I just started this a couple weeks ago in anticipation of the kids being home for summer and things getting crazy here. Whoa, I can't believe how well it is going and how much happier and less stressed I feel with the house de-cluttered and neat with some small routines for me and the kids in place...

I think I am ready to graduate from Flybaby status now that:
~ my sink is shining! (dishwasher gets emptied in the a.m. and dirty dishes get loaded right away ~ no dirty sink!)
~ 15 mins of decluttering every day for the last couple of weeks and my whole house including closets are clutter-free!
~ one load of laundry every day, wash dry and put away!

Getting ready to add in the "Home Blessing Tour" on Mondays and some of their other steps...

so I was wondering if there are any other fellow flyladies out there?

There are lots of flyladies here! I've been fly-ing for many years, 6, I think...I found her either right before or right after my fourth child was born. Or maybe my third...lol...it's been so long.

I LOVE fly-ing, the house practically runs itself after you get in the groove. Keep it up!

Yup! Bedroom zone this week. No clutter in sight. Date night tonight. Dinner is white chicken chili on the stove. House smells yummy.

I just started. Finding the 30 day plan pretty simple and straightforward so far....the website a different story. It's confusing me at the moment.

I'm going step by step on the 30 day, though so far the first 2 things were things I already did. Day three takes me to the Big Tent and tells me to read the news. That's where I found the whole website kinda (IMO) poorly done...but hey, that's their issue. Mine is to figure it out!

I'll keep going with the 30 day thing for now. Today I need to do the sticky notes. That's gonna go over well with H...not.

Well, then make sure you have some Family Fun today. I know you are due! Fun! Fun! Fun today! I'm dressed with hair and face done, bed is made, breakfast eaten and cleaned up. Dryer is going. House is neat. Not sure what I can do for family fun though. Family and kids don't live around here and my bf is working a 12 hour shift today. I'm thinking about taking myself to a chick flick and maybe a little shopping just to get out. Any ideas? What is everybody else doing for family fun today?

still, do you do any volunteering? Since you're family-challenged, maybe you could go spark some family fun for another family by working on a habitat house, or bringing meals to the elderly, or offering to read to children at the library.

Of course, shopping and movies are cool, too.

We'll hit the pool later today, most likely have a bonfire in the back yard tonight. That typically moves us quickly through 'family fun' to 'UA with the risk of arrest for indecent exposure in the back yard after the kids are in bed'. lol.

For Family Fun day, we had a pool day with all the cousins at my sister's

I am loving "flying" more and more...

I've now got all my bill paying stuff in a little basket with folders for bills to be paid and stuff to be filed and I go through my mail as soon as I get it. Wow, I was bogged down in mail all over the place before!

And I did the HBT (Home Blessing Tour) for the first time this week...and when I went to "polish" the doors, I used a magic eraser, and I only got through the first floor before my time was up. I can really see how dirty the second floor doors are now and can't wait to get to them in next week's HBT

By the way, have you guys seen the Flylady page on Facebook? Some people posted their before and after pics and I really got a kick out of some of them. One lady has her flylady sticky notes written right on her fridge with a dry-erase marker...

I've been looking for that Flylady page.

flylady link



ETA: The funny pictures are later, like 90-100 and up!

If you "like" the link, it will post the reminders and the daily flight plan to your FB page. That works very well for me because I usually check FB when I am home and I can take a quick break and do the missions and the hot spot challenges right away.

I did find the page. The first time I clicked the link from the website, I wasn't logged into FB. This time I was, so it just flipped my FB page over to Flylady and I "liked" it. (I liked it better when I could be a "fan" instead of "liking" something.)

Sometimes I wonder if I am the only person around here who doesn't use FB.

I just never got the point of it...

/tj

You people have been sniffing those cleaning fluid fumes, haven't you. So THAT's why you people love cleaning so much. Weird weird weird.

I'm moving in 5 weeks so I'm in denial.

Moving is the best time to clear out clutter! I moved 400lbs of clutter to three different homes without ever opening the boxes, finally took it to the dump without ever opening them.

Still have no idea what was in there, don't miss anything, that's for sure.

ITA! Flylady has a moving plan that looks pretty good...wish I had followed that instead of hauling around so much garbage over the last 10 yrs LOL

I signed up to keep an eye on my kids when they were teenagers. They forget that mom is watching and you can see what they are up to. Now, it is an easy way to keep up with people. I am in a new town and am not close to family or friends. It helps with the homesickness.

Ha! If you knew the Flylady program you would know that there is no emphasis on cleaning fluids! In fact, she will have you declutter that stuff at some point. Lol. It is mostly decluttering, and swishing and swiping daily. The key is to keep the clutter under control by doing a little a day and keeping things tidy so they don't get out of hand. It is the easiest way to keep a clean house. It works very well with kids too because it is done 15 minutes at a time. Anybody can do that. When my kids lived at home and we were all messing the place up, I could call them together and have the whole place straightened in 15 minutes - often with time to spare. If the place was just starting to sprout messiness, we would do a 5 minute drill and it really made a difference.

If you are moving, do not pack anything that you do not love or use regularly! Throw out or give away everything else. Don't move it. You won't miss the extra stuff.

I clean most of my house with one homemade mixture:

white vinegar, a dash of dish soap, and water.

I use a homemade daily shower spray, too:
1/2c. rubbing alcohol
1/2c. hydrogen peroxide
2 tsp. dishwasher rinse
four drops of dish soap
put it in a spray bottle and fill with water. Cost about $0.35 a bottle to make, works like a charm.

I use baking soda instead of Ajax, too.

I use 1 part vinegar to 1 part water in spray bottles. It works great! On the FL FB page they were saying you can use vinegar instead of Jet Dry in the dishwasher and instead of fabric softener too. I want to try that out...

I will have to try your daily shower spray. The vinegar/water doesn't do the job there.

I LOVE to purge (no I am not bulimic). There is something satisfying about taking a trunk for of stuff to the thrift store or the dump. I actually look forward to the idea of watching things go away. Especially the two huge tubs of stuffed animals and beanie babies in DD's room and the massive amount of rescue heroes toys in DS's.

I have to buy that crunchy granola green-friendly cleaning stuff because of allergies. Clorox gives me migraines and ammonia gives me a rash. And mixing them would get me 25 to life.....:)

luri, switch to vinegar, soooo much cheaper and works like mad. And peroxide instead of bleach. No fumes. Plus it's fun...it bubbles on the gross.

Once you really get in the swing of it, you stop shopping as much and that saves $$$. This week, I purposely didn't go to the market because I wanted to clean out my fridge and use some stuff out of the pantry that was getting forgotten. I try to do this at least once a month. I have cloth shopping bags and I try not to buy more than what will fit in my bags too. I hate throwing out food! It is so easy to overshop.

In the bathroom, I wipe it down while I'm in the shower with a little shampoo on a washcloth and then throw the washcloth in my daily load of laundry. I wipe the mirrors and sink down with a hand towel every morning. The toilet gets a clorox wipe and I swish the bowl daily so it never gets bad. This all takes just a coupld of minutes. Shower door gets squeegeed and I'm done. Weekly mopping and my bathroom is always clean.

In the kitchen, I keep a sink full of soapy water when I'm cooking so I can clean dishes as I prepare meals. I wipe down the counters and stove after every meal. I don't keep appliances out so there isn't as much to wipe down. I wipe the counters with a little hot water and dish soap while I'm washing dishes.

I have a hard time doing the decluttering challenges because I just don't have the clutter anymore. I really look at things differently. When I put stuff away, if my cabinets seems full, I naturally look for stuff I'm not using as much and they are outta there. I like the breathing room and empty spaces.

Be careful with the cloth bags. I never put meat in them (I never allowed them to mix my meat and other groceries before I started bringing my own bag). I have them put the meat in plastic and I reuse the plastic bags to empty out the kitty litter and I reuse the kitty litter to sprinkle around the foundation of the house to deter mice from setting up housekeeping in the garage.

Living in Seattle during the 1990's made green Kings and Queens out of us. No other city in the US does it better than Seattle. WAAAY ahead of the curve.

Thanks for the reminder about meat. I have been remembering something else about the Flylady routines: they really come in handy when you are faced with turmoil or depression. Last year was a very hard year. My routines that had been ingrained in me from previous years of "flying" got me up every morning, got me dressed, and kept me moving - even if it was just 15 minutes here and there. The constant reminder to love myself and accept myself helped too. These seemingly simple routines can be a mental health lifesaver when things get really rough. They kept me moving - one babystep at a time. The routines gave me a sense of normalcy and momentum that was very needed during my recovery. Now, they keep me on track. I like the routines, the order, and the peace that comes from a well-organized life.