December already! Fledgings will sleigh the pre-Christmas clutter (and eat all the mince pies)

[GoingGoingGoth]

If 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 zones of the house which are designated weekly; defining and minimising housework - which in theory should leave you with loads more time to do someting more interesting 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!

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 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!

Thanks to BlueEyeshadow and SlimChance for the November thread.

All welcome!! And remember that December is the new January!

[should have explained that dd has spent entire rest of day with dh and he's been brilliant with her - playing endless games etc]

ta da
Clear space for art centre to go
move art centre
clean sideboard which is now free.
put christmas cakes on it
internet admin type stuff
more blanketgate stuff out of lounge
DW unloaded and reloaded
Washing up done
coffee cake in oven
put away all cake decorating stuff pulled out yesterday
chuck coffee at floor was supposed to drink it.
eat breakfast
wrap last presents on floor in lounge and move all presents out of lounge
set out biscuit stuff on bench ready for later.
try to contact people on phone
Get phone call back as finally jump into shower - sods law
shower
Realise that actually my bed looks way way to inviting and actually i feel like death today.

Currently in process of getting ready to go out. Back around 9pm ish for finishing off jobs and finding a bed.

Sorry to hear the sad news castle. :(

What sad news castle

DD has redeemed herself

Sorry Castle didn't notice that that was sandwiched between other condolence posts - seems inappropriate somehow - apologies

Sorry to hear the sad news Castle.

Ta Da
Finished all the wrapping, including Santa's
Crisis cleaned the house again!!
Gingerbread house in progress
Laundry x2
S&S x3
farm shop (bought all the veg for Xmas day, as had a dream last night that I couldn't get carrots, parsnips, or sprouts anywhere).
Made Winter Pudding Bombe
Discovered a vegan runny chocolate sauce, I can make for dipping (over the moon with this).
2x w/m
2x t/d
D/w
Breakfast x3
Lunch x5
Cleaned my bedroom

To do
Find something for dinner!

Dh thinks he might start painting the twins bedroom tonight, I have done really well not to stab him .

Castle, so sorry, life can be awfully cruel.

Ta da so far
Frustrating half hour trying to get appointment with Dr before realising it was Sunday!
Cleaned bathroom
All washing inc wringing out. (I know it doesn't sound much but it's a huge task without a machine)
Slept
Cleaned out fridge and repaired all broken shelves.
Slept
Half rescued freezer compartment which had frozen solid but nose much appreciating ice supply.
Managed to stay awake

To do
Launderette for drying
finish freezer compartment
convince ds to research books for English coursework
try and clear corner enough for tree
cook dinner
plan what needs to happen for it all to happen
plan tomorrow carefully
listen to friend
sleep

So sorry to hear that news Castle .

Well, yet again not much Flying (I seem to have a bad dose of CBA). Had a lovely time ice skating (I wqtched DH and the DCs) at Winchester Christmas Market and a nice potter round in the sunshine (we booked for the first slot of skating and things were fairly quiet when we arrived, queue for car park was down the road when we left at 12 so that was a good move). Home for lunch and then pottering, I went into town as I realised I had no icing sugar, DCs watched a film with DH. Bit of DIY and dinner.

Just been cutting up last year's saved cards for gift tags as i have run out, a few more gifts to wrap and Christmas cake to ice.

Made a Moroccan Soup/Stew and bacon&tomato pasta sauce from the run down fridge and cupboards (in prep for the hugemongus delivery tomorrow). Very lovely, the kids are it all which is always a delight when made things from scratch.

Now sit down with Dc to watch some tv.

*Ate not are

Love my autocorrect on my phone not.

Well, my list today is short and sweet

took dcs for exercise at health club, tennis and swimming. [was driven to distraction by their intermittent bad behavioiur, but hopefully this is what is called "unwinding"
woke up very very late, after a party with dcs last night at friends
did a load of laundry
another load dried
cooked tea
went to Mass (priest sounded as exhausted as the rest of us)
had row with dh (in time honoured fashion, just before Mass

tomorrow is a busy day. Dd is going to the Nutcracker with her godmother, and I am counting money in Church!

Well tree is up, decorated, food has been delivered from veg box, including meat and cheese and some wine, there are some presents under it. Otherwise.....not much has changed on the mess front.

SC have you decided not to go to FIL & SIL after all...very sorry it turned out that way

Castle having twins, I can understand how desperately sad that must be for the parents, and how having a spare is the most painful consolation of all.

Whoknows sounds like a reward for your organisation earlier. I think we are meant to be chilling by this point not rushing around crazily!

LINKS FOR 23 DECEMBER 2013

*
Babystep 23 is to add your afternoon routine.

This week we are in Zone 4 the Master Bedroom. Detailed cleaning list for those that can be bothered here

It's Monday so Time for the Weekly Bleugh

Sneak Peek for this week's missions, today's mission is clear out the rubbish in our bedrooms

December's monthly habit is Pampering

Flight Plan for today.

***

Yesterday's flying consisted of packing an overnight bag and filling the car with the presents for my mum and sisters! I did help my mum with her wrapping though!

Today we had a lovely time at lunch with our friends and the girls loved having their faces painted and meeting Santa!

DH and his mate drank far too much so we left late and haven't long been back. I have put a wash on (though drying will be a problem without a TD!) and am about to start sorting out the clothes we need to take.

Still need to wrap DH and DH's presents

SUMMARY

Bitchy is out to reclaim her 'Queen of Lists' title and has hopefully caught up with all that needs to do. Hope the party goes well tomorrow.

WhoKnows had a great time visiting Father Christmas with NO queue. So pleased your back is improving. So pleased you watched the ice skating, DD wants to go but I hate it, always fall and then have visions of losing a finger..

Alice selflessly ate some Ferrero Rocher so the elf would get the blame.

Castle so sorry to hear about your friend's child.
She also iced her gingerbread men, do you know if you turn them 'upside down' you can make reindeer

Eustacia hopefully got her duvet changed.

Merry made a gingerbread house, I've given up trying, ours always collapses. The Winter Pudding Bombe sounds amazing. I think you've done well not to stab DH, fancy thinking 2 days before Christmas is a good time to decorate.

elliepac rebelled by Flying in her pjs So had DH and his friends sorted the world out by the time you got home?

SC sounds like she has a virus. Take things steady. The holly sounds very festive (we never did sneak into the park)

JustGetting had a very productive day, wouldn't fancy wringing out the laundry.

Swan was taxi service for DCs activities. Very of DD going to the Nutcraker.

dizzy had a good time with her friends and was another one who met Santa.

We didn't do much today, bit of food shopping, couple of films on TV. Fairly low key. Got a nutcraker which was helpful as I'd bought some nuts in shells last week.

Castle - so, so sorry about your friend's baby. That is unspeakably dreadful .

Had the day off Flying today, as we spent the day with friends. Had a lovely day, enjoying good company, good food and good wine .

Have cleared up the kitchen, but that's my only Flying for today.

Unfortunately, I managed to do something to my back this morning, as I was bending down to put my tights on. DH thought he heard a 'crack' as well as my scream. I have dosed myself up with Ibuprofen and the wine helped. I'm ok if I keep very upright and don't make any sudden movements. No idea what I might have done, but it's made me determined to go back to Pilates in the New Year.

Warning: I may have another humungous list tomorrow, as it's my last day before DM arrives, so I want everything sorted by then.

The day will start with me putting the rubbish out first thing, followed by a trip to Waitrose to stock up on Christmas food. Aiming to get there as the doors open to miss the crowds .

Good luck with Christmas Flying everyone.

To get ahead, since 11 I have Ta da.
Steamed the kitchen, hallway and cloakroom floor.
D/w
Washed up x3
Dried up x3
Shined sink
W/m
T/d

Off to bed, night!!

Just done 90 mins worth of ironing (and that was only half of it, I have got really behind the last couple of weeks). Will be able to finish that tomorrow and get upstairs much tidier with all the clothes put away. The it's time to start digging out serving dishes and wineglasses that only get used once a year for washing, find the good white tablecloth, all that sort of thing. The DCs helped decorate the Christmas cake tonight (well, DS and I helped DD, she really is turning into a very adept cook).

Goth - I am a very inept skater, the DCs are both a lot better than me. I just cling onto the handrail. I do usually give it a go, but didn't dare with my back this time. I did see one or two adults fall and really wind themselves.

Thanks for another fab summary Goth don't know how you do it!!!

MerryBuddha funnily enough made very similar veggie Moroccan stew thing this evening (for tomorrow night). Praying dd will eat it! (Arf at your dh's madly inappropriate decorating intentions! )

Glad you enjoyed your day Dizzy and the skating Whoknows (and you have reminded me to add icing sugar to my list)

[Dh cackling because it will soon be time for me to go on my dreaded annual sojourn to the chemist to buy glycerine (they use it for suppositories here). It's not that that is terribly hilarious in itself, it's the fact that I usually have to face a gamut of extremely direct and embarrassing questions (and they are VERY direct here) and yes dh has an extremely immature sense of humour. And when I explain that I want it for a "gateau" the muttering in the queue gets even louder .

Just wringing the laundry by hand can't be much fun; esp in this cold weather

Swan we are still playing it by ear with regard to travel. Going to decide at very last minute (owing to dh's work schedule, I am a veteran at this!). If it had been last week, it wouldn't have been appropriate (fil having fits, and very agitated, almost violently so ). Happily though, latest news is much more positive, so it could well be all back on ... . Hope your dd has a lovely time at the Nutcracker tomorrow!

Felt better as day has gone on. Did laundry. Decorated tree. Completed most of other decorations, save for crib. DD was a handful initially but eventually got in to the swing of things. Discovered we have the BBC red button facility via our satellite thing so watched another huge chunk of Olympia coverage with dd Did 30 mins tidying in boudoir. Cooked and wrapped a few presents. Still plenty to do ... .

G'night all!

x posts!

Whoknows ditto re: tablecloths, serving dishes etc!!

Well done Merry I love getting stuff done late when everyone has gone to bed! (You can then wake up in the morning and pretend that it somehow happened magically overnight without any effort on your part ]

Sorry about your back Toffee the crack sounds rather worrying - take it steady! [Good luck with your dawn raid on Waitrose and try not to carry too many heavy bags.]

Waves to everyone else!

sc

I like the ice, there is something calming about it. But it is mean and evil and it is important to know your limits.

Very pleasant evening off. Not done anything since I came back but setting the alarms for a bit earlier then would other wise and going to bed. Night.

Yeah could sleep.

ta da
spend two hours writing a very long and difficult email.

To do
write christmas cards
deliver christmas cards
2nd long and complicated email
finish sorting out the lounge -ie crisis cleaning/room rescue what ever the fuck you want to call panic and get to sparkly clean and tidy state
write birthday card
sit in the corner and fall asleep.

Urgh Oh for an edit button.

That should have read Couldn't sleep. thank god that email has been sent to be proof read by someone else before it is sent.

Oh No! I didnt do the duvet!

We fid go and see Santa though and then went to a friend for Christmas drinks.

Castle - sorry for your friend. Devastating.

Today Ibget my new sideboard which I fully expectvto transform my family room into a tidy place