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!

evening all
swan tbh most of DD3's class dont really do "party" dresses any more, but she remains absolutely adament that a aprty MEANS a party dress and would have been DEVASTATED had I not found one for her.
blue I too hate the over-excited,over-exhausted,highly-frazled,terribly grumpy mood that all my DC manage to end up in at this time of year. Normally then rounded off by some bug or other....sigh...
nicknak that's an impressive list. Good luck with the rest of it.
icecold CBA is a good art to perfect!
sc ouch!hope the sherry has numbed the pain.
mc I dont know how you are managing to do all you are doing whilst so unwell. Poor you. Take it as easy as you can, hope the pain is gone soon.

well, busy but positive day at work today. DDs 2,3 and 4 finished school today. Poor ds1 and dd1 dont finish till Thursday....
Have done very little FLYing for last 2 days but thankfully DH has been doing a fab job whilst at home
Have just made lots of yummy treats to take into work tomorrow but thats about it for today as I'm shattered again!
Last day of work tomorrow till after Christmas so that is something....

right...BBtomorrow

Well ta da list goes like this:
Get up
1 load washing through washer its still there and will wait til tomo
Ds kit sorted
ds to training
ds in bed no shower as have to wash his bedding tomo anyway so sod it he was tired
early night - yes please. Goodnight

Sorry not going to stick about for personals. going to turn mn off and try to go to bed.

List for wednesday:
transfer new music to ipod - a job involving two computers Don'tAsk.
ds' bedding in wash
sort ds' kit out
dry washing from today
laundry
sort out bathroom
sort out landing
try to tame bedroom
try to get ds to figure out a sensible idea for a present for his dad.
do something with ds who has requested a day with his ds computer thingy and tv. tbh he has earnt a lazy day so not too fussed about this and it will help me have time to do above.
see if can finish emptying/tidying car
put petrol into car.

thursday is a quiet day of one errand to run and hoover to shove about and training for ds. Friday is a quite day of no flying, saturday is christmas in this house so flying is off. I am soooooo glad i had a crazy week last week even if i hit burn out. I can relax and settle with cba. Bet I am ill for christmas

Wishing you productive antiprocrastination days tomo!!!!

Evening all

Well I have felt nauseous all afternoon, I think it's the antibiotics. But on the plus side pain a lot better today. Have been to a wildlife park and had a lovely stroll around with not a sign of Christmas anywhere which was sooo relaxing.

Also managed to pick up last of dd's presents but had card declined and found out bank have messed up twice on my account and leaving me no money through Christmas , so tomorrow I'm off to the branch to sort it out.

Tesco order been, all present so only a few fresh things to get at end of week. Also managed a load of washing and a 30 minute declutter of bedroom.

Right off to catch up on thread and then bed. Back tomorrow

If i ever hint that we are about to embark on DIY 6 days before xmas again then please just tell me to get a fucking grip . I am chuffing knackered and ache in parts of the body i didnt know i had.

On the plus side i now have a presentable kitchen for the first time in a few years with no hole in the ceiling and a light that works . All thats left to do is a bit of touching up and put everything back minus the clutter hopefully.
Night all.

StNicks - yes, we're away for Christmas, as usual. Tomorrow's going to be hectic, so I'm going to post a to-do list and then come back and do the round up in a minute...

Tonight
Collect bottle tops for recycling
Find bird feeder and receipt to take back

Tomorrow
Strip beds & wash sheets
Defrost casserole steak
Boys to CM
Bank
Lush
Try and find replacement present for step-MIL (lousy internet non-delivery, grr!)
Sainsburys
Garden centre
Wrap DH's presents
Sort presents by which house they need to go to...
Hoover
Dust
Hotspots
Laundry away
Get casserole on
Wash DH's cycling stuff
Remake beds
Check packing list
DH to get suitcases from loft
Start packing??

chitchatting nor have I made any mince pies. well done.

I've been to a party though! Very nice low key drinks nearish, and took husband and 2 children (although ds1 terribly terribly shy when he saw some 12 year old girls)
watched last bit of Young Herriot on return, and generally enjoying the feeling of not having to be anywhere or get anything much ready.

More kids over to play tomorrow. My only worry at the moment is getting kids out for exercise in the morning, as there are more children on Thursday afternoon too. Dh made ds walk to party, that helped a bit. Dd and I drove we were too lazy/tired.

I hasten to add there is no hiccuping here, I drank no alcohol at all!

MC glad wildlife park lifted your spirits. I think you have been superorganised to be surviving despite your emergency.
Blue I am very impressed by all the plans for tomorrow. Once you are off you will have a great time.

Right, round up time now?

Ouch did a lot of driving?

WhoKnows has been suffering with a cold but has now done the house bleugh.

Ellie has been DIYing in the week before Christmas. She now has a kitchen ceiling with no hole though, which has to be a bonus!

Fuzzled became Flying and was planning an assault on the dining room, which succeeded due to absence of procrastination ? a model for us all for tomorrow!

Linzer had a decluttered hall and was going to introduce mince pies to her English class.

Lauren was having a quiet few days.

MC was out and about despite feeling rough. Grr to bank!

Toffee was feeling frantic ? have a and !

SC has been hobbling about and full of cold. Have a ? can make it lemsip, hot toddy or add a shot of brandy if you like! Hope your heating can be fixed and the new dishwasher arrives in time.

Swan is feeling more relaxed. Glad the hospital went well and party sounds good too.

StNicks has been having light bulb moments on the Fat Fairy?s site and is going to declutter in 2012.

Ice has perfected the art of CBA!

ChitChat also had tired, grumpy DSs.

OFM has had a busy but positive day and done some baking.

As for me, we all survived the day, the boys got to bed slightly early and their presents are now all wrapped. Better get to bed myself now, so here come the links:

***
Babystep: Ask FlyLady.

Mission: Dusting. Glad that?s on my list already!

Night all. Zzzzz.

Oops, didn't quite make it on Tuesday!

The DSs calmed down somewhat. DS1 (after about 20 minutes of leaving mummy alone ) said "I turned the tree lights on for you mummy so you would be happy". What a sweetheart.... well sometimes anyway.

My Ta Da list

2 dozen mince pies for school
Nativity Service for school
Cleaned kitchen counter
Emptied food bin
Loaded & started the dishwasher x 3 (damn baking!!!)
Hand washed, wiped and put away (!) a load of dishes
DS's dinner
Tidied up after DS's dinner
Folded and put away basket of clean clothes
Sorted dirty washing into colours
1 load of washing done, dried and folded
1 load of washing done and hung to dry
1 load of washing prepped for overnight wash
Emptied suitcase (from Friday night!)
Entrance hall hotspot
Swept and mopped stair case and entrance hall
Created place for hats, gloves and scarves to reside

Decorating:
Partially sanded 1 step
scraped paint off 1/2 step

I'm trying to do a small amount of decorating on the days that I'm home, even if it's just puttying a few nail holes in the architraves. If I keep the momentum up I will eventually get there.

Not really home all that much tomorrow, crib service rehearsal for the boys in the morning, dropping them off to my friend who will have them overnight and then off to Bath for a Birthday party.

Will do personals in the morning!

On phone and will catch up later, but unbelievably stressed today as our heating has broken. Well, I say broken, it's more that it won't switch off!

We had our time clock replaced a few weeks ago (along with a set of plug interiors) and now neither is working properly. Never using that plumber again!

So my list today looks like:
Phone plumber!!!!!!!!!!
Cards for neighbours + Brian & Hazel
Deliver cards & girls
Put up futon
Work out menu & shopping list
Clean upstairs bathroom
WAH job
Sort freezers out

Fingers crossed we can get someone before Christmas to sort this!

Oh bollocks. The only plumber I can get is... the one we're now not sure about

Still, one of the plumbers I spoke to on the phone did say it sounds like a fault with the time clock rather than a plumbing issue, so may not actually be his fault.

He also said that taps are very temperamental and he has personally visited one property about 10 times - something about sizes having changed recently - and the taps are about 10 years old so might make sense. I'm a bit less stressed now at least.

Either way, hopefully he can get us up and running for Christmas at least.

Flying we had a long running saga 5 years ago with boiler which turned out to be grit in in the valves - made a connection when valve was meant to be off. The complexity of it all, and then there is always a very simple solution. Tears hair out in virtual sympathy.

Well we are just enjoying a very CBA morning. I have managed to write another few xmas cards for locals and distants in my nightie whilst serving up bacon and eggs.
alsodones
tip recycling and refuse men
recycling /refuse out
Screens were switched off at 9am.
Dh sent to work. Complained party was "boring" and hostess had been rude about his beard - I said it was a relief that other people's parties were as boring as ours... It is an effort to get him to be nice to our neighbours/local friends. In the end he'll be grateful!!!

What I find interesting about ALL parties is the hosts spend ages making parlour nice, and then guests invariably end up in back room/kitchen scoffing food and wine. It is the same when we give a party, the guests always head for the smallest, untidiest room in the house...

Children appear to be pottering happily although dd has "the look" which threatens imminent whinging. I've sent her back to bed.

I am now going to attempt to tidy kitchen.put heaps of washing awayI may be some time. Oh and get dressed.

I will be joining you lot soon

Morning all, sorry didn't get back on the thread last night I was busy watching the darts. PA - are you there, did you watch last night - Anderson games was a cracker

I also managed to finish crocheting the cushion I have been working on for the last two months, hoorah, so that is looking very nice on the sofa.

Flying - oh no re the boiler. Whereabouts are you, my BIL is a heating engineer

Swan - screens off at 9 is our non-school day rule as well, I'm exempt today because the DCs are at my parents.

Trinity - hello, do join us, we do have a lot of chatting motivational encouragement here and it's always nice to have a new person join.

ChitChat - sounds like a busy day in store

I have got up late because the DCs aren't here and so far all I have done is put washing on, empty DW and make a batch of chilli jelly.

I also need to:

Jar up the jelly
Wrap up some presents to deliver when I pick up the DCs
Go for a run
Tidying - general
Put away yesterday's washing
Coffee with a friend
Pick up DCs
Sort out some clutter under the stairs and take it to the tip on the way to friend's house

Think I'd better stop typing and start doing....

Phew. Plumber has been and it looks like the pump has wedged open - so relatively simple! am mildly comforted that he seemed to know exactly what he was talking about as opposed to the taps where he was a bit half-arsed

My list thus far looks like:
Phone plumber!!!!!!!!!! done and he's coming back this afternoon
Cards for neighbours + Brian & Hazel - about to do
Deliver cards & girls - depends on plumber, but may go out tonight once DS is asleep
Put up futon - moved to Friday with DH
Work out menu & shopping list - will do with DH tonight - he's promised!
Clean upstairs bathroom - going to try to do now
WAH job
Sort freezers out - going to depend on menus, so probably Friday

BUT I have stripped our bed and it's in the wash (tomorrow's mission, but I'm not about tomorrow), and dusted and hoovered our room, plus I've got another wash on just now for odds and ends of clothes that keep mouldering on DH's clothes stand.

Off to sneak upstairs now... wish me luck!

De-cobweb downstairs done
De-cobweb upstairs done
Put screws back in bath panal done
Declutter under kitchen sink
Mop kitchen floor thoroughly
Wipe out fridge done
Clean oven done
Deep clean bathroom
Food shop done
Fix branches on tree
Fill charity bag done
Clean bannister done
Lay out xmas day clothes
Clean laundry away
Tidy boys room
Put wreath back up on the door (windy times) done
Net lights up
Hoover stairs
Dustbins out done
Finish wrapping presents done
Check xmas pud fits in slow cooker
Make trifle
Ice the christmas cake
Declutter dining room to make space for bigger table done
Get xmas food out of all their hiding places
Prep veg
Clean beds for all
Change light bulbs done
Deliver local presents done
Hoover upstairs
Hoover downstairs
Dust downstairs done
Wash glassware
Bleach WM

BBL with hopefully much more crossed off. I'm rubbish!

Let's see...

Strip beds & wash sheets
Defrost casserole steak
Boys to CM
Bank
Lush
Try and find replacement present for step-MIL (lousy internet non-delivery, grr!)
Sainsburys
Garden centre
Wrap DH's presents
Sort presents by which house they need to go to...
Hoover
Dust
Hotspots
Laundry away
Get casserole on
Wash DH's cycling stuff
Remake beds
Check packing list
DH to get suitcases from loft
Start packing??

hi trinity I think you were here in the days of Ruby and Countinggrey so you know the ropes!!!

so far a nice day...
done
abandoned kitchen in favour of taking boys to play football in the mud where they met some other children from school by good chance
a short run
persuade ds1 to have short run
persuaded dd to tidy her room before her friends came
cleared out some of her sewing/haberdashery drawer
kept calm during dd sulk
cooked spicy chinese wraps for lunch (no takers except as usual ds1)
had friend for cup of tea
put some clothes away

NOW will TIDY KITCHEN truly horrendous, and loads of wet washing on floor to be hung out mingling with other stuff... Is it called "surface-itis" I wonder where there is not a surface anywhere that is not covered to overflowing with assorted random objects...

parlour not to bad though, as long as guests keep out of kitchen

And there is GLITTER ON THE STAIRS - it looks very enchanting...better than mud anyway

Hello to all. [Thanks for hot toddy Blue]

Tried to soldier on today but have been overcome by heavy cold/bordering on flu I think (although I can eat so probably not flu). Feel floaty and rotten though and teeth are chattering.

Waves feebly at everyone from under blanket!

Today i have been mostly feeling like death. Didn't wake up til after lunch. Thank god ds was well behaved. Although this afternoon he has been whingy and complained when i made him have a wash and actually put clothes on.

as for the list: hahahaha
transfer new music to ipod - a job involving two computers Don'tAsk. done
ds' bedding in wash On to wash
sort ds' kit out about to do
dry washing from yesterday
laundry
sort out bathroom in slow progress
sort out landing
try to tame bedroom
try to get ds to figure out a sensible idea for a present for his dad.
do something with ds jigsaw he is happier with tv and ds computer thingy and i have no energy so going to leave him to it.
see if can finish emptying/tidying car hahaha perhaps tomo
put petrol into car. tomo
Ring dentist done

Woohoo! I have heating again!

Been a moderately successful day. My list is:
Phone plumber!!!!!!!!!! - done and heating hopefully sorted!
Cards for neighbours + Brian & Hazel
Deliver cards & girls
Put up futon - Friday now
Work out menu & shopping list - tonight with DH
Clean upstairs bathroom
WAH job
Sort freezers out - tonight
Shopping
Wash bedding
Dust & hoover bedroom

Not a bad day.

Right - new music in loud, must tackle the to do list. Yep paracetamol has finally kicked in. thank fuck.

Very embarrassingly popping head round door to say Heeeellllllloooooo!!! Have you forgotten me???

Well, I will go and have a good scroll through and read what you lot have all been up to.
But before I go, yes Whoknows the Anderson game was brilliant. I might start a darts thread tonight, so come over and join me, so I am not typing away to myself all night!

How are all the Christmas preps going then? Most of my presents are bought. Absolutely nothing is wrapped yet, though.
All the family are back under one roof. Although sick bug is going from one to another right now. I started it and it has struck through, only DD2, DD3 and DH to go now!

Fat fairy-wise house is a mess in need of a little TLC! Back lounge has been blitzed by DH while I was ill !! Looking good!

Oh flip, need to go. I will read through quickly tonight and catch up a bit and I will return...... be warned!!!!