Falling into September with Flylady

[HazelNotHungryLC]

Getting back into routines can be hard, with DC going back to school, this is the perfect time to start getting back into the swing of things.

Are you feeling overwhelmed and don't know where to start to get your house back under control from the summer holidays? Or just wanting to try something new?
Join us and try out Flylady! It just may work for you 😊

This is a long running thread, but we are a friendly bunch and 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!

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 (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

There are more, 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). You can also modify the tick lists to suit your home & lifestyle.

Links are below 👇 if I happen to not add links in time, they do update at midnight for you.

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/

Another successful day meeting the low bar: bed folded back and aired until lunchtime, and garden time today of rescuing a slug-nibbled squash stem and propping up tomatoes.

Very little else done today. Had my first Braxton Hicks contraction yesterday and it looks like I'm again the outlier in getting extremely painful ones! Very sore today, so resting and thinking of garden plans. Because: the shed is now completely gone! It's taken since June but all the bits have now been taken away. Really happy.

mikado I'm glad flylady is working for you! Can I ask you about the lemon water? Have you been drinking it for long? What benefits do you see/ feel when you drink it?

Scourgify well done on getting your anti-procrastination done, it sounds like you deserved the McDonald's and coffee afterwards!

Dragons that sounds like a lot of apples! Did you manage your walk?

Captain that's a lot in your plate! Do you have far to travel to collect your mum? I wish her a speedy recovery 💐

Cabbage take it easy!! Very good news on your shed being gone.. finally!

No. there was a bit of a disaster in the kitchen and i ran out of time before the daylight ended. And personally i do not like going for a walk in the dark on my own. Never used to feel that way until the village decided to put up cctv every where. But somehow having it up makes the whole place less safe.

Assisting with other people's laudry as they can't get through to the machine until i clean up the mess in the kitchen. But the apples are quitely simmering away on the hob so will be ready to puree and sugar tomo. Also going to make some cowboy candy so that is sitting looking at me but that is a process with no mid point so it will wait until tomo.

I should be in training tonight at 9pm. But i am not really feeling it. I can catch up if needed but still feel a bit guilty about skipping the live session.

Tada
🎉 up, showered, dressed , hair & makeup
🎉 lunches made
🎉 everyone up and breakfasts
🎉 beds made and breakfast clear up
🎉 dd2 dropped off at school
🎉 popped to the card shop to order dd1 birthday balloons
🎉 work
🎉 picked up birthday balloons
🎉 picked up dd2 from school
🎉 cooked tea (a quick and easy passata pasta sauce)
🎉 sorted out sibling birthday gifts
🎉 dropped dd2 off at gymnastics
🎉 dropped dd1 off at friends
🎉 wrapped dd1 birthday gifts
🎉 20 mins tidy downstairs
🎉 15 mins ironing
🎉 clothes out for tomorrow
🎉 dd2 bedtime routine (oh picked her up tonight

I still have to take my makeup off , put dd1's banners and balloons up and write her card 😴 my leg is really failing me though and I've had to sit and raise it for a little while ! Sorry I haven't done any personals , I will catch up after birthday celebrations !

Tomorrow is the first day I start a little later (I will be starting at 10 instead of 915 on a Thursday and Friday ) I can't decide what to do with this extra time , I'll have no dc at home, do I spend more time in the zones , or use that extra hour a week specifically to declutter the worst room and keep attempting the zone work in the evening 🤔

Oooh sunny do you have a birthday in the family tomorrow (Thursday)? DS turns 15 tomorrow here!

Dragons I wouldn't walk alone in the dark either. Not because of the cctv though, but because I have an overactive imagination!

I did a little more staining of the brick today, so I'm almost completely done with the back wall. I'm almost done with the side wall as well, I just have edging to do.
I worked all day, so no flying for done, other than basics.

Thursday is errand day.
Thursday's mission is to dust off the leaves in your plants, give them a soak, maybe take off the dead leaves. (This mission is new to me - it's on the app, I don't know if that makes a difference).

I found that stuff in this link! 👇
https://www.flylady.net/d/zones/detailed-cleaning-zone-1/
Baby Step 5: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-5/

Flylady does also focus on self care. There are pamper missions, I think they are posted weekly. Here's the link for more ideas:
https://www.flylady.net/d/br/author/pamper/

Thank you. Working all day today so to dos are small:
Get up
Get dresses to my laces
Hair and make up
Breakfast
Make own lunch
Drop dc
Work!
Feed dc
Walk if possible
DC sports activities
Make school lunches
Early night and read

Morning everyone. Today ends 3 days of childfree productivity! Tuesday I didn’t get as much done but still managed some, and I did a lot more yesterday.

Annoyingly the extra bin bags didn’t get collected this time (they usually do) but my lovely friend put them in her car last night as she is dropping them off at the tip today along with some of her own stuff (she’s on a declutter mission too!). I gave her six bin bags and an old coat rack that wasn’t fit for purpose (H bought it but he didn’t want it in his flat either) so I’m pleased with that!

I also cleared and vacuumed the landing, and most of the hallway which had become an awful dumping ground. Need to finish the hallway and stairs today, and clear up the living room - the latter is daunting as I feel like it doesn’t really look any better at all and currently has various boxes in it! The kitchen is a mess too as I’ve basically ignored it while decluttering, but for the last few months it’s been fairly quick to get on top of that.

I’ve got 4.5 hours till they arrive at the most, probably a bit less. Hopefully I can get a lot done in that time! Big Tesco delivery arriving between 12 and 1 as well so want to be ready for that.

po3.1
❗️get up and dressed, have breakfast and try to wake up a bit!
❗️kitchen rescue - not aiming for perfection yet just dishwasher/rubbish etc
❗️clear rest of clutter in hallway/on stairs

Well i can't do the up and dressed thing as i suck at being a grown up and until i get the clothes out of the dryer I don't have anything to wear.

Today i have:
finish apple sauce
continue taming the kitchen
sort though email accounts and try to inbox zero at least one of them
and allotment stuff

as my to do list focus. There is also banking phone call to do but I am very millenial/gen Z when it comes to important phone calls and i am probably going to procrastinate on that. I might try to finalise my routine flash cards so i can laminate and put them on the ring so that i can have an easy reminder to get stuffs done. Especially as not only do i know where the laminator is but also the wallet card lamination pockets. Question is, do i know where the card stock is?

<wanders off mid thought...>

1 hour or so left. Hallway is done, dining table (the worst hotspot in a house that is basically a giant hotspot) is done! Stairs and kitchen need a bit more work and the rest of the living room is still awful… I’m not sure how much more I can realistically achieve 😬 quick sit down and a snack then I need to get back to it

Friday is clean out the car and handbag day.

Friday's mission is to clean/ polish/ shine your dining room table & chairs.
Afterwards, put a nice tablecloth, flowers, flowers, candles etc on the table.

Baby step #6: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-6/

Morning everyone! <whispers> (how's back to school going?)

<peeks at dining room>
<looks for dining table>
<see giant pile of chaos>
<tiptoes out closing door behind her>

Still focusing on kitchen chaos taming, food prepping etc. Lost 4hrs to the allotment - was just going to do a thing, popped on an audio book and lost time being busy. Still a lot more to do there.

Not sleeping well at all. Which is a pain in the head. Literally, this morning. Would clean the car out but it is blowing a hooley and as some of the trees are trying to be horizontal I think skipping outside tasks would probably be wisest today.

Mine are back to college/tutor/activities next week so it’s been a final week of summer here!

Last night I was really tired after all the tidying, but still felt wired and I organised a few drawers in my wardrobe. Since H moved out it’s been even messier as I was just shoving stuff in the space left by his clothes, and didn’t feel it was a high priority. But I pulled some of it back into order, and then did some more this morning while on hold to student finance! Yay!

Unlikely to get anything else done today as I’m on a long round trip for an errand.

Hello everyone - well, other than sink shining and sweeping out the porch (which was good actually, lots of dust and cobwebs have gone) it’s been a low-key start. I haven’t unpacked enough to be decorating my dining table but I am doing it in spirit! The kids have both had good weeks in their new schools which is such a relief. Have a good weekend everyone!

DH started on the utility improvements today. It’s mainly to take advantage of temporarily having no washing-machine and realising just how manky all the inaccessible corners had become. So far, he’s stopped the radiator leak, removed and replaced damaged flooring, cleared the vent pipe. It’s been lovely weather today, and it makes such a difference to be able to do woodwork outside. And it all smells so much better!

Much stuff moved from utility to kitchen, so that will be my tidying and decluttering area over the weekend.

Not quite there today - bed left unmade, but I did have garden time trimming some bits of hedge newly revealed some shed removal. Busy weekend so we'll see how that goes!

@HazelNotHungryLC dd1 was 18 on Thursday! We went for a meal at her favourite place and she bought her first cocktail 🍸 did your ds have a good birthday ?

Well done for so much decluttering and cleaning done whilst child free - did you manage some time to switch off and rest too @SingToTheSky?

Lack of sleep is really tough @SleepingIceDragons, did you get a better sleep last night ? Happy that you have decided to leave the outdoor jobs and hope you haven't blown away in the wind !

Great progress @Scourgify !

I hope work went ok @mikado1, it's a juggling act at times to try and get everything done before & after work isn't it !

I need to get in my garden @CabbageBearGoat whilst we have the weather but it's something I do put off ! Hope your busy weekend goes well !!

Saturday is family fun day.
There are no missions.
Baby Step 7: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-7/
Put out your hotspot for 2 minutes, as well as everything we have been doing so far.

I'm sorry I haven't added personals, I'll take a few minutes in the morning and do that. Right now I need to go to sleep, it's late!

Busy few days with dd1 turning 18 !! I did get a few things done in between celebrations though , dining room is looking much neater but still could do with another week or so in there!! I will keep on top of it as much as I can , then battle on with it again next month. I possibly could of spent an hour and a half on my home yesterday as I finished at my contracted hours , however this hardly ever happens so I called my best friend and we met for a spontaneous coffee date at a local cafe with no dc - it was lovely to catch up and have a full conversation! Also had a scone with cream and jam - delicious!

Oh and dd1 are off to a uni open day today so I've got ds and dd2 to get ready for football and gymnastics. My plan is to try and gather the washing and get the uniforms started . I will also be popping out to stock up on toiletries and maybe some boots ready for the weather change !

I'm off to make another coffee and do a 15 min ironing stint whilst dc are still asleep ! I'm listening to a court of thorn and roses on audible and really enjoying the book so far , it makes the mundane tasks , such as ironing, much more tolerable!

Tada
🎉 morning coffee
🎉 chatted to dd1 and oh whilst they got ready to leave for the open day (it was an early start for them !) ensuring that they took some food and drink with them , although I'm sure there will be things on offer throughout the day, I always worry because they both get hangry 😂

sunny I didn't see your post last night before I went to sleep!
Happy birthday to DD! DS had a great birthday too, even though he had school. We went out for dinner, ate outside, and they had live music that night, it worked out great. I didn't realise they shared the same birthday! He just turned 15.
A coffee date with a friend should always take priority over housework imo!

Sing well done on the multitasking! Would H be able to take your DC on a regular basis so you could have more time to yourself?

Dolphin well done on the zone work! It's a little different for you since you just moved. The key for you right now is to find homes for everything, and that can take time to figure out the best homes (and possibly move stuff around multiple times!).

Scourgify that sounds like great progress in the utility room, well done to DH for getting things done! Things like that are so satisfying, especially when areas look and smell cleaner!

Cabbage did you figure out a plan for where the shed was yet? Don't do too much and get lots and lots of rest!

Dragons did you manage to get more sleep and banish the headaches?

Well it's the weekend again, yay!

DSs high school had their first American football home game last night and the band play of course. So we went to that, which was pretty fun.
The band didn't do their show though and didn't have to wear their uniforms. I'm assuming that's next week and it's their homecoming week (they have a dance etc). They like to announce this stuff last minute and it's driving me crazy! I have plans for Friday night with a friend, but if there's a game DS is performing at, I want to be there! I may have to change my plans. Which is frustrating.

Today I'm going to head outside and pull some tree shoots up (from the poplar tree we had cut down last year). I'll also need to work on some staining of my brick.
I know I need to clean my bathrooms and mop floors at some point over the weekend, who knows when though 🤷‍♀️

But first, coffee - my 2nd cup!

Ta das:
🌻 pulled tree shoots & weeds
🌻 stained the brick, making progress in the front now!
🌻 showered, dressed and on our way to ILs for dinner with a well deserved bottle of wine (I'll share.. maybe) 😂🍷

@HazelNotHungryLC the last minute communication is frustrating! However it does sound like lots of fun! Well done to your ds, it takes some courage to perform in front of an audience! A bonus with the live music for ds's birthday meal.

Yesterdays tada
🎉 lol
🎉 ironing
🎉 shower and ready
🎉 dd2 showered and ready for gymnastics
🎉 met a friend and had a walk around the shops and a coffee , a friend of ours is having a particularly challenging time so a group of us put together and got her a food hamper full of easy things to cook
🎉 picked up some Halloween and Christmas goodies as well as a cleaning organiser (im addicted to stationary 🙈)
🎉 picked dd2 up from gymnastics

I didn't do much after this , I was absolutely exhausted and in pain, so much so that I didn't sleep much again and ended up on the settee so I could prop myself up rather than lie flat . I may book the blood tests sooner or rebook with the docs 😩

Todays tadas
🎉 15 mins folding dry laundry
🎉 breakfasts
🎉 prepped veg for roast dinner

I'm going to go and get a wash and put some fresh pjs on - the weather is horrible today so I doubt we'll go out anywhere , so a pj day it is 😀

What is lol please?

Tadas:
Up and dressed to my laces (but now going to change)
Breakfast, lemon water and green tea
Wash out, wash on, dry clothes down (that's 3 different loads as one on clothes horse since early yesterday)
Dw emptied (ds) and filled.
Bed turned back to air.

To dos:
Put away clothes (hate this)
Bake something for lunch boxes
Write my to-dos foe the week into my diary
Dinner just a reheat job, perfect.

@mikado1 Lol is load of laundry

Unfortunately not managed to sleep. Cracking migrained today. anther under 4hr sleep last night.Stress is unbelievable levels atm and it is not helping.