Fledglings Fly in Flaming June; C.H.A.O.S. will be banished soon!

[sanguinechompa]

Welcome to the June 2012 Fledgling Flyers thread. Park your mops, buckets and microfibre cloths here!!

A huge "thank you" to Toffee for leading us throughout May!! Hope you have a fabulous holiday in Spain!!

If you're house is a mess and you are strugging with C.H.A.O.S. (can't have anyone over syndrome) and S.T.U.F.F. (something that undermines family fun) then this is the thread where we (loosely) follow the step-by-step Flylady housekeeping system (in our own, unique, relaxed style) with lots of chat, support and along the way.

We advise not signing up to receive the Flylady e-mails as you will be inundated! All the information you need will be linked here on a daily basis.

From the first of the month, we will be following Flylady's tips on restoring order to our homes, and as we are all at different stages we will be using one of the following methods:

• repeat or start baby steps

• repeat baby steps + do 15 mins a day decluttering in the current zone

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

More info here, here and here

All welcome!!

OFM! Welcome back! Of course we missed you, sorry you've been having a rough time. It sounded as though work was getting a bit much when you were here last, weren't you covering someones mat leave as well as your own work or something? Anyway, I would LOVE a choccy biscuit, but the main change on here recently is that a lot of us have gone on diets.....

honu with you on the sulk about being good and it not having any effect. Was super good last week, no snacks, exercise and smaller portions, I have put on 3lb. Pah! Am trying not to go to the other extreme and consume my body weight in chocolate!

swan and bitchy your bedtimes sound decidedly difficult, sending vodka nd champagne(less calories)!!

OFM pleased to meet you

Some success with flying today, hoovering and a spot of decluttering. DD was not in a happy mood-back molars coming through with avengence.

Work tomorrow -hurray!

Nice to have you back OFM!

ds has taken punishment well. Even told his dad that it was totally deserved Is in bed but chundering to himself.

I will be back to post a scarey ta da list. Sorry.

OFM - welcome back! Lovely to see you back here. Sorry life has been getting you down, but it did sound like you had an awful lot on your plate last time you posted. The cleaner is a great idea and you deserve her. Could you give her a list of stuff to do next week ('home bless' for instance?), so that at least you know what's she's done? How is your fight for your AS DD's education going? There are a lot of us on this thread who empathise with that.

We had the puppy here today. She pooed and did wees all over my dining room and I was unphased . She was very, very sweet.

Have made an appointment to see another school on Friday. The Head sounded lovely. There is a place in Year 2 for September. DS1 is coming with us to view the new school, as he doesn't want to be left home alone (he's being educated at home by the LEA, OFM, after an unsuccessful stint at secondary school).

Am running late with bedtimes, so had better go....

All of my muscles are aching! I actually feel like I might be dying!

Ta da:
Home bleugh
Shined sink
Walked dog twice
Shred
School run
Cleaned windows and doors
Tidied playroom
Popped to shop for essentials

I managed to eat 2 smarties cookies but they were delicious! And I have parents coming round Wednesday afternoon for the guided tour so I need to print out the welcome pack tonight for them!

sc my stepdad brings food home for my mam all the time- cakes and eclairs and things that he wouldn't eat. It drives her bonkers!

Have some carpe, I hope work gets better! And swan hope you are feeling better too!

swan I am very about your Miele Hoover! I have been wanting one of those for ages!

bitchy get some sleep!!

I was actually thinking about you the other day ofm! [obviously have no real life friends ] your mega lists shock me into flying!

at puppies toffee I keep wanting to get dougal a little pal and then putting it off when I think of poo and wee all over the house!

Hello all

Amalgamation of Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues lists:

wash and iron second hand school uniform for sale at school done
wash and iron current school uniform done
wash and iron two lots sports kit done
wrap 2 presents and cards done
deliver one present + card done
morning routine, inc wm, dw, s&s, hotspots done
general tidy up done done
home bleugh - just downstairs done
clean out rabbits done
pack up shoes to send back done
blue wash NOPE but washed dh 100+ socks
white wash x 3 done
prep supper (pork roast, mash, veggies) done
make apple compote done
make cherry tart done
inscribe dd tennis next year done (I hope - at last minute and on-line but hopefully has gone through)
BOUDOIR NOPE
panier of ironing done (Sunday)
quick supermarket shop to get drinks/snacks for dd sports day done
pack rucksack for dd sports day tomorrow done
v. awkward e-mail/phone call NOPE
catch up MFP - to do
buy net to protect blackcurrant bush from woodpigeons/squirrels - to do
hair cut - to do
find dh's pedometer and put in new battery - to do
evening routine - to do
MUST DO BOUDOIR TOMORROW - FLOOR NOT VISIBLE AGAIN

Well dd thank heavens got 15/20 for grandeurs (volumes/maths) and 16/20 & 19/20 for French/Flemish conjugaison re-sits respectively so efforts over weekend not wasted and we can all breathe again. Couldn't find religion teacher tonight so don't know about that one but hopefully better than 1/20 that she got first time around!!

Had to really force myself to do stuff today because, wierdly, have exact repeat of virus I had a fortnight ago: painful sore throat, feeling hot/cold/tired/slightly dodgy stomach (but not too bad this time). Eating fairly healthily atm so don't know where this came from. Although I seem to recall that the last time I made consistent effort to lose weight/exercise; I came down with a lot of colds. Just a question of getting used to new regimen I reckon (and getting enough sleep) feeble couch potato emoticon

Didn't go for proper walk today because felt ill (and because of accidentally flushing pedometer down lav. this morning )

[Cookery diversion alert]
Speaking of eating: had great success with ratatouille over weekend. Roasted huge tray of garlic, onions, aubergine, red pepper, courgettes and tomatoes etc etc which had been coated in olive oil, and seasoned with salt, pepper and a few sprigs thyme/rosemary. Then ate just under a half of that as it was (good with fish or meat) . Blitzed remaining half with hand-held liquidiser/prong thingy and put in fridge. Next day, mixed one quarter of blitzed mixture with some rindless smoked bacon lardons, tomato passata and fresh courgettes and a bit more garlic to make sauce for pasta (dd didn't question what veg was in it and ate it with gusto). Then used other quarter today mixed with more passata and a bit of chilli and chicken stock to make veg soup for lunch. Though I would bore you all with this share because dead easy, economical and healthy.

Personal Body clutter review of week
(Forgive this indulgence please but I'm amazed that I lost 1.4 k because I didn't really stick to any of the following very rigidly and want to work out how I did it. Also, owing to general lack of organisation/dippiness, I haven't logged pedometer readings or MFP very accurately - quite a bit of guess work involved. So I guess it's just down to being generally more aware of what one is shovelling in to one's gob (to put it politely )

Planning to lose 0.5 kgs per week by:

• getting enough sleep (I eat sweet things to keep going otherwise) NOPE
• drinking a glass of water half an hour before each meal and drink more water generally (no fizzy drinks) NOPE BUT DRANK MORE WATER THAN USUAL THROUGHOUT DAY *1 fresh apple or helping of apple compote a day with cinnamon (which helps balance blood sugars or some?at) DID TWICE/THREE TIMES *no eating after 8pm (or 3 hrs before bed) (have started sewing project to distract myself from eating in front of telly) MANAGED TWICE *eating healthy breakfast THREE TIMES *salad or soup for lunch during week - no exceptions THREE OR FOUR *watch portion size at dinner (protein element = size of average kitchen sponge + loads of veggies) MOST OF THE TIME
• 1 healthy snack per day (in addition to apple) but no bigger than palm DIDNT SNACK ALOT BUT WHEN I DID I STUCK TO THIS *wear pedometer and walk 10,000 steps a day at least THREE TIMES FOR SURE PROB MORE *in addition/including: 1 hour power walk or 30 mins exercise cycle 3 days a week, possibly 4 TWICE *tracking food intake on Myfitnesspal and weight/measurements etc BIT HIT AND MISS *meal planning involving one extra trip per week to veg & fruit market YES *massively reduce coffee intake with a view to giving it up GOT DOWN TO ONE CUP A DAY *weekly small non-food rewards to keep motivated! NOPE *obviously trying to cut out biscuits/chocolate/cake/ice-cream or anything delicious bad like that TRIED BUT SUCCUMBED TWO OR THREE TIMES

Summary: weight loss must be down to lack of snacking, careful meal planning, increase in water consumption and more general awareness of calorie intake.

Back in a bit to do links/round up

Huge wing flaps to all!!

toffee Im sorry things didnt work out for you DS at school. Hope Home Ed is going better for him though. That must have been a challenge to sort.

Things at work continue to be V stressful....but ho-hum! Also DH has had a particularly rough patch at work too which has meant he is mega stressed and working all hours...sigh..
Still...need to get back on top of things!

I will join you all diets....am trying to lose the many pounds I have put back on over past 6 months (after losing 4 1/2 stone over past 2 years!)
I'm also trying to get my running going again...

Have decided cleaner is not worth it! I did leave her very specific list today (which IMHO was EASILY manageable in 2 hours!)and she managed about half! TBH it was really hard to see what she had done in 2 hours! I have since done the other half of the list in about 30 mins whilst minding 4 dc and cooking tea ....sigh...

anyway...I have a shiny sink....and Im about to download the FLYlady app to my phone....LOL...theres no stopping me now

Meant to add to summary - weight loss def not attributable to increased exercise because I didn't do much !! Which is quite encouraging really

Anyway, enough of all that, how did all you lovely Fledglings get on today?

Yay OFM great to have you back!! We missed you!! And (dons Lauren's bossy trousers) you are definitely NOT allowed to call yourself "hopeless" or "shameful" on here. Remember the Flylady mantra "you are never behind, just jump in where you/we are at"!!

Sorry you've been having such a rough time recently though. Hope getting back on the Flying wagon will help in a small way. And it's great that you have a cleaner. YOu know the basics will be taken care of - and it WILL get better week by week - partic if you can manage a tiny bit of decluttering (easier said than done I know). Or maybe cleaner could do 15 mins of decluttering per week eg 1. food cupboard - anything over sell by date or 2. dc clothes - anything under a certain age group/looking worse for wear - 3. magazines/papers - anything over 6 months old? Good luck with sink shiny!! You know all of us Fledglings are behind you

Lauren [hands over muscle embrocation cream] Sounds to me as if Smartie cookies were v. well deserved after the active day you've had! Your stepdad and my dh sound v. similar btw!!

Toffee am very impressed by the extent of your v. conscienctious research/preparation pre: dog ownership - even down to encounters with vomit, wee and poo !! Reminds me of Lawrence Durrell's puppies - Widdle and Puke!! New school sounds promising - hope all goes well on Fri.

Huge waves to Bitchy and *Bitchy's "chundering" ds !! Oh no - sounds as if you have been v. busy and put us all to shame again!! Well done!! (And well done for following through with your ds's room etc Hope sinuses won't suffer too much as a result!)

Kiwi bet that is 3lbs of muscle you have put on HOpe your poor dd feels better tomorrow - teething can be so painful.

Whoknows Good to hear no lasting effects from sun-burn (Good you can continue doing Pilates btw as well - even if you can't run - that will help with post-op recovery I imagine too) Good luck with paperwork blitz tonight.

Oh and it's sod's law re: hair - exactly the same with mine!!

Flying Well done on sorting your ds's clothes (and hope sibling hurries up! I know from personal experience that it's tough waiting x) [Hands over oysters and other zinc-filled foodstuffs]

Swan well done for ploughing on with dd's room and sorry your day started in such a stressful manner. Hope it improved x Very impressed by your meal plan btw - all looks delicious [SC sits expectantly at keyboard with knife and fork] Re: disappearing posts - are you pressing "remember me" at log-in stage? Think that helps.

Wow Maggie great you are so busy/in such demand work-wise so soon after starting back. A great testament to your skills!! Hope fort was held well in your absence and there's not too much Flying to do on your return.

Carpe sorry work proving stressful. [Opens another bottle of ]

x posts

OFM Great you are joining us on Body Clutter proj!! [Any tips on how you lost the 4.5 stone gratefully received!]

Suggest give cleaner one more chance. Not if utterly incompetent of course but imho, it always takes ages to clean a new house for the first time and acquaint yourself with new routines/new lay-out etc. She might just need to get used to it. Maybe?

Congrats on shiny sink and app downloading!! Hope it helps!!

*

Tomorrow's baby-step no. 26, for Tues 26th June is ignorable imo It's the one about reading e-mail testimonials etc which we recommend you don't do (for fear of being inundated) Worth reading and reminding ourselves of routines so far though and taking one month to establish a habit etc etc.

This week, we are in Zone 5, the sitting room

Declutter 15 minutes every day in current zone.

Once your sitting room is decluttered, you can progress to detailed cleaning

You can find tomorrow's mission (and all the missions for the week) here Five mins couch-diving.

The habit for June is a good one - drinking water - more info here

The daily focus for Tuesday is planning

If I've forgotten anything it should be in the flight plan which should update automatically, as should kids challenge

G'night everyone. Huge wing flaps to one and all!!

*

Well done to your DD SC

Bloody kids Lets just say it is going to be a long week of computer ban.

Ta Da
Sort out PE
Make up lunch box
collect washing in wash room
strip two beds
get folding up-to-date ironically before starting laundry and creating more
wash bedding x 2
towel wash x1
blanket wash x2
Clothes wash
Fold clothes, towels
Sort out some of the baby stuff for sis
Empty and go through everything in the storage cupboard
rehome two bookcases
Hoover bookcases before replacing books on bookcases
rehome birthday stuff into a more suitable sized box
Rehome fabric will never use
Break internet cable
Get ds to do homework
Put cleaner in shower so it can soak
remove all electrical items, and soft toys from ds' room
Cut fabric pieces for project from material one.
Take bed appart to get to box of stuff stored in 'hidden' space
Sort through towels and cull as needed, then put away in new storage
sort through bedding and put away in new storage
Go through christmas stuff, cull and put away as needed
Collect together easter and halloween stuff, and put into new storage
trip to shops in town
sort through kit for tomo's training
take recycling out
gether together stuff to tip run, and for charity shop
Get half of landing tidied and sorted
Remake 2 beds
clean shower
replace broken internet cable with new one which is annoyingly too short to sit in bed and type.
Label ds' new pe shirt and pe kit bag ready for september

There is possible other stuff that I have forgotten but Meh.

lauren I did smile when I read your go to bed post. Very appropriate. But I couldn't bear/bare the thought of crawling into clean bed feeling icky from the day. So had to clean shower before grabbing shower.

Alarm is now set and I am off to bed. Early training tomo. Night.

OFM - we are all using the MyFitnessPal app for body clutter, about half a dozen of us from this thread have registered using our MN nicknames and we have all connected as friends on MFP in order to spur each other on. You'd be more than welcome to join in!

SC - well done DD, what a relief. I have to do Pilates-lite as it were at the moment, but the instructor is very highly trained and tailors the routines to all our various injuries and impediments so we can carry on safely. I have discovered I can swim comfortably too, which helps.

I really MUST go and do some more OU work, my deadline is end of July and I am on track, but we go on holiday before then, so I need to get it done by mid July really. Good day today otherwise, lots done, most of the house is fairly tidy, both DCs ate their dinner happily (no mean feat this), most of the home blessing is done and all the kits etc for tomorrow are ready.

Evening! I have had a very lazy productive day ;) DD slept FOUR hours straight which stopped me doing a lot of things since she seems to have inherited my light sleeping. I wanted to take her swimming but by the time I was ready, she wanted to sleep, and was too late then! But will hopefully go tomorrow. I've also signed up for a mum and baby group, bit expensive but think it will help me to be around mums and help DD's shyness.

Sounds like a lovely day WhoKnows! I love getting my hair properly cut, but have had to make do with the MN haircut the past year :(

So what dog are you thinking of Toffee? And well done on the breakthrough in bedtime with DS. Hoping the new school will be better suited to your DS too if you all like it

I feel the same with DP sc and men don't seem to put on weight like we do. He buys a massive bar of Aero every night while I sit there nibbling my pink and whites We'll get there slowly, and it'll catch up with them ;) Glad DD's test went well!

Flying I've been doing the bare minimum and below that for a few days - no shame in it

Hope work improves Carpe

Hope your feeling better swanthing

Well done on the purging Bitchy and hope your feeling better. Tell the kids to give you a rest even as I type that though I know it doesn't happen

Hello OFM wasn't on the thread before but welcome back

lauren I want cookies now, sound delish!

To Do
Morning routine
Weekly home blessing
Do daily mission
Put bag in attic and look for curtains up there
Do a hand wash
Take DD swimming
Register with doctors surgery
Baby step 22 - Build on control journal
Baby step 24 - Same
Baby step 25 - read Flylady's story
Clean out car
Do zumba DVD
Before bed routine

Body Clutter
Ok day because of all the cleaning but couldn't do DVD. Hoping to start C>5k this week though so that will earn me some calories!

Also thinking of not replacing washing machine if we can afford it because of all the calories in burning hand washing - am I mad?

Night all, hope the ones with kids get some respite and much needed sleep! And everyone else just the much needed sleep!

likelucklove - yes you are mad (in the nicest possible way:)) We don't have a dishwasher or tumble dryer but no washing machine would be hell - think about trying to hand-wash jeans and the time it would take to wash, rinse, wring out just one load of clothes. Much better to shove a load in the washing machine and use the time to take DD for a walk/swim/park/etc. Life is too short for some things :)

OFM - welcome back

SC - late report but think I lost 1/2lb as haven't been very serious about it yet.

Need a quick list then will try and return later:

• Bath
• All up and out
• Morning routine stuff - washing in, S&S, washing up, etc
• WORK
• Have another look at MFP - have signed up and put in 2 recipes but haven't filled in last 2 days properly as too many homemade things on there and haven't got to grips with linking up to anyone else yet.
• School for reading
• DD's friend for tea
• DS and DH to Beavers

Good morning

Good morning fledglings.
Hope everyone OK.

Thanks for kind words about dd. We are pleased with her but also want to get the message across that from now on she pays attention in class and revises first time around. Hopefully message has sunk in. Another party invitation has come in for Wed afternoon (well more of a play date really - a classmate who's brother is having a party) so all smiles restored!

Hope you all have a good day!

Likelucklove I remember how frustrating it could be having to fit everything around dc sleep. It's a totally different pace isn't it?

Deffo buy washing machine. Hand-washing OK in summer but miserable in winter. Couldn't live without wm or dw actually. Dw would be first thing I would save in a fire (after dd and rabbits!!) (Dh could hopefully look after himself!)

And yes it is so unfair about dhs. Dh is over 6ft 3 and although he is carrying too much weight, he can put on a suit (or any clothing really) and look "stately". I on the other hand just look fat! Not fair is it?

Whoknows well done on Flying high and hope you got some OU done last night. Pilates teacher sounds great.

Bitchy wow! Top Flying marks for that list! You are on a roll!! Hope you and ds slept well last night.

Hands and to OFM

Humungous wing flaps to everyone else!

Woke up feeling rather wretched (bad sore throat/neck/temp) but have to take dd to sports day (out of town). Then on to printers. Back later on this afternoon (if I haven't crashed before then). So frustrating being ill because this is my last week of freedom before holidays and have 'to do' list long as my arm.

Hope you all have a v. good day!!

x post

Waves to Carpe

Well done on weight loss Feetheart Will print out definitive list later on when I get back! Good luck with your list.

Just a list dump here! Long day at work so doable list given I have people coming tomorrow!

Put DD clothes in loft
Hoover playroom
Mission- Hoover the sofa and wipe it clean
Playgroup this morning
Post office
Walk dog
Shred
Routines

BBL!

Sorry folks, previous attempt at posting was hijacked by a rampaging DS

So,well done to all the weight loss and BOOOO! to those scales Honu.

LLL the sleeping does get better

oh dear, feel unbelievably bleugh this morning...just tired really
went to bed too late, after getting cross with Dh and then decided to watch Captain Scott's Last Words [sob ] with the kittens purring next to me
then we were woken by our little ray of sunshine at 6.30 although we told him go away...and I have done nothing so far this morning, except find dd's green sunhat [Sports Day here too SC] to match her green teeshirt
and encourage a bit of piano practice

oh and made some blueberry muffins yesterday so that ds1 could have healthy breakfast today done

Waiting for coffee and pills to kick in...then I am going to sweep the front path if it kills me...and get rid of the last bit of rotting carpet by the dustbins...

OFM I am finding the weight coming steadily off, even without MFP [without fitness even just a bit of motivation on this thread is doing me fine!
It is so lovely to hear your voice I think we'll try not to tell you how brilliantly you are doing all the time, as it must be a mite offputting. Please feel free to vent, I think that's what this thread is for, isn't it? With minor positive thinking wind flaps
I am still reading TMHouse blog. I think of her often.
Hope the secondary schoolers are doing fine. Ds1 has enjoyed this year, but his academic work is a bit all over the place - the usual probs with him anyway Every morning he trots off enthusiastically, as do the others [touch wood] but the schools stuff seems like an almightly tangle - I don't think I am ever going to be able to take my eye off the ball in that department.

And the garden is looking lovely this morning! Apart from the rubble at the end...I am especially fond of the wild edges Not a single veg has made it, not a single seed even germinated apart from one pumpkin and that was gobbled up immediately by a giant mutant slug. I think I am giving up on veg completely and enjoying the roses.

oh yes, [remembers some other positive things I did yesterday]

done
large batch of meatballs which will do for Wed and Beavers night
talked to cousin - useful stuff about family ishoos
loads of piano

todo
Sports Day attend
post 3 cheques
tickets Eire August!!!!!
book kittens to be neutered
something with chicken stock or freeze it
carpet chop up
sweeping
hoover our bedroom as I've mended hoover no 2 (the original cr**p one)

Just a quick drop by while I have the time - will catch up later!

To Do
Morning routine
Do daily mission - sofa diving ewww!
Put bag in attic and look for curtains up there
Do a hand wash
Clean out car
Do zumba DVD
Do shopping list/meal planning for the week
Clean fridge and oven trays
Before bed routine

Have a good day!

OFM I think you have three options with cleaner.

1. accept that as someone said it takes a long time for a cleaner to work magic on a house she doesn't know well, establish systems. And for for first four weeks I would say that having the cleaner was for me more stressful than not having the cleaner, but now, she leaves the kitchen lovely and tidy and I try not to interfere (2 hour stint she does kitchen, hall floor, loads of ironing...and that's how dirty my house is Sometimes she gets bathrooms done, if there is no ironing, I have to make a choice there what I want her to concentrate on. The whole house was an impossibility unless it had been much much tidier when she arrived...

1. Decide what else you would rather spend that money on? Ready meals/ Babysitting? Trips? which would enhance life if you are doing the cleaning instead

1. Get a different more efficient cleaner

I don't think a cleaner is a magic wand, I just think it can take some of stress away over a long period of time when you get used to them/don't expect too much.

SC re: foodies. I find I cook much nicer food when I'm on a diet, as every mouthful counts I find myself much more respectful of food, instead of just treating it as fuel to be shoved in my mouth

Yesterday I thought I had bombed because I drank two gin and tonics in the evening after picking up from Scouts...but amazingly I have still lost another 0.2 kg today...I think my metabolism must be speeding up..

The other thing I've learnt is that the smallest sugar boost in the afternoon seems to increase cravings, so I stay away from even fruit till supper time (which I have at 6.30 now I think the mistake I've made before is to have a fruitbowl and tuck into it freely, forgetting that even fruit has calories. I now eat fruit at meals, and stop.

Oh FFS, please slap me.

I've just cleaned the oven because we have guests for dinner (well, I'm cooking for the little 'un) so I've just had a "what if they look in the oven at the fish fingers cooking" moment and gutted it. Dear god. Paranoia much?!