Fledglings Continue Carolling - December thread 2: the one with Christmas Eve Eve and beyond!

[SingToTheSky]

Hello all, here’s an overflow thread as we’ve all been a right bunch of chatterboxes. I’d love to pretend that’s because we’ve all been doing even more housework, but, well... no. I think it’s probably because we’ve all found support with each other - I’m taking this opportunity to thank you all for a lovely December, it’s got me through a lot of stress and boredom and loneliness during isolation especially! 💖

Any newbies or lurkers - do join in! We are a long running thread with lots of regulars and we might seem cliquey but we honestly love having new Fledglings join us. I’m posting FlyLady links for a couple more days and then we will be back to Proper Flying Resolutions in January!

Hiya, up late with my littlest one. You’ve all been so welcoming, thank you!.

sing thank you, I am doing okay. The kids dad has practically dropped off the face of the earth so am completely alone but much better than when I was with him!. Christmas was brilliant, thank you. I’m lucky that I have a support bubble so I was able to spend it with my mum and the children were spoiled rotten. I hope your Christmas was good too.

mc I love duck and I’m not a fan of turkey at all, I don’t know why I still insist on having it every year!. I’m having a lovely time thank you, I love the few days after Christmas when all the new presents are being played with and breakfast is selection boxes!.

Sherin I’m really sorry to hear about the way that your family have treated you. I was/am a very young mum and although my family were supportive there were lots of people who weren’t. I hope you find that being NC with them helps you, surround yourself with the people who really care and you won’t need anyone else!.

bower I’ve seen how lovely you all are already, it’s lovely to come to a long running thread and still be welcomed. I love that quote, my 3 are all under 5 so that is definitely so true here!.

tidy I hope you can find the mouse. You’ve done a lot today, I’ve done nothing!.

The weather is terrible here, it’s woke up the DC☹️

Welcome to the thread Porridge.

Sorry about the drama Sherinn. Sounds like your life will be easier without them.

Bower I love your tree. What a cosy room.

Christmas is aaalll about the cheese Sing.

Glad Christmas Day went well Hills. I’ll give the video a watch later.

Yesterday was indeed a pj day. The good thing about tier 3 is there was no chance of anyone dropping by so I felt no guilt at being lazy. Veg, roasties etc are all gone but we still have a fair amount of turkey, cheese and pudding left. Had a big chunk of Christmas cake for breakfast . Currently on the sofa with a cuppa but I’m determined to get moving at 9am and get some normality back. Need a shower, tidied up and homes found for DD’s gifts. Definitely need to run the hoover/mop over too. There needs to be a walk at some point, and a visit to the shop for milk.

Morning all! A similar set of needs here up - more post Christmas cleanup. I’m just realising that it’s the first time we’ve really been able to do that properly as usually we have a couple more Christmases with various family/friends and much as we miss everyone DH and I have both felt noticeably less burnt out due to not having visitors and more excitement for the DC, needing to tidy up and get even more food in etc. The house just feels really chilled now although Cagletini had several tantrums yesterday and her sleep has gone a bit wrong since we were self isolating.

Thanks porridge I had a nice lazy quiet Christmas :o although we did go out for a Christmas Day walk for the first time.

Speaking of walks I’m not sure if I’ll go out today. We are meant to have the massive storm here I believe - I even had a warning to be careful on Pokemon Go 😳😂 - but it’s absolutely still here if a little grey, so unless I’m in the eye of an enormous hurricane I think we must be ok for now. But if I’m going I should probably go soon and I’m not sure I can be arsed really 😳

Anyway I’ve finished one of my three books just now, DH is scanning and putting away the shopping. My turn for a lie in today so I’m finally going to watch the two planning videos Hills shared most recently, then I’ll get up and decide what needs doing.

Morning.
Feels weird because on a normal year i would even being doing a contact swap long drive with ds or be back in work. Neither are happening this year.
Not got going yet, still sleepy with a lack of caffiene migraine (too many cups/day to a day of non not a great thing). So hoping to get away with only one or two to curb it. Still stupid tired but also have a long to do list of stuff i want to achieve. So will have to see what happens. Round two of christmas presents later - half of them were still in quarantine on friday and as it is only 3 grown ups in the house it was decided they could stay there til later today.

Hope you are all having as pleasant as possible days.

Hope you feel better soon Hills thank you so much for those video links, the custom journal one is just 😍 those sorts of trackers are the kind of thing I am hoping to do, as they feel a bit less scary/pressured than lots of to do lists etc. Need to finish my assignment before I get that set up though! 😩 I absolutely love the 5 habits especially the starting again and the being kind to my future self. I think that’s why I want a nice gentle start to BuJo-ing as I’m painfully aware of how well I usually set myself up to fail 😳

ED hope you’re feeling ok today. 💐

BTW zoo is keeping her head down for a bit while lilzoo is isolating, and will be back on the thread when she feels able to 💖

Glad zoo has made contact, no pressure to come back quick but hope she knows we are all thinking of her.

Up I'm also aiming for some normality today but we all got up a bit late and the day is disappearing fast!

Porridge welcome!

I fell off the thread for a day or two trying to avoid my phone for a bit, it was a good Christmas, as you all say, very different but we had nice family time, the kids loved their presents and we had an absolutely delicious Christmas dinner courtesy of dh. On the other hand, I really have missed seeing family and zoom calls are just not the same.

So far today all I've managed is putting some of the kids new books away and cleaning the table after dd used her new bath bomb making kit dh has taken the outside decorations down because they got very blown about in the storm so went a bit wonky! He has now gone off to work to paint the steel beam ready for project knocking down walls to begin...

I have one major ta da today so far - I just ordered my new digital piano! It was a bit daunting as I had to phone up and ask if they had a sale discount on there (they don’t do sales online it seems) AND I asked if they’d remove one item from the bundle (I don’t need a seat for it because DH bought me the perfect one for my birthday last year) and reduce the price further. I’m not normally brave enough to ask things like that so I’m quite proud!

I need to sort out what we are doing with my long beloved piano but that’s a job for another day soon, I have some ideas (the woman on the phone suggested old people’s homes too) but now I need to focus on study.

Two questions of the remaining 6 done, they are all comparatively long questions so it will take a lot of effort to finish today! We then went to the park as a family, bit chilly out there and I feel very sleepy now! DH still isn’t back with Cagletini (she’s in that awkward phase of being too big to use the buggy for short trips like that - we just use it for the longer walk to nursery now - but a complete pain in the bum when she doesn’t want to walk 😭🤦🏽‍♀️

Most of today has been spent on a mouse hunt. I googled and searched on YouTube, then crawled tound the downstairs with a headtorch and a very bright led torch. Two apparent runs. One from boiler cupboard, and one from a tiny gap behind a kitchen unit.

Pulled loads of things out from the walls, hoovered and wiped. Worked my way towards the chewed porridge box and chocolate teddy from yesterday. Then opened the kitchen drawer, and lots of little shreds from a leather box. So now I'm assuming something is nesting near yestedrday's food supply. Shit shit shit.

All the food in cupboards is in cans or tins. Packets are in heavy plastic tubs. Everything else is in fridge-freezer. Food waste will go in the outside caddy every night instead of every two or three days. Dishes washed every night.

I need to find that nest, don't I? I just don't want them to set up home in a less accessible part of the house.

sorry about the meeces Tidy hope you can deal with them suitably to irradicate.

I did some work on my rescuing my room, but kept getting distracted by other stuffs. Atm i am currently working my way through a pile of scanning. And hoping to have a clear desk for studying tomo. I need to pack in a good chunk of work tomo because I have a lot to cover before the return to lessons 1st week Jan. I got a smidge a lot behind with all the crazy that went on in the run up to christmas.
It is however, nice to take things at a more gentle pace atm.

Welcome porridge I'm a newbie on here too, hope you settle in well and the Christmas period went well despite the change in circumstances

sing that sounds like a very exciting ta da moment re the electric piano. I bought my son an acoustic guitar for Christmas and its actually been really nice listening to music in the house

I managed to meet my very small to do list today of dish washer and laundry

But really need a good hoover
Re-tidy and another laundry sort

Got talked into an absolutely freezing walk and too me a good while to recover from the chill...hot choc with blankets, not too bad really!

Hoping tomorrow will be more productive/veer to more normality

Like a lot of you we also went for a very cold walk! Very muddy too. Then I caved in and tidied the kids bedrooms and started putting some of their new toys in there so the living room is a bit clearer now (still a lot of stuff though!)

Dh cooked another Christmas dinner tonight to use up the turkey and we had some chipolatas and veg we hadn't cooked get. I feel better for having some veg as yesterday was very much a beige party food day!

We are doing a zoom call with friends tonight, got some silly games planned and I've put make up on for the first time in what feels like forever 😂

I'm not sure I said welcome to you spring! Sorry!

Sing congratulations on your exciting purchase! Re what to do with your old piano, I donated mine to the hospital where I work. Now it's in one of the patient waiting rooms. Nursing/care home is also a good idea, it will be greatly appreciated! Company I bought my new piano from also dropped off the old one to the hospital for free. So definitely ask for them to move your old piano to its new destination!

Ta da:
🎉 LOL X3 including stripping the beds
🎉Blitzed bathroom
🎉Kitchen tidy up
🎉Aquarium maintenance x3

Hiya it’s porridge, I signed up yesterday but it didn’t save my password and I had forgot it so had to create a new account (that’s why I have a name change). Thank you again you’re all so welcoming.

Thank you for my welcome up, Boxing Day is always a pj day here. I love it.

sing I’m glad you had a good Christmas, you can’t beat a lazy one!. I hope the storm wasn’t too bad!. You’re very brave calling up, I’m awful with things like that.

Hope you’re feeling better soon hills

Thank you for my welcome foxes, I’m glad you had a good Christmas.

Thank you for my welcome wooly, you’ve got so much done!

I hope you can find the nest tidy

Hi spring, welcome to you too!. The Christmas period was great thank you, I hope yours was too. I hope you can warm up from your walk.

I haven’t done any proper tidying, I put the kids toys in the correct places and hoovered the floor. I’m still in holiday mode.

Hi foxes hoping you enjoy games night with your friends ....it's nice to feel a bit more like normal life is going on

Mc3209 just wondering what does LOL mean ? Lovely idea regarding the piano recycle

Hello again strawberry

Evening all,

Feeling less flat today but still a bit weird not being with extended family for the first time in 20+ years.

Strawberry - I didn't say hello yesterday, welcome!

Still in holiday mode here too, we have all had a lazy day. Self-isolating DD has stayed in her room apart from to get food and use the bathroom. DD has stayed upstairs watching sport on TV pretty well all day. DH and I went for separate walks. I've started a jigsaw and done some crochet. DH fired up the pizza oven and made pizza for tea which was very nice.

So tada!
3xLOL (does it never stop)
Tidied bathroom rack thing (see pictures for before and after)
That's about it. Here's a photo from my walk too.

LOL is load of laundry Spring. I’m impressed with the 3 Mc. I managed one but should have done more as the basket is overflowing.

How exciting about your piano Sing.

Good luck on the mouse hunt MrsTidy.

Impressive bathroom sorting ED.

Hope your get caught up on the studying Hills. I always need a clear desk to get started too.

Woolly hope you got to do at least something from your list.

Enjoy getting dolled up Foxes.

Today’s ta das:
👍 quick whizz round supermarket for basics, and got next year’s wrapping paper for £1.20.
👍 shopping away. Fridge sorted again.
👍 Dining table and floor cleaned
👍 Living room reclaimed from under Christmas detritus. Dusted, hoovered and mopped, and found better storage for a few toys that stay in there.
👍 gift bags put away for reuse next year.
👍 started rearranging furniture in DD’s room
👍 resisted temptation to chuck DH onto the man-fuelled thread bonfire. He overindulged on his Christmas beers somewhat last night so I went to bed early as he was chuntering and repeating himself. Fair enough, it was Boxing Day etc. LMS a bit today though when I was dragging the bed and massive chest of drawers around the room with DD under my feet and found he’d put himself back to bed with his hangover, having done nothing all day. (He later admitted he’s a bit of a dickhead and made me a cuppa so he’s not cooking yet). Took DD out for a walk and left him to it.
👍 angry tidied rest of DD’s room. Should have hoovered while I had the furniture pulled out but meh. Toys all sorted and she’s very happy with it.

Downstairs seems to have teetered back towards chaos. Kitchen isn’t great and living room looks like I haven’t bothered. That can be dealt with tomorrow. I’ve done some of my adult colouring book I got for Christmas (I’m finding it’s very addictive!) and heading to bed now. Night all 😴

Ooh yes sorry spring I didn’t post the list of acronyms on this overflow thread 🤦🏽‍♀️

Can’t seem to copy and paste now but I took some screenshots, hope it helps as I know we can seem cliquey with all these shorthand terms but please do ask if you aren’t sure of anything ❤️

Just about to start my last question. It’s a bit of a drag tbh and I really shouldn’t have left it so late, it’s a bit more in depth than I expected as it’s different to unit 1!

Woohoo. Finished and submitted! Wasn’t so bad as it was a subject I could waffle about quite easily 😳 not sure it’s my best work in terms of structure etc but TBH the way it’s marked doesn’t really take that into consideration anyway (it’s more about making sure you cover all the right info), so I have been working on ditching my perfectionist tendencies and going for Good Enough.

I’m impressed with some of the flying. I have done bare esssentials as it is Sunday. Last night I made DH a trifle with proper custard and made the cake bit first. I was back and forth to the kitchen and he was very impressed by the result and enjoyed tucking into it. I should have taken a photo because I even piped the cream.
Yesterday was pjs until afternoon when I got showered, washed my hair and dressed. Today I stayed in bed till 10 when DH brought me a mug of tea and then I was up, dressed and off to Mass. I enjoyed the Mass and had a brief chat with a few people afterwards including a long term friend, we worked together as I was her student for about 7 months. I did some voluntary from time to time too.
It was hailing here and not very nice out though the storm was a lot milder than expected. I am impressed a lot of you went walking. I need to do the window trail and photograph each one. Need to sort my camera.
I plan to go flying tomorrow. Starting with the laundry as someone said the basket is overflowing. Kitchen had a tidy up last night and tonight. I vacuumed through yesterday. DH washed the kitchen floor.
Sing good news about the keyboard. If you can’t find a home for the piano there was some initiative in Bristol about having a public piano. DD was on about it. They paint some of them. Or perhaps a child that would like to learn.
MrsTidy would you consider poison. I don’t like it but we keep some down as I couldn’t bear the scratting at night. DH insisted.
Ed impressive tidying.
Sorry I am tired and mind has gone blank. I was asleep for about an hour then woke up.

Welcome spring & strawberry
tidy sorry to hear about your mouse problem. I hope you are able to sort it soon. Once you have them out of the house, fill the holes with wire wool as they don't like it. You probably already knew that though.
up I would have LMS too! Well done for being productive with your anger 😆
Sing well done on getting your questions completed and submitted.

This Christmas has been a lot more relaxing than usual. We are able to get together where I am, which has been nice. I did have to work my 2nd job on Christmas eve (retail) but got out of there at 2pm. It still gave me time to get things done and DD wrapped the majority of presents so I only had 2 small presents to wrap! We had fondue with my ILs at our house. We opened 2 presents each, one lot from MIL, the other from us. I got is matching pjs (DH, DD, DS and myself) which we all changed into before everyone left.
Christmas day
Another relaxing day, no rush to get stuff done and we just did ham and rolls (my homemade recipe)
DS did wake up at 3am, but didn't wake anyone else until 5am, then him and DD woke us up at 5:30am with coffee. I had a nap for 2 1/2 hours after presents.

Boxing day
We cleared the house of gifts, put everything away. Vacuumed the house really good, including the fan in the bathroom. DH helped me by taking it down, it was so bad. The fluff from the towels get stuck in there.
Rotated the DW x3 and LOLs x2. ILs came over again for leftovers and we played games.
Sunday
It was very relaxing, got 2 LOLs done, DW rotated and all hand wash dishes done. Watched Home Alone 1&2 while doing my nails. I also ordered some stuff that turns regular nail polish into gel polish and I'm very excited about that!

I'm back to work in the morning (Monday) I'm hoping it will go by quickly.
🍒👋 to everyone!

Morning all

Welcome new people 🖐

Sorry about the mice Tidy, can you borrow a cat? 🐈🐈‍⬛

Glad to hear someone has spoken to zoo

Flying here has been minimal. Lazy day yesterday but did cook a roast. Washing very backed up.

Smallest dc is teething, pretty happy in himself but very sore bum, poor thing.