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/

@BloomingHazel I do feel great after a cold shower (relieved it's over and smug). But I think I feel actually just good and invigorated. Here's the link to the podcast.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000v83f

It's supposed to by anti inflammatory and immune boosting.

@HillsBesideTheSea the funny thing is a hate the cold. I'm already sleeping in pyjamas and wearing a dressing gown in the evenings as I'm so freezing yet I'm starting to love my cold shower.

@CherryogDog hope you are better soon

Hello! Happy Friday everyone. It seems you’re as chatty as you are productive! I can’t keep up. Very impressed with all the ta-das though. Since I joined this thread last week my life seems to have taken a turn for the bizzarely chaotic and I’m struggling more than ever to keep on top of things. My house is a total tip. Where do I even start? I have an hour now before I need to take DD out to football practice- I’m shattered but really want to get motivated to move off my bum and start getting the house cleaned for the weekend. I have so much to do that I feel paralysed by indecision!
Will start by cleaning up the living room, then give the kitchen a quick once over. Deep breath. I CAN do this!
@partypompoms cold showers sound good! Maybe that’s what I need right now! Have you tried outdoor swimming? Loads of my friends seem to have taken to our local swimming pond and swear by it!

Dolly if you have an hour why not try the Home Blessings, scroll up and Hazel posted what it is. Going forward I recommend focusing on the Baby Steps, there's a new one to focus on each month (because it takes time for a habit to stick) and they help you to build your basic routines, which is the foundation for everything else. I did it slightly differently when I joined. I read through all the Baby Steps on the website, wrote myself out a morning and evening routine (an afternoon one isn't necessary for me) then spent about 6 months turning it into an automatic habit that I rarely need the checklist for. Or you could click the link through to the Launch Pad every day and just do your best at getting through all the tasks given. Yes we are a chatty bunch 😁

Thanks for sharing Pompoms. I may try that I could do with some immune system boosting

That's annoying about the damp Hills, like you needed any extra tasks to do

Get well soon Cherry

You're welcome, Derry. I found the system quite confusing and overwhelming at first, it took me ages to get to grips with it. Looks like you've made a good start with your Ta-Da lists. It's worth persevering, I found it made a dramatic improvement to my life. I'm a much more organised person now. I've got the Morning and Evening Routines under control and the Daily Focus. I'm at the major decluttering stage

To-do:

🍁Sort out car
🍁Sort out bag
🍁Put pile of new clothes away from yesterday's parcel
🍁Investigate the contents of a box for possible decluttering
🍁Fill charity donations request bag with clothes to be collected tomorrow and put it at the collection point
🍁Deadhead roses and water pansies
🍁Finish yesterday's to-do list which I largely ignored

@MissDollyMix When i am stuck giving myself 5 mins on a timer and just saying i will do X for 5 mins is a good way to get started. Getting started is usually where i struggle. Often i find once the timer is done that i simply carry on. But it is surprising what you can get done in 5mins even if you get nothing else done.

Also stack tasks. I deal with the dishwasher whilst i am waiting for the kettle to boil for my morning coffee.

I have been moving stuff that has not been moved in 15 plus years. The amount of dust is horrific and apparently i am not breathing through my nose tonight. At least after anti-histamine I can breathe enough to be able to eat. Unfortunately did not get anywhere near enough stuff moved today so another day of dust to be dealt with tomo.

@MissDollyMix I don't do outdoor swimming. I live by a big river but I also follow the rivers fb page and it's all about the water company dumping sewage and general pollution so it puts me off...as do the eels. My friends live by the sea and they all love swimming in the freezing water.

@HillsBesideTheSea I've come to the conclusion that life is just about moving stuff from one place to another. That's it. That's the meaning of life. You move stuff endlessly.

✅awake since 3am
✅ hula hooping with hand weights now for added misery. Cold shower after.
✅ made packed lunches
✅ morning and afternoon routine
✅ toddler group that I never want to go to again
✅ decluttered a few items that I delivered out to people
✅ swimming with baby
✅ swimming lessons with middle
✅ unpacked bags and tidied after the carnage of today
✅ broken and drinking wine

SATURDAY: FLIGHTPLAN

www.flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=-60&d=1

✅ family fun day where you do something nice together. I've bought ingredients for a cooked breakfast as a treat.

Is that it? Have I missed something?

Pompoms I somehow managed to avoid toddler groups until now. What do they involve?
Hills who needs to breathe anyway 😬
Dolly just pick a corner of one room and set a timer like Hills said. Don't aim for perfection. At this stage done is better than perfect.

It's DH's birthday tomorrow, so I spent my afternoon baking with a toddler, and wrapping presents etc. Kitchen is fine, but the rest of the house like a bombsite, because clearly no one else sees the utter chaos generated by said toddler. I don't have it in me today to clear that up, so Dear Husband will just have to wake up to it on his birthday.

PS next time I get the urge to bake, please remind me that I ain't a baker. Cupcakes themselves are bearable, but the buttercream icing looks like tiny sugar elves shat on those cupcakes. And it was a toddler friendly recipe 🥴

@DomesticElf basically imagine a big room in a hall with toys and mats and activities. It's a pleasant enough way to spend two hours for about £2. Kids get to play and socialise. Adults drink a cuppa and kids have a snack. At the end there are a couple of songs and maybe a story. You meet other parents or grandparents with kids the same age. You might even make actual friends or just friends 'for now'

I help out at one and I run one myself. I'm phasing a 3rd one out as although the women who run it are lovely the parents who go are bloody hard work and who wants to go to 3 groups a week!?! Not me.

Wednesday
🎤ordered a couple of bits Caglets need for college
🎤bit of home ed
🎤put Cagletini to bed
(Yes that was pretty much it - really struggled emotionally and didn’t even get any work done!)

Thursday
🛶washed hair
🛶finished drying towels
🛶home ed stuff
🛶LOL1
🛶work
🛶LOL1 in dryer, LOL2 in WM
🛶sorted student finance (major anti procrastination)
🛶put Cagletini to bed
🛶helped DS get stuff ready for college

Friday
🔧got up bright and early, walked to station and got train with DS
🔧dropped him off at college for his first day
🔧spent the day in the college town with one of my work friends
🔧met DS at the station and got train home

What. A. Week. DD1 has got through her first week at college, she has got through a lot of anxiety but she loves it 🥰 DS has mixed feelings about today, he is very peopled out (and then had Scouts this evening!) but I am immensely proud of him, he hasn’t been in a school type environment for over 8 years!

We are all totally exhausted TBH, trying to get back to routine while starting all this new stuff has been hard and Cagletini has picked up on all of that as demonstrated by lots of overwhelm and lashing out etc… super fun times. I have got several of this week’s hours to fit in over the weekend which isn’t ideal but needs must. Work friend I saw today has been having a rubbish time and taking a mental health day together was so worth it! 😍

Sing congratulations to your DD1 and DS on starting college! How exciting! Hope you get through the craziness of it unscathed.

pompoms thank you for the link to the podcast, I now realise it was that podcast that made me try a cold shower in the first place! Sorry to hear you had a rough day today at toddler group, I hope the wine helps!

dolly when I feel overwhelmed, I start with easy fixes. Picking up toys or clothing up off the floor could be a start. Emptying DW (if you have one) or putting away clean dishes and washing the dirty ones (or loading the DW), can help with the kitchen. If that's too much, just tidying the dirty dishes on the side may motivate you to just do them, if not, it will at least look better. The timer is a good one too.

Elf I got a icing gun from Amazon and it makes the "poop" looking frosting look good with the tips!

Sing so sorry cagletini is picking up on the tension & stress in the house, it doesn't help when they act out. Hopefully things will settle down for you soon 🤞

hills 15 year old dust doesn't sound good! Hopefully you'll be done soon and can breathe properly again.

This has been a hellish week for me. We are currently camping, not too far, so have service still 😊 I'm sitting by the fire enjoying a cider, listening to the chirps of crickets and the hoots of the owls!

I don't have much to report for flying this week, not much for LOLs on Tuesday as I kept getting interrupted by the restoration people! They only cleared the burned items from the shed and have yet to make it back to finish taking the shed down 🙄 no fault of their own though, they had an emergency flood job that they needed to tend to.

We did find out that right now the estimated time to get the trusses done would be the end of November 😭 they can't do much for rebuilding until they are built so we're hoping they will be able to fit us between jobs, or we find someone else who's less busy. We really want to have the roof done before snow flies!

Anyway, have a good weekend everyone 🍒👋

Morning all! Dashing past to say hello. Very little achieved in Flylady terms this week as we pack DD to go to Uni today. My DM has been playing London Hospital Bingo moving from place to place to get the care she needs following a surprise diagnosis yesterday of a congenital issue that explains all sorts of things in our family over the last century (!) and potentially means genetic testing for all of us.

Will try to get back to Flylady next week "when things have calmed down a bit" (I seem to say that a lot).

Morning everyone,

Tada
✅ morning routine
✅ LOL
✅ dd2 times table practice
✅ flu jab

Why is it that I have to drag the kids out of bed on a school day and at the weekend dd2 wakes me up at 530 !! 😴 lots to do today , meal pan , food shop ,'kids clubs . There was no flying this week with working extra hours so hoping to get some time in the bathroom this afternoon.

That news is rough @BloomingHazel ! Hopefully it'll all happen earlier than the planned timeline ! I hope you enjoyed you mr cider under the stars ⭐️

Amazing achievement for your dc @SingToTheSky ! I'm with you on trying to get back into a routine, it is exhausting ! Hopefully it'll all settle down soon 🤞

Happy birthday to your DH @DomesticElf have you got anything planned ?

@HillsBesideTheSea hope your allergies have calmed down .

@MissDollyMix if I'm struggling I do a 1 song burst or set a timer for 5 minutes, it calms the overwhelm . Start with the things that will make day to day life run easier - prep lunch / tea, has everyone got clean clothes etc ,

Hope you're feeling better @CherryogDog

@derrydee I follow flylady for routine , structure to the day and decluttering and use the organised mum method for the home bleurgh stuff , I particularly like the rock the housework sessions!

@partypompoms hormones are awful aren't they - I was quite late this month and felt nauseous for around a week , it makes everything so much more difficult to deal with ! Hope you are starting to feel better .

I've come to the conclusion that life is just about moving stuff from one place to another. That's it. That's the meaning of life. You move stuff endlessly.

Oh my word. This. So much this.

I have done nothing today. I think I will end up having to do all my remaining work hours AND home ed planning/prep tomorrow but today I. Just. Cannot.

😴

"when things have calmed down a bit" (I seem to say that a lot).

Same. Very much same.

I have given up on waiting for things to calm down. They never do. <sigh>
a long lie in was taken this morning and i am very very slow to get going this morning afternoon but i am going to have to get going. We need plates for tea, and clothes for monday and there is still the dust to upset and allow to settle before bed.

balloon is the diagnosis manageable at least? Sometimes in those situations the diagnosis is the hardest thing to get, then easy to manage once diagnosed (that's my hope for you and your family anyway!)

sunny I had that with my DC, well until they hit the teens! My DC seem to be able to handle themselves well now, but they're older. DD is 19, DS is 14 now. We are going to need a much luck on our side as we can get! If that contractor can't get the trusses done sooner than that I will start to make some phone calls!

Sing sorry you're having a tough day today. Will you be able to get everything done tomorrow if you don't do any today? I realise I'm late in the day posting that, sorry! Can you be your future friend and do 5-15 minutes today, using a timer?

hills I'm feeling that things calming down isn't going to happen anytime soon so I must keep plodding on 🙄

The plan right now is demo starting on the bathroom on Tuesday so the plumber can get his plumbing done (we need a shower installed in the main bathroom for when the other bathroom is out of service). We really don't want to be walking through a construction site to get in and out of the bathroom with the shower!

I realise I haven't posted any pictures of the fire damage. It may be outing, but at this point I have nothing to hide! I'm going to add some in a little bit. It might not look like much, but smoke damage is a real thing, and the chemicals in a house fire is dangerous so we're not taking any chances based on our insurance adjusters advice.

Shed damage...

Process on shed so far..

Hazel I know you didn't want to, but if the weather gets too bad do you have the option of backtracking on allowing the insurance company to put you up in a hotel? I ask because the world, sadly, runs on money and at the moment you're not costing them anything. They have to pay out for the repairs etc, but the timescales don't matter to them and I wonder if you'll be repeatedly hit with the situation of contractors being pulled off your job, to go fix things for people who are in hotels costing them money

Balloon I hope your mum gets the care she needs and that the genetic testing goes in your favour

Hills I hope you can get past the dust situation soon and it doesn't make you more ill

I've come to the conclusion that life is just about moving stuff from one place to another. That's it. That's the meaning of life. You move stuff endlessly.

Pompoms this made me laugh so much. I came to the same conclusion and it's why I recently started my major decluttering project. I didn't want to do it any more. You sound really fed up, wishing you a better week next week

I've done all the easy wins with the decluttering, so it's getting hard now with emotional items and situations where I want everything but don't want to spare the room for it all. To achieve the less cluttered look I'm having to limit it to keeping my favourites, but that doesn't mean I want to get rid of the rest. DP actually suggested hiring a skip, throwing everything out and starting again, just to put a stop to the endless decision making. There is some sense in that, but my frugal nature won't let me be so wasteful

Ditzy insurance is actually paying us enough for rent (to rent the equivalent of our size house) as we don't have full access to the house - one room is completely damaged (I'll post those pictures later), so we do have the money to stay elsewhere if it gets to that!
I understand your DPs pov, but sentimental items do need to be gone through imo. It may take several times to go through things before you're comfortable with throwing them out.

✅ hula hooping: which I did listening to a podcast today and the 15mins literally flew by. The programme is called Life Changing and I love it. Real people come on tell their stories about something that changed their life. I love a real life story.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m000v5ng?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

✅ kids party
✅ made a pie filling to save me tomorrow.

Not sure if there was much family fun time as I've been a shouty mother today. Has anyone here heard of PMDD? The dr said I probably have it. It's like extreme pmt and you live like Jekyll and Hyde. Anyway I'm bad cop right now and I feel awful. I've got zero patience and the slightest thing tips me over the edge.

SUNDAY: renew your spirit day (much needed here)
www.flylady.net/d/daily-focus/daily-focus-sunday/

✅ do something nice for yourself.

Next week is master bedroom zone 4
Monday is home bleurgh of course.

Hazel 😲😲that's some damage. Timeline sounds frustrating.
Balloon finding out the problem is half of the solution. I hope things settle down for you and your family soon.
Ditzy oh I am so bad with sentimental stuff. I also have a talent for making any old rubbish sentimental. For me, it works best if I chuck it without looking properly at it. Otherwise I WILL find a sentimental reason to keep it.
Pompoms i don't have PMDD, but I most definitely get shouty mum days too. On those days, I try to zone out as much as possible and if it means using telly to babysit, then so be it. A bit of Disney won't hurt anyone.
Sunny thank you ☺️ Other than putting a bit of decorations up, we just had a relaxing day in with a takeaway.

Ta Das: I thought I'd get ahead with Home Bleugh
🧹Hoovered high traffic areas
🧹Bins out to the outside bin
🧹 Antibac-ed kitchen bin
🧹Put out few hot spots in piano room
🧹LOL cycle of doom. Honestly, cannot wait for the day I will have a dryer again.
🧹Dining room straightened out
🧹Usual kitchen clean up throughout the day and DW rotation
🧹Sort out clothes both DCs have grown out of, all ready and bagged for donation
🧹Wiped the dashboard of the car with a sleeve. I really need to give it a proper once over and hoover, but I am yet to get around to it.