Following Flylady into September - Fledglings starting a new term

[EspeciallyDivided]

Welcome to the September Flylady Thread where we follow the Flylady routines for running our homes and lives. Links to the relevant parts of the Flylady site are posted each morning (most of the time - see naughty corner below). The Fledgling threads are long running, some have been posting for years some are new, all are welcome. Just jump in and ask if you don’t understand anything. The chat is an important part of the thread too, housework is not the be all and end all, we like to pass the time amongst friends while we get our houses in order.

This is not a strict thread but a gentle way of following the guidelines on the Flylady website without having to sign up the emails, which can become a bit overwhelming. Do as much or as litle as you can, there is no judgement here.

If you are new to the system start with the baby steps. These are designed to get you into a routine so you know longer think about doing the chores they are just habit. Set time, set day - do the thing. We do recognise that this is not a good system for quick decluttering and many of us in the past have combined this system with other systems for getting the heavy duty sorting out and cleaning out done. We don't judge.

Babysteps and household focus zones start again on the 1st of every month hence a new thread at the start of each month to keep things orderly. That is one of the great things about Flylady, you can jump in whenever because everything comes back round again soon. You are never behind.

Lastly we have a naughty corner - if you are struggling in any way this is a spot to join in the chat snuggled into comfy cushions with some nice drinks and nibbles until you feel ready to Fly again. So even if you have not lifted a finger around the house you can stay and chat. The thread leader may be found there from time to time putting the kettle on and plumping up the cushions.

Welcome to September.

This link www.flylady.net/c/lp.php is the Flylady launchpad. All the different parts of the system can be found here.

This is the Flighplan - the do do list which updates daily www.flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=-60

Babysteps are here www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/

Fly lady must make a fortune on selling advertising on her page. She can say look at how many hits my page gets...pom-poms alone visits 87 time a a day to check what she's supposed to be doing.

I'm 55 so perhaps not!

Evenin’ all.

ta da
🔑last few tweaks of essay
🔑self reflection
🔑sent assignment in!!!
🔑booked film festival tickets
🔑set up zoom meetings for maths this week
🔑a few hours work through the day including getting to grips with a project I’ve been given
🔑taught maths online
🔑cleared up a bit in living room and set Cagletini up with painting

Quite pleased with my organisation attempts with my job so far this term (yes I know I’ve only been back 7 working days 🤣). Since I joined in October I had a notebook that was meant to be for work but then often ended up using random scraps of paper instead. This term I got one of those A4 notebooks with five dividers.

I am trying to be neater when writing notes during meetings 🙈 but also, when I write a task down I am now making a point of putting an empty check box next to it. Then today I finally felt I needed a proper to do list (in a separate Tasks section to meeting notes) so I went through any unchecked boxes and transferred those items onto the new list in priority order along with other stuff I needed to do from emails etc. I also wrote T (for Tasks) on those checkboxes once I’d copied the item, so I don’t mistake them for completed or forgotten tasks. Hopefully it’ll work quite well, it’s certainly helped me this evening anyway and I feel more confident about getting stuff done tomorrow. Plus it’s satisfying seeing a nice neat(ish) column of squares gradually filling up 😁

Should really sleep, I will be amazed if I don’t crash big time tomorrow what with the stress of the last few days!

Ta-da's:

🌾 Food shopping
🌾 Took car to be valeted
🌾 Pharmacy
🌾 Life admin
🌾 Tidy bedroom and living room
🌾 Exercise
🌾 Tidy garden

Hope the exam went ok Hills

Well done finishing your first assignment Perry. I like your idea for the left over tasks. Fingers crossed for you to get some sleep.

Good to see you back Dancing

Pompoms you've only just started, you'll get there with it.

Hope DS is setting in well ED

Don't worry about falling off the thread Zireael I do all the time, it's part of the chaos.

Ta Das:
🌻 some sewing on a sweatshirt (the shoulder seams were crooked! Not anymore 😇)
🌻 video chat with mum
🌻 DS picked up from school and taken to optician
🌻 groceries picked up
🌻 groceries put away

I still haven't cleaned the bathrooms 🤦‍♀️ but now it's time to cook dinner

hills🏅 for epic list.
Pompomsyou doing great lovely,don't worry if it's enough.like hills said check the flight plan for all the days info in one place!
Hazel I really need to start menu planning again,we've been off piste a while and its way more expensive and that "oooh what am I doing for dinner!" does not work well when we are getting tired and hangry!
Perry glad you chilled a bit today after the essay into the night.what you watching on Netflix?

So busy focusing on remembering who did what forgot to post me ta da🤣🤣🤣🤣

Tada
6LOLsortrd(more to do)
Quick glide over D's not dungeon and girls room of doom(wipe available surfaces,locate and sweep floors,clean windows of cat snot)
Bathroom has a good seeing you(windows,sills,bath skirt,radiator,tiling all wiped,s+s)
Made a start on front room.
Had to keep stop as so tired,joints weren't playing nice and motivation 0%...
Also went optician- officially have healthy eyes,just old and will now have two pairs glasses!everyday and reading!
Grabbed extra milk,bread and fruit whilst out.

Today I need to
*finish home bleurgh/get kitchen and living room back under control!
*Pop wellbeing group at church and discuss community cafe volunteering on Saturday.
*Pay for quingo quiz night for us all(incl dd1 and husband.theyve given me their share already)
*Start menu planning!

Hoping joints start cutting me some slack as the mess is getting to me A LOT.

Need acquire a duvet at some point in next few days also as getting cooler at night

@EspeciallyDivided no more for me either!
Time to enjoy our next phase of life.

DS phoned me about 10.30 last night (wanted me to whatsapp him some photos from my phone to show people) - sounded as though he was really enjoying himself. Those who have been on the thread a while will know that he has autism and dyspraxia and I have done battle over the years with getting him an EHCP and special school place so the choice of and preparations for going to uni have have had to be meticulous, so this is a massive relief. Early days but I am hopeful it will all work out for him.

I had a busy day yesterday too, work, out to the PO at lunchtime to post the waterproof trousers which may well be needed as he’s going to Wales. Needed here too, it poured all day yesterday and is still doing so now. And yet the forecast said that most of the country had sunshine yesterday. Then Aldi on the way home, dinner (cooked by DH from the Hello Fresh box), a committee meeting 7-9 on Zoom, cleared the kitchen, did the outside of the toilet bowl area and flopped.

Off to work again shortly.

Today’s Flight Plan (and yes, agree with everyone else, all you really need to know for the day is here, but explore the rest of the site for more in depth explanations. Whatever you do don’t sign up for the emails, you will get inundated). I will probably stick to just posting the flightplan links for the rest of the month so as not to overwhelm everyone.

www.flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=-60

Our mission today is to go through our medicine cabinet/box/whatever and chuck anything that’s expired, empty packs etc to be replaced if needed. Also a bit more stash and dash clearance. I did a bit of that last night, we have book shelves at the top of the stairs where stuff gets dumped so I had a go at getting some of it back to proper homes.

Flylady wrote a book a few years ago, it’s called Sink Reflections and it makes more sense than the website IMO. I have just checked Amazon and it is £12 new which is a bit steep, but there are secondhand copies available more cheaply.

Glad to hear that Ds is settling in ED.

Fell asleep in the middle of my 8pm training session, slept through til ds woke me at 10am and tbh could have slept for longer. Thankfully as attending training online with the instructors having no way to see or hear me there was no problems with that. Would like to say feeling refreshed but as i lost half a day to running errands yesterday my to do list for today which is huge has gained a good chunk of yesterday's to do list. And like yesterday I have til 5 when i am due in training... <sigh>

just drinking coffee, and trying to get going. will be back with stupid long lists I am afraid. this is not flying this is OMFG panic sorting...

<sigh>

<adds expresso shot for extra speed for hillsto manage All The Things>
Willowall fed no one dead days are all that matters sometimes.hope work on the silent architect proves fruitful soon!
Ed good to hear DS seems to be settling in ok.its a huge worry in these early days for you but hopefully he will find his groove and get into the swing of uni life.

Tada.
*Try not LMS trying locate missing prescriptions for D's and dd2.over 2hours on phone to be cut off,not answered.Not Happy(also wasted precious time when I'm so low on energy)
*Clear up cat sick /furballs off my bed,which was housing 5clean loads laundry I hadn't put away.just what I needed 🙄
*Negotiate difficult texts from lil zoo with period pain at school and dd2 who was In A Tizz.
*Try and sort out volunteering at community cafe date,missed person needed speak to(managed get them via messenger and was told next weekend not this we start,but need pop down for coffee machine practise on Saturday.
*3lol done.not much else.
*Written list what needs doing.its huge.

No energy left so this is going to be Hard Work,but need find kitchen in order to cook dinner later.best crack on

Ditzy it was actually my last assignment! Of that course anyway 😁 but as this one ran feb-sept I have very little break between that and starting my second course.

Don’t have any major binges on Netflix at the moment zoo so yesterday I just watched an episode of Community (I’m on series 5 I think). Haven’t got the focus for much else!

I have just dosed up on painkillers because headache. DH had to work this morning and wasn’t able to take Cagletini out like he planned, and then he’s off for an AGM in a bit. I’m bored though so I will probably bring the laptop down for a bit more work, as at least I have the task list there. Mind you I have had to do a ton of stuff that was more urgent than the list already today 🤔🙄

Eww! Cat snot, Zoo, I thought only dogs did that to windows. I keep thinking of getting a cat. Then I think of the hair everywhere, the dead creatures brought in, the paw prints and the litter tray. They are adorable though. Maybe one day when life is less hectic.

Hills you sound exhausted. At least you didn't get in trouble for falling asleep. Sending you strength for the epic to-do list.

Hope the weather was in your favour for the garden visit Willow.

I didn't know FlyLady wrote a book ED, I might buy that.

Bet the sweatshirt looks lovely now Hazel, crooked seams really spoil the way things hang.

Ta-da's:

🌋 Decluttering
🌋 Life admin
🌋 Window cleaning
🌋 Painstakingly working through a 4 digit combination lock to find the sequence that opens it. Currently upto 2211. This is going to take a while 😔

ta da in absolutely no order

Strip the utility room where the "pantry" is completely bare washing every single item as it was removed.
clean down the cupboards, shelves, fridge and freezer
start returning stuff to the shelves (take pictures before you empty the shelves people - it helps!)
return stuff to the storage space under the stairs
drop ds at college for lunch
make the decision to play catch up on the meetings at 5 and 8pm today
arrange to go walking at 8:30 to aid really sore back
convince ds to move hoover into utility room
hoover and clean under the bottom shelves
Swear about people who say they are going to do something and then don't.
Sort some medical stuff out for ds - aka made him an appointment
trip over stuff and fall off a chair a couple of times
be grateful that tea for 2 people is left overs.
Ping leftovers and call tea

Right i better get back to sorting stuffs... <sigh> I am not moving saturday!

Tonight we are writing our evening routines. So far, we have -

LG has to make sure she has her uniform in her bedroom for the next day. Also has to charge her phone before bedtime.

All plates, banana skins, etc to be in the kitchen beside the sink. LB likes to clear the table when reminded.

I get the porridge and eggs ready for a quicker start to the next day.

All my encouragement to do homework is being ignored atm. I don't think they're bad kids, they just run out of steam mentally and emotionally, and simply cannot manage to do more than survive to the end of a day.

@WeegieGranny2022 writing a plan is a great idea. Maybe do baby steps like flylady so it's not a huge leap for everyone.

I've been out for the day but I've done

✅ morning routine

✅ afternoon routine

✅ evening routine

✅ made a soup

✅ painted curtain rail

❌ no headway on the office space (I don't have one but I've earmarked the time for the kids room and the toys that we haven't unpacked yet)

My ta da - boxed up unworn outgrown school clothes, anoraks, wellies and shoes from my confused over-spending days. All asda's generic uniform. Not sure how to dispose of them eg to donate or sell.

Cleared some more of the weedy patch at the back of the garage.

Yeah, got logged in!
ended up on page 1 instead of page 10 but heigh ho!

Hills sounds like a big task ahead.

Glad he is settling in ED.

Zoo still getting the snotty windows. Do you still have the same cats?

I didn’t get much done yesterday as in the market all day. Had to change plans to accommodate friend as her car broke down. Lovely to see her. Bought BBQ from Wilco for £20 I think it was about £85 in summer. Bought before DH arrived as he has been putting it off. I love a BBQ as do the boys.So now we have a decent sized one for next year.
Bulbs £2:50 a pack in there and they have fleece rugs at £8. Making room for🤫 the C word stuff.
Took about £40 and had some new, hand knitted baby cardies donated and a lovely blanket. Some cute hats from another lady.

Tuesday
I got some of bathroom done.
Shower tray
One shelf, cleared wiped down and put back.

One other room
ROOM of DOOM
No comment
Boudoir now a tip as I decant.

Have you tried Vinted? A bit fiddly unless you have your own printer.

YesTaDa
🎼bit of work
🎼set and marked DS’ maths
🎼taught maths lesson online
🎼played a card game
🎼two very long phone calls with customers
🎼more work
🎼long drawn out bedtime with Cagletini - DLMS

Yesterday was hard going with not much down time. Bit sad today as I can’t go to Cagletini’s first session at home ed gymnastics (where DD1 went for years, it’s sort of the local hub as so many families go). I’m interviewing two candidates for work though, which will be good.

po3.1
❗️Meds and breakfast and CAFFEINE
❗️Send email re home ed
❗️Figure out the morning’s home ed plan

<plonks self in naughty corner>

Well, it is turning out to be a busy week. I was at work yesterday, then a zoom meeting and then out with friends for a curry (new restaurant in town). We all met at ante-natal class for our eldest and now they are all off to uni, where did that time go. DS reported in half way through the evening having gone on a pub crawl, but also checked in with me this morning to say he and some others had headed back to campus fairly early as they had had enough to drink and that he was OK.

Today's flight plan flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=-60

Mission is to scrub the bathroom basin and carry on decluttering those stash and dash spots.

I was supposed to have help yesterday and today. Yesterday the help was unhelpful and today i have 1 down with stomach bug and 1 coughing their guts up. Ds is off at college and will be grumpy as sin when he gets back plus he doesn't see why he should pick up the pieces after the dubious choices of the people.

I was in so much pain last night after yesterday that not only did it wake up, i barely slept and had to resort to the strong pain killers. So combining that will the loss of a friend. I am not in the best mood.

ta da
wash up the trolley thing that allows person to transfer stuff between kitchen and utility room
clean down everything that was on the trolly
clean all the bottles for going back on the shelves
wipe down more cupboards
clean down the bench in the utility room and return stuff to it cleaning as i go
clean all the little trays that sit on the shelves to make getting to little bottle stuff easier (you know herb and spices etc)
rewash abandoned load
2nd load on
swear a lot
discover there is nothing for breakfast, lunch or tea for me and there is no time to go out
wash up the tub to hold the utensils that sit on the kitchen bench
swear more
avoid crying and take strong pain killers
Arrange walk tonight to prevent back seizing complete as there is going to be more to do tomo and i have yet to lift the mattress and all the fun cleaning like hoovering and mopping...