The Fledglings' nests will be clean in 2013!

[superfluouscurves]

(With many thanks to Jdub for title inspiration!!)

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.

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 (although some Fledglings find the compilation e-mails helpful)! 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 Flying lessons. Here's the launch pad for more experienced fledglings. Don't be put off by the barf-tastic language of the site - the underlying system is sound (and you may discover a few of our subversions of the vocabulary along the way).

Huge thanks to Lauren for being our incredibly reliable and organised shining star in the East and leading us throughout the very busy month of December!!

Happy New Year Fledglings!!

All welcome!!

Good morning lovely organised folk,
All my plans went out the window when I got in from work Monday night - ds2 was ill. Poor lamb - he is such a good patient - children do tend to be, don't they. So 48 hours on and here we are - fingers crossed, normal service has been resumed and so far..

emptied dw
made beds
up and out!

to do:
dust
hoover
thank you letters
filing

BBL and sending massive healthy vibes all round.
Have a lovely day x

oh, I have been mooching around for too long this morning

done
recycling marathon
3 kids to school, found various items (DH did most of the despatching though

Now to tackle
Bank
Playroom
and errand day - library books back I think...

so many "fizzing" ideas about various things - craft/study/organisation/garden etc, but trying not to get sidetracked and just TIDY. I think that is what needs doing. The basic stuff.

feeling ill today, and need to go out to volunteer this eve so want to keep it sotto till then.
Just that sounds dramatic! I hope you are looking after yourself this morning

mrsPenny lovely news. I too have a jar of mincemeat which never got turned into mince pies...

Morning everyone.

Sorry to hear about your cousin SC And thank you for the words of wisdom regarding Flylady and for the daily links. You are doing a brilliant job.

Ouch just sounds painful, hope you're not in to much pain today.

Well done for saying no madwoman I dont know the story, but you sound pleased to say no for a change. Im usually one for saying yes to people when in reality some of the things I end up doing Id much rather not, but dont like to let people down.

tada

• Turn on Washing Machine
• Dry laundry (well its going round)
• Wash Up
• Hotspot
• 5 Min room rescue

to do

• Put Laundry away
• Wash Up 2X
• Shine Sink
• Hotspot
• Go to evening course
• lay out clothes for Friday.

Was going to dye my hair, but we have no rubber gloves. DH helps me do it and we dont like the gloves that come in the packaging so buy packs of disposable gloves from the poundshop, but we have run out. Yesterday I was asked at the school gates if I was going natural so its something that needs doing. Oh well will pick some up tomorrow with the view to do it over the weekend.

I suppose I should also do the learning the power of 15 mins, but not sure what to do for 15 mins, will have a think. Maybe something in the kitchen as that is this weeks zone.

Hope everyone has a good day today.

I knew it would take me that long to write the post that I would cross posts.

Lovely news about the appointment MrsPennyapple

Hope you feel better for tonight Swan

hello all, sorry I haven't been here but I've been too busy finding excuses to drive everywhere, I have also pinked out my car so now it nearly matches my handbag :) got new wheels too, and put it through the car wash, dp's been home so he's been tidying etc.

am really rubbish at this. going to try to 'bless the house ' today so it is ready for the weekend.

promise to catch up soon ......

Good morning all

Just hope you're okay and are on the mend soon - sounds very painful.

Tada
Up
DD up and BF
Showered, dressed, make-up, hair dried (was going to say 'hair done' but that might imply I do more than wave a hairdryer at it)
Bed made
Sandwiches for DH & I made
Out of the house only 3 minutes late today!

Must work out how to fit a swish & swipe (or whatever it's called) in the morning without having to get up any earlier. The alarm goes off at 6am and anytime before that is night as far as I'm concerned! Maybe I should actually get up when the alarm goes off? No more snooze button for me!

To do
Buy groceries at lunchtime
Pick DD up from nursery
Play with her (best bit of day)
Put a wash on
DD's bath & bed routine
15 min declutter
Mission - clean worktops
Babysteps - shine sink & do something for 15 mins (prob tackle a hotspot) & sit down for 15 mins (looking forward to that one!)
Lay DD's and my clothes out
Put stuff on eBay
Put stuff in bathroom for swishing and swiping
Work out how to switch off all the emails from flylady - the number is totally ridiculous!
Attempt to get to bed early (I fail on this more than anything else)

BBL

MrsPennyapple - mincemeat is for life not just for Christmas :)
Yay for nice midwife.

Toffeee - my two have the same definition of 'compromise'

Just - OUCH, OUCH, OUCH. Hope you are not too sore this morning

SC - thank you for welcome back and sorry to hear about your cousin

SilveryMoon - HUGE sympathies re DP being cr*p passenger. I actually thumped an exBF for doing the same after warning him on a number of occasions I have told DH in the past that I wasn't going to drive with him in the car if he was going to be so critical (and I stuck to it!) It did mostly work, now all I have to say is "I'm driving so I'm doing it my way" and he usually backs off. I have the interferring with the cooking thing too sometimes and that also drives me mad.

Got most of my list done yesterday and played 'good neighbour' to our poorly surrogate granny who lives up the road - she is VERY independent but has been struck by the yucky virus going round. She let me make her breakfast and wash up (both firsts) and take her some of our slow-cooker stew for dinner last night. She has also written a shopping list for me to do today (another first).

Ta da

• Bagged up all money from various pre-Christmas School Assoc things
• All up and out
• S&S, washing done and on airer, dishes done and sink shiny
• Paid bill (and fine for late payment ) Huge incentive to get on top of paperwork
• Wiped down very muddy front door step

To do

• WORK - more catching up
• Clear out fridge
• Sainsburys shop x 2
• Unload and put away shopoping
• Make Macaroni Cheese
• Hoover
• Missions
• Bank money
• DS to GP (follow-up re ongoing stuff)
• DD and DS to diving

That's more than enough to keep me going.
Hope everyone has a good day.

That's good to know Feetheart, as it was given to me LAST Christmas!

Feet - that's very kind of you to help your neighbour.

Snow - swish and swipe is meant to be really quick. You shouldn't need to get up earlier to do it. I just wipe round the sink, give the loo a quick once over with antibacterial spray and loo roll, then change the hand towel (thanks to WhoKnows's tip, I now keep a pile of clean towels in the bathroom, so it's easy to swap dirty for clean).

lori - Flylady says we have to 'banish negative thoughts', ie. no saying you're rubbish at this. We are all in the same boat. Focus on what you have done, not what you haven't.

Gossip - good for you at practising your new driving skills! It must feel great to have a license .

Lilleth - tsk tsk at the 'going natural' comment. Honestly, some people. What evening course are you doing, by the way?

Swan - I understand about those fizzing ideas that keep sidetracking us. It's the mundane (routine) versus the interesting (new stuff) and the latter is always going to be more exciting. Sorry you are feeling ill today. Hope it goes away quickly.

Jdub - sorry your DS2's been ill, but I'm glad he's better. DC have both been unwell with tummy bugs here, but looks as if they're both on the mend.

MrsP - that's such great news about the little bean and the heartbeat, especially after what you've been through .

lauren - that's a good list. If I do the missions at all, I often end up doing them all at once too.

Silvery - hurray at you finishing your ironing! I am also celebrating (see below).

madwoman - well done at saying NO! And sorry about the dishwasher 'episode'.

justcrazy - I hope you have a better day at work today. Out of interest, what is on your kids' chore charts?

WhoKnows - congratulations on doing OU work, tax stuff and paid work all in one day.

Bitchy - hope you are having a better day today (with no red tape 'issues').

Just - really sorry to hear about your accident. That sounds dreadful. Should you go to your GP for a checkup, especially if you fell on the back of your head? I hope people helped you. How are you feeling today?

wewere - please PM me if you have any questions about home ed and I'll be happy to answer them.

Blue - it was a fab first episode of Borgen . We are watching the second episode tonight before it disappears into the ether. Had forgotten how good it is.

SC - I'm so sorry about your cousin . Will you be able to travel to the funeral? And yes, I suppose I am a bit bored and restless at the moment. I have been in the house with the DC for weeks, it seems. Started a pilates class on Tuesday so that I have a bit of time to myself each week and I have my birthday to look forward to next week, so that might liven me up. I do browse courses every so often, but there's nothing that appeals at the moment. How is your art course going, by the way?

Am at home with DC again today as DS2 is still off school with a tummy bug. My lovely cleaner arrived first thing and has done a house 'bless' and most of my ironing , so I'm feeling much happier now.

Downstairs is looking very neat and tidy. The bedrooms are a different matter entirely, but at least we can keep the doors shut .

Need to go to the PO and give us all some exercise, then pick up DS2's friend from school. Looks like we might get rained on though...

Afternoon all

Have done no flying and CBA really. The computer's booked in though and have been shopping.

To do
Rest of shopping away
Clean laundry away
Cook tea
Bit of work
Try and tidy up a bit...

just - hope you're OK
MrsP - glad midwife appt went well

Re mincemeat - it's not only not just for Christmas, it can be made into other things too - a friend makes lovely mincemeat muffins for example.

Must get on. Back later.

I know one of the things I find really difficult is to see what I have done and what needs to be done when I am surrounded by chaos!

justgettingonwithit hope you are feeling OK and not too bruised - must have been quite a shock

SC sorry to hear about your cousin

MrsPennyapple so glad to hear all is going well

jdub hope your DS2 is feeling better soon

Well as I am feeling on a more positive note here is my list

tada
Children up and out of the house on time
Dishwasher emptied and filled
Recyling out of house
Bins all emptied and out of house
Hoovered upstars and down the stairs
Dusted everywhere
Cleaned mirrors
Cleaned kitchen floor
Tea half made
half way through tidying downstairs so I can hoover
Two loads of washing done
One load put away
Two loads dried

todo
Finish tidying and hoovering
Finish preparing tea
Pick up DS1 and DS2 from school
Get organsied so DH can do tea for DS2 and DS3
Get DS1 organised for beavers
Eat tea and put DS1 to bed (hopefully DH will have done DS2 and / or DS3)
Plan for work tomorrow
Online shop
Ironing
Kitchen
Prepare clothes for tomorrow
would love an early night but unlikely!

Just a quick one

tada

• Turn on Washing Machine
• Dry laundry (well its going round)
• Wash Up 2X
• Hotspot
• 5 Min room rescue
• Put Laundry away
• lay out clothes for Friday.

to do

• Shine Sink
• Hotspot
• Go to evening course

Its AAT Toffee tonight. AN accountancy qualification. Ive not been for a while as I was rained in the last week before christmas. Im actually quite looking forward to it tonight.

Im doing tomorrow's list now as Im not going to be on for about 24 hours or so now.

• Wash Up 3X
• Hotspot
• 5 Min room rescue
• lay out clothes for Saturday.
• Shine Sink
• Hotspot
• Shopping
• Town to get DD2 feet measured and her first shoes.

Wont have much time for anything else so any new baby step will have to wait.

Hope everyone has a good afternoon/evening/Friday.

Speak to you later.

I've been lying in bed all morning, feeling sick, but might venture into playroom for 10 mins now before children come back.

done
bank call

Uh oh, I don't like the sound of that, swan . I should forget about Flying for today if I were you. Hope you feel better soon.

Bitchy - the school confirmed the 48-hour rule with me today - even for one episode of d or v. So, thanks for your advice. DS2 is very happy he's had 48 hours off school anyway!

lori - I agree with you about finding it difficult to see what needs doing when surrounded by chaos, especially when small children are also involved and making demands. That's why I like the Flylady routines, as I know I'm covering the basics at least if I follow them.

Lilleth - ah, you must be good at Maths then. I am still struggling to understand primary-school fractions! It's good that you are enjoying the course so much and gaining another qualification on the way.

Have been into town, posted parcel, bought treats for DC from a cafe, collected DS2's friend from school and am now home allowing myself a cup of tea and chocolate brownie before dinner needs to be made (in 15 minutes). DS2 and his friend are trying to set a world record for talking non-stop.

To day has been incredibly unproductive. IN fact i curled up after the school run and slept. Would love to say i feel better for it now but that would be a lie. Thumping headache. And ds being a 7 yo boy feels the need to make huge amounts of noise which is really not helping!!

Going to grab a shower, have a cup of coffee and take some paracetamol. Hopefully that will all help. But really just going to write today off as a bad day and focus on rest so tomorrow will work better.

BitchyI know how you feel, I must prise myself off the sofa and do the washing up.

Sc also sorry about your cousin

Just OUCH!

I think mid January is such a difficult part of the year to get through.

Done
Did to school & back
Windows scraped
Rubbish & recycling out
Vacuumed
Went to the city for the day with Dh, to get a few bits
Ironing
Dinner

To do
Wash up & shine sink
Mission
Washing on
Dry clothes away
Crotchet some squares for Wooly Hugs

Evening all
Not much to report here. I've decided to scrap the room rescue from my day. My place isn't too bad and I do a kind of 'stray item dash' around the flat when the boys are tidying up before the bath so think that'll do.

TaDa
Made beds
Fed cats
Showered and dressed
Swished and swiped
Half hour ironing
Went to work
Tesco (why am I going there daily when I do a weeks shopping on the weekend?)
Cooked dinner
Washed up
Homework with ds1
Sorted dry washing
Non-iron stuff away
Cklothes washed and hung to dry
Emptied school bags and checked diaries

To Do
Get boys ready for bed
Read stories with boys
Lay out tomorrows clothes
More ironing
Mission
Check todays babystep
Clean kitchen
Bags for tomorrow
Catch up on thread

bed

Evening everyone,

Ta da
Put on load of washing
Feed animals
Check DC have everything they need
Get to work early for meeting
Unload washing
Empty lunch boxes
Check what homework DC have and get them to start it
Send DH out to chippy when he got home from work

To do
Load dishwasher
Ironing
Swish and sweep
Do online banking
Do paperwork
Post birthday card

Collapse

Hi everyone.

Swan hope you're feeling ok

Just I missed your post about your accident when I scanned through, just seen it now, how awful! Really hope you are being looked after.

Blue I also missed your post about mincemeat muffins (must read thread more thoroughly!), they sound very good. I did have a scone in a cafe just before Christmas that had some in, so I might have to look for a recipe.

As predicted, I did not make mince pies, nor did I write thank you cards. I did have quite a productive day though:

Done:
Meal planning
Shopping
Recycled glass (that wasn't even on my list so I reckon I get extra FLYpoints for that)
Met SIL for coffee
Tidied kitchen
Cleaned out microwave
Made spectacular pie for dinner.

T'other day I was looking at the Hairy Bikers' Pie book in the bookshop and lamenting how expensive it was (£20) and wondering if I should buy it. I left it there and decided to give it some thought.

This morning I got chicken out of the freezer ready to make a creamy pasta dish, but whilst shopping decided I really didn't fancy it, so was pondering what I could do with the chicken instead.

Had a brainwave and took the Hairy Bikers book out of the library. Genius!
Got home and realised I had all the ingredients (more or less) to make the chicken, ham and leek pie, the first recipe in the book. So spent all afternoon doing that. It took ages, but oh my goodness, it was delicious. You could do a lot of it ahead and use bought pastry which would make it lots quicker.

So, To do:
Pat belly
Feel smug.

Right child is finally in bed and hopefully will soon finish exploding with noise.

ta da
take pictures of ds for making up thank you cards
Make up the cards ready for printing tomo
ds in a bath
ds into bed.

And that they say is about that.
didn't get the shower as ds pinched the bathroom and figured that as i am about to go to bed anyway i might as well wait until tomo morning now.

Hope everyone is OK and no more accidents.
Have been out of the house most of the day so very little Flying done, although I did manage a swish and a swipe and got the vacuum cleaner out of the cupboard (well it's the thought that counts, right?)
PILs coming for lunch on Sunday, so that means the whole downstairs will get a complete blitz on saturday. Am still shining my sink!

Sorry to hear about your cousin sc

Hope you?re not too battered and bruised Just

madwoman I am indeed very proud of you

Ta da
Survived my first week back to school and lesson observation by Head
Went for a run and had a good yak with my friend along the way
Washing-up

Um, that?s about it for today!

Tomorrow
Online banking
In town: eye cream, get photos framed
Food shopping
Hoover
Load of washing
Tidy hotspot (dining room table)

Part I

Aw, you lot are lovely! Thank you for kind words about my cousin. He had oesophageal cancer and went slightly earlier than anticipated, which was (bluntly) what he wanted, so was a blessing in the end albeit v. sad.

More bad news here though at 4am. Mil (800 + km away) has been admitted to hospital again and is seriously ill with kidney problems. Dh was there last week and looks like he will be heading back again tomorrow. January is proving to be rather stressful (esp. for dh).

One bit of good news though I think - dd's blood test results (she keeps fainting) are all fine apart from her blood sugar being low, so we are back on the oat cakes every 2 hrs!! (Toffee Forgot to ask doc about diabetes after all that so will have to ring her up again tomorrow!)

So sorry to keep filling up thread with non-Flying stuff but it is nice to be able to vent!

How have you been getting on?

MrsPennyapple Yay! Many congratulations! How lovely to have some cheerful news! And great that you are feeling reassured. Take it steady x (By the way, re: mince pies - I have yet to make gingerbread house with dd - determined to get it done in January!!)

Oh no, have just seen that Justgettingonwithit has had crashing fall! Ouch! That must have hurt! Hope people rushed to your aid and that after-effects aren't too painful this morning. Another one who must take it very slow and steady (although if you have any symptoms of concussion: headache, nausea, vomiting, sense of pressure in head, dizziness, seeing stars, fatigue) get thee to a head scan!! Symptoms can be subtle and come on a few days later (copied from dd's riding school safety info!!!) Hope you are ok though. Must knock one's confidence as well as bloomin well hurt!

Whoknows well done for taking anti-procrastination day (yesterday) seriously. OU submission and tax return on same day is impressive!

Yay [trumpets sound] for Madwoman top marks for saying "no"!!!!! And for planning some fun for yourself this Sun AND for basking in luxury of a decluttered boudoir!!

Jdub hope your ds2 is OK.

Swan hope you felt better as day went on and evening volunteering not too onerous.

Lilleth thanks and hope you did the 15-min sitting down part of baby-step 10 too!!

Arf at Gossip's "pinked" car ...

No you are definitely NOT rubbish at this Loris!! We are banishing negativity remember !! Anyway, Flying is not easy when you are responsible for littlies with night terrors (ie interrupted sleep) and littlies who are teething (ie more interrupted sleep!) Everyone struggles in those circs.

Snowgirl1 your lists look very organised today. Trying to imagine you s&s-ing with one hand while brushing hair/teeh with other. Hope you didn't have to set the alarm earlier anyway.

Hope your surrogate granny is ok Feetheart - you are a lovely neighbour!

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Part II (after long interruption)

Toffee have just this minute seen your fab round-up (I started writing the above late morning but kept getting interrupted!!!) so apologies to you (and the other fledglings) for repeating everything you have just said (but less well! ) cba to change it all now!! Well done re: your neat & tidy downstairs!

Sorry yr ds2 still unwell. Great about Pilates and hope birthday brings you the fillip you need! Art course fab thanks but proving difficult to get to with dd and mil being ill and dh travelling. (Think if I miss any more I will be thrown off!) Don't think I will be going to cousin's funeral sadly because of the touch and go situation with mil atm.

Agree Blue- a friend of mine makes fab mincemeat ice cream containing loads of alcoholic ingreds!!

Loris Have just seen your lists - they are fab - glad you are feeling more positive!

Hope course goes well tonight Lilleth

Oh no Swan hope you are OK x

Bitchy I'm sure a rest day will provide dividends ... Have a peaceful night (and thanks for reminder about 'thank you' photos. Actually remembered to take pics of dd opening her presents this year - a redundant exercise if I don't get the letters off to accompany them sharpish

You can say that again Goth never really minded January in previous years but crikey it's tough going atm! You've been v. productive today though nonetheless!

Silvery a terrific 'ta da' and "stray item dash" just as legitimate (if not more so than 27 fling boogie!

Well done Justcrazy [proffers fluffy cushion]

Yay to MrsPennyapple's spectacular pie (boy do I like the sound of that!!!) Is it the dieting Hairy Bikers book you are looking at? If so can pm you recipes if you want when you have to take it back to library as have it here.

Doublemum I'm not kidding, once I've hauled hoover up stairs here, I'm ready for a break

Yay Engels well done for surviving your first week back (bit daunting to be observed straight after holidays but glad it went ok!)

Waves to Lauren and everyone else.