June know it's the fledgling flyers?

[Stillchuckingit]

A warm welcome to the June Fledgling Flyers' thread.

If the state of your house is getting you down, this is the thread where we follow the step-by-step Flylady housekeeping system (in our own, unique, relaxed style ) with lots of chat and support along the way and where lace-up shoes are definitely optional.

A huge thank you to Linzer for keeping us all on track so splendidly during May and thank you to DroitwichMummy for the thread title.

As usual, we will be following the Flylady three-pronged approach:

1. Baby-steps (a daily step to establish routines)
2. Then baby-steps + 15 mins daily decluttering
3. (And once decluttered) babysteps + daily missions

If you are feeling overwhelmed by clutter and mess, you can make a difference, one step at a time.

For more information, have a look here. You don't need to sign up to Flylady e-mails (we advise you not to do so in fact - you will be overwhelmed - all the information you need can be gleaned from this thread).

All long-standing members, intermittent returnees, lurkers and newcomers welcome!!

Arf at SC of Tunbridge Wells!
in middle of screaming children again (after barbecue, without brother
so rushign off again...no doubt smellng of smoke

Ooh, SC, hadn't thought of identity wrist band or Kendal mint cake!

Definitely scorchio here today. We had our first meal outside of the summer. DH having spent all afternoon waterproofing the shed and fitting a padlock, the bikes are now in it. Woohoo!!

Well done on the spare room DWM and hope the dr's goes well.

Get well soon to your DD SC.

I hope your DS2 enjoys the trip and that you're able to relax too, Toffee.

Waves to all - hope you've had lovely Sundays.

SC I feel re: the tun wells thing

PA feel in complete [in awe] of how you cope with all that - one baby and being on mat leave feels like alot

soooo hot here today - lots of clothes washing hung out side dh sorted out tv and the dvd speakers in just the right positions in a manly obsesive way while i made a big batch of veggie bolognese and picked raspberries from garden

Sorry for not namechecking. Lots been happening around here so can't catch up everything. Anyway, hasn't it been such a gorgeous day? I'm typing this sitting at the patio doors enjoying the last gasps of sunshine.

I always try to keep Monday as a chilled out sort of day after all the busyness of the weekend so I can catch up with everything and so my DS can get back on his normal routine. (That's gone out of the window the last few days as he's been poorly but he's getting better now.)

So here is the plan for tomorrow:

30 Day Shred L1D5 (hmm, been slacking there)
Get dressed
Bedroom
Bathrooms
Breakfast
Breakfast Cleanup
Laundry
Dinner
Shine sink
Cull old magazines
Change sheets
Change towels
Rubbish out
Vacuum house
Mop bathroom
Mop kitchen
Clean mirrors
Check smoke alarm
15 min living room
Mission
Emails

Going to be a busy day!

Evening all,

Just a quick post while I wait for the ice cream machine to finish it's job. Busy weekend, ILs Golden Wedding PArty went very well, was cloudy but dry and warm, perfect weather really, today would have been too hot. Got back today and had to go to a local town event as it is right opposite our house, it is a charity cricket game played to Victorian rules and in costume, main attraction for the DCs was the rides and stalls around the edge (and the ice cream van, as if if they haven't eaten enough junk food this weekend). However the ice cream van had run out of vanilla, so DS was very unhappy (it's the only flavour he likes, and this is artisan ice cream, so he could have had gooseberry, blackcurrant, lemon etc you get the picture). We gave up and went home at that point and found some ice lollies in the freezer, so all was well, but after they had gone to bed I remembered I had bought all the ingredients for ice cream last week so he will get a nice surprise tomorrow.

Feeling very, very tired and this week looks manic (again). Must go and make a list. Ooh, ice cream has finished .

Evening all

Your baby-step for tomorrow, Monday 27th June, is an important one:

here - meal planning Must say, that meal-planning in advance has been one of my life-savers, has completed eliminated "witching hour" dilemma of what to cook.

Tomorrow and up to and including June 30, we will be in Zone 5, the living room here

And your mission will appear here once the Flylady site has updated itself. Remember, you are only required to start missions once you have decluttered in that particular zone but it's up to you!

And you get a sneak peak at the week ahead here Again, Flylady site may need to update itself.

Monday is home bleeeurrrgghh day, more details here

Reastie home bleurgh day is our term for home blessing day - 7 tasks supposedly taking 10 mins each, listed here

Have a productive week everyone!! And for those of us whose dc break up on Thursday lunch-time; aaggggrrrhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

***

Oops mission link incorrect

The right one (when it updates itself) is here

What have you lovely fledglings been up to today?

Swan's was smelling of smoke ...

Toffee's been worrying and scurrying ... [he'll be fine I promise!! ]

Blue has been stroking her garden shed

Reastie has been a domestic goddess (while her dh has been a domestic god) No need to feel by the TW ref btw - my posts are incomprehensible at the best of times !

Bartlett has been typing out her chilled-out chore list for tomorrow (looks positively sizzling to me!!]

Whoknows has been watching cricket and churning ...

and SC and her dd have been shredding (papers that is - not going for the burn atm!)

Hurrah, hurrah!! Huge table in home office (formerly a dumping ground for piles of papers) is now totally clear!!!!!! DD is still ill but fortunately she's loves operating the shredding machine (under supervision of course). I'm intending to declutter a box of papers a day from now on until they have all gone (some of which have been here since we moved nearly a decade ago

One thing though, I think I know the answer to this one but need kick up rear some encouragement; dd's school return all their work-books for the year and I have kept two years worth from maternelle (nursery) and one from primaire... She shrieks with delight when she sees them and loves going through them, but they are taking up two huge drawers. I need to get rid don't I?? [sniff]

Evening SC

Busy day here. But spent it out of the house. Only just got in and will be leaving again in 5hours which means less then 4hrs sleep. Fucking awesome day though and looking forward to tomo.

Perhaps flying might return in July

Morning all,

Hectic morning so far. I have:

Taken DS to kindergarten (with birthday cake) and DDs to school
Come back home to pick up kindergarten lunch vouchers and tax number (forgotten when we first left the house)
Been to tax office to pick up some forms for DH and check whether I still need to fill in my tax return
Been to town hall to buy kiga lunch vouchers and get recycling bags

The rest of the morning is likely to be taken up with filling in my tax return. The tax offic has normally always sent me one at the start of the year but I suddenly realised last night that I couldn't remember filling one in and had no record of it either. I've missed the paper deadline and have just three days to file it electronically, which I've never done before (thank goodness I'd already requested an online password, which comes by post). I really need to try and send it this evening just in case I need DH's help with it, as he's off to Italy tomorrow.

I survived the race yesterday, although I wasn't feeling at my best - I've been trying to keep a cold at bay for the last couple of days. I used Vicks First Defence about an hour before the race, which gave me the most awful headache, but luckily inhaling and paracetamol (which I normally try not to take) got rid of it just before the run started. I made it all the way round anyway; I def. wasn't one of the fastest, though did manage to overtake a few other runners (mainly people who had stopped to walk, admittedly!), which felt good. I was so glad I only had to do one circuit, though; there's no way I'd have managed three or even six (the half-marathon).

SC I feel your pain. We have four drawers full of the DDs' school books and exercise books, and they haven't even brought most of this year's home (they have to take a big bag in every day this week to do so). DH refuses to let me get rid of any atm, but we're going to have twelve years' worth by the time DS has finished primary school (I'm not even thinking about secondary school stuff yet) and even he admits we won't have room for everything. DH has also kept far too many of his old school books for my liking as well - musty old maths books, old "message books" (for messages between the teacher and parents) where the ink is so faded you can hardly read what the teacher wrote, etc etc etc. I did manage to convince him to get rid of a few books a couple of years ago, but he was quite upset afterwards that he'd given in as he wanted to compare everything that he'd done in his first year at school with what DD1 was doing.

Right, must go and make a start on my tax return. I have the feeling that, yet again, I won't get much flying done this morning.

bartlett I feel overcome just by looking at your list

whoknows how was the ice cream? nom nom nom

SC hurrah for the clear office

linzer I'm still in my nightie . You put me to shame. We had a bad night last night with DD screaming the house down all evening so I was v tired and didn't get out of bed until she stirred for feeding at 7:30. Just put her back to bed and trying to boff up on these systems you ladies do. Think I'll spend this week holding back and doing my own thing but slowly understanding what this is all about and joining in more and more of the routines (but continue my 'normal' ogganising at the same time obv). Aim for this week is to sort out the dining room which is our main dumping ground. The big pile of filing in there I fear will have to wait until another week oh, and well done on the run - I'm slightly as I used to run until I got a back problem, and what with that and a difficult pregnancy I'm now too lardy unfit and back issues still

Lots to aim to do today but it's going to be so blinking hot I'm not sure how much I'll manage before I collapse in a heap and melt

reastie I'm sure I would still be in my nightie if I had a baby; you shouldn't be too hard on yourself. Everything starts/opens earlier here than in the UK, which makes it a bit easier to be productive first thing - the town hall opens at 7.30 am, for example, and I'm normally back from the school run at about 7.45 am. OTOH my energy deserts me at about 6 pm and I'm useless in the evenings.

The race results are now online; I came 28th out of 43 women, which I was quite pleased with considering that I've only been running for eight weeks (my overall result - 63rd out of 83 - isn't quite as impressive; there were too many fast male sprinters!). Have already decided that I want to do better next year!

Now have last year's tax return in front of me and the tax office website open, and am feeling a bit overwhelmed - still trying to find the right forms!

Toffee I'm another one who used to worry about school trips, but forest sounds so much nicer than a classroom on this scorching day, that I would just be relieved.
Reastie I'm still in my nightie, as dd went to school by herself and ds2 is refusing to!
I've made a dr appt for him at 11am. But the reason he was refusing is that Sport's Week teeshirt is not suitably purple...(he's in purple team) cue massive tantrum.. However, as I managed to get an appt this morning, it will probably be for the best...And we'll get a chance to nip out and buy another teeshirt.

Thrills and spills this weekend. I WENT CAMPING in neighbour's back garden to try out my tent! Dh in bad mood about whole thing, ticked me off repeatedly whilst putting up tent, reducing me to tears at my friend's house. But once he'd gone home we had a lovely time - giant tent sleepover, and barbecue on Sat night at my friend, with no men allowed (except ds1 who had a great time playing spin the bottle with 4 girls and 5 chickens
Yesterday was just spent catching up, arguing, making up, and clearing up.

Is it just me or does camping bring out the D-word in people?

Linzer courage (with a french accent) for the tax return, it just take such a tlong time, but you will manage it, I know you will...
And brilliant to have to done the run so very creditably

CHB glad yesterday was a good day.

[fans everyone else with large palm leaf]

off to assemble ironing pile, and get dressed, deal with ds2 again, and generally try and get my head into sane sensible mode.

swan Camping sounds lovely (well, apart from your DH's "contribution" - poor you. Why do men have to be so belittling sometimes?). I remember how exciting I found it being allowed to camp out in the garden with my brother. The DC are desperate to try out DH's old tent overnight too.

Have finally found the tax forms I need to fill in and have made a start. Am sure it will take all morning though. Have also found my race certificate online, which tells me I came 5th in my category (W-40, although I won't be 40 for another four months ). It sounds rather impressive if you don't know that there were only eight women in the category altogether.

Yes, ease yourself in gently Reastie. Tis hard when your nights are broken.
You can always 'observe' for this week and then jump in on 1st July (when the 30/31 daily steps (baby-steps - yuck!) start all over again). All you need to know, is that the main aim of the system is to get the housework over in as quick a time as possible through focused, short, sharp, daily bursts of activity, leaving you time to do something more interesting instead (like admiring your gorgeous baby!)

Crikey Linzer you were up with a lark this am!! A veritable whirlwind!
Well done on your run yesterday and for battling through!! You should be really proud of yourself!! Sounds like your dh has a huge nostalgia for his childhood (hanging on to school reports/toy-buying etc). It's difficult isn't it? I'm the guilty one in our household for saving sentimental things - dh doesn't care/doesn't remember. Must just try and do it in moderation!! Good luck with the tax return.

CHB ouch - that's not much shut-eye ... hope you have a good day though!

It's already sweltering here and due to reach 32°c this afternoon....off to "clear paths" for my window-cleaner (actually that's a slight exaggeration, not as much path-clearing through the clutter as there used to be although there could be a lot less stuff ....

Just so hard to get rid here. Recycling rules very strict: 5 different 'ordinary' categories + separate instructions for cooking oil and old batteries etc and then one is allowed to throw out 1m squared of junk, free of charge annually but have to advise the commune 6 weeks in advance and the places are usually taken (sigh) and thereafter you have to pay Euros++++ to take stuff to the tip where you have to queue....

I'm when I watch those "clean house" sort of programmes where they just throw everything in a tip anyhow .... Here, everything has to be sorted in to plastics, metal, wood, polystyrene, and about 20 different sub-categories. Far better for the environment I know but it really slows up the decluttering process. And when you renovate your house, you really have to factor in serious costs for "taking junk away" ...

Excuses, excuses

Not a very good start here, next door are starting some building work so there are skips, trucks, banging going on (we have a drive and they don't so we have agreed to let them put the skip on our drive, but it meant all the cars had to be moved at 7.30am). Ocado order arrived 45 mins earlier than it was supposed to just when we were supposed to be leaving for school, so had to get that all in and out of the way, but at least it's done. Had to sun tan cream the DCs, which they hate. Didn't get any of my normal morning Flying jobs done at all before the school run and now it is so hot (I hate hot).

Just to cap it all, DD's teacher asked me this morning if DD could sit a dyslexia screening test, which is depressing, although if there is a problem it's good that they are being pro-active. She definitely has a few signs of it, according to the googling I've just done, but I hadn't realised until now, just though it was funny things she was doing (always puts her shoes on the wrong feet for example). Am feeling guilty that we have always worried so much about DS and spent so much time doing extra stuff with him that she has been overlooked a bit, she has always seemed perfectly OK until recently.

Right, better go and start doing stuff.

x posts

Bravo Linzer 28th out of 43 women is brilliant!!!!!

Sorry you are having another stressful morning Swan!! Camping sounds great though. And thanks for wonderful wafting.

Camping + men always = trouble. I remember one occasion in the wilds of Scotland when my late father (rather inadvisably) was knocking a post in to the ground with a large stone. Post was being held by my db. And you know what happened next ....cue lots of blood and recriminations and rather long and circuitous to a & e ...

("D word" = dunny??? Dining al fresco??? Demon drink???? )

Two words: Fucking awesome!!!!!!

right this heat will kill me so i am going to do the only sensible thing. stick an alarm on for later and crash. After a cold shower. Its too hot. 20C was nice what was wrong with 20C? Seriously its already 28C out there. and that was by 8am.

trip to a&e

x posts [wafts breeze towards Whoknows]
sorry you are having such a stressful morning too!! (Agree about heat btw!!)

Try not to feel guilty about your dd. It's only natural when you are monitoring one child so closely that you have slightly less time for the other. You can only do what you can do and there are finite hours in a day. Tis good she is being tested ...

Have a before you start your list x

CHB

my chilli and pepper plants are looking happier ... I am retreating to the (cool) laundry of doom ...

Thank you SC. That sounds like a nightmare system for waste disposal. Here it is mostly still down to goodwill, you can choose to just chuck everything in the tip if you want, but guilt makes you feel you ought to recycle, Freecycle, charity shop etc.

Also meant to say WELL DONE Linzer

Swan - know exactly what you mean, DH and I do find the putting the tent up aspect of camping particularly brings out the worst in us in terms of bickering, blame, passive aggressive sniping. It has got better though as time goes on and we are more experienced with the whole thing, and once it's up we are fine. .

Morning everyone

Every window/door in house open and nice breeze blowing through.

Think DH and I have resolved the tent arguing by have very specific jobs and an easy tent to put up. Apart from a little bit of joint working to put initial bit up he does outside, I do inside. DC are in charge of blowing up air-mattresses but usually disappear to explore first so aren't underfoot :)
A friend has refused to have anything to do with putting up their tent as her husband gets so irrational - last time we camped together he put it up whilst she sat in the sun (all DC had disappeared to explore). I was impressed that this solution seemed to work for them both!
at your DH Swan, glad you had lovely time though inspite of it.

Well done on race Linzer, sounds as though you did brilliantly especially as you haven't even finished the programme yet.

Whoknows - sorry you have had such a mad start to the day. Don't beat yourself up about DD, it may not amount to much and teachers are in a much better position then parents to pick up on such things with little ones. They all seem to do slightly bonkers things IMO ( DS found sleeping across his bed last night with head on the floor and legs up the wall )

SC - recycling sounds VERY complicated. Feeling grateful for much slacker system here whilst listening to sounds of bell from 'rag and bone' man going past!

Ta da list so far;

• 2 loads of washing done and out
• Buns delivered to school and surrogate granny
• Shopping for surrogate granny (and HUGE watermelon for us :))
• Work

To do (much longer)

• Rest of morning routine
• 15 mins in living room
• Mission
• Bank for work and School Assoc
• Reading at school
• Homework with DC
• Quick, easy dinner
• 2nd round of de-nitting
• Ironing in front of tennis

SO tempted to just go and lie in hammock with cool drink and good book though :)