Fledgling Flyers Olympic August thread.

[BitchyDragons]

Ok so not the wittiest of titles but this month we have the Olympics, holidays, return of football season and heading into the new school year. It's going to be a busy one...

Firstly thanks to Blue and Ellie who kept us on track last month!

Right, most of you should know how this works. It's a three pronged attack.
Phase one: The babysteps master these and you will be working like clockwork.
Phase two: Adding in Decluttering this will help you keep on top of the amount of stuff contributing to CHAOS.
Phase three: Missions Targeted activities to keep the chaos at bay and starting the deep cleaning.

The golden duster of Flying is stage 4: deep cleaning. This is for most, unrealistic and should only be considered once you have completely decluttered. PA might achieve this simply by virtue of some extreme life decluttering. Although I probably won't recommend her method.

Now for those of you who are completely lost, lets rewind a bit.
CHAOS: Can't have anyone over syndrome. Yep you know that state where you are embarrassed to have play dates fucking hate that phrase or people pop in unexpectedly.
The fly lady approach works by breaking the house down into tiny activities which you do repeatedly yep sounds bad written like that but bare with me and then build up into a routine that becomes habit and you stop thinking about it no really, you do.

Clearer? Yeah ok. I have probably lost you but there is loads of support and help on this thread. If you are confused then ask. However, as this thread starts on the 1st on August I refuse to post the first babystep until later today.

This thread comes with a warning: For those of you who have not yet encountered my leadership of the thread. Be afraid, very afraid aware that I have a rather unorthodox approach and that things can get a tad unpredictable. Starting with a namechange. So who?s on board this month?

Oh and spot markers can help themselves to a magic eraser and ensure there are no marks on the thread for the start of the month. Let?s start as we mean to go on

Good morning all!

Right dump list for now:

No water for a shower, so wash under a dribble this morning - done
Down a pint of chilled water before I do anything else - done x2 so far
Wash bed sheets and yesterdays clothes by hand - soaking in sink while I MN Not venturing into the social scene with the locals still.Too hot and stressful for that!!
Sweep floors.
Get Tuk-tuk to the market and try and negotiate purchasing of fruit/veg and onto shop for meat products. A little nervous about this as it will be my first venture out alone to do this and I dont know how to tell our tuk-tuk driver where I want to go and I dont know the way.
Lunch
Off to visa place this afternoon to try and convince the locals that we dont need to be kicked out the country and then re-enter from Thailand, which is what we have been told we need to do next week.

That will do for now. Looking like a very hot day today.

Hello to PMPY and welcome back to the fold!

Have a good day everyone.

Hello PA I'm guessing from your post you're no longer on the Isle of White - unless it's changed a lot since I was last there

Morning all very nice to 'see' so many familiar faces - I recognised Bitchy within the first two lines of your post .

Looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. Working full time now so will be mostly an evening flyer with a bit of morning chaos thrown in!

Today's list
Shine sink
Declutter entrance hall
Book holiday (hooray!)
Washing

Engels reporting for duty (with a little nc).

Heading out to see a friend today but still an hour to get some flying done first!

BBL.

Happy August everyone!
Up early as getting v excited about Olympic football tonight - S Korea vs Gabon who at Wembley :)

Got lots to do first so need a list:

• Contract invoices
• Print bank statement and possibly do bank rec
• Juggle accounts so we have money to get to Wembley (have a special 'Olympic savings account where I have been squirreling £10 away a month for 5 YEARS - I really really wanted to experience the Olympics :))
• Sort DstepF's card and pressie for his 70th next Monday
• Sort campsite for Devon later in month
• Sort Eden Project visit out
• Ring local museum re Godiva Awakes which is coming here tomorrow (when we will be at volleyball) Lots of info about that but very little about her leaving on Friday when we will be able to see her. Part of Cultural Olympiad - 10m Lady Godiva powered by bicycles traveling from Coventry to London!!

Still in bed due to the wonders of wireless - about to work from here too as DC not yet awake :)

Morning all!

Thank you for the roundup and links bitchy

Welcome back pmpy

Just a list dump- have mindees 9-6:30 so won't have a huge list:

Walk dogs
Shred
Clean kitchen floor
Routines
Clean bathroom
Sort out huge box of books

No mission as my porch is a tiny square which is always empty! Will sort out the blankets in DD room instead

Thanks, Bitchy, you have inspired me! I love that going back to school list.

Dog walked, b/fasts done. Off to the library...

morning all!
Thank you Bitchy for such a comprehensive guide - it was really helpful to have it explained again

and thank you for your helpful comments in July I always seem to rant about something when the thread is nearly closed

So far this morning
done
dw unloaded
made children aware of today's plans (dh said that ds1 is not allowed to stay at home and veg, and I think he might actually come swimming today
recycling and rubbish out
pair of gym shoes decluttered

Whoknows oh your poor foot. Well done on all the toy/book cleansing.
Dd took out her best dolls and started playing with them [bewildered] at 9pm. She dressed them in various outfits. She never plays with dolls!!!! So that is why I continue to hang on to things way past their sellby date. If only if only the dcs would request a Playmobil Olympics I would die happy. But alas I think this "playing" lark has reached its twilight hour...
Bitchy bet ds is just glad to be home - hope today goes smoothly.

PMPY welcome back. How are the little ones, and I seem to remember you writing something about the ecology of otters/endangered water creatures...are you still in that field?

PA Courage! I bet you will convince the Visa office easily and the washing ladies.And you can complain as much as you like on here btw.

Oh dear, sons fighting again, better sit on sofa with them

todo
hang out washing
put another load of holiday washing on from suitcase
wipe kitchen table
throw away on uneaten catfood [yuk - return to biscuits I think}

We are off to Broadstairs this Sat for an adventure seaside holiday the staidest safest holiday we could think of so that we managed to book one. Dh said the forecast is rain rain rain Oh well, I am used to that after years of Irish hols. Even at the Irish seaside it generally rained.

List dump

Ta da
washing-up
hand wash
washing on
shred (2nd day in a row)

heading out now to see a friend and because am leaving the house in a reasonable state.

have a good day everyone

Are you all here because you're naturally efficient housekeepers? Or because you're less than genetically blessed and normally struggle a bit with this stuff?
(I belong in the second category).
I think this may be a good place for me. My house is a total tip right now. I'm going away at the end of August and I'd like to have it presentable by then. To give you an idea how bad I am, I was in France in mid June and still haven't fully unpacked .
There's just me, so I don't even have a good reason for a mess. I understand how it's very hard to do this when you have DC but a single person? Not good.

So am I in the right place?
If so, I gather I need to shine my sink and clear the pile of junk post that's accumulated on the stairs.

Hello all! Ooh, a shiny new thread - thanks Bitchy. Maybe I'll actually manage to do some Flying keep up with the thread this month.

Have just come back from two very relaxing weeks in Italy and now have a week's respite (DC all at a summer camp) before we fly back to the UK on Saturday for two weeks. Then off to Germany for a week. Hmm, Flying is starting to look increasingly unlikely.

Having a bit of a nightmare with DS's birthday party, which we'd planned for Friday - until DH suddenly realised he couldn't make it. As I decided I couldn't cope with a dozen or so small boys (and quite a few girls as well) on my own, we decided to have the party on Thursday instead. Result: lots of cancellations and only four confirmed guests. This is one of those times when I wish I had family nearby to help out.

Must get back to work (very busy today, so am glad the camp lasts until 4 pm; I wouldn't have that luxury during term time) - waves to all.

Auxley We are here because I suspect we all fall into the second category too. Tbh if we fell into the first category we wouldn't have decended into 'chaos' in the first place. As a newbie literally all you need to do is to shine your sink. Anything extra is high achieving

Well ds stuck his head in this morning and offered me a cup of coffee. Not seen it yet an hour later so shall go find my own. Today is already wrong as timings are out. And some things I wanted to get done aren't going to happen.

Ta da
Sort out plan of action for tonight.
Print out document.
Catch up on motherland news via internet.
let mother put the world to rights.

Thanks Bitchy, I'll shine it and must sort out the pile of post on the stairs (health hazard plus unpaid bills lurk there!) and report back later.

Morning... afternoon?! .

Last night I baked the biscuits now I just have to ice them... sigh. Why do I make life difficult for myself?!

Tada
Shine sink
Wash up
Laundry reboot
Pay cm (oops!)
Sort out budget
Also make photobooks - 3 months ago, I bought a 3 month credit (at discount) to make some photobooks have been planning for actual years. It runs out next week. MUST CREATE THEM!

Watch Team GB hopefully win some of that gold.
Have fun feetheart!

Found you!!

Hello everyone

Thank you so much DragonBitchy for whipping us all in to shape and for much needed kick up bum with regard to 'returning to school' reminders. Most of our travelling is taking place towards latter part of holiday this year so must get it all done and dusted before departure. I love the 15 min earlier bed-time tip!! Will be using that!! Need to buy dd another school jumper (she lost the nearly brand new one we had bought her during the last week of term cost Euros 70!! Have already risked buying school shoes and am hoping her feet don't grow too fast in next month. We also need new sports kit. Rest of uniform OK thank heavens.

Have a bit more time to get ready for next trip (fairly local) as departure delayed until Friday night/Sat morning. Should be doing more cleaning house/washing this afternoon- ground floor fairly ship-shape but first floor a disaster. But as it's a glorious day - and dd needs a shot of Vit D after her day in the gloom watching eventing with me yesterday - so we are heading out!

A mahoosive welcome to Auxey yes we are all naturally efficient housekeepers

And welcome to Issima¨too - congrats on your pregnancy and house move - hope you are taking it easy

Welcome back Linzer glad you had a good rest in Italy! Hope party works out ...it is awful not having family in those circs

Swan just posted a reply on July thread

Yay! Great to see you back Pushme How are things?

Good luck at the market PA!!

Enjoy the match Feetheart (and Lady Godiva)!!

Ouch. Hope your foot is OK Whoknows

Huge waves to Ellie Engels Lauren Toffee Nicknacks Honu MC OFM and everyone else!!

luckily it is incredibly grey and stodgy outside so I feel less guilty about not getting out of house pronto.

So, I have failed to stop the kids watching telly [grits teeth but reminds herself that vital things like tidying out handbag were facilitated by this]

However, each child has done a few chores
Dss have run round the block
I have cooked a good breakfast for all
packed swimming bags for 4
made packed lunches
washing on
washing hung out
hall table tidied
shoes tidied
catfood cleared out
switched telly off!!!

hello Linzer I am feeling great envy for idea of holiday camp. Unfortunately I seem to have booked all the weeks slightly askew so not a single week is a block to do any sort of childcare facility fun activity. We are back to Ireland on 15 though. Somehow I dont think Broadstairs is going to be Italy . Dh was being very sour grapes about friends going to Sardinia...38 degrees, oh they'll be sorry. Next year I am going to insist on Sardinia.

Enjoy the swimming Swan and don't you dare feel guilty!! YOu've done loads today!!

[snaffles one of *Trazzletoe's biscuits]

swan Our neighbours have just been to Sardinia and loved it - it took them days to get there, though (with caravan in tow). We actually met up with them in Italy as they broke their journey there. Am not sure I could cope with 38° (think it was a little cooler when they were there); actually, I can't cope with anything above 30°.

SC at cost of uniform, especially as you also have the dreaded school stationery list IIRC. With DS starting school in September, we now have three to buy for and I'm trying not to think about the cost too much. At least with him going into the preschool class, he'll only need three exercise books initially - two the same size! And all with transparent covers! It seems far too easy.

I meant only three exercise books as opposed to a dozen exercise books of all different shapes, sizes, etc. - 5mm/7mm squares, lined/unlined, with/without margin, with a purple/pink/green/red,... cover - sadly, not just that there are only three exercise books on his list (which consists of everything from a lever arch file to a size 8 paintbrush).

Sympathies Linzer!! Oh yes to all the different varieties of notebooks and matching covers, with or without 5mm margins, with or without lines or squares, with or without four punch holes or two ...grrrrrrr. Am also hoarding rolls of the two types of transparent cover papers required, the loose non-sticky sort (for text books) and the sticky stuff with square grid backing paper for work-books for the covering fest come September (usually about 29 books or so). There is always such a rush for it in the first week of September that shops run out. Not forgetting the special plastic blue and yellow loose covers that only come from France and don't quite fit the Belgian make of notebooks required by the school ....grrrrrrrrrrrr....

Hadn't realised your littlest was starting "proper" school in Sept. Time certainly flys!! Hope he enjoys it and that it will free up a bit more time for you in the mornings!!

And this is one of those days where I am pleased that we don't have to go through this system. Even if there are a whole other series of issues with the education system here. Ds is being doubley educated now. School and homeschool. School have agreed. But I am not going to think too much about it until i get to september. Ds is happy. Thank goodness for the internet.

Ta da
Sort out plan of action for tonight.
Print out document.
Catch up on motherland news via internet.
Let mother put the world to rights.
Sort out mother's computer
Sort out dates for ds' aunt to visit/possible sleepover
Financial review
find charger for ds and charge (computer thingy not child )
Sort out bag and sarnies for later's adventures

just heading off for adventures this afternoon/evening. BBL.

Tis great you have that flexibility for your ds Bitchy AND that he is happy!! (Most important of all.)

Right, heading off in to the sunshine now. Was going to visit dh in his office over lunch and bring him some sandwiches but we have had tedious row (one of those 'circle' ones that never get resolved) so I am going to walk studiously past his front door ....[immature point scoring emoticon]

Have found the bottle of 'Shiny Sink' and used it so now officially apply to join for this month. Thanks for last month Blue and Ellie - I was there most of the time, honest . Like your style Bitchy and have decided that this month I must pay more attention to the relevant babysteps rather than think I know what I'm doing. However, although I can do S&S, sink and early bedtime, as soon as we get to the decluttering bits I have a serious meltdown.

:o SC
Sometimes it just needs to be done.

Bread in oven, work done, DD off to friends with swimming stuff (not a footie fan so not coming with us), Dstepdad's present closer to being sorted and no-one clear about what is happening re Godiva
Need to be on a train in an hour so best get on.

YEAH for rowing girls

GO TEAM S KOREA/GABON
(at least tomorrow we can yell for Bulgaria in volleyball as actually have Bulgarian friends :))

Oh SC that did make me laugh. Thats just the sort of thing I'd do.

Linzer and SC I', at all the things you need to buy for school. Wow

PA Hope you sort the visa issue out

Welcome back PMPY and newbies

Whoknows hope foot is feeling a little better and Swan Hope you sort out DS eating problems (although I think that was on other thread)

DH went to the hospital yesterday to see about a suspected broken finger. Not only has he broken it, but he needs to wear a metal splint on it and go back next week. If it is not fixed he may need surgery. All because of cricket!! On the plus side for me, more family days as he is not allowed to play cricket for a few weks (Although he has plans to still go and watch - I have news for him, he won't be doing that)

OK so had a lovely night out last night. DH took me bowling(Broken finger on other hand and he stilll beat me anyway), to Nandos and then for a couple of quiet drinks where we spent the night chatting and people watching (My favourite past time) and much of the evening we were watching the body language of people deciding whether they were married (to each other) or not after I commented on how our date last night was so different to the same date 12 years ago when we first met.

I also got a much needed lie in this morning and didn't actually get out of bed until 11.30. Which was bliss.

Todays jobs.

• Write and print CV now that ink has arrived and I can fix printer
• fix printer
• at least 15 minutes (maybe more) in main bedroom
• Attach toy store in dining room for a large clear out whilst DD isn't here and to find still missing library book
• dentist at 4 for filling.
• pop to shops for basics
• Catch up on SKy plus programmes as I have tv to myself with both DH and DD away.
• 2 loads of washing

I'm sure there is more