Feisty Fledgling Flyers flutter through Feb with flair, finesse, flaws, failures, fortitude, feedback, fiascos, fabulousness, friendship and fun!

[sanschocolat]

[The fiascos are all mine btw !!]

And just for Just, February is the new January that was the new January before

If you are struggling 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 and cake 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 something 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!

It’s up to you, but 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!

Points to keep in mind:
(1)No perfectionism allowed - this is harder than you would imagine
(2)You are never behind just start where you are and anything you do is progress.
(3) It didn't get into a mess overnight, it won't get tidy over night - accept it will take time to get on top of things and you will be happier.

Humungous thanks to Bitchy for steering us through the hectic January thread and for the wise three-line mantra above.

All regulars, lurkers and newcomers welcome!!

Toffee - I have uploaded a pic to my profile for you to see!

Hellooooo! Is it really Thursday already? Sorry I didn't get back on here earlier!! (Only 22 posts since I last checked in )

Have just woken up with ouch cystitis (sorry tmi) which I haven't had for about 2 decades so am up at this unearthly hour drinking lots of glasses of water so might as well post links now and will catch up with personals later on.

In the meantime, Castle it is brill to have you back!!! And what wonderful news about your mortgage!! I know you have been longing to move in to your new house for so long - really glad it is finally happening for you both - yay!!!

Ellie I hope you are OK

Just how are you?

Baby-step no.6 for Thurs 6th Feb, is an important one about hotspots.

This week, we are in zone 2: the Kitchen here.

Declutter for 15 mins a day in this zone.

Once you have decluttered, you can if you wish go on to detailed cleaning.

Today's mission is: scrubbing your kitchen counter tops in a non-obsessive way!

The daily focus for Thursday is: errand day ie appts at doctor, dentist, hairdresser, optician, collect dry-cleaning, buy items for school, buy presents for birthday parties etc.

The monthly habit for February is: decluttering 15 mins a day.

A summary of the above plus reminders can be found here in the flight plan.

Have a good day one and all!

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Ahhh Dizzy your family are adorable and your ds looks so sweet in that costume!!

Morning all. Still in hospital. Still bored. Still waiting for more tests.
Awaiting a decision as to whether i need an operation now or can wait a while and have it planned.

Sorry to hear you are still in hospital Ellie Hopefully decisions will be made today.

SC lemon barley squash is good for cystitis. Suffered on and off for years.

Done so far:
Zilch-io (still in bed procrastinating about getting up and washing my hair)

Poor Ellie

Thanks bitchy and toffee. I actually have a carbon monoxide reader and I know it isn't that. I have emailed her optometrist but to rule it out - eyes have been stable for ages - and I am thinking it may be her jaw so will chase the hospital referral today. Hate to see them poorly

I am out most of today and have visitors coming at the weekend do will be here a lot tmrw

Have a good day everyone and remember it is not a race

Hope the cystitis clears up quickly SC - that is so uncomfortable.

Poor Ellie it's awful to be in hospital x

Oh Ellie I'm sorry you are still stuck there. It wouldn't be so bad if you could rest, but hospitals seem to be one of the most unrestful places on earth. Hope docs decide what is happening soon.

Ahhhh, thank you Goth mine's a pint!! I gave up putting dh's travel dates on the calendar. They are too changeable! And then there are the totally unexpected trips when he casually drops in to conversation "oh did I mention I am going to the States/China/Azerbaijan in five hours" (admittedly not a regular scenario) but happens every so often. It's impossible! Hope Woodcraft went well!

Bitchy so sorry to hear you are ailing. Hope you recover soon. Can you order the wool on line by any chance? A friend of mine uses this site. They deliver quite promptly.

Swan Arf at quick-change Kookabura lyrics
I hope ds1's bedroom reorganisation went ok and sympathies over paperwork angst. DD (with her schooling methods derived from French education system circa 1950) has a whole lesson per week devoted to "planning et methodologie". She is a fully paid up French bureaucrat in the making! I wouldn't mind but she still leaves her homework at home on a regular basis or forgets to do it in the first place! Congrats to your ds1 for his performance prize and hope you can find a baby-sitter (that the dc will tolerate) too!

Alice congrats on your productive day yesterday. It is far more important to 'do' than to post here! (SC looks shifty).

Glad to hear you are on the mend Humanordancer and Flying high by the look of your list!

Glad ds2 feeling better also Toffee! and congrats on very long list! (No wonder you don't have mental energy to call people back looking at everything you have done!)

Sorry to hear about your dd's headaches Eustacia that's awful. Perhaps connected to eyes??? (as Bitchy suggests.) Hope the doc can get to the bottom of it anyway.

Dizzy I am so sorry! I obviously meant your 'dd' looks so sweet in that costume (which is what comes from posting, half asleep, in a darkened room at 3am)!! You made a great job of that costume too!

You are doing brilliantly Patty from the look of your list! [Need to get stuff off my boudoir floor too - I don't know how it gets there really - it just accumulates )

I imagine a fun project is very welcome after all the stressful school campaigning Blue and ooohhh to free books!

Cyber >"Sink is clean ish, family is fed and laundry is more or less under control"> That counts as perfect Flying in my book! Seriously! Partic. on top of heavy work load. So don't be so hard on yourself!

Castle will you be able to finish your house before you move in, or will you finish it once installed?

EllieHope you are managing to rest!

YOu too Just!

Big waves to Giraffe and everyone else!

Thanks for all your kind words about Fri night. Found out yesterday that our lovely, responsible, office cleaner is able to baby-sit but dd wasn't happy at the prospect (baby-sitter only really speaks Spanish). However, fate has intervened miraculously and dd has simultaneously received a last minute nvitation to a birthday party involving a pizza restaurant followed by mini-disco at a friends house - so if I can organise all the taxi/baby-sitter pick-up/drop-off logistics - I should be able to make it to my concert after all! Fingers crossed!

Too ashamed to write out a list today because it is essentially the same as yesterday's. Hwk supervision yesterday took an age (French poetry good) followed by geometry (bad) and then spent far too long in Zara sale with dd supposedly picking out a birthday presnet for her friend, but in reality waiting while she looked through racks and racks of graphic t-shirts at Euros 2 a pop! (She eventually chose one after I had lost the will to live.)

Had better get cracking! Have a good day as possible everyone!

x posts

Thanks for lemon barley tip Patty much appreciated (I know where I can track it down here as it happens and if unavailable, will get some cranberry juice)

Hope the hosp can see your dd quickley Eustacia

Thanks Castle!

[Waves to Ellie again]

Great outfit [Dizzy]

< pint of cranberry juice for SC

Whinge alert:

I will have to supervise teeth brushing again as DD been drawing/scraping on the bathroom walls instead. She's such a stroppy little madam at the moment. We seem to have the same battle every day, getting ready for school, doing homework, listening. Half term nex week will be fun as DH has just grounded her.

And breathe. Sorry it's all petty.

Done
Beds
Washing up -DH cooked supper last night
Packed lunch
Laundry on
Windows

To do
General tidy up, not to big a deal
Make a casserole
Paperwork
Find my motivation

BBL

Where's the edit button! * fail

feel tired and cr**p this morning, have dropped ds2 off by car though!

tortuous lunchdate with two cousins cancelled with is something (so fed up with the contortions of other people's diaries), and just seeing lovely cousin No 1 for coffee at 11.30. She is coming to see my shiny new kitchen which is all of 10 months old, and she only lives two tube stops away...such is frantic pace of London life honestly no-one can fit anything in (although I have talked frequently to her on phone and visited her in her own house so at least we keep in touch)

It is very odd isn't it, how some people visit all the time, the ones who live miles away in outer mongolia/somerset/dublin/stokey, and the ones who live nearby often just never get round to making it a priority...somehow because it seems easy that it just never happens..

SC cranberry juice, and those sachets, and warm flannel underwear all help.

todo shinify kitchen
sink
worktops
laundry away
bins out
shine oven
deal with decaying rice pudding
clean out fridge of spilt milk
hoover floors downstairs
brush teeth

Flying in very briefly between school run and going to work.

To do

Get DS1 to learning centre
Go to work
Post office
Get cash
Tidy house before cleaner arrives
Work at home
OU work
Avoid returning yesterday's phone call again

dizzy - that is a very cute photo .

ellie - sorry you are still stuck in hospital. I hope they are looking after you well.

Ellie duckie, be patient. You want them to make the right decision. Frustrating and annoying it is waiting, the decision needs to be the right one.

I probably could order on line for the wool SC but i also need to go into the city to the primark as ds has grown again and needs some new clothes and I would like to have a few new clothes too (eg extra pairs of leggings to go under trousers for the cold weather etc). So it will wait until i feel well enough. I have a jumper that i started knitting when ds was a baby that still isn't finished so that can get done. Also there is a small matter of a zombie army that is half in creation and needs finishing. Plenty to do whilst lying in bed feeling yucky.

Love the sound of the knitted zombie army, Bitchy .

ta da

Get DS1 to learning centre massive fail
Go to work yep
Post office yep
Get cash yep (whilst ignoring bank balance)

Having lunch, then ...

Tidy house before cleaner arrives
Work at home
OU work
Avoid returning yesterday's phone call again
Also need to chase up DS1's diagnosis letter which is holding everything up

ta da

up, dressed, beds made
breakfast for me and dd
packed lunch for dd
walked dd to school
hoovered and de furred upstairs carpets
emptied hoover (finally) what a difference it makes!!
sprayed de mould stuff in hall

to do
go to shop to buy milk

Morning everyone (just!)

Ellie I do hope you get the answers you need soon.

SC Ouch.

Bitchy Hope you're feeling better soon (and a big belated thank you for starting off my fledge )

Eustacia I had bad headaches when my jaw wasn't quite in the right place. Braces were the answer for me.

Swan I find the same in London - I see my friend who lives ten minutes walk away less often than the ones 40 minutes away on the tube. I think it's less to do with not bothering than the knowledge that it doesn't need as much planning, and then life intervenes.

Ta da

Wash cushion covers and laundry basket (at last!)
Put away bulk shop
Reorganise under the sink
Write list

To do

Finish piece of work
Send off work
Wash up
Sink
Sweep
Mop
Hotspot
15 mins declutter
Kitchen tops
Generally whip myself into shape a bit before going out - wash hair etc. I know it will make me feel better (Oh, how I hear my mother's voice there )

Might do if I feel like it

Email I've been putting off since June for a while
Empty hoover - you've inspired me, not2!

Make that Afternoon!

thanks humanordancer.

I have a headcold and feel a bit pants. Plan to get on top of washing then all I really need to do for visitors is change bed and hoover so house obv isnt too bad.

thanks humanordancer.

I have a headcold and feel a bit pants. Plan to get on top of washing then all I really need to do for visitors is change bed and hoover so house obv isnt too bad.

Right I am going to set my timer for a 15 minute declutter....and reboot laundry. That's all I can manage tonight!

Evening all,

Thinking of you Ellie, Just & Human, hope you all start to feel better soon.

Done
Mantlepiece cleaned (finally!)
Side cleaned in kitchen
Made rhubarb & apple crumble
Collected DD from school
Walked in park
Supervised homework
Dinner
Washing up

I think the grounding this morning has made an impact, DD asked to be tested on times tables on our walk and then did her homework with no grumbling.

ta da

Tidy house before cleaner arrives done
Work at home nope
OU work done
Avoid returning yesterday's phone call again done
Also need to chase up DS1's diagnosis letter which is holding everything up decided to wait for a bit longer
Collected DS2 from his friend's house
Dinner
To pub with friend

Ok so I think I need to come back. i used to be part of fledge thread a few years back. The whole fly thing is a bit love/meh but it works.

I have people comming over next week (8days) and I am anxious I need to whip downstairs into shape like PDQ.

swish n swipe, swish n swipe

Big hello to thinking101!

Sorry to keep endlessly whinging, but I've felt ropier and ropier as day went on (temp, weak etc) so am just posting links now and will catch up with personals tomorrow. Hope everyone OK though!

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Baby-step no.7 for Fri 7th Feb, is a really essential one about laying out your clothes for the following day the night before.

This week, we are in zone 2: the Kitchen here.

Declutter for 15 mins a day in this zone.

Once you have decluttered, you can if you wish go on to [[http://www.flylady.net/d/zones/detailed-cleaning-zone-2/.
detailed cleaning]].

Friday's mission is: sweeping and mopping the kitchen floor.

The daily focus for Friday is: decluttering handbags and cars.

The monthly habit for February is: decluttering 15 mins a day.

A summary of the above plus reminders can be found here in the flight plan.

One more day to get through then it's the w/ell! Keep going everyone!

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