It's February - Fledglings are Flying (let's face it there's not much else to do).

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Here we are on the February 2021 Flylady thread - this time last year we were just starting to realise that the world was going to change in a big, big way. The Fledgling threads have pulled us all together and been a great source of comfort and distraction from it all.

This is a friendly housekeeping thread based (loosely... Extremely loosely sometimes 😂) on Flylady's housekeeping system . Welcome one and all, lurkers and long-time posters alike. Join in, hang out, but above all remember you are not behind, just jump in where you are.

The beauty of Flylady is that you don't have to flatten yourself trying to get your house clean to begin the routine upkeep; the first - and only - thing she asks you to do is to shine your kitchen sink. Routines - morning, afternoon and evening - are built gradually through her Baby Steps. To those, you add a Daily Focus and a weekly area to concentrate cleaning on. By the end of a month, your whole house will have had some attention. If you miss a bit, never mind, it'll come round next month!

For this month, I'll be posting daily links to the Launch Pad on the Flylady site so you can follow the daily focus and cleaning missions. You can sign up to receive emails from Flylady, but we suggest you don't - she sends masses, which will clog up your inbox and drive you insane into the bargain.

Because this thread has been running a while, there are some acronyms we use to make life easier
S&S - swish and swipe, round the bathroom to keep it acceptable daily
LOL - load of laundry. No, we don't find washing that funny!
Ned - born of a typo, a mythical being who assists with laundry mountains
The pointy stick ----> to motivate people
PO3 - Power of 3, if you can only face a few tasks. People often find groups of 3 tasks stack up over a day!
The Naughty Corner - where we head when it's all Too Much. Usually stocked with fresh coffee, fluffy throws, delicious snacks and the opportunity to sit quietly with friends or build a blanket fort and sulk in it if you need to.

During the Pandemic, we have also been using the KCC or Keep Calm Corner, invented by long-time poster / thread leader SC. This is a regular dose of memes, questions for discussion, random trivia etc to distract us from the rest of the world. All contributions welcome!

Remember - No Fledgling Left Behind!

Agree with *hills" on using MLS not cup conversation
I remember doing rich tea icing with my rabble!
Hope another family scapegoat here.outsiders say I'm friendly and supportive.my family would have everyone believe otherwise.acceptance and indifference take a lot of years to build and even then it's still saddening when you hear stuff via sm.
Hazel,nice photos

Has anyone heard from butta lately?

Lil zoo was up at 2 apparently.came to see me at 4.ee are watching bill and Ted's excellent adventure....

Hope that must be really hurtful, but from an outsider that is really not normal
behaviour. It’s them, not you

Ouch for the early start Zoo ( for you too. Your family are missing out, we know you’re lovely)

Those blondies look delicious Hazel, and love the decorations. Don’t feel guilty about the packing, there’s only so much packing you can do until you’re within reach of moving day.

That meme is very apt ED

Lovely ideas Hills! And I agree, we don’t need to be entertaining DC with brilliantly organised activities every minute of the day. Personally I aim for an hour of absolutely undivided attention playing, plus a walk most days, and then the rest of the time I’ll set her off doing something and just generally be around to chat.

Naptune MN was down for me at one point too. Sounds like you’ve made a good start!

Yesterday’s virtual chat with friends was lovely. I didn’t realise how much I needed a good giggle. We had some delicious pizzas from a street food stall down the road for tea. I also finished reading my book - it was The Organised Tine Technique, I think it was you who recommended it Waders? There’s some good ideas in it, and I’ve counted up my ‘level 3’ time to find I should have much more free time than I feel like I do, so I am obviously wasting lots of it!

YesTaDas:
✔️ ran hoover over
✔️ LOL
✔️ family walk (nice walking away from home, disaster on the way back as DD randomly morphed into a heavy, floppy, refusing-to-move-any-further lump and we both had to alternate frog-marching/carrying her home )
✔️ succeeded in getting DD to tidy all of her toys away herself before bath time

Today:
✔️ DW on
✔️ LOL in
✔️ fed DD and cats (DH working today but hopefully last weekend shift for a while 🙌🏻)

To do:
Get DD to make a birthday card
Bleurgh upstairs
Make some soup
Ironing
Family zoom call x 2

hills & zoo I didn't think about mls conversion. That probably would work best (my mum weighs everything so that's how I used to bake with her).

zoo that's an early start! I hope you're able to get a nap in. At least lil zoo waited a couple of hours before waking you up.
Up sorry to hear your family walk didn't end so well. What soup are you making?
naptune I'm feeling much better today, thank goodness.

Dinner went well, it was roast beef, Yorkshire puddings, roasted carrots & parsnips and white & purple potatoes with gravy of course. I avoided the Yorkshire puddings, which sucked because they looked so good. I also avoided the blondies and just had Strawberries and a keto friendly chocolate cheesecake mousse. I did eat too much though, that along with a couple of drinks 🍹 so I'm feeling fat and bloated 😪
Anyway, we had a very productive day in our house, I didn't feel stressed out either, which is a first for me. I did put the last of the dirty dishes into the dishwasher, it's going right now, so will be done in the morning. Countertops are all wiped down too, so waking up in the morning will be nice as I won't have a mess.
It has just gone 1:30am, so I need to get to sleep!

I apologise for waffling on 😳
🍒👋 to everyone

Night hazel

Tada
Cats fed
2lol done,dry and put away
3rd on the go
Living room floor found and swept
Supervise lil zoo brush Nelly's teeth-(i hold the cat)
Cajole zoolets to get dressed
DS is finally able to go out as he has footwear!!(wellies,which a downpours forecast is apt!)
We are heading out shortly...as soon as can get girls into clothes

Morning all. We have all had an accidental lie in. Probably a bad idea as it’ll be even harder to get up tomorrow. Still at least it means Cagletini is less likely to have a danger nap today and will go to sleep at a slightly more appropriate time

Must shower. DD1 has loads of work to tackle today and then we’ve discussed a plan to get through the backlog over the (hopefully) last two weeks of online school 😬 including a “off screens again until work is done” period each afternoon, which we really should have done before.

Also need to put clean laundry away (definitely agree with the meme there ed :o although I’m pleased I have got a bit better at the putting away lately - it doesn’t build up so much)

And probably a million other things 😴

Meme is true 🤣. My pile of clean laundry fell off my bed last night.

Hope - i am so sorry to hear that your family have treated you this way. Sending you a huge hug

Hills- great activity ideas! I love it! Going to play the 1st one with the kids.

Hazel- sounds like a wonderful family party and food! The blondies look lovely!

Sing- glad you got some good sleep.

Naptune- its hard with lil ones. You are doing great.

Zoo- my goodness....4am....

Up- 🤣 your dd, I am sure it wasnt funny for you guys but i remember my ds doing that at 1.5yrs. I couldnt carry him...so tried a football hold under my arm....it looked like i was kidnapping him.

I am just going to open and reread the organised time technique book by the organised mum- its actually next to me on the settee. I need to look at my level 3 time too.

Yestadas-
Spend whole day
🚗 decluttering and reorganising ds room.
🚗lolx2
🚗lunch
🚗made a dot of a dent in the main room
🚗 vacuumed the stairs.

Todo
🙈oh god so much to do....

I was wondering how butta was too...hope they are all well.

🍒👋to everyone and esp any luckers! 👋

I fell off the thread so just marking my place again? Sorry haven't been keeping up!

Just about to go for a walk but will try and catch up a bit on the thread later ☺️

Afternoon all,

I was wondering how Butta was too, hope you are OK.

Naptune - yes to having problems with MN this weekend, it's been tricky.

Hills - painting nails at midnight is one of my regular habits, I do it in bed, use a fast drying topcoat and read for a bit afterwards, it works pretty well.

I keep getting interrupted

Back later

I have another meme for you though

I’m not sure that’s unique to Sunday for me, to be honest 😂

Having said that, I have actually managed to get on with stuff today - laundry, delegating a few tasks to DS while DD1 does work, and some tidying etc. So am feeling fairly positive and not nearly as anxious or “stuck”.

However I then noticed the iPad screen, which had a small crack in it a while ago, has suddenly given up completely - no impact or anything just BOOM. So my good mood has reduced just a tad, because it’s really too bad for another screen protector to cover and goodness knows what it’ll cost to replace, I’ve never had a screen fixed before. It’s a pretty essential item in our house as most of DS’ work is either directly on the iPad, or found/downloaded/printed via it since our laptop basically doesn’t work anymore. Thank goodness DD1 has her laptop loan for school now, I may need to borrow it to finish my assignment too as it’s browser based (will try on my phone first though). Bugger 😭💸

We had a phone screen replaced for about £35 by an independent it/phone repair place, might be worth asking around locally.

OMG, MN just ate my post. So annoyed. Will retype.

There is nothing more annoying MC. Dropping buttered toast, buttered side down, comes close. Not finished work report yet. Will get up early as I'm a lark. Can't think now. About to watch Call my agent on Netflix. It's very funny.

Thanks upholding and zoo - it's good to have another view on the situation. Those closer to me who know all parties agree. But it's nice to hear more neutral observers. I'm doing better now. Onwards and upwards. New week ahead. Churros and hot chocolate in naughty corner. Dive in...

Churros, you say?

I’ve had a screen replaced locally for not too much too Sing, although if it’s still in warranty I’d take it to Apple as I think it voids it otherwise.

Hazel it was just going to be a lentil and veg from the bottom of the fridge type concoction, but there wasn’t much to use up so I just chucked a few jacket potatoes in the oven instead to last us a few work days.

Ha Dancing, at one point DH had her under one arm and I was quite far behind while she was shouting “let me go, I want my mammy!” He was getting some funny looks so I thought I’d better catch them up . She tried the same on our walk along the beach today and we just left at the first sign of trouble. Thankfully we were closer to home.

Ta Das:
✔️ Trip to the park
✔️ made birthday card with DD and wrapped gift
✔️ tidied out and hoovered cupboard with gift wrap, bags etc in. It was a bit spidery.
✔️ dusted and hoovered upstairs
✔️ family phonecalls
✔️ A walk once DH got home
✔️ ironing for the week
✔️ work/nursery bags and food prepped
✔️ bathroom cleaned
✔️ Cleared kitchen after DH cooked tea
✔️ bleached kitchen sink and basin
✔️ Planner

Hazel thank you for the recipe. I didn't get around to baking today, but will bake them blondies tomorrow. They look utterly delicious in your pics! Looks like it was a good birthday celebration.
Hope sometimes the best thing is to minimise contact, for your sanity. What they did was not right. Don't let them get to you.
Zoo you are lovely and supportive, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise! Hope you manage a longer sleep tonight, without 4am wake up.
Dancing and Up your stories made me chuckle. I still got a bit of time before I have to deal with that, and I bet it won't be funny then 😬

Ta das:
💥LOL x2
💥Kitchen cleaned
💥DW rotated x2
💥Aquarium maintenance x3
💥Went for a walk. It definitely smells like spring!

DS has been a grumpy bug today. Not sure why. He is finally asleep, so now it's my MN scrolling time. Wild times.

Hi everyone my planner came today. It’s a lot nicer than I thought it was going to be so I’m going to get up early tomorrow morning and sort it out and plan ahead for the day. I’ve tailored the zones etc for me on my notes on my phone so I’ve got a decent plan I think. We went to the park today the weathers been lovely not sunny but it isn’t cold at all. I’m on edge waiting for the update tomorrow I hope something changes.

hills ooh thank you for the ideas I’ve wrote them down so I can remember them. The rich tea decorating is a great idea. Not being a super mum is something I need to remember especially with lockdown and everything.

up I’m glad to hear your virtual chat went well I do them loads with friends/family and they definitely make things a bit easier to bear. Sorry about the family walk though I find a lot of walks end like that lately lol😂

Ah great to hear you’re feeling better hazel ooh dinner sounds so tasty.

I hope you’ve managed an early night sing I’m going to try and get into a better routine this week I get up early because of the babies but don’t get washed and dressed for ages so going to try and do it straight after breakfast tomorrow and keep that routine hopefully will make lockdown easier. I hope you manage to fix the screen for cheap.

Thank you dancing that’s really kind you.

ED I think there was some sort of attack but I’m not very technical so probably not the right word. Hopefully everything is sorted now. I relate completely to that meme😂

Hope you enjoy your scrolling mc and that little one isn’t so grumpy tomorrow.

I’m going to get some sleep soon hopefully I fall asleep quickly and can get into a good routine tomorrow.

Actually had a reasonable day so here’s a list.

ta da
🍦shower
🍦final dry of yesterday’s wash
🍦90deg LOL (towels etc)
🍦collected a load of items that belong in the inaccessible drawers
🍦gathered pens/pencils
🍦gathered dirty laundry
🍦got DS to tidy up his room a bit and put his laundry away
🍦found out a bit about screen repair (thank you for advice on looking for independent people)
🍦worked out how many person/place of the week sheets are needed for the rest of the school year, and printed them before turning off the iPad and hiding it
🍦future friend - nursery outfit ready and bag packed, much earlier than usual
🍦walk in park including dragging a reluctant 13yo, she did join in with a kickabout though before going back to dance in front of YouTube (think she just wanted some space)
🍦bit more putting away of stuff
🍦gathered lots of pens and pencils
🍦threw away about a carrier bag of stuff
🍦comb bound work for DS and DH’s short stories
🍦found the physics and English books for DS since I don’t want to use the iPad much until the screen is repaired
🍦wrote and put up HE plan for the week
🍦wrote some brief notes for CAMHS appt after chat with friend about it, and set reminder to talk to DS about it tomorrow
🍦bagged up teddies that haven’t been washed yet - it’s hard to get them done alongside all the other washing so I’m going to hide the bagged up teddies in the cupboard and take a few from there when I have time. Some have been hidden away for ages but I’m just taking it as an opportunity to just wash all of them
🍦adjusted automatic screen time blocks on for Caglets now half term is over
🍦got DD1 to do some work during the day (she’s still doing art now...)
🍦bathed Cagletini
🍦sorted my and her meds for the week
🍦added some stuff onto tesco order

ta didn’t
❌put laundry away like I’d planned
❌get Cagletini to sleep at a decent time... she is going to be hard to rouse tomorrow
❌art - will try and do it before sleep

Thinking of you all with the upcoming announcement for you. 🤞for good news.

mc I did use my brownie pan on my blondies, but have also made them in a regular pan as well. I hope you like them.
Sing you did get a lot done today!
naptune I hope you got to sleep as planned. I have a calendar I use at work and love to doodle/ decorate it. I don't have one for home though.
Up sometimes those throw stuff in a pot and see what happens kind of meals are the best! Hard to recreate though 😆 jacket potatoes are always an easy option (if I'm not watching carbs that is!)

Ta Das:
🍷 Grocery pick-up order added & completed
🍷 3 LOLs
🍷 Grocery pick-up picked up
🍷 Skirting boards installed in our bedroom finally and DS's room 1st stage done (we massively messed up when installing his flooring so fixing it now) I may have to paint his room 😖
🍷 Made broccoli cheddar soup for dinner & lunch tomorrow
🍷 Cleaned up kitchen, rotated DW and wiped surfaces down
🍷 Arranged flowers I got in grocery pick-up
🍷 Finally sitting down with a glass of wine.

DH also installed a new shower head SIL gave us since ours broke. Both DC have taken showers in it, DS said "it's amazing!" So I'm really looking forward to my shower in a few minutes.
I just have to get my clothes out for tomorrow, take a shower then go to bed. I'm actually pretty tired tonight from doing the skirting boards, moving furniture and vacuuming up the mess.

I'm so ready for it to warm up here. It was so windy. It was freezing 🥶
🍒👋 to everyone

How is the polar vortex affecting you Hazel The Texas situation is bonkers, concerning and mildly frightening at the same time.

Early start this morning. Apparently my body isn't quite used to proper amouts of sleep at the moment so the early night i managed is very much an early start. About 3hrs earlier than i intended.

It's not too bad here hills the houses here in Idaho are built for hot and cold weather so it doesn't affect us like in Texas. This winter overall has been warmer than usual, although still freezing at times. I'm just so over winter and ready for warm air, but snow is supposedly coming this week so it'll still be cold for a while 😪
You're up very early! I hope you feel like you rested.

I should get to sleep. I'm starting to get sleepy (it's 11:35pm) I have to wake up at 5:30am, so that'll come quick, I'm sure. Night all, have a great day.

Great singer from Moscow Idaho called Josh Ritter ♥️