Fledglings Fly into July!

[BlueEyeshadow]

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

A huge "thank you" to SanguineChompa for leading us throughout June!!

If your 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 wine 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.

All welcome!!

Apologies for starting the thread so late - it took SC lobbing the duster at me to make me remember it's July tomorrow (and I've blatantly cut and pasted her OP too)!

The first baby step is to shine your sink! See here for the Fat Fairy's tutorial...

No mission because it's Sunday. But here's the flight plan for established flyers

Just got back from soggy Sports Day, which went ahead in very good spirits, two damp children are very happy to be home from school an hour early.

I'm going to read the thread properly later and catch up with you all, but I am going to take advantage of there being no after school activities except Cubs at 6.30 to do a bit more OU while the DCS watch a DVD

done
not such a good morning felt anxiety creeping back for some reason (all to do with neutering cats] not fitting in with hols, bad timing, does anyone need kittens etc, dd wants kittens...blah blah blah there I feel better now!)

however, have done big FOOD shop
hoovered under ds1's bed, and cleared his room basically to get us through the hols (that will probably last one day
wiped kitchen table
unloaded and reloaded dw
exercise
found appt time for pysch tomorrow - paperwork is continual source of anxiety especially diary chaos
rang optician about wonky glasses, and to rearrange sight test which I forgot last week

now I just need to take a fuse out of telly, and then face the afternoon.

OFM it sounds as if you needed a snuggling day, even if the sick bowl was part of the course.
Toffee very glad about the cancer screening, what a thing to have hanging over you. Good luck with dealing with LEA woman in assertive way. It is worse when they are nice, sometimes it clouds the brain! Our SEN lady is so nice, I find it difficult to remember what I wanted to say or ask for something to be done...

Hello everybody!
My entire schedule has changed as DH has just confirmed that MIL will be coming to stay on Sunday (for a couple of weeks at least), so my kitchen cleaning has been changed to "manic sorting out the guest room" cleaning. And finding somewhere to store the baby stuff I've been collecting. Best get on with it!

LetThereBe - oh, I hate unexpected guests! Sorry you are having to do a manic clean all of a sudden - good luck.

Swan - yes, it's a relief to know I don't have a high risk of breast cancer, as I'd thought. The nurse also said it was OK that I enjoyed a tipple or two in the evenings . Thanks for the good luck for tomorrow. Will try to keep a clear head! I hope your anxiety has died down again now. It's hard to know what triggers these things, but it sounds as if you have an accumulation of stresses going on there.

WhoKnows - well done at surviving soggy sports day. I have the same thing tomorrow. Last year, I stood in the rain and cold for three hours and DS1 didn't even participate.

OFM - glad the sick little ones seem to be getting better. That's good advice about not agreeing to anything in the meeting. I suspect she will suggest providing tutors for DS instead, but I want to be able to do what we want and when.

DS1's end-of-term performance was lovely and he was the most beautiful boy there . He remembered his one line, though he spoke very quietly and shyly. His Grandma enjoyed every minute and came back to us for tea afterwards, so she has had a very happy afternoon.

Have unpacked the Ocado shop. Should be cooking tea . Am so bored with cooking endless teas.

Which reminds me: Witchy - how's the hangover?

I mean Bitchy. Sorry .

thankfully as i am such a light weight it doesn't take much, thus the damage is easier to handle. well unless someone leaves access open to fb when they start with the drinking. Mostly escaped ok. just one blip. that is less easy to fix. whoops.

Evening! Working again, so just a quickie.

Glad the performance went well Toffee and good luck for tomorrow.

Hope all poorly fledglings/children are on the mend - whether self-inflicted or not...

lettherebe and toffee I too hate unexpected guests, in fact I am really trying hard to not rant about that exact thing because I do love my friends! I need me time, time to clean the house and time to catch up on paperwork and I have people turning up on the door step every night lately, eating all the food then going home at bed time bloody students

It is sooo SOGGY here! Rain just keeps on falling.

Toffee ah, how sweet, it must be lovely to have a MIL at hand to appreciate ds2 too even though I know she is a big responsiblity too for you both.

Done
Parents' evening. Exhausting, just one teacher giving an overview. Read report - B & C's a few A's. Inpenetrable levels. ICT A's throughout The RE teacher hates him. The Geography History Music and Maths teachers seem to like him. He is cr**p at D & T and struggles in Art. Lovely ds1 was delighted with his report! More homework effort required apparently as if I didn't know that.
Piano lesson for dd
noodles and chicken for supper
packed lunch organised for tomorrow theatre trip
uniform re-washed
cats fed their last meal before being neutered

Morning....

Can't sleep so have finally finished the mountain of ironing and am now catching up on here. Feeling c**p as I weigh so much, am due on and taught a dance lesson in front of mirrors all afternoon. In the space of about a millionth of a second my internal dialogue was something along the lines of "Who the hell is that fat hefer...oh...me"

So...

Something Has To Be Done - No More Messing About

(at least I got the ironing done )

at you finishing your mountain of ironing, Maggie. Sorry you are feeling so c**p about your weight. Am sure the ironing burned off calories!

Need to do a crisis clean here this morning before LEA woman turns up. Can't help feeling she'll judge me on my ability to home educate if my house is untidy, not that it's up to her what I do anyway. OFM - I will remember your wise advice not to agree to anything in the meeting.

DS2 has put himself back to bed, saying he's got what his big brother has got and is too nervous for school today. Sports Day might have something to do with it .

morning all
swan ds report sounds good, well done him.
blue hope works goimg well
bitchy glad you survived the hangover!
toffee hope meeting goes OK...stand your ground !
maggie I am doing lots of reading about weight loss/dieting etc at the moment and like the idea of learning to just accept your body more and give up desperate need to loose weight...which apparently in turn leads to better long term weight loss I'm not convinced yet but have read a couple of interesting books so far( beyond chocolate, normal eating for normal weight) however I'm still bravely battling against body clutter here too.

right...well... DD3 and 4 seem fully recovered and full of beans (ie back to usual fighting) so have gone to school.
However DD1 is now ill. sooooo...another day off work for me, I am almost past caring! at least I have annual leave booked for next 4 days after today...

Although, DD4 trip has now been re-arranged due to weather and wont require parents (so have free day on Friday) and looks like both ds2 and dd4 sports day tomorrow will be cancelled due to rain...so another free day
No doubt though will various collection of unwell dc still around...so hey ho!

for strange reason am feeling even more exhausted than normal today
but will try to motivate myself at some point...

CBA day.

Taking DS to soft play this afternoon.

Bleurgh! Back with more enthusiasm hopefully tomorrow.

Morning! Just lists for now but I'll try be back later!

Yesterday ta da:
Dusted
Brushed both dogs
Walked Dougal
Had unexpected visitor just as DD was going to bed
Washed up/ shined sink
Cleaned hob
Cleaned counter tops
Put away DD laundry
Swept kitchen floor
Hoovered throughout
Put new bathmat and towel in bathroom
Front room hotspot

To do today:
pick up dog poo
Change bedding
Get indoor rabbit hutch out for puppy for when I go out
Dinner with mum
Get DF to change wheel on car
wipe kitchen tops
Wash up/ shine sink- done once
Paperwork!!
Clean kitchen floor
Hoover
Sleep!!

Sometimes knowing you dont have to keep goig at a crazy pace gives your body chance to think oh thank fuck for that and tired, instead of must do must go must sort can't be tired am tired but can't be. iyswim OFM. Take some time to be if you have chance.

right productive morning ish. but not flying wise. really want to crawl into bed and sleep but as i sent ds to school when he was so tired he was almost in tears that would be a little mean on him. Bless him. His behaviour has been exemplary recently but it is physically and emotionally draining him. Not sure what i prefer. the normal explosion in behaviour or the calm but exhausted child. tough really.

Meeting with LA woman went very well - she is lovely .

I have sent the de-registration letter to DS1's school!

I feel as if a weight has lifted!

Toffee that is so brave! Well done...here's to freedom

I had a very strange morning. Today my anxiety came back in full force, and I could hardly do anything except wander around in my nightie wringing my hands...Dd came down the stairs crying her eyes out that we are neutering the female cat...and I decided against all received to let the cat have one litter of kittens, on the basis that I can find homes for them (various people have offered) Also that I have failed to get her operated on before I go away for hols, so cannot provide proper aftercare. Not just dd, I am longing for the cat to have kittens, I think I have very happy memories of our cat having kittens, and how happy it made my mum and all of us 4 children enjoying that short time... and arranging for the female kitten to be neutered has been like a terrible emotional impasse - that's it forever!
Dh finally said alright we could let her have one litter (he is very against it). My previous female cat came to me already neutered, and she lived for 17 years, and I always missed the fact that she never had kittens..

That solved, I did all the recycling and bins at top speed
took the male kitten to be neutered.
the visiting dog has been for a walk
and I bought about 5 books on parenting including Siblings Without Rivalry. most interesting.. 2 novels from Waterstones and a book for my neighbour who has a new puppy, called Your Perfect Puppy by Gwen something or other.
And I bought some more underpants for the boys, we are down to 2 pairs each! What do they all go?

Dd has a friend round now. Then I need to go and pick up boy cat from vet at 5.30.
Then Beavers helping.

OFM I was thinking the other day about how I really never notice what weight anyone is, so I suppose it is only us who care about our weight. It is very much a self image thing isn't it, when you move beyond obvious health related weight problems. I'm reading John Briffa, The Diet Trap, which is into low carbing, he also says exercise is exaggerated as a means to weight loss, what it does is improve mood which is something different. He talks a lot about how hunger is bad, because it creates a craving for the wrong foods, and how abstinence can never be a way of life. Nuts are apparently brilliant, as is red meat and yoghurt! He is against all processed carbs, such as wheat, oats and potatoes (that apparently isn't a natural food because you have to cook it for it to edible, unlike most veg which humans were evolved to eat)

I suppose I had better go and talk to children now!!!!

Cheers, Swan

Sorry you had such an anxious start to your day, but it sounds as if you were doing what you felt you ought to do with the cat, not what you wanted to do. How lovely that you are going to let her have kittens . I'm sure that will be a happy thing for all of you (even your DH, maybe ).

Well, feeling in a celebratory mood, I declared the summer holiday officially started for DS1, then went up to school to collect DS2 early, as promised, because he was feeling unwell/tired this morning and I'd made him go with the proviso that if he couldn't last the afternoon, I'd bring him home. Bought both boys ice creams when we arrived home. You'd think they'd be happy, but oh no - war broke out between them and the joyous mood was shattered .

Never mind, at least I managed some Flying:

Washing up all done, dried and put away
Kitchen hotspot bundled into a carrier bag tidied
Counters wiped
Cooker cleaned to sparkling with new e-cloth
Kitchen floor swept and mopped
Bin emptied
Recycling stuff put out
Kettle wiped with e-cloth
Sink shined
Sitting room hoovered
Sitting room - room rescue
Clean clothes put away
Bathroom - swish and swipe
DS2's bedroom - bed made; room rescue
Master bedroom - binned rubbish, put dirty laundry in laundry bin, tidied up, bed made

In spite of the boys' bickering, though, I am still feeling a definite sense of relief over finally deregistering. I have received some heartwarming emails from the teachers at DS1's school, all very supportive. And the LEA woman said she knew I would do a good job of educating DS1, which was lovely to hear, if a little unsettling (how does she know? ).

Oh, it's dinnertime again. It's always dinnertime .

Ah, but that means it's wine o'clock too, right?

evening all...
strange day here really.
DD not too unwell (though genuinely unwell not pretending iyswim) and really not needing much "looking after" (she is 12!)
so in theory I had a whole day to get stuff done, but was hit my enormous wave of lethargy and a serious case of CBA! So I spent most of day on sofa either reading or browsing internet...
Did manage:
quick clean and tidy kitchen
2 loads washing
hoovered lounge
ordered shopping for Friday
took dogs on long walk in suprisingly bright weather
collected new glasses from optician

however I do feel a little re-vitalised and more composed/positive than usual ....

now going to play hungry catapillar game with dc...
bbl

Soooo tired!!!!!

Full day of supply - more dance = more mirrors OFM I really like the idea of acceptance and I do think that the more I diet, the more I crave. Have downloaded the Paul Mckenna app, and may try to use alongside MFP - although I guess that's a bit contradictory actually!!

DH got his application letter in the post which is a major step forward Just have to keep fingers crossed that there are still places left on the course at this late stage. Actually just the process has been a huge boost to him alone.

Right, off to tuck DS's in and flop on sofa for remainder of evening.

Evening all!

I haven't actually been working this evening, but was out for a chat with a friend and then spent far too long catching up with MN bloggers instead of the lovely fledglings...

OFM - yes, work going well, thanks! Nice to have some, for a change!!
Glad the meeting went well Toffee

It's sports day for DS1 tomorrow so hoping it won't be too sodden. Not expecting much flying to happen though as have to go and watch him run Paralympic inspired races. Not even the teachers seem to know what'll be going on.

Anyway, links:

You shouldn't need Babystep 12 if you haven't signed up to the emails in the first place...

Mission is to mop the kitchen floor.

Night...

I did tomorrow's mission today, Blue

It's my DS2's sports day tomorrow too. It was meant to be today, but the heavens opened. We are going to be watching the finals of an Olympic-inspired sprint apparently, but DS2 doesn't seem to know if he's in or not. I assume that means he isn't .

Good luck to your DH, Maggie!

OFM - you deserve a cba day after all you do. Sounds as if your body took over and insisted that you sit down for a change .

Managed to fall asleep with first one and then the other of my boys this evening, so now I'm wide awake. It's quite nice to have uninterrupted use of the computer for a change, though.

Night all.

Can't sleep. And we are on day one of no nighttime nappies. Which is kinda scarey as ds can get through 2 nappies a night regularly still. Dry so far though. So fingers crossed.

Morning! Just a list for now- I'm off today so will be trying to spend it outside somewhere if the skies stay blue

To do:
Change bedding
Wash kitchen floor- also happens to be today's mission
Sort DD toys
Walk dog
Have friend coming round at 3 with her DC to see puppy
In the unlikely event the ground dries- cut grass and do some gardening
Clean cutlery draw
Pull sofa and chair out and hoover, clean walls and skirting boards
File paperwork

BBL

OFM I didn't realise you had two dogs now Bella and ?

Male kitten seems none the worse for his op, he is as frisky as ever, and curled up next to me.

That doesn't sound like a CBA day to me OFM, maybe by your standards

Done
three kids to school, including ds1 costume for play, duly marked
cheque for school photo
panic when realised that I hadn't hung out ds1 uniform to dry yesterday (we have no tumble drier) so dh had to iron the shirt dry and I had to find some school trousers from the laundry basket
Dh is a very critical mood about my organisation, which admittedly is not good...I was determined to cook ds1 some eggs for breakfast and this threw the routine out of kilter - ds2 outwitted us and was secretly on the Wii, and just

general MUDDLE.

however garden looking lush and lovely, cat stalking through dewy grass. I went out there to revive my spirits.

Now off to appt in West End. Need to get dressed and go.

Toffee I am enjoying my parenting books - so much more fun to read them than actually deal with the bickering! You must read Siblings without Rivalry, fascinating.