October-fest: a fledgling (at best) might spruce up its nest (then take a rest?).

[strictlycaballine]

Welcome to the October 2012 Fledgling Flyers thread. Park your mops, buckets, microfibre cloths, golden dusters and spiders-web-removing-implements here!

A huge "thank you" to Whoknows and Pushme for leading us throughout September!! (Hope you are recovering well Whoknows - take it steady!)

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 along the way.

This little-and-often system is designed so that you can follow a series of steps and routines each day (which gradually become second nature) in weekly designated zones of the house; defining and minimising housework - which in theory should leave you with more time to do other more interesting things instead! At the same time it is intended to reduce that panicky "rabbit in headlights" feeling when you are overwhelmed and everything needs doing all at once. No problem if you miss a day or two; just jump right back in and it will all come around next month again anyway!

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 steps and routines using a three-pronged approach (dependent on the stage everyone is at):

• start or repeat 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.

[And if you are really enthusiastic and have finished decluttering - you can go on to detailed deep cleaning in each zone.]

More info here on getting started, and the flylady system here and here Don't be put off by the barf-tastic language of the site - the underlying system is sound.

All welcome!!

xpost Maggie really admire your dh for everything he's doing (and continuing to do) All so very sad

Gossip sorry - meant 'hope' not 'hopey'

*

Tomorrow's baby-step no. 7 for Sun 7th October is here consolidating previous steps + adding one new important habit ie laying out clothes the night before. I find this one crucial!

No zones or missions tomorrow because it is the weekend but we will be starting in the kitchen zone next week.

The habit for October is: getting rid of paper clutter (see previous links and/or flight plan)

Any further questions have a look at tomorrow's flight plan which should update automatically by date.

G'night!

**

Oh dear, I'm so sorry, completely forgot to mention Body Clutter!

Are we still continuing to post weights (those that want to anyway) on Sunday to help with motivation etc etc??

One last "good night" to Trazzles ! Hope you can sleep tonight x

PS Maggie your list doesn't sound half bad to me!

Hi fledglings.........can I please come back?

I've been missing in action since around this time last month and it has been chaotic around here. My only saving grace was a visit from my Dad last weekend (some crisis cleaning ensued!).
Laundry is at a crisis point. I think dh got used to (and liked!) having clean (and sometimes, ironed!) clothes in the wardrobe.....he has been doing more laundry than me the last few weeks, which hasn't done him any harm and has been overheard grumbling!
The only habit that has stuck for me most of the time, anyway! has been keeping my sink shining (dishes washed and sink clear, a quick wipe down with some spray or other).
I really really need to nail the evening routine and the paper clutter habits too!

Lovely to read through your posts and catch up, and meet the new people too.

Trazzles that is so shocking about your little boy. I hope he is making progress. Thinking of you, and will say a little prayer. xx

Hello everyone, could a lurker please join?

Not all that good on keeping on top of cleaning I'm afraid and need a bit of handholding.

Morning all! Body clutter isn't going great! I haven't gained but I haven't lost either, but I haven't really been trying

To do:
My laundry
DD laundry
Walk dogs
Food shop
Family tea for DNana birthday
Routines
Write DD birthday invites!
Date night- it's about time

BBL!

Hello. Will come back and have a read through later but just wanted to share that I went round the whole house yesterday (apart from DS's room) and have made it look like a show home! Can't believe this is my house :o Mum lent me her laptop so I could keep DP on Skype and still spend time with him while I went round and cleaned. :)

Trazzle just read your other thread
Glad your family is rallying around, especially with the cleaning.
I'm on the south coast (central) so can't physically help you but I'm here for you virtually. My DS is also 3 and I have cuddled him non stop this morning. I can't imagine what you are all going through.
Off to church shortly and I will say a special prayer for you.

In other news... No flying here due to the bomb site, however, I MUST declutter as I pack things up to move around the house as the builders will be making all sorts of mess
Last night our sewage drain overflowed (nothing to do with building works). Put loo has had trouble flushing for about 8 days and it all went wrong last night with sewage running out of the manhole and down the drive....
Water people came and fixed it, blockage was 2 doors down. The lovely water-man then cleaned out drive.. Oh it was vile!!

Good morning! And welcome Lplate!

Going to drop a list and get out of bed!!

To Do:

-Morning routine.
-Tidy our bedroom.
-Lots of laundry.
-Go to school and catch up on a bit of paperwork (I know - it's Sunday , but I had a most distracting week last week. This week is shaping up to be similar)
-Order Christmas cards online from the Donkey Sanctuary.
-Paper clutter (30 mins) cut out interiors magazines to add to my folder.
-Work for dh in the pub.
-Dinner
-Visit dMil
-Evening routine

Yikes, how am I going to fit all this in?!
BBL

Morning all

Body clutter wise have dropped 0.4kg. Still a way to go before I hit my target of 65 (and only 3 weeks till bridesmaid duty!). I have managed NOT to stuff my face with treats the last 2 nights on the sofa which may have something to do with it

Welcome LPlate

sc last year (when on maternity leave) I had bought or ordered all of my presents at this stage last year. I?m going to try and get started with ideas now and hope that I can get people things that they need or will love (since starting Flylady I?m much more conscious of what I give people as presents as I don?t want to clutter up their houses!).

dizzy I?m sorry you?re going through a rough patch. I found adjusting to DH being home so much when I was on mat leave (he was on long term sick leave for depression) really hard. I felt quite resentful about him taking away ?my? time. I still get annoyed if he?s home sick on one of my days off (though maybe he feels that way when I?m on school holidays and muscling in on his daddy day).

You can do it castle !

Going to drop a list to get me organized:

Start Christmas planning - add Christmas section to Control Journal ?that I haven?t taken off the shelf for 3 months? and do first few steps for gifts/cards/wrapping supplies (your whooping is infectious gossip )

Do some writing ? either journal or letter someone else or just some creative writing. Am feeling ink deprived (and a bit inspired after reading article about handwriting in the Observer today)

Force DH to telephone his aunt (or as a last resort do it for him) to invite her to DS?s bday next weekend.

Send evites for friends party (almost ready!)

One load of washing (and should go away ? it will NOT hang around in a basket for the rest of the week)

Hoover downstairs, including behind the playpen and in all the corners

Empty paper recycling

Water plants

I don?t have to cook today as DH is making a delicious stew

I have completed my gift lists and I have a shopping list ready and waiting for Tuesday and Wednesday, I have places for wrapping paper and things, and stash places for the presents. I have completed one of the children's shopping list, and have decided that it would be best to do one person, group of person's a week to keep things organised and less stressy, can you believe I have to buy 160 cards !!!!! 30 each for the boys though and there are 3, I feel so much better about the whole thing now I know what I'm planning to do.

The dp did the kitchen last night, sink is shining I myself have only just woke up, and got dressed. I know we are supposed to be doing baby steps but as I sort have been doing this for months/years I feel like the routines are just there now, I do swish and swipe every couple of days if not more (as it only takes a minute) and I do my hotspots and 5 minute room rescues as a habit now. However as I brought 2 shiny new notebooks I have demoted my battered old control journal and spent last night writing my new one, its pretty . which means I now have babysteps on paper and the 11 commandments in my face if I need to look at it

And it seems that I dont have to do laundry today either... dp is doing it, hmmmm I wonder what he wants?

I am a bit awol atm. Sorry. will be back whenever. lurking but not really in the right frame of mind. Crisis cleaning has resulted in sparkling rooms in most of the house and the uses hell hole whole room hotspots returning. Including my room. :(
Must go put out the fire in ds' before he returns tonight. He is not going to be impressed other wise.

Waves to everyone Didn't manage much yesterday - apart from buying more things ....but things with storage (hooray)!

Today...

Put a load of laundy in
Am cooking family Sunday lunch - for once everyone is home (2 back from Uni) and DH and DD2 are putting together a corner unit for me (and I keep popping in to give advice). Ok, so it's mostly shelves rather than storage - but I promise not to clutter them.

Hopefully will manage a 15 min de-clutter at some point. But have to drive DCs back to a train station this afternoon.

Veg boils over......(probably) whilst I'm typing.

Laters, peeps.

Just a quick wave to all, but especially Castle and Shifty Fades, and say to Bitchy keep your chin up.
Hi to L-plate and Gossip Witch, and Trazzle you?re in all our thoughts and prayers and if wishes alone could stick the pieces of your world back together, it would be a cert.

Still to do
Launderette
Shopping and look for banana boxes for friend
refuel car
Sort out and print photo for CC form.
Ironing
Repair shoes (again!) repaint and polish.
Patch jeans.
Dry out (condensation, nothing worse!) and remake bed.
Try and read part two of draft legislation on SEN provision (for SEN charity)
Check English, Psychology, Statistics, and physics.
Check C/S project progress
Dinner
Limit friend to one hour if possible.

I know I've forgotten something important, but can't work out what.

Fab trip to the zoo yesterday, and then a massive crisis clean as friends due to arrive. 'Public' level of house doesn't look too bad, now, at least from a clutter pov, but oh boy, now I have cupboard issues again!

Just about to put second dw load on, after huge meal last night. The sink did not make it to shiny.

Well I have made a pork roast dinner, and a-not-betty-crocker-devils-food-cake, which took a hell of a lot of effort, I'm pooped now so think I'm just gonna chill out with my crochet now.

Oh I'm sure I can smell sewage outside the front door, wish we'd had rain today so I'd have some faith that I don't have arse-residue on the drive

Tomorrow I need to:
Clean bathroom
Wash DS's new clothes (they grow so fast)
Take DS out for new shoes
Make coffee for builders (yawn..)

But for tonight.... Ironing!! Wahooo!!

*
OK... commencing week 2

Tomorrow's baby-step no. 8, for Monday 8th October is here reviewing and consolidating morning and evening routines (and writing them down if you want to)

Newcomers - don't try and do all the new routines all at once - start slow - establish just one or two new steps - do them consistently - take your time - and if you miss one step do not worry - just jump back in where we/you are at!

Tomorrow we will be starting in Zone 2: the kitchen here . Try and spend 15 mins decluttering in this zone per day. If you have already decluttered, you can go on to detailed cleaning

Tomorrow's mission is here cleaning the kitchen bin (and recycling bins if you have them I suppose)

The daily focus for Monday is : here the home blessing, or as we call it "home bleugh"!

Note for newcomers: apologies - for some reason forgot to post daily focus for Sat and Sun. Saturday's is "family fun day", and Sunday's is "renew your spirit day". More info: here

The habit for October is: getting rid of paper clutter Try and shred/recycle/jettison papers you no longer need, 15 mins per day.

If I've missed anything, have a look at tomorrow's flight plan which should update automatically with the date.

Remember Flylady suggests that we do a SuperFlingBoogie in each zone per week to prepare for Christmas.

Hope you have a productive week everyone!

*

Trazzle you are in our thoughts - I hope your ds made it home today (haven't checked on your other thread yet). Wishing you strength for the week ahead x

Whoknows and PA I hope you are now feeling much stronger but take it steady both of you.

Shiftyfades thank heavens sewage situation resolved - well at least I hope it is - that can't have been fun. Arf at 'arse residue' (sorry !) though! Hope smell is just that and no further probs arise. Maybe a couple of buckets of boiling water with bleach would do the trick?

Gossip snap, we had roast pork today too, just the weather for it! You sound very on top of things - well done! And judging from the rest of the thread, you seem to have inspired many of us to crack on with Christmas preparations too !

Madwoman snap re just about respectable "public rooms" but upstairs here a disaster again. Never seem to get to it. I think you deserve a medal for crisis cleaning after visiting the zoo btw - enjoyable though it is, I usually need copious amounts of alcohol and a lie-down in a darkened room after visiting our local wildlife park. So top marks for stamina!

Justgettingonwithit Hope important thing came back to you! Intrigued by banana boxes ...

sowornout Hope you had a lovely family day (untouched by the stresses of flat-pack assembly !)

[Waves encouragingly to Bitchy]

Engels v. good point about not cluttering up others at Christmas! Well done on weight-loss and hurrah for dh's who make delicious stew! How did the writing go? [passes over bottle of green ink]

Great to see you back Castlelough - of course you can always come and jump back in - you are always welcome! Hope you did manage to fit it all in but sorry you had to go in to work today ...and hope you managed to have a bit of time for yourself despite long list

MrsOnatopp Top marks for your gleaming show home and for your ingenious solution to combating cleaning monotony ...

Issima hope the shed is taking shape and that you and the bump are taking it steady with your list [hands over foot-stool and cushion for small of back]

Hope you are having a lovely evening Lauren!

A warm welcome to LplateFlyer don't worry - you will get loads of support and virtual alcohol encouragement here!

Huge waves to everyone else!

Had a lovely day today - dh and I prepped and served lunch for 10 and that was it really. Ate too much - drank too much - enjoyed company of friends. Haven't totally cleared up as a few dishwasher loads still to do but reasonably well organised. All of which probably explains my mahoosive current weight of 81.8 kg (which is more than before the summer holidays) Bit disappointed because I have been running around like a loon all week. Ten years ago the weight would have come off naturally - have to be more determined now as I get older - and I haven't in all honesty been trying hard enough.

Heigh ho. Onward and upward (or downward) and all that!

xpost

Love the look of that veggie stew Issima going to print recipe... take it steady .. and don't worry about list dumping ...that's what the thread is for - and we all have periods when we post more or less... depending on what is happening in rl etc etc

Sleep well eveyrone!