Fledglings dreaming of a FLY Christmas - December's fledgling flyers thread

[BlueEyeshadow]

Welcome flyers one and all, old and new, to the December thread! As the advent calendars go up, let's beat the CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) and FLY through Christmas into the New Year (or have a go at it, anyway...)!

We take a three-pronged approach (and a large pinch of salt) to the FLYlady system:

-babysteps
-babysteps and 15 mins' decluttering
-babysteps and missions

The website is here: FlyLady - if you haven't had a look at it for a while it's worth a gander as the design and layout have changed for the better recently.

Whatever you do, though, don't sign up for the emails or your inbox will be bursting within seconds. Or so I'm led to believe... I will post the links to the babystep and mission for each day (the first ones to follow this evening) and there'll be plenty of chat, , and along the way.

A big thank you to Darkness for leading us through November with so much fun!

Hiya! On phone so no personals! I'll get on later to do those so to everyone for now!

To do:
Go to makro, buy platters etc for party
Kitchen hot spot
Finish home bleugh- two doors left to clean and mirrors
Hoover later
Wrap Christmas presents and put under tree later
Walk dog
What's for dinner? Spanish chicken I think

BBL

Hi all, never mind home bleugh it's bird bleugh this morning - I did say I'd had too much ! Out this morning for coffee, but might skip baby group cos want a quiet day pottering :o)

Morning all,
Glad it's not just me flitting round the flylady website... you did make me laugh, bird, about the faffing on the internet, I just wanted to shout 'I have been faffing on the internet for 2 sodding years, that's what has got me into this mess!!' :o
Whoknows: good to know about the book, I have seen that, and might treat myself to it... Is it full of nauseating anecdotes about what someone's wonderful DH said three weeks last Thursday though?
ellie: Concert sounds amazing :)
Blue: thanks for round up :)
Hmm, hotspots. That part seems to be my nemesis in the world of sorting and cleaning. I think my trouble is that downstairs is pretty good, definitely wouldn't be too embarrassed to have people over (decent storage sorted that out mostly :) But upstairs is an absolute disaster, I could never have people in any of the bedrooms except perhaps DS's room, but that's only because it's tiny and all he does in there is sleep . But I find it really difficult to do anything upstairs as the only time I can do it is if at least one of the kids are asleep. They are virtually never asleep at the same time (except at night) so I still have the difficulty of what to do with the other one while I tidy upstairs, so it just never gets done :(
Anyway, too much whinging, I must stop it.
My list for today:
Take DCs to messy play in about half an hour
Sweep dining room & kitchen floor
Try and get on with daily stuff and home blessing when DS is napping
Go to Tesco - must buy dividers for CJ, already have a file in DS's bedroom I can use.
Will see what isn't done after DS is in bed tonight, although DD can be fussy in the evenings and DH is out tonight at a Parish Council meeting, so not sure if I will manage to get anything done this evening.

X-posted bird - sounds like a quiet day is in order after all that :o

Have just had a thought, I think my issue with the upstairs is that everywhere is covered in clutter, so I can try cleaning one hotspot but the place where the stuff goes is covered in other stuff so I kind of need to do it all at once if that makes sense? . So, step one in clearing out the upstairs is to creat more storage. We have a lot of books upstairs just stuffed into the shelves in our wardrobe which really need getting rid of (we got them free a few years ago from a friend), so I will try and make a list of them later so I can list them for sale on the for sale boards here :)

Working again today, then going to see DS2 in his Christmas concert this afternoon. Ready meals again tonight, I'm afraid (am very impressed by you pre-cooking meals, OFM).

Talking of hotspots (which I see is a subject for discussion above) - I managed to tackle the kitchen hotspot last night as it was really, really getting me down. I can only do it by shoving the whole sorry mess into a box and hiding it away somewhere though . However, this is better than nothing. I'm going to try and tackle one hotspot every day before Christmas. Am also planning to take some of DS2's old toys to the charity shop to make space for his presents.

Hope to be back later.

Evening. I am not feeling the fly love today. the craziness of last month is catching up with me. I have spent this morning reading. Hope new meds will stop the burning lung thing from all the allergy exposure (dust allergy). perhaps some lunch and a coffee might motivate me to move and get a bit done this afternoon.

Hope you all manage to be as productive as you wish. Thanks for the roundup Blue

Morning all

I have filofax envy from all this talk. I am a proper diaryoholic and actually bought a new one this morning for my new job. My problem is that they are never quite right. They need to be the right size, with the right make up of pages and notes etc and I use them for a while and then move on to another one. I did lovel my filoxfax though and have looked at the filofax flex but did get a bit confused by that and didn't like the plasticiness of it.

Ok list update

• Call new headteacher about visit to school and paperwork - Done going in on Thursday AM, apparently there are loads of bits of paperwork for me to sign.
• Chemist for perscription - Done
• Post office to post more parcels (disorganised) -Done
• wrap christmas presents
• Clean bathrooms
• Master bedroom hotspots
• Me to brownies
• Library to take DDs books back that are overdue Done but have missed one and now need to look for that
• Cancel swimming lesson for tomorrow - Done
• Find missing party invitation
• Find missing christmas present
• Find some presents for DH - He has no idea what he wants, people are asking and I used up my ideas on his Birthday.
• 2 more loads of washing

Must get on, have spent too long on here already

ouch sorry you're not well, take it easy.

lok my upstairs is always worse too. Our bedroom is at the moment. A job for this afternoon!

mc I totally relate to your constant diary changes. I so used to do that - mostly Filofaxes, but kept changing size / diary format / other stuff. About 3 years ago I started using a day- per-page diary in a pocket Filofax. It works so well for me I have not even considered changing it (I recently bought a new filo because my old one was so battered but the wonder of Filofax is that I just transferred everything from my old into the new - no copying out! Have you seen philofaxy? Those guys are real obsessives...
Anyhow, fly lady talks sense about keeping everything in one place - it is the single best organising thing I do in my life.

Right, stop wittering on....

Tidy kitchen
Wake up ds or hewon't sleep tonight
Shine sink
Prepare dinner
Change sheets on our bed

That will do for now....

Oh and toffee I like your hotspot method....

Flying by with an update while DS demolishes cheese on toast...

Today's ta/to do list:
Wait for plumber to sort bath taps again
Work
Wrap two pressies and put in envelopes for posting
Go to post office with said parcels
Playdate for DS
Look at dining room as can't get in right now
Empty hoover
Tidy up hall paper hanging wire (wire with mini clothes pegs above hall table that important things get clipped to - great for not losing stuff, but a bugger as I keep forgetting to clear it!)

Oh and I've made a docs appointment for DH who is having an eye issue so he'll be home early tonight!

Tidy kitchen
Wake up ds or hewon't sleep tonight
Shine sink
Prepare dinner
Change sheets on our bed. old ones in wash, got to put clean ones on bed

Woo, I'm pleased with that!

Can anyone link to flylady's evening routine, I can't find it?

bird in the new webpage setup it is on the later babystep links. She has set the babysteps up so you can see the building into the rountines. [http://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-31/ if you look here you can see the morning and evening routines] she seems to have tweaked the afternoon routine into the morning and evening routines from what i can see?

The bedtime routine is about halfway down this page Abird

reminder

Thanks ouch.
I work from home, which eats most of my evenings. My dream would be to do1 hour of work every morning before dh goes to work. So many things would have to change for this to happen - I need to get up earlier, and not be in a frantic rush. I need to have morning things prepared the night before. I need to go to bed at a decent hour. I need to clear the study so I have somewhere to work.

It would mean I could have my evenings back, for chilling with dh, UNi work, and keeping the house under control. It's my main goal at the moment but sometimes I feel like I'll never get there, I'm so crap in the mornings!

Thanks whoknows that's a useful link. Right, I'm going to start trying building an evening routine. Sorry, I'm not doing thebabystepsin the right order, but hey!

ds has come home from school and gone to sleep he is obviously not feeling great. however, i am now at odds as to whether to wake him up or not. he is supposed to have training but if he is going we need to leave in the next ten minutes or so. PLus i wanted and early night and he sleeps too long now he will either be up at stupid stupid O'clock or late tonight. neither are ideal.

super quick FLYpast LOL
am sooooo tired....
so far have managed quick tidy, rebooted laundry,S&S bathrooms,dc to school, me to work, finished work....
Collected dd4 from school and ds2 from nursery
ordered new contact lenses
Dinner - meatballs and Spag

now need to :
tidy dinner stuff
FIND the sweeping brush
Find any tiny scraps of patience I may have left anywhere....
quick re-tidy before baby sitter arrives
Get ds2 and dd4 in PJs
lay out PJs ready for dd1,2 and 3 for later
lay out my PJs to collapse into later LOL
Bedtime story for ds2 - persuade hime to go to bed
Go to watch dd2 and 3 concert
Home - bed !

must dash....will try to BBtomorrow but that is looking just as bad LOL
Big waves to all

Day didn't exactly go to plan, but have done:

Ta Da list

Shine sink (done)
2 2 min hot spots while DSs having breakfast
School run (done)
2 hrs crisis clean - 15 min each

• kitchen (done)
• dining room (done)
• kitchen (done)
• (done - )
• kitchen
• dining room (done)
• lounge

Then quick 15 min blitz making other areas look acceptable
lunch and with friend (done - morning coffee instead, but all good!!)
Pick DS1 up from school (done)
Some time with DSs (done)
Make dinner (done)
Feed boys
Bedtime routine for DSs
IF I have the energy, do some more in the spare room

Realised I wasn't actually getting anywhere in the dining room so started decluttering. But following the rules and going clockwise I started with the BIGGEST hotspot in the house. 2 baskets of put away things later the cabinet looks great. Rest of the dining room still looks like a tip though !!!

Evening all!

Well to say I am knackered would be an understatement but tonight I have been a good fly girl.

Ta da list:-

Full teaching day
Pay bills
Tidy living room, dining room, kitchen and bathroom
Swept floors throughout
WM emptied and reloaded
Dinner prepped and on
Washing up done (from yesterday )
Sink shined
DS homework done

ABout to go and pop DC's to bed (DS having an early one tonight after last night's exertions), however, for once, they are actually playing together nicely and seems a bit mean to break the party up so am going to browse mn until I hear cries.

Back later

Argh, still struggling with slow, old computer, it makes internet browsing a painful event, not to mention when I come on this thread and it just freezes (I think it's all the smileys).
So, just to say, still here, still woeful flying attempts, I'm officially re-opening the naughty corner and serving bucks-fizz.
With canapes.
(But I do have a shiny sink - I think the shiny sink thing is just a ploy to lure us in and make us feel efficient, so we can forget about all the other things that we're not doing). (Anyway it works for me)

justonemorethread well done on your sink! Just ignre everything else and polish the sink.

I am now, after a full day's childcare, dinner cooked and eaten, childen in bed, just starting my day's paid work. Sigh. See y'all in a couple of hours.

Smiley's are the work of the devil if taken too extremes justonemore . Everything in moderation. And as long as you have a shiny sink you can relax in the knowledge that all is right with the world .

Good luck with the paid work abird. It sucks having to work in the evenings. I hate having to work in the evenings hence my complete inability to stick to anything flylday related as with working full time once dinner is cooked i can't even be arsed to wash up let alone fly. I like to think that the 2 odd years on this thread means that my house is less messy than it was but the naughty corner is so much fun, I wouldn't want to abandon it and be good

chitchat well done on following those rule

ofm I swear I pass out with exhaustion just looking at your lists. You are an astonishing women. .

ouch did ds wake up? I hate those decisions and I invariably make the wrong one!

lifeofkate upstairs is always the last thing that gets done round here because by the time I have sorted downstairs out I cba to do upstairs. And our bedroom is the very very very last thing to get done. I'm now trying to start upstairs when I go on house bleugh at the weekends because I have to downstairs because people see so i am more likely to get it all done iyswim.

Anyway better go and finish dinner. DC's are in bed, DH is playing on his Xbox and I am going to watch some mind numbing TV.

Back later maybe!

Okay, last post before bed. It's only 8pm (ish) but I've been up since 4 thanks to DS.

Wait for plumber to sort bath taps again
Work
Wrap two pressies and put in envelopes for posting
Go to post office with said parcels
Playdate for DS
Look at dining room as can't get in right now
Empty hoover
Tidy up hall paper hanging wire (wire with mini clothes pegs above hall table that important things get clipped to - great for not losing stuff, but a bugger as I keep forgetting to clear it!)
Docs appt made for DH
DW pack/on/emptied
Wash new grobags for DS

That should do me shouldn't it?!

• Call new headteacher about visit to school and paperwork - Done going in on Thursday AM, apparently there are loads of bits of paperwork for me to sign.
• Chemist for perscription - Done
• Post office to post more parcels (disorganised) -Done
• wrap christmas presents
• Clean bathrooms Done
• Master bedroom hotspots
• Me to brownies done
• Library to take DDs books back that are overdue Done but have missed one and now need to look for that
• Cancel swimming lesson for tomorrow - Done
• Find missing party invitation - Done and replied
• Find missing christmas present
• Find some presents for DH - He has no idea what he wants, people are asking and I used up my ideas on his Birthday. Done
• 2 more loads of washing Done

OFM Wow
Ellie I know what you mean, when I worked full time (well more than full time) I wanted to veg every night
Bird Hope you don't stay working too late
Ouch hope DS doen't keep you up or get you up too early

Waves to everyone else, Mmmmm Bucks Fizz

Bucks Fizz... mmm, sounds much more appetising than Sekt-Orange.