Building our bonfires with clutter, and cruising towards Christmas, it's the NOVEMBER fledgling Fly thread!

[Staringcoat]

Many of us have been here forever; it's the thread where we (loosely) follow the Flylady housekeeping system here to combat CHAOS (can't have anyone over syndrome) with a load of , chat and mutual support along the way. For that reason, we may seem cliquey, but we really aren't and all newcomers, lurkers, returnees, regulars, and intermittent regulars are hugely welcome!

We will be posting the baby-step and flight plan (which will point you towards the current zone and missions) on a daily basis, but don't hesitate to ask further questions about the system if you have any!

More information on getting started available here (containing baby-steps!).

And borrowing heavily (again!) from Hill's September introduction...

There are 4 levels for Flying:
-Baby steps - good for finding a routine in the tasks and getting over the perfection crippling effect
-Baby steps and missions - yep basic routine and more in depth tasks

• Baby steps, missions, and deep cleaning (if you are at that stage) - can't clean clutter so don't consider this one if you need the next level
• Flying combined with a decluttering system (kondo/unfuck etc etc) lets be honest fly lady is good for routine but not so quick with the decluttering results sometimes.

There is NO wrong or right way of doing this, it is about adapting the system to suit your life circumstances, which will be different from someone else's and don't be put off by the barftastically twee nature of the Flylady site, the underlying system is sound. Feel free to ignore any step or routine that doesn't sound you or your home! No perfectionism allowed!

And when it all gets too much: come and take a seat by the fire in our specially adapted "naughty" corner where you can enjoy virtual and and tangible support from fellow fledglings.

More info follows:

** launch pad (general info)

** daily babysteps pdf (ignore the ones that don't suit you or your home)

** week day missions (some fledglings find it easier to do them at weekends)

** [[http://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/flying-lessons/zones/
info about zones]] (explanation of how zones work)

** weekly zones (a rough weekly guide to which area of the house we are tackling currently, again adapt to suit yourself)

** daily focus (helpful guide to allocate a certain day for a certain task)

** deep cleaning lists pdf (only attempt when you have decluttered as you can't clean clutter!)

Good luck and happy Flying one and all!

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TUES 27 NOV
Baby-step: here
Flight plan: here
Super cruising mission 2: here

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Sorry, been AWOL again, I've just caught up with about a week's worth of the thread. Actually did some proper cleaning today, it has been bare minimum over the last few weeks. So tada!

Work
Home at lunchtine, DD had an INSET day so she had a duvet morning with a boxset, then we went out for lunch/shopping.
Home again. Got steam cleaner out.
Cleaned oven and grill, dishwasher door seals, cooker hood.

Bins out and in again.
Food delivery put away
Cat bowls and mat washed
Back doormat (turtle mat) washed
Sorted out PE kit for both DCs.

Christmas plans are coming along slowly. Not much shopping done yet (the DCs don't know what they want which doesn't help) but I am getting on with getting cards, wrap, non-perishable food etc.

The vomiting bug caught me 😰

Oh Cag 🤢😷😳

Oh no cag. Hope it's over quickly for you honey.damn kids and their germs

SC in your pjs with Ben fogle oh er missis,what will the neighbours have to say about that!!!!!!

Aaaaand guess who got three hours sleep and is awake againme and hormones are deffo fell out.lil zoo snoring on other sofa not helping.nor fact want a wee but if i move kits will cry pathetically til 5am breakfast.feed before and they'll want more at 5am

Hope you managed to have a wee zoo 😬 I’m currently debating how badly I need one as if I move I might throw up again 😳😂

Needless to say the house is beyond hovel status. Although I’m only just “sick” I’ve been really unwell the last few days, dizzy, palpitations etc. DH has been working and then catching up on laundry etc when home, he was sweeping the floor at 11pm yesterday.

cag oh no! I hope it goes quickly. Poor you

Dani that's great news re the decluttering! I go through stages of following fly lady really well then other times I get fed up and do something different!

I can hear the dc waking so need to finish my coffee and get started.

Good morning all!

Oh no Cag that sounds so miserable. Hope it passes quickly and that you can rest and recover quickly. And for Mr Cag. [Hands over mega pack Dettol.]

Hope you and the 🐱🐱got back to sleep Zoo.

I slept well but can't quite believe it as DD got up a couple of hours ago looking white as a sheet and feeling really ill. Looks like she now has the flu too 😞 and is off school. Disaster re:exams.

Lovely to "see" you Meet. [Sorry you came back to the thread on the day of one of my rants .]. for mega steam clean.

Great work last night I've!

Waves to Festive and to everyone else!

Hope those who are ill get well soon.🍇
Hope those who are fit have a productive day!

Well I finally had get up at 430 to pee,lil zoo was climbing on me crying throat hurt
She went back to sleep at 6 and I got up!
Maybe a nap day again today...

Tada
Wash on
Cats fed
Littertray and bins
Pack up for dd2
Breakfast for dd2
Check D's
Looks like I'm on mum duty again today

Wishing you strength and fortitude Zoo hang in there

for you Cag and Zoo - definitely a rest day needed.

Foxes I've been doing that for 10 years too!!
I only properly stopped trying bc was making a management plan with my occupational therapist. I committed to the "just" flylady with never more kind of in a pouty well that's all I can sustainably manage, doctor's orders, and DH will have to pick up the slack. I was NOT expecting this to gradually happen!! The sink has been shiny overnight 2 full months which is definitely a record here. And the house is decluttered. That has never ever happened. Areas and rooms etc have been and have gradually slipped back. Never the whole house. And the missions are keeping it that way at the moment - like I did the flykid mission in DS room yday the one he's slept in never which was get rid of 10 things, I managed 7 bits of clothes that no longer fit him properly and packing from a puzzle. So 8 things. Everything else is need/use/love.

Oh and the past couple of weeks 15 month DS has started saying "beep beep... DONE!" Lol lol

dani that's super cute!

Not got anywhere with my list.i did bad mum thing and gave them both devices(not allowed normally if off I'll) so I could sneak in my nap...guess better get up and fix us some lunch/try get D's to eat something

How are you feeling now Zoo? Glad you got your nap.

Ta da:

• me and baby showered without drama
• swish and swipe
• laundry
• kitchen clean after breakfasts
• more wrapping
• braved messy play at soft play
• currently lay down with sleeping DS about to read a feel good festive novel haha (or hoho)

MIL treated us to drinks and snacks at soft play and had a 10 minute catch up with friends whilst DS went off with her for a bit which was nice.

To do:

• detail vacuum living room
• more wrapping
• prep dinner
• decoration hunt (bits are missing, I've either missed a bag in the loft or I may have stuffed things in the tree box last year. Need to investigate)

Sadly Dani I've woken up with pain behind my right eye/thru face/back neck and period from hell starting up...Chuck in feeling of helpessness watch zoolets struggling and I'm sliding down into the depressed abyss....
If I fall off thread a few days that'll be why

Oh no zoo hope you all feel better soon. So much illness around at the moment. Even at the orthodontist all the staff were talking about how many of them had been off sick recently. (The nurse that did my X ray was saying she'd had a sickness bug so that made me feel a little nervous of getting it!!)

Orthodontist was fine but they've had to reschedule the actual brace fitting for January. But at least I've got the first appointment out the way and it was so quick I even got to join my mum and ds at the cafe for 🍰!

Glad you had a nice time at soft play Dani

Ta da
Dishwasher emptied
Dishwasher on
Washing folded and put away
Washing on
Hoovered downstairs including under all the furniture
Dh hoovering upstairs now
Decluttered ds t shirts and trousers / shorts
Orthodontist appointment
Picked up parcel from toy shop
Meal plan for next week
Online food shop for next week
Cooked dinner - Chinese style chicken curry and rice (Just about to serve up)

It didn't stop raining today we got soaked on the school run ☔

Loads of people here ill too atm. Colleagues in the office, friends' DC, classmates and teachers of DD. Dh, DD and me seem to be taking it in turns! It is a bit debilitating tbh when you think everyone is finally on the mend.

So sorry you are feeling so rough Zoo. Do take care and put yourself first a bit if you can, and do what you have to do so you feel in a better place

Great list Foxes! I' m not surprised you are worried about catching something, I would be too! Bit of a shame that the brace-fitting was postponed when you had the childcare in place too. But glad you had !

Aw at your ds Dani with his beeping! Flylady likes to recruit 'em young . Again, it's interesting what you wrote about the system as I'm generally ok with routines and steps but not so much with decluttering part and like Foxes have on and off phases! Must try and be more consistent. I am sure consistency is the key.

Speaking of which today was definitely a a meh "off" day. Felt a bit panicky/rabbit in headlights. Two separate family issues are not helping with planning; why is Christmas always so difficult from this pov? (Sigh.)

Still, I unleashed my angst on some office admin and persuaded a client who hadn't settled a bill from 2015 to finally get his cheque book out. CFs the lot of them!

Weary wing flaps to all!

Dani DS so cute. Great to hear that. It does seem more doable and I found bathroom really quick though I do clean basin, shower, toilet twice a week I found the other bits weren’t so messy.
However the rest of our house is awful. I have just about given up at the moment. The dust from joinery work is horrible and making me cough. I will be without water for another week (downstairs) but I have a lovely shiny new sink ...it just isn’t plumbed in!

SC I too having been watching that programme as we were put in Special Measures from Good in July. I’ve been in tears again yesterday and today. I work so hard and I had someone critise a special programme I run. The children definitely benefit from it and it was scrapped today on her say so. She knew nothing about it.
I am so close to throwing the towel in. I don’t think my mental health can stand much more. My GP is away just now but was concerned how stressed I was weeks ago. It improved and now this. I’m not well at the moment either as I have diverticulitis which flares every now and then. I think it is aggravated by not drinking or eating enough and of course stress. I am not going in tomorrow and wish I hadn’t gone today. It also seems some people are more valued ( popular ) than others. I know it is silly but a bouquet was bought for someone and it upset me because I didn’t get so much as a card for my special birthday.
I think I am just feeling low which is a shame as last week I was feeling so much better.
I have the fire on now and think I might get pjs on.
I think I will spend the day making cards, writing and posting them. That would be a good plan and put a Christmas film on. I don’t think any of the kitchen fitters are coming tomorrow unless the work top guy comes to measure. We have always had Formica but we have order verde Lara which is green and a rose hue on one slice. I hope we have done the right thing. I walked in to get a biscuit and it looks and feels like I have walked into someone else’s house.
Sorry for long post. I seem to save it up.

I hope the I’ll families get better soon. Sorry to hear you are amongst it Cags. We have had kids throwing up at school.

NOV 28 NOV
www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-28/
www.flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=-60
www.flylady.net/c/holidaycruise.php

Sorry to hear so many are struggling ATM.

Bower - my DCs benefitted hugely from interventions from people like you through their primary school years (one is dyslexic, one dyspraxic/Aspergers). It makes me feel so frustrated on your behalf hearing how your school treat you when you are undoubtedly helping children who really need it .

Zoo - sorry things have got so hard again and you feeling so unwell too, you sound like an amazing mum. Hope you get a decent sleep tonight.

SC - hope DD feels better soon and that Christmas plans get sorted.

Cag - hope you and the Caglets feel better soon too.

Dani your Flylady results are really inspiring! I've been flapping around on this thread for the best part of 10 years and have still never really got the whole house decluttered, well done!

Not much on the tada list today, I had a full day at work and then ferrying DCs around early evening, driving around country lanes in awful weather, must have driven about 40 miles today. We all ended up watching I'm a Celeb later. I did manage a quick visit to the supermarket, one load of dirty washing (entirely composed of DS's smelly sports kits) and a few emails.

Sorry for basic links below and not responding to Bower & Meet tablet playing up; will sort in morning when it's fully charged!

Husband off on work trip out of country til Monday. Looking forward to a spot of cleaning while he's away. Busy week ahead.

Wing flaps to all, especially those suffering sickness. That's most of you unfortunately...

Just so we can declare "full house" the dog now has tummy trouble. Ah to be sure it's delightful to be on my hands and knees at 2.45 am with bottles of Dettol and rubber gloves scrubbing bits of rugs in my nightie

Btw Bower try not to worry too much about the kitchen. Big new features always look strange in an empty space until everything has been fitted, the contents have been put back, and what seemed very predominant and "out there" sort of settles back in to the background with everything else ifyswim. I am sure it will be lovely when it's all finished!

SC it looks lovely so far just a bit worried if the work top doesn’t look right as it is expensive. We never spend money like this so it is worrying me a bit. It is just so cold and wet here and the mess is getting me down. Everywhere you look is kitchen stuff....except in the kitchen! They have boxed in the pipes beautifully much,much nicer than before. The other kitchen was in 30 years so it is weird to look through and see this. The lads are great. In another week it should be nearly finished. I have lots of tools and equipment in there.

So sorry to hear the dog is now puking. At least Dhorse won’t be. It is always the other end with them eheh just remembered what foals skitters smelt like!

Woken up feeling much better in my mind just hope stomach settles today or I will have to see a GP.
Think I will get up and tackle some cleaning. If I get sitting room done then I will relax more. It is mainly piles of random crap on a small table. Post etc. Think I will have a foot soak day too as it will be relaxing and. It will de clutter a small bag of bath salts. Have a magazine to look at too. It sounds grim outside. Windy and wet. Hope fire is still on.

Zoo join me in a ‘caring for me ‘ day!

meet I didn’t realise this thread had been going that long😬 I find the de cluttering hard. I need to be more ruthless. Was it you that had a Everhot?

Ta da yesterday
Changed sheets.
Vacuumed downstairs, before work.
Lugged wood in ,lit fire, swept hearth.
Dried some washing.
Looked at shiny sink( they brought the wrong one but I like it).

Today’s plan
Make bed. Get dressed into comfy trews.

for goodness sake it bloody disappeared.
ClearPile of RC
Sort sitting room.

Might pop back in later to talk to you lovely people. Hope things improve for everyone today. Stay cosy. Sounds horrible outsibde wet and windy.