oooh trish!! its a sign ;P lol
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oooh trish!! its a sign ;P lol
lol trish - definately a sign BTW - love the photo of your babe and the laptop, just gorgeous.
Here is a conversation that i had with DH on the weekend (after I came home, and the stripped bed that I had left before I went out to football had been remade without me asking!): "Can I ask you a question with out you getting upset?" "yes" "now i don't mean anything by this, and its great and everything, but how come all of a sudden you have started doing all this stuff?" :rofl:
shortly afterwards, while I was shining my sink, that had carried on to the splashback, microwave, and oven, a conversation with my son, who was drying and putting dishes away: "Mum, who's coming over?" "noone, why?" "no offence mum, but you don't usually do this." :lol:
I did the 27 fling today - mainly because i was cranky with DH, and needed to get rid of some energy, and consequently cleaned out the ensuite of "stuff"!
LOL Vicky....my DH is much the same, he's wondering what's going on!
Although I've fallen off the wagon already over the weekend. Does anyone else struggle on the weekend when everyone is home??
bec - i've had a house full of people this weekend, from my neice, to my b-i-l - and on saturday night, I went to bed before DH and his brother - I was soooo NOT impressed when I got up in the morning, and my sink - not make that my kitchen! was NOT shining - especially as I hadn't left it that way.
I'm thinking that I will have to train the rest of the house.. and i guess that will come by example.... but like she says...baby steps.
Yep weekends seem to fall aprt at the seams here too... dh just makes too much mess. Have to stop myslef from staying up later than him just to ensure the sink stays shiny!!
lol lorirae - i decided that once i have done it - its done. if i get up the morning and there are few little things about, i have to let it go... I dont want to become obsessive about it. its funny because I am really noticing stuff now - like who really does leave stuff lying around - and now that I'm picking up after myself, the kids do as well - its DH who is the guilty party!!!!!
I was going so well until i had a house full of people too! I need to go back to the beggining and re shine the sink today!
Vivky and Bec- My DH thinks i have lost the plot!!! :lol:
I did reasonably well over the weekend - DH was away so it was just me and two kids - make that two sick kids!! So I didn't have a lot of time. But I have to say, Flylady was a huge help. On Saturday night T was screaming in pain with an infected throad (I didn't know he had an infected throat at that stage) and I couldn't get him down until 9:30pm by which time I was exhausted. I nearly left the dishes but then I realised that I had followed the advice to "fill your sink while cooking and wash as you go". So there were only a couple of things left to wash. So I did it and shined my sink and boy was that nice to wake up to in the morning!! Sunday was pretty hectic and it was a huge help to have the kitchen in a good state to begin with.
isnt' it amazing what it can do to your head space - especially when everything else is pretty ordinary! hope you kids are better soon Mantaray. I'm off to the doctor this morning with aston coz he has a horrid cough.
I've kinda been doing my own thing, but the FLY lady has inspired me! I'm still loving my shiny sink and DH laughs at me when I say "Oh no, my sink!" and I rush over to wipe it. I have decluttered our laundry and on Saturday DH took both boys out for 2 hours so I managed to attack their bedrooms! I feel like a new woman!
It's funny how you keep going back and admiring your work LOL! I also love how when our friends visited as a last minute thing yesterday, I didn't freak out about how messy the house was. A quick run around and everything looked great!
astnatlaur - Thanks for your photo comment, as you can tell I was very excited to win! I needed some cheering up :).
It is a gorgeous photo Trish! Vicky, I hope your DS is better soon too. My boys are much better now the abs have kicked in!
funny story....
went out last night for dinner and a show with some girl friends... and low and behold I came home and my sink was shiny! I had cooked a casserole for the kids and DH for dinner, and left before they had even eaten... so I was very pleasently surprised to see a shiny sink when I got home at 10.30pm. seems DH has caught the bug too. :lol:
Glad your kids are feeling better Mantaray. seems Aston may have asthma :(
I havent been a very good flylady today, feeling rather ick - (af knocks me on my back for a couple of days) Hopefully I may feel better this afternoon, and have a swish and swipe... have done a load of washing tho... fed the boy, played with him... but are still in my jim jams, and about to go and heat a waterbottle up.... sometimes I just LOVE being a woman NOT!
Big hugs Vicky. I hope you feel better soon. But WOW at your DH. Great stuff.
Well my Kitchen is getting, there decluttered the draws and pantry so far this week. :cheer:
Can anyone tell me how to get the emails in Australian time?
Hope all the sickies in here are feeling better......
Bummer about the asthma Vicky, i had asthma as a child but have mainly grown out of it, i am afraid DD will get it too. scares me. hope Aston is feeling better.
Ange, you go into Yahoo groups and search for FlyladyAustralianReminders then click join group. You can find Yahoo groups through Yahoo, or click on one of the links at the bottom of the flylady emails - I think there's one there for changing your subscription details and that will take you to Yahoo groups.
Well done on your kitchen!
Thanks MR. :D
Who ever said about admiring your work..... i keep glancing over and having a little smile! i'm hanging out for guest to pop in by surprise now! :rofl: Sad isn't it! This is the first time ever that i have been conistently tidy........ i'm amazed. :lol:
That's great Ange. I hope you get a surprise visitor!! I was thinking the same thing over the long weekend when my house was pretty much in order for once - why don't my ILs pop in unexpectedly NOW!!
Vicky, I thought this was so funny -
When I am cranky with DH I always havea cleaning frenzy. I don't really understand it, but am glad taht other people do it too. ;):
I did the 27 fling today - mainly because i was cranky with DH, and needed to get rid of some energy, and consequently cleaned out the ensuite of "stuff"!
My day off today and the house looks shocking so I am going to stop procrastinating and FLY. I certainly find when the house is untidy, DH tends to be untidy but when it is clean, he will be tidier too.
Hi fellow fly ladies.. how are you all flying? Me - well I crashed from flying this week. Aston was very sick, and just getting through the day was all I could manage. having said that though - the kids and DH stepped up which was wonderful.
Aston is on the improve, and I was looking at my sink thinking - right you need a shine. :)
I left my pots from last night's dinner drying on the sink last night *hangs head in shame*.
I've been mostly good, but I was just too tired to go to the effort last night!
astnatlaur - I hope poor Aston is feeling better, it's tough on you both when they're sick. I'm sure all your previous FLYing has kept your house pretty managable. Yay to your DH for helping out!
Vicky, I can well understand - sick kids do take up a lot of time.
Trish, I have to admit that for the first time in ages we left dishes on the sink overnight last night too :redface:.
I am still not where I want to be with the house, but thanks to doing a bit each day (well most days anyway) I have gotten rid of most of the hot spots, so I am much happier with it than I was before. I also love having a shiny sink. And the 27 fling boogie in the bathroom turned into more of a 127 fling boogie. Now I am wondering why we moved so many out-of-date bottles of things from not just one previous house, but two LOL!! :redface: . Ah well, at least they are gone now! Along with DH's current deodorant I think as he hasn't been able to find it since.......:doh:
Oh dear. I've been going so well, but my motivation is really staring to wane. Can I be bothered??? It's just too cold- i feel like hibernating instead :(
I'm going to be jumping back in once I'm back in my unit :)
Back on the wagon!! :)
Thank goodness for FL today! I had a day of leave and have dinner all prepared, a clean kitchen with shiny sink and the washing under control. Not bad considering the shocking start with T awake at 5am, two kids who didn't want to go their swimming lessons (until we got in the car!) and Jack forgetting to go to the toilet when he got up! And I seem to have forgotten how hard it is getting things done with two littlies!!
Time for me to actually start I think. I signed up for the reminders about a month ago with a new email account..then promptly forgot about the whole thing :doh:
So cleared out the emails and will start fresh! Wish my luck.
Lisa xx
Hi All,
I'm new here (started a new thread to say hello) and welcome your thoughts on FlyLady and your own personal experiences with it. I didn't know there was an Australian version, it really annoyed me that whenever I felt motivated (like on a monday), I would have to read the Saturday version!
I too 'try' flylady but have to modify it.
I have a great tip - in this month's Good Taste magazine (at woolies) there is a free timer that is magnetic. Flylady always talks about the 10 minute tasks and I just couldn't be bothered buying their little timer, so for $4 I bought the magazine. I am going to try to do 10 mins on each room today, and then 10 mins dust, vac and mop. So all up today I should be doing 100 minutes of cleaning (when you put it like that, it sounds easy!)
Another tip I have from living in an upstairs/downstairs house is to have Up/Down boxes. They are boxes I park at the top and bottom of the stairs which I fill with things that either need to go up or down. It is really handy as we have rumpus/study/laundry downstairs, and kitchen etc upstairs. They are normally filled with cups, toys, shoes etc. At the end of each day I walk around 'homing' whatever is in the box, but making sure they go back in the proper places or I am back to square one. I also do a 10 minute Sh't-finder, which is where I walk around downstairs/upstairs with the box and put whatever is 'out-of-place' into the box and go from there.
Anyone else hate laundry? I wish we could all live naked... Apart from the embarassment, at least then I wouldn't have 6 loads to do today!
Welcome MWB. I love your idea for the Up/Down boxes. I have the same problem at home so I will have to try that one. I also just bought a $2 kitchen timer as I found I really needed that tool to keep me on track. Plus it works really well for getting kids to stay on the naughty spot and also for getting a 3yo to eat his dinner without mucking around (I'm setting the timer and when it goes off I am taking the dinner away). Wish I'd known I could have got a magazine as well for just $2 extra LOL!!
Did you figure out how to get the Australian reminders? You don't get the essays and things with the Aussie ones, just the reminders. So I actually still get the US ones in the summary format (one per day) and also the Aussie ones. I find that the essays help with motivation and also I sometimes pick up some good tips from them.
I hate laundry too, but not as much as ironing. But luckily my MIL looks after the boys at our place 3 days a week and does washing, folding, ironing and cooks on those days. Don't hate me LOL!!
Hi MissWingBat, love your up/down boxes idea, I might have to try that! I'm trying to limit my habit of running up and down the stairs all day to put things away. I have promised myself one trip to re-house things, once a day.
MR- Ummm I have a confession to make. I don't iron. I really truly despise it so I figure it's one chore I can do without. The only thing that gets ironed around here is dh's work shirts!
Hi ladies and thanx for the warm welcome. I am in the process of RAAAAA!!'ing my house but taking the obligatory 10 minute rest. What a great way!
Lori-Rae - I don't iron either. I have a sh'tload of coathangers out on my clothes line in the back yard, and if it's a hanger-item, I shake-shake-shake and hang. That way it eliminates 1. ironing 2. hanging them up 3. having that 'clothes chair' in the bedroom for things intended to go back on hangers.
I just posted on another thread about washing, which to sum up quickly was:
1. hang all your clothes according to person - 1 line per person - therefore, when u take them off, you fold into their piles and straight into their cupboards.
2. I don't use pegs. Saves time and if you hang correctly, they don't fall off.
I hate washing, I am the worst when it comes to Mt Washmore, I have PILES of stuff to be folded. That is why I do this, I can't stand folding folding folding piles of stuff. And with three kids I either have to do it superfast or never because it is a game for the kids to jump all over it...
I read on here the other day about control journals and one lady was talking about having the huge folder. I don't have enough funds to invest in a filofax, I just got an A5 folder and made my templates and printed them at 50%. It is great, you don't need to buy special hole punchers or dividers to fit, Officeworks does a great range to fit A5 - insert binders, dividers, little zippered pouches, notebooks. I divided it into sections including weekly schedules, grocery lists, birthday gifts, freezer inventory etc. I don't take it out with me, but the pages print easily enough to put in my wallet - like contacts, and shopping lists, and a list of emergency #'s like lost cards, fish and chip shop (!), etc. The freezer inventory is great because I always forget that packet of mince in the back of the freezer, and it gives you an idea of how many meals you already have without making a trip to the shop. We live 2 doors down from a Woolies so it's really hard not to treat it as my personal pantry...
I have an emergency pack in my car (small wipes, 1 nappy, 1 pair of jox, eyeliner, comb, lipgloss, lighter, mossie coil, little samples of sunscreen, moisturiser and stuff, spare pair of sunnies) because when you think about it, the car is only about 2 mins away from where you are (park, shops, friends) so instead of taking the 'sack' of stuff everywhere, I leave it in the car. Also the kids are great at making the car their personal cupboard so its always full of shoes, hats, toys.
I just bought a new mobile that is so slim it fits in my wallet too so if I grab my wallet and my keys I am ready to go out! After 5 years of taking EVERYTHING including the kitchen sink, it is nice to be back to keys and wallet stage.
Well, that's my 10 minutes up ALREADY so now I'm onto dust, vac and mop. My tip for wooden floorboards is to use hot water with a 'bloop' of euculyptus ($4 bottle Woolies) and that keeps them very very shiny and smelling nice. I swear by the Sabco dry/wet mopper, I use it everyday, wet for mopping (once a week) and once a day with the dry one. Its easier than sweeping!!
BTW - I am not organised 24-7. This is a really good day, then I will have 2 weeks of feeling like poo so it will all go down the drain again. Plus I am going away this friday for a week so that will put the schedule behind and I will be at square one again........................
Wow MWB!! I am very impressed! You go girl!!
I use hot water with white vinegar on the floor boards so I hear you on not using expensive chemicals!
I might have to start that freezer inventory idea. I never have any idea what is in there LOL!!
MantaRay - freezer invetory is great because if you get the list, and on it is say, mince, 8 sausages, and peas, puff pastry, you can go to the net and there are heaps of sites that you can type in 2 or 3 ingredients you have, and they will come up with recipes.
I already love this site. Why? Because usually by now, I would have given up on cleaning. Done a few things, made beds, but then get disheartened and 'can't be bothered'. Well, today, as I am cleaning, washing, doing... all these ideas are coming into my head. Everyone's great ideas, but also WHAT I AM DOING... For example, what I do everyday is boring to me... And not that fantastic. But you know what? Some of my ideas may help you, or inspire you, like everyone did to me. I'm looking around my house with 'new eyes' for my tips and tricks, that I just take for granted.
For example, we live in a highset house. One of the first things we did when we moved in was get a piece of rope and park both bins 'under' the back landing. So if I have the most DISGUSTING scariest nappy, instead of it stinking the house, I go to the back landing and drop the bomb straight into the bins. I recycle more too.
We have a compost bin, which I never used to use. Why? Because the little bin on the bench would get stinky, and I couldn't be bothered going ALL the way down the back... blahblah blah. Then I thought - why not get my DD to take it down? But then my good containers would never come back. She would dump the compost and leave the container there. Or I would leave the container there with the good intention to hose it out, and my hubbie would thow it into the trailer. (dump). SO THEN - I bought a pack of paper bags (100 for like, $1 at woolies). Everytime I peel potatoes etc, I put it in a paper bag, and I go or get DD to take it to the 'stinky bin'. No more lost tupperware and no more stinky bins in my kitchen...
I've seen on this site about having oil burners going. Well, with three kids, I can't (they are the sort of kids if you leave them alone they would somehow blow up the car)... So I invested in 3 of those ambipur light-sensor smelly things that you plug in. So during the day, in the kitchen, bathroom and downstairs, there is a nice 'smell' just in case visitors come. And they switch off at night. If you keep them on the lowest, they last for over 4 months.
Well, that's my morning of HYPERCLEANing done, my kids are attempting to pack up the rumpus room. They will go for a nap soon, then this afternoon I will take them to the park, so the house stays tidy. Then they are at day-care tomorrow so I can have a ME-DAY, clean house, no kids, no mess! Then I go on holiday on Friday for a week - YAY!
I'm so glad you are addicted to BB already!! It usually takes a bit longer than a morning LOL!! Wait till you check out some of the other forums - although on second thought maybe you shouldn't or you'll never get any cleaning done!!
i have well and truely crashed. need to get my wings refitted. Ever since Aston was sick, and has been again, all my good intentions have gone out the window! too tired to do anything. I should just start with shining my sink again....
Don't feel bad Vx, I've been unwell this week and have a lot of catching up to do too!
Just wanted to know you are not alone!
School holidays must make it hard too V. Just start with baby steps again hun, you'll get there.
I am not doing very well either, but I am just doing a couple of extra things - a load of washing every day and shining my sink. So I tell myself that's a start. And I swish and swipe every 2 -3 days. So if I can get into the habit of doing that daily, and then add one thing to the routine every couple of weeks I should really see the difference. Plus my hotspots are much better. So that's progress already!
thank you. I forget to give myself credit for even the small things - like getting the washing done. yep - got to start with baby steps.
sorry, this is more of a fly-whinge...
Waaaah! I've well and truly crashed this week. Been flying for a mere fortnight after finding all about flylady here and going really well (shiny sink in the mornings= love!), UNTIL my mum came to visit.
You see, she's the patron saint of C.H.A.O.S.
I love her to bits but she can't cook a meal without three hundred things taken out and left out! All day, overnight! I tried to make sure everything was spotless for her arrival even though I knew it would not last. Arrrgh! I can't take coming home to a house like this! I feel bad that I'm already thinking about what I will clean once she has gone. But I'm putting that out of my mind for now - must enjoy her company as she only gets to see her grandkid like once a year. Kitchen is greasy and wet, bathroom is atrocious, I can't even find a place to sit on the lounges for all the stuff heaped onto it.
And she spreads her butter/jam on with a teaspoon. :doh:
Mums. Mine is like flylady kryptonite!
neuri
LOL Neuri, at least it's just once a year!! Maybe you could get her into flylady too!!
Neuri,
I know exactly how you feel. When my dad visits, he is exactly the same. To make sandwhiches the kitchen turns into a nightmare. Last time he was here, he gutted and scaled fish in my kitchen sink, which after telling him 10 times the garbage disposal doesn't work, still put it all down there. So I had to 'fish' it out, scale by scale, after going crazy with the smell.
My solution - I just visited him, with all three kids. Chaos, mess, all at his house. It was fantastic. I had such a relaxing time!
I try to remember that they are only visiting, for a short time, and you don't won't to remember these visits with memories of resentment and 'cleaning' - instead, get out of the house, and forget the cleaning, and create some great memories. You won't remember the mess in years to come.
Cleaning will always, always, be in our lives. Parents and children may not. Cleaning is a hourly, daily, monthly thing that challenges us. I would get your mum a cuppa tea and a nice seat in the corner of the kitchen, and chat whilst you clean up.
As my wonderful dad says, Guests are like fish - they go off in a couple of days.
Good Luck!!!!