June 2014: half way through the Flying year, fledglings get themselves in gear!

[slackcabbage]

Heartfelt and huuuumungous thanks to Goth for being such a superlative, consistent and professional thread leader throughout May (and wow to all those fantastic round-ups every night).

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 and along the way.

Flylady link here.

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):

1. start or repeat baby steps

1. repeat baby steps + do 15 mins a day decluttering in the current zone

1. 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!

Three key 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.

If you are new then trying to spend 15mins decluttering and the babysteps is the most. Some of us (mentioning no names!) can have scary looking lists but don't let that worry you! Do what you can, anything is better then nothing, and don't judge yourself against others.

If all else fails, a + the power of three technique + a bit of support on here can work wonders!

Oh and don’t let it put you off if we appear a bit cliquey – some of us have been on here for years – but all lurkers, oldies and newcomers very very welcome!

Going to post links for tomorrow now and may or may not BBL!

What a beautiful picture Goth!

Eugh at early start tomorrow Mummmy

Cheers Alice; looks like you have been v. productive despite having 1 ds at home!

Nap obviously did the trick bitchy! Envy your ds being able to run around the hills! Sounds fantastic! Can't wait to get dd to some green fields in the summer ... .

Have a good evening everyone!

**

Hi everyone! I have been "doing" flylady since last September but have just found this MN thread. Do you mind if I join in?

Also, v glad to see that I am not the only one who finds some of the language on the website a bit . My sister (who first introduced me to the website) apparently finds it "inspirational", which made me feel like a cynical so-and-so...

***

Tomorrow's baby-step no. 3, for Tues 3 June is here is to do what you have already started ie shine sink and get dressed to shoes and familiarise yourself with Flylady website.

We are in Zone 1 all this week: Entrance, Front Porch & Dining Room here

Declutter in Zone 1 for 15 minutes a day!

Just realised I forgot to link the detailed cleaning list for Zone 1 (for the people that are at that stage) here!.

Tomorrow's mission can be found here. Tackle "hot spots" in all the zone rooms ie any piles of paper/clutter/shoes or anything that shouldn't be there. If you have lots to do, then set timer for 15 mins in each room.

Tuesday's daily focus is: planning ie planning holidays, menus, medical appointments, wardrobe etc etc.

The monthly habit for June is drinking more water.

To summarise the above, Tuesay's flight plan can be found [[http://www.flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=-120 here]] and will update itself on a daily basis.

A warm welcome Veryseriousgirl!! Yes, I'm afraid we are not very fond of Flylady's "purple prose puddles"!! Very cynical lot here I'm afraid!!

Ha - yes! It makes it so hard to share with people. "So, I found this website that has a really pragmatic, useful approach to tackling housework. Have a look! Just try to ignore the fact that it's written by someone who may possibly have wall-papered their house in Lisa Frank prints..."

Hello veryseriousgirl, why on earth did I google Lisa Franks, that is scary. Must remember to NEVER google stuff from MN Cynisim is under-rated

SC looking for smoldering hot spots is very apt here, I've just aged the 1st batch of maps for Wednesday, and all I can smell is burning paper from where we scorched the edges.

I'm overwhelmed by how much everyone has done today

SC potatoes are ready when they flower. However, mine were not quite flowering and they had some whoppers, but lots of little ones were not rounded out yet, so I could have probably taken mine own advice and left them a bit longer, like July/August... Tbh the pot was in a very central position and was looking a bit odd, various people were saying why are you growing potatoes next to the geraniums

Goth wow at the allotment/croft.

done
shopping for food (still epic fail on the internet groceries)
tennis
bus
tutor
wiped table
mashed potatoes to go with fish pie base
ds2 delightful, he is so good at tennis now, and very cuddly on bus home
dd in a sulk (hates ds2 being better than her at games) stat pointedly on the top deck
dd now in good mood though and admittedly has been v helpful sorting out all her stuff, which boys never do.

dh is still ill. But we are enjoying lying on the bed next to him and chatting, certainly more restful than being told off for having no food in the fridge

Chinese, wine and Sherlock boxset. I luffs my DMIL.

Back to flying tomorrow.

All I did today was buy food for the week and unload the dishwasher!

DD decided to practice handstands in the garden after school, which resulted in a crashing fall and a 3.5 hours wait in A&E. She has done some soft tissue damage to her left foot that should heal reasonably quickly. As we were hours too late for it to be x-rayed, the Doc said he would leave a note on file so that if it seems to get worse in the next few days we can go back and get in to be seem pretty quickly. We grabbed a McD for her afterwards - as she was "starving" - and then virtually straight to bed with some Calpol and a pillow to put her foot on.

No PE for her this week, but he said swimming should be OK if she feels up to it as it is non-loadbearing.

one child off to school with packed lunch
two PE kits prepared out of the chaos,even found the rugby boots which I had made the mistake of putting away somewhere
ds2 Maths homework by himself

two left to go..ds2 has been playing Fantasy Football but appears to be in a good mood.

Dizzy ouch, and handstands seem such an innocent pasttime don't they. Hope she is alright.

Dh is worse today, hacking cough and weakness

oh dear, spoke too soon; ds2 had a meltdown over his shoe which he said had a bit sticking out inside which was hurting him. I used some plasters to try and solve the problem but I cannot drive him today without the tax disc!! They have both left the building now thank goodness. Ds1 looked like a bear that had come out of his cave

todo
put cereal away
dd books back in her room
sort out horror landing, the pile of unwashed clothes is creeping towards the pile of washed clothes and trying to create mutant laundry
internet food
buy ds2 new shoes and deliver to school by lunchtime, as promised

DMIL is leaving in about an hour

Still, got a playdate straight after to take DS' mind off granny leaving. So, today I need to... I have no clue!

I think there will be

• bed washing (linen, not the whole thing!)
• clothes washing
• tidying up

I'll see how the day goes!

on the bar for those in need!

Oh dear Swan, hope you can catch your breath first.

Quick post as need to get loads of work done today:
Ta da:

• Run and shower
• All up and out
• Washing on
• Washing up done (by DH so still a few bits left )
• Shopping for bits

To Do:

• WORK
• Hang washing on airer as forecast is rubbish
• Defrost dinner for DC
• Fill and ice coffee cake in time for school pick-up as promised :)
• Start to make apricot jam (with 'free' apricots from the £1 a bowl fruit and veg man :))
• Make more ratatouille to freeze

That is more than enough as I should be spending most of the time working!

Enjoy you Tuesday everyone :)

I also have lots of work to do today feet after doing none yesterday.

To do
make beds
dw
hoover and dust downstairs
ss bathroom
kitchen table hot spot
wipe kitchen sides
hour of reading
lunch at dmums
half hour work
pick dc up
hour work
make dinner
reassess to do

bbl

Well today was supposed to have a busier feel than it currentl has. Turns out ds is very tired and just happy to chill out. Which has been a bonus as burnout caught up with me and I have struggled at bit to get up.

So far ta da has consisted of:
Cooked breakfasts
lie in
read some of the book reading to ds
take stock of crochet projects
some crocheting

On the to do list is:
change battery in the kitchen clock
laundry
finish ds' room
finish hoovering car
finish off crochet project 1
start project 4 so there are no little bits haning about
work on project 2 cos it bored me and i want to get rid of it
work on project 3 because it has dropped a load of wool off the ball and cba trying to put it back so might as well use it.
consider tackling the plant in the back garden

finish of

Ok so I have:

• Done some work
• Defrosted dinner for DC
• Had lunch (yummy leftovers from last night :))
• Filled and iced the coffee cake
• Started to make apricot jam

Need to

• WORK
• Hang washing on airer (still )
• Put vast quantities of reduced priced gnocchi in freezer
• Take stuff to bank
• Get key cut
• Collect DC
• DD into shower (school swimming this pm), homework, early dinner, DH to Beavers, DS to Cubs
• Make choc and banana cake (lots of eggs from chicken-sitting at w/e :))
• Bag up marzipan cake in freezer
• More ironing

Best get on then!

Good grief. I'm so SO tired! I'm feeding baby to sleep and I can feel my feet swelling up because I genuinely haven't sat down all day. Work tomorrow for a well earned rest. Figuratively speaking.

So.
Dark wash hung out
Maintenance wash for the machine
White wash on
Playgroup
Made lunch and cleared up
Park
Made tea for DC and a beef casserole and pork tagine
Packed nursery bags for the next three days
Sorted clothes for next three days.

I then did a bedroom blitz and have a whole dustbin bag of clothes for charity and another for the textile bin. I now have far far fewer clothes but having also put away all my maternity clothes I'm hoping I'll dress better and finally shift the last bit of weight.

Still to do after baby goes down.
Hang out white wash
Water garden and veg patch
My 30min on the bombsite of the front room. I figure if I do just a little bit every night then I can eventually get on top of it.

Put away toys

Evening! [Snaffles some of Feetheart's delicious coffee cake]

Hope you enjoy the gnocchi-fest Feetheart! You've certainly been busy chef-ing today! (Does ratatouille freeze successfully btw? Have wanted to freeze it in the past - for some reason I always end up making bath-size quantities - but have hesitated doing so because of high water content.)

Bit weary tonight. Out of the house/on my feet all day. Very sad case involving elderly lady at parish vestiare who has not one remaining friend or relative alive She can't see and can barely hear. Social (health) care v. good here but social isolation more difficult to solve.

Hope you are all OK! Some very long lists being declared!

Hope your daughter's foot recovers soon Dizzy and doesn't impede the swim training too much!

Love the sound of your treasure maps with the burnt edges Goth

Wish I hadn't googled Lisa Frank veryseriousgirl!!

Arf at potentially mutant laundry Swan Sorry your dh feeling worse.

Glad you could profit from a less active day than anticipated Bitchy. and good luck juggling the crochet projects!

Eyelet hope your little one had some shut eye, enabling you to get a few chores done (or get a bit of shut eye yourself).

Big waves to Carpe Mercury Pushme Engels Castle Honu
Ellie Blue DroitwichMummy Toffee Whoknows Alice and anyone I've missed out.

Has anyone seen or heard anything of Just recently btw?

x post

YOu've done brilliantly today Eyelet but do take it steady - slow steps and all of that!!

all round, and

I have now three days of being out of the house 7.30am - 9pm, DH flies solo those days and so I won't get anything done around the house. This weekend I've allocated Saturday for a deep clean as we have friends over on Sunday.

Baby is asleep for now, off to do my front room blitz!

**

Tomorrow's baby-step no. 4, for Wed 4 June is the somewhat 'meh' one about doing what we have already been doing, and then reminding ourselves about it with post-it notes stuck everywhere. Can do without it tbh. The theory is that it's the beginning of your control journal.

We are in Zone 1 all this week: Entrance, Front Porch & Dining Room here.

Declutter in Zone 1 for 15 minutes a day!

Or, here's the detailed cleaning list here for those at that stage.

And/or tomorrow's mission can be found here. Remove finger prints and smudges from walls and windows in dining room.

Wednesday's daily focus is: anti-procrastination. Do something you have been avoiding like cleaning out the ruddy hamster.

The monthly habit for June is drinking more water.

To summarise the above, Wednesday's flight plan can be found [[www.flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=-120 here]] and will update itself on a daily basis.

G'night all!

***

Good luck with room blitz Eyelet but give yourself a time limit and then sit down and eat some of that lovely yourself!

good grief Eyelet you are wonder woman,I don't think I would get as much as that done, even with 3 kids in school..

done
bought walking shoes for ds1 for his hike
bought new shoes for ds2 and dropped them at his school
bought myself some new shoes which fit and don't give me blisters and aren't trainers
bought dd some new underwear she requested
bought supper ingredients
cooked supper
put out rubbish
cooked baked apricots/bananas/apples in orange juice and sugar
cooked shortbread
potatoes/steak/salad for supper
cleared up supper
wiped worktops
exercise whilst out shopping (buses)
short nap
more walking to pick up ds2 at 3.30 to check he had shoes
ds2 bath

ds1 got 22 out of 60 in his RE test but a better mark than he was expecting in Spanish. Ds2 got 78 out of 100 in his RE. Percentages anyone????

Evening all.

ta da
work including drama club, marked a few bits and pieces and wrote atest in free period
washing up
one group of radio play marking in front of james bond

tomorrow is a full on teaching day and I still have a set and a half of marking to do. and mor things due this week

I'll get there!

Hmmm i think i am going to need a list for tomo.

Wednesday's to do list
laundry
pop up to the shops for the missing bits needed for breakfast
put ds' clothes away
declutter the lounge
hoover the lounge
finish hoovering the car
sort out ds' training kit
confirm thursday's plans
sort out letter writing stuff for doing whilst ds is training
Cook up proper breakfasts
get ds into the fresh air
take out the recycling
check on the plants that are outside
plant up sweetpeas if weather permitting
clean the bathroom
declutter the landing
hoover landing
sort some paperwork out ? this can be dropped if time short
Tidy ds' room up
clean ds' room
ds to training
finally fix the broken wing mirror
check oil and fluids of car
find the paperwork that needs phoning through and dealing with
check emails and online stuff
find student loan company stuff so can contact them for some info I will probabaly regret this but i think i need to know anyway

Thursday ds has a friend to play which means that I can prep for the weekend activities so that I have friday spare for doing stuff with ds. I am still caffine free and with it comes the having to admit that I am human but equally a slight clarity of mind. Which is both enlightening but also depressing with clarity comes realisation of the entire situation. It is a little over whelming but as during the last/ first step back from caffine (which lasted over a week) I made progress on starting to deal with some of the stuff this means that I have already started an inroad into a long and quite fretful journey. My mind is currently working on a plan whilst I am watching limitless. It is both nice and terrifying. I can't promise that there is not going to be a lot of posting of long lists. Long bitchy style lists. 3 rooms of stacked stuff that need dealing with. Potentially 3 rooms of stuff that needs culling. So may the fun and mayhem begin. I think i am beginning to formulate a plan for the weekend. And it is going to take a lot of focus, but perhaps with a planned distraction or two for a reward for the hard slog. You have been warned. Bring on the bitchy style lists...