Fledgling Flyers - Mad as March Hares

[MiniMarmite]

Welcome to the spring(ish) edition of the fledgling flyers.

Some of us will be flapping falteringly and others flying faultlessly towards making our homes look perennially spring cleaned!

Here you can do any of the following:

• repeat or start baby steps (again!)

• repeat baby steps + do 15 mins a day decluttering in the current zone

or

• reinforce babysteps and do daily missions if you have finished decluttering

This is what it's all about - Babysteps each day to try to get some order back into our home with LOADS of support from our regulars.

So join in! We start this thread on March 1st, but you are welcome to dive in at any point in the month.

Hop along to reserve your place...

Hi Everyone, lovely and sunny here today and DH cooked a fantastic roast this afternoon .

Hope you are enjoying what remains of the weekend.

Hope you aren't feeling too tired after your early start Ellie. We normally hope for 7:30 on a Sunday but DS decided that an hour earlier would be more fun!

MissB I did LOL about calculating the points in the dog bowl. I've done WW before (should really do it again TBH as it seems to be the thing that works for me). I've caught myself counting the points that DS (1 year) is having before!

SR great going on that book! Love the 'on location reading'. I once read the Surgeon of Crowthorne whilst staying near Broadmoor where the 'Surgeon' was imprisoned...gave me the hebejeebies I must say!

Swan78 I'm very excited that your DP has realised the error of his ways and responded so quickly...I hope he keeps up the good work.

The photoshoot sounds exciting aberita .

Great to 'see' you DWM, pottering is the way to go after a very busy week. I hope you are having a relaxing evening.

Enjoy Lark Rise OM and glad you are feeling more in control .

PA sounds like a great weekend - I bet everyone was glad when they dropped round and discovered that you had a huge stash of cake and bread (maybe word had got round)!

Good to see you DEM, will be good to have you back next month. I hope the O word people are kind to you. I know the PGCE is hugely challenging so hope all goes well for you.

That's it for tonight, I'll post the links for tomorrow in a minute. Happy Sunday to SC, PMPY, LPP, Jas and everyone else I have missed.

Good Morning (I feel a bit odd saying that the night before so don't read it until the morning )!

Our babystep for today is to start our control journals - this means we are really starting to FLY properly and consolidate the routines so WELL DONE (I hope I am not starting to sound as cheesy as the FLYlady website?! Must find my denim tabbard)...

This week we are in Zone 2: The Kitchen (March 8 - 12) for decluttering and missions.

Have a good day Everyone

DEM - keep going you are sooo nearly there. PGCE is v.tough. You'll be fine with the O people as you are already 'in the zone'. It's only us oldies that panic as our formal planning etc is not as - ahem- as detailed as it should be at all times...Good luck. We'll be thinking of you...

Evening everyone!

Good to see you DEM

ALL washing done and mostly ironed DH gone to shop for more milk and I'm off to bed in a minute but before I do:

The Secret Life of Bees is by Sue Monk Kidd - v good and not too heavy going. Not read any of her other books so can't offer any alternatives

DH just got back carrying an ENORMOUS bar of Dairy Milk . See you in the morning!

Good evening everybody. Ive been very busy and very tierd in RL and flying has gone a bit out of the window this week. Finding time to get on the laptop has been near impossible.

Ive only scanned the thread but it seems like lots of you have had similar weeks.

So firstly thank you to everybody for the well wishes and congratulations for DS getting my his first choice school. He says he is still holding out for his owl from Hogwarts, but failing that he is very pleased.

Ive been catching up today on the housework and got a good chunk done.

Bathroom- good clean
Hall, stairs and landing- cleaned and de-cluttered
Kitchen cupboard de-cluttered
3 washloads- done but dumped on the couch, not folded or put away
baked cakes done

Hopefully back on track for the new zone tomorrow.

Just need to shine my sink and watch the end of Stardust before going to bed. See you all tomorrow.

All the secondary school admission stories are beginning to surface at our school - some are them are v. upsetting, peoples' hopes in some cases very much dashed.
I am so glad you got the right answer Teamcullen

roasts galore on today's thread, but I'm with you Ellie on the joys of no Sunday washing up
We went to a friend's for lunch. She was clearly PA disguised as she had no less than 15 mouths to feed - which she did effortlessly.

I managed to clean kitchen PROPERLY before going out today, back finally at 8.00and we are having a v. peaceful eve, exhausted by ferrying and busing kids to and from various fun arrangements. Still lots of things not done, but I need an early night, and sink is clean enough...

PA mexican medley sounds very intriguing

Good Morning!

Up early, as planned.
Good start so far, but plenty to do. I wont type out a list, as it will take me ages.

DEM welcome back and TC good to see you again too.

MM thank you for taking us all on and keeping us on track.

SR - When I read your bit about me entertaining I had a bit of a lightbulb moment. I absolutely love entertaining and having people around here and feeding them, but only now that my home is more acceptable do I feel able to do it more with far less stress. I had reduced doing all this for a number of years and found the preparation a bit daunting, but now, I dont think twice. Thanks to this thread. Its brill!

MissB - Youth group are having "Meals on the move". So I have about 10 here for a started, then another 10, 20 mins later, for main course, then all go down the church hall for dessert. I am really looking forward to it as DD3 has been unable to join in with the youth group for 20 months, but today she will be able to see them all when they are here. I hope she copes alright.

Right off to hit the ground running........

Right I am going to try and get back the wagon after falling off spectacularly. Nice to see everyone is still Flying.

mission
Babysteps
washing up
washing
15 mins hotspot

Anything else is a bonus I think.

Hope you are all well. We have chicken pox and D&V

Just popping in quickly as must go to work and overslept!
PA meals on the move sounds great and how lovely for your DD that she can go - or rather that it has come to her! I hope it goes well.

morning routine - done
make tea for tonight - not done as slept too late - will try and get back in good time!
mission - to do - I have one cupboard left for decluttering in the kitchen so this week is the week
church business meeting - later - there isn't a 'yawn' smiley face but that would be the one

finished with a flourish last night by doing a hot spot whist talking to my mother on the phone

See you all later - hope all have good days.......

Hello everyone

Thank you MiniM for steps and links

Wishing everyone who is suffering from various ailments a speedy recovery (including Gok household - poor you!)

Glad the news is better for mini TeamCullen on the schooling front!

I'm still - despite various attempts to re-mount last week - in the "fallen off wagon" stage.

Sorry to whinge but feel like crying this morning as am tired (dd was up coughing all night poor thing - 4th in a row), a bit ill, and totally fed up with this house: in addition to mess and clutter accumulated since half term, I am now seriously behind with the laundry again, we have serious plumbing problem with loo on first floor and it smells horrid, mice have moved in to the ground floor despite rigorous efforts to get rid of them, part of a wall has fallen down in the garden owing to ice and snow damage, and we've had a major rubble fall down the inside of one of our chimney stacks as well. Added to that it is stonkingly cold (was -5 here last night - was at the dining room table wearing a coat trying to do my French study) and I just feel like crawling down to the old coal hole and hibernating until spring (except I would probably die of hypothermia as its freezing there too!!!) but can't because I've got to send out 350 e-mails by 3pm (don't ask)and dd is off school and I've got to take her and myself to the doctor this morning, and my car has broken down ...

Harrumph!! Harrumph! Well, I feel better for getting that lot off my chest but sorry to all you lot who have to read my depressing tales of woe of a Monday morning Please feel free to tell me to put a sock in it!!

Aberita & Optimistic - can highly recommend Sarah Walter's "The Little Stranger" Spooky, v. atmospheric page turner ...

Crikey MummyD you do sound as if you have been very busy indeed - glad you are not travelling this week - take it steady

Hang in there DEM

Hello to Ellie, PA, Swan(the original) and Swan78 (welcome!) MissBennett MrsDinky Feetheart Rocking (welcome to you too - and don't worry - I hardly ever finish all the items on my list but I get more done than if I hadn't posted a list at all iyswim ....) and everyone else I have missed ...

Back later to post body clutter link (I'm failing on that front too )

Have a good week everyone and please ignore my Eeyore-ish mumblings ....

BODY CLUTTER STEP FOR WEEK BEGINNING MONDAY 8th March:

(Please ignore if you are not watching your weight or CBA!!)

This week's no-nonsense advice (because we could all do with cheering up) is courtesy of Elliepac:

Don' eat lard!

And try and maintain previous week's tips:

• number 1, drink between 1 and 2 litres of water a day

• number 2, eat five portions of fruit and veg a day

• number 3, write down what you eat, how much and how often

• number 4, walk as much as you can during the day (10,000 steps is a good target to aim for) and remember to lay out your walking clothes the night before!

• number 5, eat only at defined meal and snack times (3 meals and 2 healthy snacks ideal) and don't pick in between. Remember "Kitchen pickers wear big knickers"!!

• number 6, cut out alcohol completely or restrict to x nights per week

• number 7, keep a low calorie/low fat snack in your handbag

• number 8, make low fat soup and eat it rather than chuck it

And sorry forgot to say hello to Pushme Jas QueenofDreams and anyone else I have missed ....

Morning all! It's very cold here again and has just started snowing... I'm wondering whether spring is ever going to arrive. Just popping in quickly as I've got work to do this morning (paid work, I mean). Thanks for the book recommendation StillCounting; I've read/heard a few reviews of The Little Stranger and it does sound interesting. Sorry to hear you're not having a good morning; it really sounds like everything is happening at once and a lack of sleep never helps the situation either. Hope both you and DD are feeling better soon, though.

A short list for today as I'm being realistic!
Babysteps underway
Take tax return into tax office done
Mission (as soon as it appears on the website)

Have a good day, everyone!

StillCounting - pay no attention to mess (well just small patches of it) YOU are amazing to manage to remember what everyone says on this thread, and do French study, and send out 350 e-mails. Only an dynamic person could do all that!

I really have to stop those negative voices too, this morning, the kitchen was tidy, the clothes were laid out BUT BUT BUT, pyjamas littered every surface, bedrooms a complete chaotic muddle, dd lay on the muddy floor and slid up and down it and refused to put her uniform on, no-one made their beds or got waterbottles ready and I didn't have the energy to enforce it...AND I didn't have time to get dressed (well not literally, did put some rags on for school run)
the garden is full of decaying objects still,
the front garden is full of things that need to the dump
and dh ate some tomato sauce from a jar last night
and he's going away for 3 days this week and I have to organize a Star Wars party for ds2

So I will join you in the spiritual bunker.

Now PLAN for today
Brief homebless: (all sheets changed in last two days so just bit of laundry left)
hoovering
put remaining ironed clothes away
bathroom rescue
sort out the bath towels and try to rationalize whose is whose rather than using 20 at once

Go to work at 10.15 for two hours
Go to dump in afternoon with remaining detritus
Do some gardening and piano practice
prepare roast for supper
finish invites hopefully the later I send them the less people can come [evil harassed parent emoticon]

On the other hand... I got all three kids to do their music practice for ten minutes [pathetically pleased with this success], despite dd being horizontal at the time. I should sell her to the circus.

I am next going to read "In Patagonia" by Chatwin, as I have been just been reading more patagonian stuff might as well continue.
Will order "A little Stranger" too, and your ideas too MB

SC oh yes and one of our loos is blocked too, and the other makes terrible trumpeting noises unless cistern is refilled by hand. And our front garden wall is falling down. Dh thinks it deters burglars

mice = cat? perhaps, I know you have gps,
anyway get better soon.

Morning,

Well, I have fallen by the wayside recently, nothing spectacular, just a lot of little things and other people's problems so I ended up having a very CBA week last week. Have been reading the thread and doing Flying as and when.

SC - big hugs, no wonder you're feeling , I would with that lot to deal with. My bodyclutter is not diminishing much either.

PA - very of your cake making bonanza!

Books - at Christmas I read "Gone with the Windsors" by Laurie Graham, a fictitious account of the Edward and Mrs Simpson scandal, and a jolly good read it was too, great escapism, nothing heavy, would def recommend that one. I have just started the Red Riding trilogy by David Peace which from the reviews on Amazon is going to be anything but cheerful, will see how I get on.

I made a long overdue return visit to Portsmouth FC at the weekend, oh it was good to be back, and to beat DH's team and make it to Wembley, fantastic!

anyway, enough. Today is home blessing type of thing for me.

Washing - on
Kitchen - wiped
Swish and swipe - done

To do

10 minutes in each of bathroom, bedrooms, front room, to include a middle of room only type hoovering of the entire house
Menu-planning/Sainsburys
Gym
Pre-school/School/ballet/Beavers run this afternoon

See you later

Morning all and thank you for making me feel so welcome.
Sorry to hear you are having a hard time SC
I love the phrase 'kitchen pickerswear big knickers' I think I'm going to stick that on my fridge!
Swanriver you are very brave to organise a party. My DCs would love a Star Wars party, but I always take the easy option and do package parties, bowling, indoor funhouse etc

school walk done, going to include that in body decluttering
recylcing done
beds made done
dusting done
wipe finger prints off light switches and doors done

To Do

Reply to DPs email regarding 'Man appreciation day'
lunch for DS
walk DS to school
have 'debate' with estate agent
buy card for friend
collect DS
collect DD from after school activity
homework and snack for DCs
take DD to brownies
Dinner bath and bed DS
Dinner bath and bed for DD on her return
wash hair
wipe around bathroom
do dishes
shine sink
lay clothes out
use Wii fit if there's time.

Thanks everyone for your kind words which have really cheered me up (and for joining me in the spiritual bunker Swanriver - I have another lav that is trumpeting too - aka cistern solidarity!!) Oh yes and our terrace looks like an old pond as well but ... I've already cleaned it once but the snow came back!!

Congratulations on the music practice and I I'm sure your dh won't suffer eating tomato sauce from a jar just for once!! Good luck with the Star Wars Party - "Pin the Sabre on the Yoda" and "Hunt the asteroid" perhaps?

Congrats on Portsmouth success MrsD

Wrap up warm Aberita

Good luck with your list Swan78

have stopped feeling sorry for myself now and have managed to:

take dd to doctor (she has bronchitis and has been signed off school for the week)
shine my sink
clean kitchen surfaces
clean kitchen floor
do recycling
empty dw, fill dw, empty dw
empty wm, fill wm, empty wm
send out 100 e-mails
clean downstairs cloakroom/loo
hoover, dust and tidy hall, sitting room and playroom
made lunch and tidied up
complete 2 hrs of French study while keeping dd entertained
clean out gps

I think I'll leave the first floor for tomorrow but still have to clear newspapers out of master bedroom, pick clothes up of floor, sort laundry and send out remaining e-mails.

Firmly returning to daily routines, baby-steps and 15-min bursts now.

Thanks for seeing me through the worst of it!! It's not quite so bad once you've got stuck in is it???

(Btw PA meant to say earlier that our Siemens phone survived being dropped down the lav when dd was 2. Has functioned perfectly ever since. Am also dead of your new kitchen appliance which I see you have been putting to good use. Please send virtual cake!!)

Evening all,

Not a lot of time so have only scan read posts but did want to say to sc that i am sorry you are having a tough time but your second post sounds a lot more positive. Glad dd has been diagnosed and will hopefully now begin to improve.

Also a big welcome back to mrsd and mrsgok and a big hello to dem sounds like you are having a tough time, the big 'o' is a stressful time for any teacher but om is quite right when she says you are probably far better placed than some of us experienced teachers, if they had asked to see my planning for today it would consisted of 5 words .

Crappy day today. Have horrific earache (off to docs in min), have trouble at work with disillusioned colleagues who I have to sort out, cm has just rung to say that ds has had the worst day with her in 4 1/2 years (no beavers for him tonight...saves me going out ) and bucketloads of work to do. Oh woe is me . Back later!

forgot to say welcome back to teamcullen as well, whoops

Thanks very much Ellie - so sorry to hear that you are having a tough time too (and all the teachers on here)

It seems to be the season for it!! This winter has gone on for far too long.

Earache can be absolutely horrid too - hope it clears up soon!!

[Hands Ellie virtual cotton wool dipped in warm olive oil for ear, a large cup of tea and a cream bun]

Evening all.

SC sorry you have had a bad time lately, I hope things pick up for you soon.

PA It sounds like your feeding the five thousand! I hope they all wash their own plate.

MrsGok elliepac Hope everybody is feeling well soon.

MM Thanks for keeping us posted with all the links, it sort of keeps me on track.

This evening's list

Go shopping
do tea (something easy)
Today's mission
15 mins declutter (the top of the fridge is looking a right mess)
Yesterdays washing put away done
wash on
night time routine

I think Ive got a mouse in my bedroom. The dog is bloody useless, anything else and he goes barmy. A mouse and he just sleeps through all the russling noises. [grr] Ive sent DH to get poison to get rid of it. I havent seen anything otherwise Id be living in my mums.

Right ladies - I have wine, tea, throat lozenges, cake, crisps and anything else you might need!!
I also have a virtual roaring fire for you sc and a motivational speech for you ellie!!
I also have mouse killer (evil emoticon) and DH galvaniser (consists of a large hot poker to be inserted where the sun don't shine)

Are we all OK now?

Seriously I think we all just need a shiny sink today and a big bunch of daffodils to cheer us up! I thought about adding to the ist of woes but you really,really don't want to hear about my day...
Better rescue v. frugal supper before it burns!

Those are biscuits not no comments!
See you later.

oh poor Ellie
and DEM
daffodils - lovely I'm smiling already

not so bad day in comparison, but dcs are being horrors to each other. Ds1 went to Cubs - for once it was a relief to have him gone.

Houseblessed, but not much else, except roast a chicken.
did a bit of piano practice, failed on tip trip and gardening.

SC there you see, you are a dynamo in human form.