Cherry waves hello to November 2019. Fledgling Flylady thread for all.[smile]

[Ghoulette1740]

Welcome to the November Flylady thread Fledglings! All are welcome here. A few of us have been around a while but everyone, newbie and lurking, is welcome to join in.

This is my first time running the thread so I hope other fledglings will alert me when I’ve got things confused or if I’ve left something out!! A busy month for us all with the holiday season looming next month…

Very simply Flylady is a zone-based cleaning system which we loosely follow. Everyone is different and has different rooms and life demands. There are five zones and at the beginning and the end of the month we usually straddle Zone 1 and zone 5.
(amend rooms to suit your house – I do the living and dining room together as it’s all one room in my house)
November
Zone 1 Hall, entrance/dining room (Fri 1 – Sat 2)
Zone 2 Kitchen (Sun 3- Sat 9)
Zone 3 Bathroom and another room (Sun 10- Sat 16)
Zone 4 Master bedroom/closet (Sun 17 – sat 23)
Zone 5 Living room (Sun 24 – Sat 30)

Pop onto the Flylady website to have a closer look but signing up for emails will probably lead to very many landing in your inbox. Also there has been some concern about securely downloading pdfs from the site. here

Flylady has an introductory scheme for newbies called Babysteps which is a light 31 day introduction to the system – dressing to shoes, shining your sink etc. What I like about Flylady is her emphasis on self care, her abhorrence of perfectionism and her adage that you’re never being behind in the system - just jump in. No need to completely clean your house before you start – phew! here

There is a morning routine and an evening routine to keep things ticking over and a weekly home cleaning hour to change bed sheets, mop, hoover, take out rubbish etc. The system isn’t brilliant for major decluttering so you might want to supplement with Kondo or another decluttering system. Flylady doesn’t want us cleaning all day so she is very keen on using a timer. Clean then stop!
In addition each day has a purpose: see the daily focus here

Monday: Weekly home cleaning hour (can be split into ten minute sections and spread over week) here
Tuesday: Plan and play (Menu planning, family event planning)
Wednesday: Anti-procrastination day
Thursday: Errand day
Friday: Clear out bags, fill car with petrol, date night
Saturday: Family fun
Sunday: Lift your spirit

Launch pad for guidance every day! launch pad

Habit of the month of November is meal planning. This is my Achilles heel! here

We have a lovely virtual naughty corner where we can all retreat – there are all manner of lovely things left there by thread members including fluffy pillows, warm blankets, tea, coffee, wine, delicious foods. This month there are plenty of candles to brighten the darker days.
There may be mention of Ned who started life as an autocorrection on the thread but who has now morphed into a virtual helper with a specialism in putting away laundry. Ned is borrowed by thread members from time to time when the going gets tough on Mount Washmore.
Most days we pop on to post our ta da list of what we’ve managed to do and have a bit of a natter.

Hello all. Sorry I have been rubbish on here lately. Will aim to be better tomorrow as have just managed to catch up on the thread (I think anyway!) tonight. Big welcome to newbies. I will change back to TooStressyTooMessy tomorrow.

Laputa, sounds as if your appointment was very productive!

SC . Honestly I don’t think there is a huge amount you can say. It is just awful. You can let her know that she can always talk about her nephew. People often avoid the subject of people who have died. I suppose it depends if she seems to want to talk, to be left alone, just to get in with things etc. On a practical note you sound like an excellent cook. Would they appreciate some meals cooked (eg for the freezer) so they don’t have to think about food? Or even scare / biscuits if they need something light or to offer visitors. Depends on the person of course.

cake not scare. I’m sure they have been scared enough .

Baby-step 7th November: here
Launch pad link: here

Laputa I'm glad you got your diagnosis and I really admire you for all the work you put into getting help - therapy, exercise and all that. I hope the meds make a difference.

I am sorry I've been off the thread today - work and sick kid at home. I wrote an earlier post (now lost!) to say that dh phoned the doctor and had got meds for nerve pain - helped pain and low mood last time they were prescribed. I'm feeling better too but we are both going to dr at end of month to talk through anxiety and low mood respectively.

Looking forward to reading thread tomorrow.

Aw thanks. Yeah my brain takes a lot of maintenance it seems :o I’m just hoping that the meds put me on a more even footing really as there’s only so much all the other stuff can do if the chemistry is wrong.

Annoyingly my to do list for tomorrow is now longer because the psychiatrist missed a bit off the prescription. So now the plan is

Shower
Leave at 9
Read journals etc in preparation for therapy (unless I have time tonight)
Therapy at 10.30
Meet friend for a quick drink
Back to psychiatrist to get prescription changed
Home by 3.30 hopefully.

Tonight I need to get my clothes ready and pack my bag.

Glad you are both going to see doctor btw

Forgot if I mentioned are you taking vitamin D? It’s one reason this time of year is usually worse for mood.

Very good point Laputa. I'll mention it to DH and we'll take it. It's in the kitchen cupboard. Not much sunlight up here

toostressy how's things with your parents now?

Laputa hope things start to improve for you

It's not even 7am and the dc are driving me bonkers...

Morning everyone for those who need it . Had dp off work yesterday for dd2s parent consultation , then sorted some bits out for December 25th but he put me all out of routine. I half kept up with reading the thread but will catch up with everyone later.

Laputa great for a diagnosis, I hope this is a big step forward for you

Sc how terrible it definitely makes you appreciate what you have hearing news like that .

Morning all

Tada
Cats fed
Wash on
Two bags random crap dealt with
Eliminated some emails(I can only do them annoyingly one at a time)
Littertray and bins
Pack up made
Breakfasts
Wash in dryer(towel)
More wash on

December 25th, that date rings a bell for some reason :o

Managed about 4 hours sleep as usual. Just trying to find the energy to get up and shower! This is my current view though which still after two years makes it hard to tear myself away... :)

I did the flylady thing of getting my clothes ready last night! Apart from jeans which were in the wash. Oops.

To do by 9
Get up
Check if jeans are dry/put dryer back on
Put phone on charge
Shower
Dress
Refill water bottle
Take meds
Put therapy stuff in bag (I did read what I had to last night so not as much to take with me)

Hope you all have a great day.

Good morning! Slow start here. DD isn't feeling great (female issues) so is skipping the first two sessions (English) today. All I have done is dog walk and s&s so far despite being up early.

Aw Laputa what a lovely sight to wake up to! Cagletini is totally gorgeous as ever! . Good luck with your busy day!

and [choc] for Foxes

Tidy I know what you mean about disruptive other halves! My DH is totally absent (travelling) which has its own probs, or is in and out of the house and fridge constantly which makes it tricky to maintain a routine!

Ghoulette hope your day feels better soon and meds help. Also that your ds feels better soon.

Thank you Toostressy for your advice. The poor woman is (understandably) in such a terrible state. Cooking is a good idea though. Nigelka makes a good "rosemary for remembrance" cake which I could give her tomorrow for the weekend.

Zoo I get so much advertising crap in my e-mail in-box it's very difficult to keep up with the deletions!

Very cold and dark and overwhelmingly messy here ATM. Must go and face it [sigh].

Sorry Ghoulette that should have read "DH" not "day"

And gah that should read Nigella not Nigelka!

Tada
Everyone up washed & dressed
Breakfast (with extra blueberries & strawberries to pack in the vit C , dd2 is coming down with yet another cold!)
Lunches
Dishwasher emptied
Breakfast pots
Beds made
School run / swim

Off to work, will be attempting an hour in the kitchen today because I haven't done anything in that zone yet this week. Will do 15 minute slots though to break it up, I don't think dd2 would be very happy with me scrubbing the kitchen for an hour non stop , I would rather have a messy kitchen than a tantruming 3 year old 😂

SC sympathies for DD.my eldest DD has horrific periods..I keep nagging her to go back to docs n stop be fobbed off
Laputa that is a scrummy view😍

Dining table wiped
Second load wash n dry(both put away)
All lower floors washed on hands and knees

Awaiting dd1 do quick trip to town.we out if wilkos own wheat free kibble,so all cats yowling and cross as wet meat without biscuits I'm clearing starving them all!!D's staying home with lil zoo,who still in lots pain.desperately hoping the meds start working today!!
Dreary here,hope it's better out if your windows!

SC I'm sorry to hear the news about your cleaner's nephew - I missed that yesterday

Laputa I hope you get the meds without too much hassle and your appointment today goes well, do you have mixed feelings about starting them?

onthebrink I hope you are doing OK and your mum is OK after breaking her hip.

Waves to foxes, tidy, wine, kt, zoo, stressy and Ghoulette (well done on pressing the GP into action as well, I dread ringing them even for an appointment because it is such a hassle).

To-do - more sorting of potential jumble sale items, laundry, general tidying and cleaning. Catch up on very long list of things to do and order. A grip must be got on things

Thanks chic I did well with less sugar yesterday, but I’ve already gobbled up my weight in chocolate this morning

Ta-da
Dishwasher on
1st wash on

To-do
Too long to list...
I’ll definitely need to borrow Ned once again I’m afraid.

I know I’ve been procrastinating, because I’m even talking myself out of writing a list, even though it would make life a bit easier than having to constantly try and remember what I need to do (or even what I’m currently doing... I’m a master at getting distracted!)

sc I spent September and some of October decluttering like mad, and it really has helped, especially the rooms downstairs. Still need a lot done, but my motivation seems to come and go!
We currently have a dismantled cot that has no place to live, and baby is due in 2 months time so I need to get my act together.

It was only recently that I discovered that a house has only a finite amount of space, and if we want the house to look neat, we needed to get rid of a lot more than I thought! I basically have done all the «easy» decluttering, which got rid of a huge bulk, but now I need to do another pass and get stuck in the harder bits as we still have more stuff than I’d like.

Ahhhhhh

My hands are so full

Need more hands

Baby had jabs yesterday morning. Was very irritable and unhappy in the afternoon and evening. Two doses of paracetamol. But he slept good (woke at 2am then 6am) a bit off his milk but happier today

I am also trying to potty train just turned 3 year old which is going well but i need him to start asking and making some efforts with pulling pants up and down! Any tips? Not done this for about 7 years as dc3 trained herself overnight!

Also trying to study two open uni modules. One essay due last week just scraped a pass mark. Next one due today but extension til monday not even started yet

On verge of splitting up with dp. Dont really care about this....

House is a tip and its nearly christmas....

Oh and i think i might have a hernialike i have time for that!

Anyone have any spare hands / time / patience?

Ive You really have your hands full! Good luck with the essay writing!

Bringing back Ned clean laundry has been put away.
Ta-da, I’ve emptied the bookcase into boxes, and started setting up the cot, although DH will have to finish it, justo make sure it’s tight. It’s taking up a lot of space in our room, so I might need reshuffle more furniture to make it work.

Next job is to sort out the boxes of books, and try and find a home for them.

IVE

Oh my word, have taken so many books out of DD's room that I think can be given away (she does get the final say, I have assured her that nothing will go without her say so) and the shelves are still full! There is one that has mainly childhood books in that are from people I think she'd like to keep but not actually read so we may need to move those on. But So.Many.Books. Must stop buying them

Chic I’ve also been sorting books, and even with adding a shelf to a bookcase and double layering them, I still have more books than bookcase. Some are DH’s, and he refuses to get rid of any, even though he never reads them. I also have books (probably more than him) but I’ve already got rid of a huge amount of mine, and I don’t think I should be the only one getting rid of my stuff when we all want a neater house.
Oh well, maybe it’ll be the last thing we sort, and the rest of the house has improved so much already.

Ive or maybe would be of more assistance today. I can't give any words of wisdom other than I think you're fabulous having kids at home and a new baby and STILL managing to study. Don't focus on what hasn't been done, look at all you've achieved!

Times & chic as I've confessed before, I am a bit of a book addict so if you come up with any genius storage ideas please share

Sc hope your dd is ok

Tada
Work
Picked up dd2 from nursery
Lunch
Wash in the washer ready for when the kids get out of their uniforms
Made spag Bol, doubles it so I'll have a portion to freeze

My mum had her appointment with her oncologist this afternoon so I haven't achieved much other than walking around the house unsure what I'm doing ! It was good news thank goodness , they still don't know the primary source , however the tumours have all shrank and they have decided to operate on one of the smaller surface ones ! Relieved and emotionally drained. My aim is just to get through today doing the basics and having a very large g&t tonight !

I've if I was nearer I'd be round like a shot to help/bury "d"p in garden and add a patio...
No extra tips for potty training I'm afraid.unless you could trust him pantless dd2 deffo,D's no chance ?
Are you getting any help from anywhere??I think you would qualify for homestart support.even two hours a week to study/have time out would help tremendously.
Sending massive hugs and sleepy vibes for baby
Chic no such thing as too many books