Action Stations for August! Fledglings Flap Frantically and Swish’n’Swipe through Summer

[SingToTheSky]

Welcome one and all!

I’m quickly setting up the August thread (ok seriously I know someone says this every month but HOW is it August already?!) - MN has been a bit iffy today, and I got rather distracted this evening which I fear may be a portent of my hosting skills this month. Thank you to the lovely ED for steering us through July despite much to manage at home 💐

Anyway - do join in as we loosely follow the Flylady system, in order to gradually sort our houses out. The key word here is GRADUALLY. There is no turning the house upside down and banishing chaos overnight, there is slow and steady. You are never behind. Miss a day? Week? Decade? No worries, jump back in, it’ll all come round again.

Newbies always welcome!

ta da
😴taught maths lesson online
😴room rescue living room
😴taught maths lesson at our house
😴sorted cinema booking
😴made homework and some other screen-share-friendly resources
😴put Cagletini to bed

Think that’s it 😳

i have no idea why i am awake. i do not want to be awake. morning?

hills

I have REALLY bad period pains

hills & that sorry to see you are both awake. I hope you are both back to sleep by now. 💐 for you that you have my sympathies

We picked the dog up, got everything unpacked and put away, got 3 LOLs done, watched a movie while eating popcorn for dinner and then I wiped the bath so I could have my bath. It was relaxing, it helped a little, but I do still hurt, but my back mostly now. After that I rotated the DW, got my clothes out for tomorrow and took my meds. I should get to sleep now, I dozed on and off the way home today so hopefully I can get to sleep soon.
Night all

Hazel Yes I did have a nice lunch thank you. Was definitely a wow yesterday. Must try and do better today. Hope your back is feeling better when you wake up.

Managed another hour or so sleep thanks to 2 paraceramol + 2 ibruprofen! I had forgotten about period pains

Oh of course THAT. Are you not breastfeeding then? Seems like a speedy return to periods bless you. Hopefully they settle down.

No, no bf here. Its not for me and also genuinely don't think i could manage that with the rest of the rabble! 5 and a half weeks in so suppose not ridiculous!

BF was a bit of a nightmare with ds and I and I struggled on with it for a while, then combined then finally just gave up and accepted both he and I would be happy if was regularly full up and bound my breasts. Think it was all over by about 3 months but I didn't get a period till he was about 7 months old so I was basing it on me but have no idea what 'normal' is

I've realised that the school holidays are racing by already.

Today's list of musts:
-contact insurance company and say happy for them to fix the damage rather than me get lots of quotes so long as they use a proper tree specialist
-have a telephone conversation with the university I'm thinking of doing my MSc with and ask questions (I am worried that some of the required reading books listed on some modules are about £60 even second hand so need to know if digital access to them is provided or we're really meant to buy them all and if they give us digital access to journals online or if that is another expense to deal with)
-Sort my bloody bedroom out like I've been saying for ages so I can properly flea treat carpet and bed etc as they keep cropping back up so it really needs total blitzing but that requires tidying and getting all of the random crap out of here and hoovering.

I'm aware I sound totally minging with my fleas but it is so easy for them to take hold and the woman before me who lived here had a cat and I suspect there was already a bit of a problem then so my treating my animals doesn't deal with dormant problem in carpets, skirting etc that re-emerge come summer months each year. My bedroom seems to be ground zero and is the place with carpet that the animals spend a lot of time in.

I'm also fretting because let's face it I'm not coping with keeping on top of a part time job, a home and a teenager so should I really be thinking about studying for my MSc on top? My theory is I can do the first module and see how I cope - it's 8 weeks, £500 and apparently requires 15hrs a week of study. It would be happening simultaneously to having all new classes and the uphill hike that is the start of a new school year. Help? I think we've got some part time students on here haven't we? How have you found it?

I figure if worst comes to worst it's £500 gone. If it goes ok but I need a break I can have a break before starting module 2. There is no limit on how long you have to take all of the modules but every module is only 8 weeks and all has to be done in that time.

Sorry for the essay and off topic'ness.

I've done the insurance company so that's a start. I've also emailed uni contact saying yes I'm free for a call and if they let me know a rough time I can make sure I'm free and have my phone with me. It's the bloody bedroom left then

🐠🐠🐠🐠🐠

Happy Thursday people! That means it’s errand day - try and fit in all those little tasks out of the house in one fell swoop.

FLIGHTPLAN

Here are the missions. Today’s is a quick declutter of the porch/entry.

🐠🐠🐠🐠🐠

Honey
Re the part time student thing look at what you have on your plate. I post-poponed yr 2 of a 3 year qualification because i knew the year i was supposed to do it I would likely to struggle based on everything else that was going on. It was the best decision and whilst it was really hard this year, it was possible. I know that i am going to be doing year 3 this year because it is the last opportunity to do so as they are changing the qualification and transfer over is not really possible. I just have no idea HOW it is going to be fitted in with a new job (ideally full time) and everything that goes on here and studying a very full on course.
It is one of the benefits of the living arrangements especially as all the quality of life and rebuilding of health and independence work we have done for the people is paying off even if sometimes they drive me bonkers It does mean if i need to focus on study then there are people who can cook for themselves and eat good nutritional food.

Atm i am planning the prep work for this - grab and go allergy friendly meals in the freezer, looking into to some new food options, make sure that the pantry and restocking system works better so other people can be on the ball with the shopping list, getting back to shared meal prep/cooking etc. This is all to facilitate the smoother running of the house when the stresses of study take hold.

Studying and working and kids/house definitely possible but for it to be easier systems need to be in place. Someone to look after littles for a bit, time to focus possible to be build in. No one can tell you what you need to do to make it work, but i would suggest looking at the systems you might need as you consider it. And then i would probably go for it, but then i am a terribly bad influence

I went back to sleep, slept to my alarm, cursed i hadn't turned my alarm off and then slept til the phone went at 10am. I am slowly slowly coming too, but need to get a hell of a lot done today. Including work, building furniture, emptying a lounge that is as full as a hoarder's, hoovering the place and making sure that i have everything that is needed for the shopping list figured out. The people are off adventureing this next week which means i intend to do some food prep ready for the autumn. And the return to crazy.

Very good advice Hills

I work Monday, Wednesday and Friday (not full days but it basically ends up being so) but have a bad habit of letting work overtake my non working days too (best analogy is that teaching is like expandable foam and it will fill as much space as you allow it to). I only get paid for 2 days of work but it is spread over three so in theory I should be able to fit everything into those three days if I was really disciplined and determined not to take work home. That would in theory mean I had two days a work week to focus on uni work. I think I've worked out that the last week of the first module would be my half term week from work so I'd also need to work really hard, and maintain firm boundaries and ability to say 'no', to make sure I had nothing to take home after half term as then I'd have that week to finish off all assignments/everything left itms.

As you know I'm working on ds currently to make him take a bit more responsibility and I can keep building on that. In theory (everything is a theory without knowing what's actually going to happen with covid and how many bloody uturns and last minute changes from gov we'll have to deal with) this year at work should be easier. I've been through most of the units I'll be teaching next year once already so planning and prep will be much smoother and quicker, our department has an insane marking load but if I get disciplined and now that I'm more familiar with the assessments and grading etc that should be more manageable too.

When it's reading and note taking type stuff to do I can do things like make myself go to a pub or cafe where I won't get distracted and end up on mumsnet or fb or netflix or whatever instead.

It's the house I'm rubbish at and I am wondering whether, if I could actually get on top of the clutter and mess enough to be comfortable letting someone in, I could somehow justify and scrape together the money for a cleaner to just do kitchen and bathroom each week and a quick hoover of lounge, stairs and landing. I'd have thought if things are fairly tidy that would be doable in 2 hours?

I don't know.

Tadas:
-done the emails I needed to do
-mashed blackcurrants and made up big batches of blackcurrant gin and brandy and stored away
-done a couple of 10 minute bursts on bedroom.
-reminded myself of what I need to do for work before we go back - said I'd work on a unit that needs refreshing, some lessons need completely redoing some just freshening up - it's extra work that I can't really be 'made' to do but it would be helpful evidence towards my application for upper pay scale in September. That's not really a ta da so much as a oh shit and there's that too lol.

I wish I could wave a magic wand over myself and be more energetic and focussed and able to get things done. The only thing that tempts me to try and get a formal adhd dx is access to medication that might actually help with that.

Hills some great advice there.

Another one awake during the night. I went to bed early about 9:30pm and watched a bit of tv then slept about 10:15 to 1:30am when I woke up completely and watched an unusual film till about 3:30pm. Slept on and off as hot but couldn’t be bothered to get up and open the window! Slept from 6am -10am😳 just getting going now but I am meeting people at 2 pm so better get off here and crack on.

Leaves☕️🥐🍩☕️🥐🍩☕️🥐🍩☕️🥐🍩 in naughty corner.

Name your favourite biscuit...

wrt house - sometimes you have to temporarily lower your standards. kitchen, bathroom clean, rest of house not a complete health hazard. Job done. tidy and immaculate houses are not essential, nice. really nice, but not essential.
Why do you think i go it on a hill to study no distractions

I must say honey ADHD medication has made the most unimaginable difference to me. I’ve been on these threads a long time and I can see the difference in the lists I’m posting now, and much less I’m feeling overwhelmed (and when I do it doesn’t last as long), compared to before I started the meds late 2019. It’s not a magic wand but it’s made my brain clear enough to know what needs doing. Happy to answer anything about it (including by PM if you’d rather) 💐

Having said that I am having a bit of a lazy morning 🤣 I’ve done a bit of lesson planning and home ed prep. Hills that is good advice indeed - to get as much prep done to make things run more smoothly as the studying ramps up.

For me this is mainly the home ed prep TBH, as DS is going to need a lot more work and input. We’ve been giving him lots of stuff he can at least do vaguely independently since we took a more structured approach, but TBH this isn’t enough anymore, he needs more actual lessons IYSWIM.

And then in September I’ll either be working, job hunting more, or adding more volunteering to boost my CV. Ah heck.

Food prep/planning is something I can’t even face though 😩 luckily DH takes care of that, we do tend to rely on pretty boring easy picky-child-friendly stuff a lot of the time but neither of us have the headspace to tackle that right now. So my main other priority for the summer is more decluttering.

Thanks Sing - I'm a little bit reluctant because amongst other things I think I will need to do some work in International Schools after ds leaves home to have any chance of retiring anytime. The sort of countries I'd be applying to might have less 'advanced' attitudes to send. Aside from which I don't think the medications are available/legal in those countries anyway.

Ridiculously I have done 2 online CPD courses, shopped for new work clothes and basically all manner of didn't need to be now stuff to avoid getting on with housework. It's ridiculous.

I keep doing little 10 minute bursts on my bedroom but can't make myself knuckle down. I may be a lost cause.

That does sound like very productive procrastination though honey!

Just got back from the cinema - Croods 2 was good, and it was nice for DS to see friends too. Walked there but a friend dropped us back as the heavens had opened during the film!

Not sure I can be bothered with a power of three today. We did the second coat of the bathroom earlier anyway and it looks so much better!

Evening all! Things have been a bit febrile here with DD getting in an utter flap about GCSE results at 10pm last night. Took a lot of talking down last night and most of this morning, culminating in booking train tickets for her to go and stay with DS1 for a couple of days, as a distraction. Results will be received up there and then she'll come back to do school place verification stuff 🤞.

Yes Ta Da:
❤️ Curtains and blind hung in the music room

Ta da
❤️ LOL
🧡 S&S
💛 DW run and rotated
💚 Kitchen floor swept
💙 Twitter conversation about Ancestry Ts & Cs undertaken
💜 Client work achieved
🤎 Consultant's secretary emailed about recovery profile
🖤 DS3 collected from tennis, put in bath, given painkillers and generally calmed down. After almost 2 weeks of 3 hours of tennis every morning, his joints are complaining and he was very unhappy.
💜 DW run
❤️ Brownies baked with DS3
💛 DW rotated again
🧡 Tea of rice-that-takes-days-to-cook and goulash from the freezer cooked and served.

I am ever so slightly about to LMS with DH, who has volunteered to take over Food Stuff (planning and acquiring not cooking and serving) and keeps asking stupid questions. "How do you plan a menu?" and "what shall we eat?" 🤦

Tell him to take ownership and refer to google if needs be - how annoying.

I made sandwiches for ds and I, neither were really hungry and as a joint effort we've rotated dw and got all rubbish and recycling out for bin collection day tomorrow.

I've basically cleared bedroom floor and vacuumed one side of the room. I have sorted another bag for stuff to go to charity and plan to walk them to a charity bin in the village in the morning after checking house to see if there's anything else I can add, then move things around to vacuum rest of room and will flea bomb when we go out for dinner in the evening.

Yes it has been fairly productive procrastination - made a start at organising my appraisal evidence folder and thinking about what else needs doing and have another couple of bits of independent cpd to log. I also emailed head of dept to say that given she's moved the unit she wanted me to work on to the end of the school year I'm not going to spend August doing it and would like it to be carried over to next years targets as I think I've done enough to cover whole dept and wider school contribution etc. Bit more practice at boundary setting.

Heard back from insurance company and have given them the go ahead to send out their own contractors and for them to contact me directly to arrange. Emailed uni again as no one called today.

Also cleaned toilet and decluttered bathroom.

That's going to have to do for today.

Willow Our lot have to pick their results up from the school. so dont have that option with ds. I hope she survives the wait. It is getting close so quickly.

Re ADHD i don't take meds but i know what works for me and what doesn't. I know that sometimes i need a deadline with a reward at the end or just a giant great big stick it is hard though. And a lot of people don't really understand how i struggle. And a few people have learnt the hard way exactly how many things run through my brain all at once. Like Sing i do get overwhelmed but have some coping stragies that help and some that don't there are ways to do it unmedicated if necessary but they will take work and pig headed determination. if you need to pm honey i am happy to chat with what i do to manage it. Just understand there is no one size fits all, and sometimes not even a one method suits one person kinda solution to this.

ta da
pop into work
deal with a major situation
come home to do all the things
praise teen for help
swear about the complaints from teen about computer and internet AGAIN!
call people fools for thinking things will fit through doorways that are clearly too big to do so
move boxes
move tables
move sofa 1
hoover random stuff because fucking hell the dust dinos have been horny buggers
make tea
aggressively drink coffee and sorta sulk
suck it up and start to put together a bookcase
realise might have consumed own body weight in caffienated drinks and that this was probably a very very bad plan

There is still a crap ton left to be done today i dont want to

Hills Because DD has been schooled online, everything comes in by email at 8am. I am going to be twitching like mad. Have to get through A level results at 8 Tuesday first, although DS2 doesn't need them. I have already dreamed he got a D, an E and a U (not even an N!) and woken up in a flat spin.

More Ta das:
❤️ DW refilled and put on again
🧡 Dark wash into dryer
💛 Trousers that came off the line with powder marks put through quick wash 🤬
💚 Remade our bed
💙 Handed out 3 4 5 several clean loads of washing
💜 Tucked DS3 in
🤎 Saw DS2 who popped home to get his GF's boots so they could go to a party 🤷
🖤 Played stupid computer game in the bath, on my phone. The story line is giving me stress, so I shall stop.

On the plus side, I reached the end of a 12-generation report today. Just the 10 generations on the other side to do 😭.

Right, someone (most likely me) has to take DD to work at 5.45am tomorrow, so I'm going to bed.

Night willow

I think I’ll go to bed shortly too. I’ve not done a single power of three list today!

ta da
🌋yet more printing of home ed stuff
🌋bit of planning relating to tutoring etc
🌋did second coat in bathroom with DH - looks so much better I’m chuffed with it!
🌋walked to town to see movie

Have basically sat on the sofa since. 😳🤣

I am playing tetris with books. i have no idea how they were when they came off the book case. So it is anyone's guess how they are going back and if they will all go back

I has the tireds