Flying out of summer (what summer?!)

[partypompoms]

Welcome to this long running thread, we may seem clicky, but all are welcome to join in!

Do NOT sign up for the Flylady emails - it's an excessive amount sent every day.

There are Baby Steps for starting out, add one thing at a time to start good habits and routines.

There are 5 zones that we will rotate through, don't worry about finishing it all this month, it'll come around again next month! Flylady is NOT about perfectionism!

Habit of the month of August is Laundry

Daily missions: each day of the week has a different mission.

• Monday: Home Blessing (or as we call it, home bleugh)
• Tuesday: plan & play
• Wednesday: anti-procrastination
• Thursday: errand day
• Friday: clean car & purse out and date night (what's that again?? 🤔)
• Saturday: family fun day
• Sunday: renew your spirit

Common acronyms we use:

• LOL: load of laundry (washing is certainly NOT funny!)
• DW: dishwasher, we are not rotating wives by any means, although an extra pair of hands could come in handy sometimes 😆
• LMS: lose/lost my shit
• DNLMS: did not lose my shit

I'm sure there's more I haven't mentioned, feel free to ask us to explain something. I'll try to update links every day, although if you can, it's worth downloading the app, you can even have it send you notifications (although I only have it for when the zones change).

I like the app as it has a tick list and I love a list.

Links are below 👇 and I'll tend to post the links the night before ready for the next day.

Launch Pad: www.flylady.net/d/new-links/

Zones: www.flylady.net/d/zones/

Baby Steps: www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/

Hey pompoms thank you for starting the new thread! And well done and thank you hazel for leading August.

I love the thread title, I’m very much feeling like there was no summer both in terms of weather and relaxation! It’s been hectic here trying to fit in too much at home (decorating mainly) but I know I am lucky to have a term time only job as at least work was off the table for a bit. That said, the last six weeks has pushed my health and my autistic ADHD brain to the edge even without the stress of a frankly rocky marriage. So the focus for September for me needs to be easing myself and my family back into some kind of routine (tricky as the older DCs are both starting new colleges)… and continuing to declutter which I’ve made good progress on over summer. Oh and self care because that has been worse than usual, not better as I’d hoped.

Enough ramble, I need to get stuff sorted this evening as DS and I have an early start tomorrow (he’s home educated and has an interview for a part time college course).

See you all tomorrow! 🍒👋

Thanks for the thread Pompoms

Thank you for the new thread pompoms
Thank you hazel for keeping us on the straight and narrow last month

FRIDAY'S TO DO LIST

🟢 15 mins in the entrance area, porch and dining room. It's a quick rubbish collection for zone 1. Set the timer and gather what you can.

🟢 declutter purse and car

🟢 September habit: before bed routine.

www.flylady.net/d/habits-of-the-month/september/

Term time job here aswell @SingToTheSky , really lucky but it does make the home very busy with less opportunities to 'catch up' whilst there's less people in the home . I absolutely adore my job though so it's all worth it in the end ❤️

Thank you for the new thread @partypompoms 💐 .

This zone is definitely in need of some tlc, looking forward to getting the area back on track over the next few days !

Thanks @partypompoms and also a big thanks to Hazel for last month’s thread, particularly as you are juggling different time zones, weekends away and home restoration.

We are mainly unpacked now after having been away for a couple of weeks, Mount Washmore has been converted to Mount Ironmore, to do at the weekend, it’s mainly odds and ends lying around now, chargers, passports, first aid bits etc. But the normal routines have definitely slipped a bit. Have agreed on a bedroom blitz with DS over the weekend, he goes back to uni soon and I want it left decluttered.

Very early morning 🌄 everyone 👋
Thanks for new thread @partypompoms
Also thanks to everyone wishing me well , I'm a bit bruised and feeling like I'm coming down with flu but mainly I'm a bit depressed with it all for some reason.
Yesterday's unplanned TaDa:
I was deadheading my pot plants and decided to trim back the ivy, was only going to trim the bits that trail on the slabs but DP offered to lend me his hedge trimmer. He never usually lets me use his tools so he must have been trying to get on my good side 😅
So it's had a good scalping and does look a bit sad now.
After I tidied all the debris up I needed a rest.
Long story short me and DP had a huge and ugly row, things have been building up, and I had brought up his lack of care when I had concussion (he went out to play in a pool match and came home pissed). He's stormed out saying he's sick of my shit.
Hence why I'm still up, stressed out, and I need to be up early to sort the animals out as I've got an early doctor's appointment.
Hope you all have great days.
Ps, is it just me, or do any of you ever picture FlyLady's home life? I think she's a golf widow, her husband has a mistress and she distracts herself with housework 😁

Oh cherry I’m sorry, DP (just P!) sounds horrible and unsupportive 🤬💐 but 😁🙈 at the flylady speculation!

I am annoyed that I can’t sleep. I should feel relieved as I managed to finally get some big paperwork tasks done today but nope. Going to put Netflix on quietly on my phone I think, to try and doze off.

Flylady looks achievable tomorrow. I have to admit I am terrible at even trying to follow the routine despite being a fledgling for years! But a little guidance feels appealing at the moment. I’ll be up and out early with DS for his college interview, but if I can manage to clear out my bag (much needed) and do a little decluttering in the hallway when I’m home that will be good. I absolutely do need to think about an evening routine too so having that as the monthly focus is apt!

Good morning everyone ☕️

@EquallyDetermined did you have a nice holiday ? You've done well with mountwashmore - I'm still catching up on mine and we came home on Monday !

@CherryogDog I hope you're doing ok ? Arguments are horrid, I hope you managed some rest eventually. Also an amusing thought about flyladys home life 😀

@SingToTheSky I hope you managed some rest ? I always fond it strange that it tends to be us up worrying in the night about the home running smoothly but it doesn't seem to effect ohs in the same way . Do you think it's the house that's bothering you or going back to work after the holidays ? I know I won't sleep much on Sunday evening , I absolutely love my job but I don't like the mayhem at home during term time . Good luck to DS for his college interview!! What has he chosen to pursue ? My dd1 starts 6th form college on Monday, had her interview in the middle of her GCSEs which I thought was definitely a stress that could of been taken off the students shoulders ! Then enrolled on exam results day so she's all sorted .

Talking of dc that are going back to school and college - those of you with dc at uni , when did you start looking round them ? We went to visit Falmouth when in Cornwall , it's a lovely town uni , smaller than some which dd liked because she doesn't really like being in a city . However , her GCSE results put her in the top 10% of the country so it's actually opened her eyes that possibly she could apply for some of the top universities if A levels suit her style of learning . In my head im thinking we need to visit these places so she can get a feel of the places she might like to go .

Apologies for the long post !! Lots to do today so I best finish my coffee and get started !

Tada
✅ lol in the washer !

Thanks @SingToTheSky , and sorry that you're not sleeping well either.
If I don't collapse with exhaustion today I'm going to have a cook fest. I've seen a recipe involving mushrooms, gnocchi and cream that I want to try. Also going to make celery soup. I don't know where I'm going to put it all as my freezer is jammed full.
When a recipe says 20 mins prep I take at least an hour 😅
I've also got behind on my LOLs, which is not like me, I just procrastinate about putting it away.
Have great days everybody TTFN

@CherryogDog are you recovered from the row? It really is awful and draining falling out with people and still having to live with them.
I absolutely love celery soup but I've bought a tonne of carrots so it's carrot and coriander here this week.

✅ up early and did the hall, stairs and landing declutter and hoover and dust.
✅ washed front door in and out
✅ showered and dressed ready
✅ cleared bag
✅ quick whip round the car
✅ made a shopping list
✅ finished reading Pippi long stockings to middle child.
✅ packed a Vinted parcel ready to go
✅s and s two loos

To do:
Food shop
Get a key cut
Pick up a book I've ordered in
Swim lesson

SATURDAY:

Family fun day

www.flylady.net/d/daily-focus/daily-focus-saturday/

Pretty self explanatory really have some fun with your family. We are off to a birthday party tomorrow.

Thank you pompoms for running the thread this month! I had fun running the thread last month, even though I did miss a few days.

Cherry have things got any better at home with "D"P? Are you feeling better now as well?
Sorry for lack of other personals, I've now run out of time on my lunch break!
🍒👋 to everyone!

Hope your work day is going well @BloomingHazel ?

Which book are you reading @partypompoms ? I've just finished 'The stolen hours' by Karen Swan , a book that I've been waiting a year for its release , it's the second in the trilogy so now I'll have to wait another year for the final book. About to start 'Marshmallows for breakfast' which was my July book in the year challenge but there were a couple of personal picks that I wanted to read first .

Tada :
✅ 15 minutes on dining room which means the last of the unpacking is finished !
✅ dd2 tried on all school uniforms, now hers and ds's are all detached and ready to have a rinse in the washer tomorrow.
✅ 15 mins on folding clean laundry and put up into each room (this job is now caught up on so hopefully all clothes will be put away by the end of the weekend )
✅ 3 x LOLs
✅ visited library , dd2 made a badge there, sorted her summer reading challenge and I picked up the 2 books I'd ordered in.
✅ visited MIL for a few hours
✅ cooked 2 types of curry 😋 dd2 actually ate the chicken korma with the rice instead of just dipping the naan bread and popadom in the sauce ! A huge breakthrough! Hopefully will make mealtimes less of a headache! We also all ate together which doesn't happen as often as I'd like with work & sports , lots of laughing instead of arguing which was lovely
✅ dishwasher on
✅ oh is finishing off the kitchen as I cooked the dinner 🥂 so I've poured a g&t !

evening.

been a struggle bus kinda day. Need to hit the road running tomo and can't find pen/paper so hopefully you won't might if i brain dump my to do list here.

Saturday to do - not in order of task needed
remove washing machine drawer and clean the bits inside machine i didnt get to today
unload, reload and run DW - potentially having raided ds' room first
strain stock and get processed
skim broth and get processed
washing
edge material and wash
set carrot ferment up
pick up ingredients for noodle bowl tea
pick up ingredients for fig jam
pick up missing ingredients for cowgirl and cowboy candy
label new storage jars
hoover car
upholstery treat car
sort out stuff in/to go into car and make so
finish clearing bath room
finish emptying loft
finish striping stuff out of my room
cook noodle bowl tea
clean out fridge - should in theory be a cloth shelf wipe and a double check
wash up the big pots
tackle the little pots and pans which appear throughout the day/night
find all the bits for the sewing machine
water plants
wash car

I can tell you now that not everything of that will be done Saturday, but it all has to be done by the end of day Sunday with a few extra bits. Going to be a busy one

@Searchingforsunnydays DS started uni last year, we started looking properly in spring of year 12, but it was 2021 and all a bit weird because of covid restrictions, we did start going to open days that summer though. It helped that he wanted to stay within 100 miles of home. DD is going into y13 now and hasn't really engaged with the process, she says she wants to go but doesn't know what she wants to study or where she wants to go, a gap year is looking likely. We did go to a couple of open days last term though. Despite getting all 7s and 8s in her GCSEs she has found the step up to A levels really hard, especially chemistry.

Tada!
1x LOL, line dried
Online yoga class
Swept and mopped kitchen floor
Swish and swipe bathroom
Made some butter (inspired by another thread)
Did some washing up
Brought wheely bins back round from the drive and emptied recycling into one
Removed Euros from purse and replaced with GBP (counts as today's handbag clearout)
Vacuumed downstairs
Tabletted cat
De-pooped litter trays
Conquered Mount Ironmore (only my own, everyone else can do theirs).
Put away all remaining holiday bits
Gave both DCs lifts to and from their p/t jobs
Shopping
Coffee in town
Cooked dinner
Changed sheets on our bed

sunny it looks like you had a successful day between the food breakthrough & being able to relax with a drink at the end of the day! My day at work wasn't too bad and went fairly quickly in the end.

hills that's quite a list! I've got to include washing my Jeep this weekend (4 days off for me), thank you for the reminder.

pompoms you've done well doing zone work. We are having family (& friends) fun day as DS, DH, DD and a couple of friends of DS will be playing air soft. It's not my thing, so I'll go to set up the canopy and table, but otherwise I'll be at home, trying to make the house smell less like a boys locker room! (Mainly downstairs in the basement)

ED that's quite a productive day! Swapping out currency counts in my book.

I'm dozing off, I was going to list my ta das for this evening, but I'll have to do that in the morning, if I can
🍒👋

@Searchingforsunnydays I'm not reading anything for myself as I've just found over the summer holidays I haven't had the head space. This month I will start something. Maybe marshmallows for breakfast?!

@BloomingHazel I find running the thread helps me get better at flying so I'm happy to do it too.

@HillsBesideTheSea that list is epic!

@EquallyDetermined I bet you feel great after accomplishing all those chores well done.

Morning 🌄 everyone 👋
DP eventually turned up at 9pm.
He's just acting like everything is normal, but I'm a wreck.
I'm mulling over how I'd cope living alone. Financially I'd cope, it's my house, but DP does a lot of the "grunt" work, plus I don't like living alone.
Anyway, my dinner turned out lovely, even though it was a very easy prep, the 20 mins on the recipe turned into an hour 😀
TaDa 2 loads of laundry, not put away yet.
Had my doc appt, been re referred to physio, had more bloods taken re my exhaustion, luckily he had a student with him so she took them, rather than having to book in with the nurse.
No flylady'ing here, just treading water until some motivation kicks in.
Have a good day everyone 🙋‍♀️

Morning all, happy September 🍂🍁. Thanks @BloomingHazel for running last month's thread that I snuck onto the end of, and @partypompoms for taking on this month.

@CherryogDog sorry "D" P is being a pain and that you are sore and down. Hope today is better.

Sending 🍀 and 💪 to everyone dealing with Back To School stuff.

@EquallyDetermined that's a heck of a TaDa list, well done!

@HillsBesideTheSea good luck with the endless ToDos.

@Searchingforsunnydays I have two at Uni / off in a couple of weeks and the search process started in earnest in the summer term of the L6th. They both insisted on doing initial visits on their own 😬 but had guidance from the school before that and spent a lot of time on UniFrog.

Somehow, it's the last weekend of the holidays and it's absolutely manic here. DS3 is educated from home, online, so I don't have to worry about uniform and sports kit, but I do have to arrange outside sport and make sure all the logins etc work, do the SEN forms (again - school has changed hands and they want all the paperwork in triplicate just once more 🤦), encourage room and desk tidying etc.

YesTaDa
❤️ Most of morning routine
🧡 LOL dried but not put away
💛 Finally test drove the electric car
💚 Went to the butchers
💙 Finished adjusting wedding dress for 9 September
💜 Everyone fed, nobody dead

To Do
🛍️ Hound peramble
🛍️ Morning routine
🛍️ Change our sheets because I spilled coffee 🤦
🛍️ Make hummus for snacks
🛍️ SEN forms (now urgent)
🛍️ Plan next week including working out how I'm going to get DM to a funeral on Monday - it is at a triangular point between me and her, but she can't drive at present so I'm going to have done 5 sides of the triangle by the end of the day, and will lose most of my day to 1hr at 12.30.
🛍️ Test drive a different electric car, although I think we've made a decision

Family fun day will be tomorrow when DH will do Watching Sport with the DSs and I am taking DD to a book warehouse that means we need to leave at 7.15am 😭😭.

Oooh a book warehouse… although mid declutter that would be the last place I should go right now! 😩

Pompoms DD1 loved Pippi Longstocking, I must finish reading it to Cagletini soon! We started it ages ago but life got in the way and she still prefers shorter books as part of her bedtime routine. But as of the new term we will have them as part of her home ed day instead.

YesTaDa
🎉got up and out on time to go with friends to DS’ chosen college, attended interview etc
🎉after lunch, dashed over (still with friends) to DD1’s chosen college for enrolment

Zero flying achieved, I was absolutely shattered after that. Totally worth it though as both of them have got onto the courses they need. DD1 starts A levels next week, DS starts his 14-16 provision the week after (that’s just two days a week, he’s still home ed). A new era for the Caglets!

I had a much needed lie in this morning. DH and DD1 are finishing the bed this morning as there wasn’t time for all of it yesterday. Once it’s done and DD1 can start packing all her stuff into it, I will be able to clear some space in my room for my new desk… hopefully 😩

Morning.

Cherry - sorry about the DP situation. Although you say you dont like living alone, is it something that is better than living with dp? the lesser of two evils so to speak?

I am ignoring all chatter of schools/uni/studies. Ds pretty much takes care of himself in that respect. I just need to sent a copy of reports in for him. It's on Monday's to do list. I am pretending that Monday is not return to routine day.

I have added sort through pantry shelves to my short little to do list today. <sigh> i couldn't help myself the chaos in that area of the room is driving me crazy.

ta da
drink coffee
start reorganising shelves
pull stuff off to either go or be used up
not find the jar that i was looking for when i started hunting through shelves (i think it got broke a while back and i forgot)
put the stock on to simmer and get up to temp so can be strained more easily.
Mutter dark dark words about people who do half a job and do not put the bin away when it has been emptied and cleaned.
play hunt the where the fuck did that end up game. this game is going to drive me mad during this phase of building work!

Right next up: washing machine, sewing machine and dw

I had to look up cowboy/cowgirl candy! Intriguing!

Sunny I get you re the worrying about stuff. DH to his credit is far better than I am at all the day to day house stuff but we spend a lot of time in chaos due to lack of routine, clearing around clutter etc and I want to do better but it feels like I’m fighting a losing battle on my own! I love my job too, but have no idea how I will focus on it on Monday. I rely on that job for self confidence a bit too much I think, and the whole summer has been something of a mess, so maybe once I’ve settled back in I will feel more like a Proper Adult again?!

Fyi if you have not pulled the washing machine drawer out and looked where it lives, don't. Not unless you have had a good amount of coffee and are in the mood for deep cleaning...

Got distracted by the chaos in the spice drawer. Need to finished the washing machine deep clean and get the laundry going.

Who the hell feels like a proper grown up? Not me. I swear that is a myth made up to make us all feel bad.

Cherry that is a really tough situation to be in, of course the men always brush it off like nothing happened!
hills I'm not looking forward to not being able to find anything either, once work starts here! We have, however, embraced decluttering throughout this whole process though, so maybe that'll make things easier <grabbing at straws, I know>
Sing fingers crossed 🤞 for you and space for your desk, it sounds like you could really do with a good working space.
balloon you're welcome, I've been on these threads for a couple of years now and only just found the courage to lead a thread!

YesTaDas (after work):
🧁 picked up pizza for the boys (DS had a sleepover last night for his birthday) I bought 3, and less than half of one was eaten! 🤦‍♀️
🧁 made 2 types of frosting (I baked the cupcakes Thursday night)
🧁 frosted the cupcakes
🧁 cleaned up the kitchen
🧁 finished loading the DW
🧁 fell into bed just after midnight, completely thrashed from the week

I've had my 1st cup of coffee already this morning, there's so much to do though.

To Dos:
🥞 run to the grocery store for food for brunch this morning and dinner tonight (family night)
🥞 cook the French toast I'm making
🥞 prep fruit
🥞 cook eggs & sausages
🥞 feed the boys
🥞 put some of the gifts for DS together to give to him this morning as they are for air soft, which they are going to do today
🥞 help set up canopy at the air soft field
🥞 come back home, shower, get dressed (as I don't think I'll have time before we have to leave)
🥞 air out the house (stinky teenage boys 🤢)
🥞 bleach both bathrooms
🥞 vacuum
🥞 prep for dinner
🥞 take snacks, drinks & cupcakes to air soft
🥞 enjoy the quiet house to myself!

DD is coming with her boyfriend today too, it'll be nice to actually spend a little more time with him to get to know him.
I really should get moving, this stuff isn't going to happen on its own, unfortunately!

🍒👋 to everyone