou for your kind wishes re: this wkend - it's a double B'day celebration so will catch up with lots of family and extended family all in one hit (best way as it's DH family and there are a lot of them)

Don't have to cook tonight as going round to sisters so that's a bonus. Have ironed all the dry washing i'd hung out earlier though and will water garden and have a

See you later

Arrrrrrgh, list too long and 'packing' is at the very bottom.
Why is it so much work to go away?
However did get a mention on Chris Evans Breakfast Show this morning, on the 'breaking news' slot at about 8.10am (if anyone is curious) so DC even more excited :)

Need to get on and see what I can achieve in 50mins before school pick-up, DD's dance class, rental house sort out of boiler and hedge, and packing
I need to be in a buttercup field in Suffolk NOW

feetheart ooo I'm going to try and find radio mention on iplayer. Eh except I don't know your real name and I'm sure your not on my Facebook. Good luck with camping packing. Got to try and do some as we are going away next weekend. Where are you going in Suffolk? Not too far from me, might be good for a second camping trip.
linzer at bikes galore. Dd desperately need a new bike but I promised it for her birthday so I'm trying to hold out. Relaxing in garden does sound much better.
chb in awe at your projects. I have never even started mine!!
lady have a fab time this weekend.
swan I love poems too. Ds has learned a short one I'm going to move onto owl and pussycat soon.
cinder good luck to dd with interview. I always need champagne.

Humongous waves to everyone I've missed

I only checked in so I don't loose you. I'm currently lying on the couch instead of flying. So tired! Got to take dc shopping for present for new baby niece but just don't fancy dragging them round the shops and they both need a change of clothes after nursery.

Still to

Bring 2 loads of washing in from line.
Empty dishwasher.
Load washing machine and put on a timer for tomorrow morning.
Check smoke alarms
Clear out purse, would be good idea to declutter car too.
Put away ironing
Tidy away toys in stair basket.

Must get moving!!

feetheart I absolutely hate packing, and always leave it to the last minute.

Linzer oh that sounds like our shed. Which has a wheelchair on top now, with a puncture. So I can't even give that to anyone who needs it. In fact most of the bikes have some problem which never DH or I can fix because we are so hopelessly untechnical. The bikeshed fills me with despair - I haven't bicycled for 11 years, it is getting to be a phobia.

Gosh, I must stop having these gloomy thoughts...

Done
3 hours visiting baby niece, chatting to SIL and taking baby off for walk etc
SIL was complaining mildly reproachful about my brother's untidyness and I felt like just putting my head in my hands and saying it is genetic...there is no answer...

Garden centre - exhausting lugging great sacks of gravel and compost
but purchased some more things to brighten up the alley

Toffee you do realise that is the sort of letter that most boys write? I think he is obviously very good at seeing what is important and what is mere verbiage. Ds1 would never in a million years write a letter any longer than that...if he wrote anything at all Last batch of thank you letters he hit on the word "useful" for everything he was given...

Todo
garden pots
dishes
rescue playroom
rescue kitchen

car - major clearout
handbag - major clearout
brain - major clearout

CHB well think how tired you would feel if you had done training, and enjoy today nevertheless. Hope the seams are reworkable, that is always so annoying (is it the tension - that was always my bugbear)

Lady is Elocution the same as Speech and Drama used to be? My sister did it, when I did piano (in our early teens) I think it was brilliant, she is very articulate and confident as a result. I think poems need to be read aloud too, don't they? We miss a lot when we just look at them on the page.

Swan - re: the letter - yes, I suspected that might be the case! Ds hates writing and will keep it all as short as possible. As far as he was concerned, he was just doing what I'd told him. Sounds like girls are not much different, Lady .

Feet - another one going away this weekend. Have a lovely time!

Wish the boys hadn't asked for all sorts of sweet treats in the Tesco delivery. It's so much easier when these things are not in the house

Another one leaving for a few days. Off for a work seminar training thingy. Average person I will be with is male, aged 70+ and intensely boring!

Instead of getting everything ready for my early departure in the morning, I have just been on the phone for one and a half hours negotiating a new Samsung Galaxy s phone with Orange! Whoop Whoop! They started at £149, I said I would pay £99, ended up getting it free!!!!! BUT nothing done here at all!!! I was supposed to catch up on emails and a bit of work this afternoon, but no, nada!.

Oh well, I am a happy bunny!

Wont be on over the weekend, so

Wow PA good for you!!

LOl toffee your DS letter made me laugh.

Went to friends for cuppa after school. She is planning a trip to a rock festival with her friends . Made me feel very old and dull .

How exciting to be on Chris Evans feetheart how come?

We had minor excitement yesterday when local scrap yard went up in smoke, DC watched the whole thing from school playground including plumes of smoke, helicopters and fire engines (conveniently happened over lunchtime). Ds watched it all on the local news and said to me at bedtime 'this has been the best day ever' .

Counting down til time.

Machine is getting old and seems to like to make its feelings known. This seemed such a good idea at the time