New Start November - in which the Friendly Fledglings Flutter and Fly!

[Cagliostro]

Hi all!

Welcome to a brand new month in which we (in a very casual way) follow the FlyLady method to try and banish CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome), and to declutter in order to remove an excess of STUFF (Something That Undermines Family Fun).

A daily BabyStep, plus missions, daily focuses and weekly zones break our time into manageable chunks - all helped by lots of supportive chat and a Naughty Corner stocked with goodies.

All welcome!

[Sorry - that turned out to be a bit of an essay ]

Haha SC I am anything but very organized!

Can't believe Christmas is in 34 days! Ordered a few more of the dcs presents this morning. Currently in a limbo state of have they got enough? Will the piles look fair?

I never new wm designed to do that I thought it was just what happened! Think after this box of tabs I might go back to powder.

Ta Da

Breakfast pots washed
Steriliser filled
Dryer empty
Dryer reloaded
Washer on

Urgh I used the wrong kind of knew/new

Well the end of the week took a huge dive despite the house being glorious on Wednesday... housing officer came out Thursday, she came into the lounge, asked if there were any problems and then told us that our tenancy will be upgraded to lifelong in December (which means I can change the sodding doors!!) and then went, she was here literally 2 minutes! she didn't even peek around the house! The younger 2 ds' have decluttered to their best ability, although I could have cried when I saw they were sending their horrible histories and ben 10 collection to charity. Some books look like they've never been read so I've schpocked them.
They have also given away 2 shopping bags full of toys, and one of clothes, although I dont think ds3 has quite got the hang of decluttering clothes, he seems to have donated the clothes that he couldnt be bothered to put away.

In other news 90% of Christmas shopping has been done, just a few bits left now, so I will be encorporating 15 min gift wrap into my evening routine.

ta da today
loaded and unloaded dishwasher
ds1 and 3 took rubbish and recycling out
washed some pots
lamb in slow cooker
fetched ds1s meds
went to do a bit of food shopping
Took freebie to friend
wiped sides
put shopping away
done a load of washing

Unfortunately owing to ds2 and 3s pit of a bedroom I now have not only a full wash basket but also a full to the brim sleeping bag. Not happy. I think i may need to do some decluttering of my own.

"I dont think ds3 has quite got the hang of decluttering clothes, he seems to have donated the clothes that he couldnt be bothered to put away."

Sorry, but I couldn't help cackling at this a bit Scuttl!! but you have my sympathies re: washing pile. I've only done laundry two out of the usual six days this week and I can't believe the size of the back-log (and there are only three of us). It's dh's shirts and the sports kit that gets me down as no sooner have you sent them off washed and ironed, than they return ready for washing again. So demoralising ... .

Good news about inspection and lifelong upgrade and doors though!

Oh well, my hopes for a cosy family Sunday afternoon in front of an old film have been crushed somewhat. DD (having been happy all morning) is in a horrible foul strop over homework and, having rejected all offers of help, is now saying that she has a bad headache and feels ill [sigh]. Dh has (understandably) declared himself exhausted and gone to bed. And I, having decided to cook a Greek beef stew dish thing for supper, was confronted with a huge pile of mess covering the kitchen surfaces following dh's attempts at cooking brunch [thanks dh]. So have just spent the last hr emptying dw, cleaning bin, shining sink, sweeping floor. And I haven't started cooking yet. Oh well ... .

I am now feeling too irritated to slob out so might as well go and put the angst to good use and go and polish shoes or tidy boudoir or something. Harrumph ... .

Afreshstart well your lists look very organised indeed and anyone who manages to do any Flying at all with 4 dc (inc babe in arms) has my full respect!

SC wowee that sounds so busy, I read your first post thinking that you definitely deserve a restful day and then read your second post and groaned on your behalf that it has been scuppered! On the plus side a bit of an irritated clean always produced very good results for me so you'll have a sparkly house ready for next week!

scutt I am also smiling at your ds decluttering things he can't be bothered to put away!! I can totally sympathise with that as I've often opened a cupboard and thought it would be easier to throw the entire contents into a bin liner...

I'm hopeful my mastitis/ plugged duct or whatever the heck it is has cleared up, feeling so much better so fingers crossed. I am also getting much more sleep now as ds has started sleeping through the night...I can't quite believe it, he is only 11 weeks old...I'm sure things will change again but for the moment I'm enjoying a decent night's sleep (although I am being woken up by leaky boobs most nights so that's both annoying and very attractive...joys of motherhood).

Ta das
DIshwasher on
Washing on
Washing put away
Washing hung up
All ironing done - hurrah!
Decluttered a few old clothes

To do
Dinner!

As for Christmas...can it really be that soon?! I have done a lot of my shopping already but hadn't even thought about wrapping yet, haven't even bought the paper. Or cards - argh!

Why thank-you SC, I'm glad I atleast appear organized on here! Although none of you can actually see my mess and chaos!

Awww thanks SC! Was a big achievement to pass (as it took me a long time to get to that point). Will stop being hard on myself :). Sounds as if you have done an awesome job too.

Well done to everyone else - you all sound very productive!

Ta da:-

DH took DD2 out so I had a rare day with just DD1. She went to her gymnastics competition (DD2 would have been very bored) and I got to sit and relax and watch! Very proud of her for taking part - they all got a medal for trying :). Then took her shoe shopping and was very pleased with myself until got boots home and saw massive glue stain on them. Will have to take back which is annoying. At least should be able to swap or reorder.
DDs in bath
Eaten tea and dishwasher on

To do:-
DD2's thank you cards - will have to finish these as really should have sent them by now
Calendar check - have identified two diary clashes already today - this time of year is so busy!
5 mins sorting something out for my course.
Before bed routine.
Must start to think about Christmas!

DD1's thank you cards I mean! Although at this rate it will be DD2's birthday in February before I have them sorted.

SC glad to hear there is progress, and well done on trilingual negotiations! I only have to write/communicate in English most of the time and could never manage sustained business deals in my other langs. Sorry to hear about angst though, and grr on your behalf. Do you really iron sports kit??!

at good news and DC decluttering efforts, Scuttl

Glad you're feeling better, Foxes.

Waves to everyone else. Not much flying happening here, but had a good Sunday dinner, despite stress of almost serving raw meat...

Am getting absolutely eaten alive by some kind of biting creatures though. Most things ought to be dead at this time of year, so have horrible fear that the kitten left a parting gift in the furniture or carpets. Erk!!

Ta das:

Shined sink
Swept kitchen floor
5 mins hotspots
3 lots sheets etc washed dried and back on beds

Well done on productivity everyone. I had a good chuckle at the decluttering clothes he can't be bothered to put away too.
I'm totally in the naughty corner. Completely overwhelmed by work, it's been flat out all week and ive worked solidly over the weekend and I'm still massively behind. Flying is out the window. Got the DC to wash up - bits still left on the plates and pots ignored
Not sure whether I will have time to get back on track this week either.

Been away for 10 days leaving 19 year old DS on his own. Let's just say I don't think any flying was done 😞 Still washing machine on for the first of many loads and sink cleared so hopefully I can catch up this week in the basics even if decluttering may have to wait.

Sorry, will do the links properly in an hour or so, here is a quick link to the flight plan to see what is coming up today.

Hello lovely Fledglings! I've banned myself from spending ages reading long threads as I still need to be productive (somehow). But thought I may as well do links since I'm here, hope you're ok Cotswold

Monday is Home Bleugh!
Baby step 21 read the Q&A not sure any of us do that as we all just ask each other instead :o :o
Mission here get under your bed!

Oooh look I'm actually in the correct zone, the boudoir! (and DH did declutter under the bed what he could reach of it anyway by sheer coincidence) Maybe because it is the worst - normally all our panic tidying is due to having pupils or playdates and we always shove everything in the boudoir and shut the door :o

Anyway I haven't been feeling too well this week, everything is somewhat getting on top of me, but this morning we did manage a reasonable amount of stuff. Recycling bin is getting filled up mighty quickly and we're throwing lots away, and trying to gather books together to put in boxes and suchlike.

Wingflaps to all x

Thanks cag sorry to hear you're not feeling great , take it easy.

Ta das
Dishwasher on
Two loads of washing done
Hoovered downstairs
Cleaned downstairs toilet
Mopped downstairs
Tidied living room
Made cakes with dd
Made dinner
Wiped kitchen sides
Emptied upstairs bins
Decluttered a kitchen cupboard
Cleaned fridge out

I have felt quite productive today which is first time in a while! Hope it continues tomorrow as the house looks better for it and I feel better for it.

Hello to everyone hope you're all okay. Off to eat some cake I think!

Hi everyone. Another called of the wagon!!

Dd2 drop Fri with a cold that degenerated into a spectacular sealion bark with purple face and every thing,so not much sleep here so chores have but the mounting dust
sc well done
too stressygood work
afreshas always impressed his much you do with wee one.11weeks already?time is flying by
cag hope you feel better soon
I'm sure I've forgotten some if you.depression makes my sieve head turn to colander,so apologies to anyone I've not mentioned

34days(less now) til xmas

Heavens to Betsy!!

Christmas indeed approacheth! I made a stupid mistake earlier, didn't put the delivery up high in the cupboard and I'm pretty sure DD saw it - thankfully it's not a Santa present (it's a microscope from my dad).

I've spent basically all day in the boudoir sorting out random crap. YAWN!

Hugs to all xx

Evening all, been out today and done the last few bits of xmas shopping, still have to get out of stock bits but I'm sure thats the last of it.

Feeling a bit irritated with dp tonight but its a bit trivial to post in aibu, also I'm pretty sure I am. So saturday we did xmas shopping together, not a problem, but neither of us could be bothered to cook so he ordered pizza, sunday he came in at around 9 am from work n went to bed, I got up went shopping cleaned kitchen cooked a meal for every one and tried to tacled the washing, whilst still watching kids, he got up around 1, folded some clothes and put them in bags and played for the rest of the day on computer, apart from when i asked him to chop the meat and make the gravy, he got a bit huffy about that, but didnt really say anything just seemed huffy iyswim.
Then today I have been out all day, he normally gets up around 12, but has done absolutely nothing but computer stuff again. tonight he fed the kids a quick out of the tin meal, and continued to play on the computer. He told me he'd got some help on a game he was playing, I was busy in the other room prepping some books for tomorrow, and said oohhh i wish i had some help. And he replied with "i've helped you no end with your books" which is what irritated me, didn't say anything as its petty but just thought he's having a bit of a laugh really, I've completely dealt with xmas apart from Saturday, and its some of his money used to pay for it. Although I do think i owe him a bit for being the rock when my head wasnt right. sorry for venting, It is all a bit trivial really.

Anyway dont have many ta das, and I'm out again tomorrow.

zoo I think you may have blended myself and foxes! She has an 11 week old, my baby is almost 5 weeks. I'll let you off though, and I am so stealing the expression of sieve head to colander!

Minimal stuff done here today, have done more in past two hours than all day TBH! In past two hours I have

Sterilised bottles
Quick tidy bedroom
Two wash loads
One load dry
Dry washing upstairs (not put away)
Half pots washed
Table and worktops clean

Now in bed catching up on I'm a celeb and telling myself tomorrow I'll do more!

scuttled helping pay for it isn't same as stress going sort it my love.I don't think you are be unreasonable.I'd be annoyed he on computer playing whilst I do chores. but I admit I am a fishwife harpy so may not be best for taking advice from

Gah freshapologies.
These days I spent s lot time not knowing if I on my elbow or my teapot

My mum came round today and commented that the house was 'unusually tidy' - backhanded compliments her speciality!

Ta das -

Shined sink
Swept kitchen floor
5 mins hot spots
10 mins bathrooms
Hoovered sitting room
Mopped kitchen and downstairs loo floor
2 loads laundry on