Festive Flying with the Fledglings

[ExpensiveDecorations]

🎄Welcome to the December Flylady thread, this is a long running thread with many regulars but newcomers and returners are all very welcome. We love to chat as well as looking after our homes.

Do NOT sign up for the Flylady emails - your inbox will end up very cluttered!

There is an app that you can customise to suit your schedule and home but I haven’t tried it, others on here have, you can customise it and use it for notifications.

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!

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 a week. It's also date night (with your significant other, or friends, or yourself!)
• Saturday: family fun day
• Sunday: renew your spirit

Common acronyms we use:

• LOL: load of laundry (we aim to have lots of laughter too)
• Mount Washmore - multiple LOLs
• DW: dishwasher, not wife
• LMS: lose/lost my shit
• DNLMS: did not lose my shit
• BRC/DRC: box/basket/drawer of random crap

I'll try to update links every day, although it could get a bit hectic as we proceed through the month.

Links are below 👇 if I happen to not add links in time, they do update at midnight for you. Ask if there us anything you understand - our motto is No Fledgling Left Behind.

Launch Pad (the heart of the system): https://www.flylady.net/d/new-links/
Zones (different weekly focus areas of the house): https://www.flylady.net/d/zones/
Baby Steps (these build up into daily habits): https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/
31 Beginner BabySteps | FlyLady.net
https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps
Flight Plan (daily summary of the relevant parts of the system) http://www.flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=0
Festive Flying http://www.flylady.net/d/cruising-through-the-holidays/

Merry Christmas, lovely Fledglings! Hope Santa brought you everything you wished for.

Merry Christmas fellow Fledglings. Hope you all had a fantastic day.

Will try to be back on more. Still trying to sort out routines that work with my weird work schedules.

Merry Christmas everyone! 🎅🎄🤶🎁🍷

home I'm very sorry for your loss

Morning everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful day yesterday! I'm up early to try and prevent the home from too much chaos . I'm enjoying a coffee in peace first with a read of my book ( I want to try and get this one finished before new year so I can add it into 2023 year of books on goodreads 😂)

I'm not writing a to do list , but I'll be popping in with some tadas as the day goes on . Boxing Day is usually spent playing all the different games and building Lego sets. Whilst everyone's asleep , I'll be doing 15 min timers to tidy to and little 5 minute timers through the day ( I don't understand why , but timers keep me focused ! )

Tada
Coffee !!

Tada

🎄 dining room cleared and set up for the meal today
🎄quick kitchen tidy

To do

⛄️ kitchen hotspot
⛄️ living room tidy

Good morning everyone, happy Boxing Day!

This past weekend has been filled with lots of food, family, laughter and relaxing. It's been so nice! Unfortunately for DH, it's a normal work day here (the rest of his family took this whole week off, I go back to work tomorrow).

We did our Christmas Eve with DD on Friday, went out to eat, opened our Christmas Eve present.
Saturday we did our Christmas Day, DD loved her camera and accessories, while DS loves his trumpet and has been playing it multiple times, every day 😍
We had DHs brother come over with his family on Saturday also and exchanged gifts with them. We had fondue that night with DD, she left Sunday morning.
Sunday, Christmas Eve, was spent cleaning the house before more festivities that night, DH helped so made light work.
Yesterday we spent the morning at ILs, ate breakfast there & opened presents, they came later in the afternoon. I was able to get a nap before they arrived! DH smoked a prime rib roast on the pellet grill and it turned out amazing.

Overall I ate too much! It was all delicious though. We still have a lot of leftovers that we'll be eating on today at least. I've eaten too many carbs, and looking forward to cutting back again, I want to say I'll start today, but I know I won't!

Today's To Dos:
☕️ 2nd cup of coffee
☕️ workout on spin bike (that's the plan anyway)
☕️ LOLs, including sheets & towels
☕️ clear away wrapping stuff back downstairs in the basement
☕️ vacuum the main floor
☕️ clear countertops, in kitchen, of things that don't belong
☕️ bleach bathrooms
☕️ meal plan for the rest of the week
☕️ grocery shopping (if I can find room in the fridge!), I may need to plan to do grocery pickup tomorrow night on my way home from work
☕️ watch more Christmas movies
☕️ go to bed at a reasonable time (I really need to work on this more)

Ta Das, so far:
🚲 spin workout
🚲 2nd cup of coffee
🚲 3rd LOL in washer (sheets already washed, dried and back on the bed)
🚲 video chat with family back home
🚲 clean LOLs put away

I've been drinking lots of water today, so having to take lots of bathroom breaks!

Ta Das:
🍷 2 more LOLs
🍷 vacuumed main floor
🍷 bleached both bathrooms
🍷 watched 4 movies!
🍷 put Christmas wrapping stuff away
🍷 warmed up dinner for tonight, ILs came over

I'm in bed before 10:30pm!! That never happens, but something I'm really needing to do every night.
I did have a conversation with the whole family tonight that I'm going to have a glass of wine on New Years Day, then no more alcohol for the rest of January. FIL is going to join me! I really need to do a reset, as well as joining the dry low carb bootcamp for January.

Back to work tomorrow, I'm already dreading it 😫

I'm going to do a reset as well Hazel, that's a good idea. It's not alcohol for me but sleep and food

Morning all, we're away for a few
days, reset needed here too although realistically not till we get home. Far too many carbs here and my sleep has been disturbed for the last couple of weeks, maybe related, maybe meno symptoms as I keep waking in the small hours boiling hot and getting into a cycle of covers off, too cold, covers on, too hot. Also lie there worrying about things I can't do much about like health of family members (various, including elderly parents). Trying to focus on the positives.

I'm doing a reset too @HazelNuttyElf & @DitzyDaffodils - dry January here we come 🥤 there's some lovely peach flavoured sparkling water that I've bought that will serve as my evening drink so I've still got something yummy to look forward to ! I've also signed up to my local gym for a 'shred' it's all about getting steps in , drinking enough water and eating better , the instructor sets little challenges in the group that can be completed at home - I'm really looking for to - ! I lost a stone in 2022 but nothing this year (although I haven't put any on either ) so hopefully this will reset me back into being healthier!

Tada
My morning coffee

To do
🎄 wash and dressed
🎄I have a family member visiting today so not much else apart from maybe a general tidy of kitchen and possibly start the playroom before they arrive . I have been given no time though so it all depends how the day goes 😊

Enjoy your break @ExpensiveDecorations

Tada
⛄️ washed , dressed , hair and makeup
⛄️ 15 mins on playroom
⛄️ breakfast
⛄️ oh has wiped the sills and window frames in playroom

To do
🎄 keep pottering on the playroom
🎄 tidy bathroom once everyone has washed and brushed teeth

My house is mayhem from all furniture building.

My car is still at the garage and won't be ready until after new years. (some bad bad person scratched the side when they were parking)

My outside storage is blocked with cardboard boxes. There is more cardboard in the house from all flat pack furniture. I'm drowning in cardboard. DH does not want to use his car to take the cardboard to the recycling centre citing much won't fit in it... Honestly, if I see another cardboard I'm going to scream.

Today I need to get some sort of control over the house.

*flattened cardboard boxes.

Removals company says they will collect the ones they used but they haven't called yet.

Build a fort with the cardboard boxes and hide in there with wine, crackers and cheese @DomesticElf 🤔

Tada
⛄️ I have rediscovered the playroom floor !! Lots of decluttering needed in this room . It's going to be this holidays project whenever the kids are happy doing their own thing but for now it is tidy-ish ! Oh has offered to hoover the room and has made me a baileys coffee!

Have fun ED. Hope you can get some rest while away

Have you tried Facebook marketplace Elf? I sold a pile of boxes for £5 on there. I didn't care about the money but I find people annoying so I charge them for having to interact with them. Saved me having to cut up the boxes to fit into the recycling

Congratulations on your playroom success Santa

I had a lovely afternoon yesterday. My mums husband came to visit , we don't see him very often , he lives 2&1/2 hours away and has a huge family of his own plus he's in a new relationship now . I'm so glad he is happy even though it tears up my heart a little knowing, I can't really ask him how his new relationship is going but I'm sure it'll get easier with time ❤️

Todays plan is just to potter when I have chance , I think possibly concentrating on washing and clothes put away - it would be nice to start the year off on top of that never ending task !!

I hope everyone is enjoying the festive break !

@Searchingforsanta it's very hard to be in touch with some people so well done for being brave.

Hope everyone is managing with the in between days of Xmas and new years.

We have had a lovely Christmas even though we hosted I enjoyed it more. I love being at home so does my eldest child. We'd never leave the house if it was up to us. I prepped everything xmas eve so xmas day seemed very easy.
Incase I sound like a smug John Lewis advert I'm not at all. I've had some awful
Christmases and years of no Christmases as my parents didn't celebrate when I was young. So I'm just thrilled and amazed that this was perfect. When I say perfect H and I hardly bought each other a thing. I had some new hand weights and he had a calendar and a map 😂. The kids had more than plenty but if I'm honest most was second hand from charity shops that marketplace. So when I say Xmas was perfect I mean the food was great and the police weren't called, the was no family breakdown and my parents behaved!

I've hula hooped everyday too which has become my absolute non negotiable me time each day. Just 20 mins exercise and I'm feeling mentally and physically better.

Really happy you had a lovely Christmas @cosypompoms ! Also well done for keeping up the hula hooping !! I really need to fit exercise into my life , I get plenty of steps in but nothing to raise my heart rate !

I was up being ill last night - surprise surprise my period showed up this morning - I really don't like hormones!! Feeling delicate this morning so I'm opting for a morning of reading , then I'm going for a shower as we have visitors later and a fundraiser tonight !

I'm halfway through a book and I have around 1&1/2 hours on my audio book, I'm trying to complete both before new year so i can add them onto my 2023 goodreads total ! 😂

I’m doing the same still santa 😁 managed to finish Unfair Play last night and am currently lounging in bed reading Women Don’t Owe You Pretty. Think I’ve got less than 3 hours left of the audiobook about minimalism, that’ll be a struggle as I’m finding it hard to focus! I’ll be sticking for fiction for a while in 2024 I think, I have quite a few charity shop novel purchases I want to get through.

Christmas is over here now - had our Second Christmas with my adult DSCs and their partners, it was really nice with lots of games etc.

Oddly this year I don’t feel the rush to get the tree down, and we put it up earlier this year too, I just rid myself of any “but the living room has to be tidy” guilt and it made a huge difference. Normally I like to have it down before new year, fresh start etc, but I’m not bothered now, it can stay up longer, 12th night maybe.

Should probably try and get some housework done today though!

@Searchingforsanta awful time to have a period. It always affects my sleep too so I fell for you. I'm also impressed that you are dedicating some time to yourself.

@SingSongVerilyTheSky I normally have to fight the urge to get the tree down but I'm still enjoying Christmas here but with a touch of normality.

✅ cleaned the bathroom whilst kids had a bath
✅ made a massive amount of soup to eat and freeze
✅ going to play Lego now
✅ then Christmas film and an afternoon wine for me

Pompoms hooray for the perfect Christmas! It's a good feeling, isn't it?
Santa I was tempted to set a bonfire with all the cardboard, but then tis not the season for it 🫠Ditzy I didn't know there is a market for used cardboard boxes on FB marketplace. The removals company ended up taking ours, so now I have my outside storage freed up for IKEA cardboard which I will run to the recycling centre once I get my car back.

We have almost finished straightening up the house. DH finished putting together last bits of furniture, and I am cracking on with tidying everything and looking after littles.

Over past few days I've regained control of the living room, utility room, and music room.

Today Ta das:
🌲All cardboard out of the master bedroom
🌲Blackout curtains up
🌲Bleached the ensuite
🌲Dusted and antibac-ed surfaces
🌲Hoovered in master bedroom and upstairs landing
🌲All bedsheets changed
🌲Bleached windowsills
🌲Usual routines in the kitchen with DW rotation, surface and hob cleaning etc
🌲LOLx2 - washed and dried (I've got a dryer 🥹), waiting to be folded

Yay for dryer elf!

I have finished my book, just have 2h48m of audiobook to enjoy in the next two days 🤣

New term is looming - am stubbornly relaxing as much as possible currently (so the audiobook won’t be a problem) but I know I’ll regret it come Monday!