I'm Flying With The Fly Lady

' "Routines are not straight jackets!! They are frameworks to hold us up so we can do what we really want to do! When our routines are done we can FLY to heights that we have never even dreamed of. " ~ Fly Lady

"I'm Flying with The Fly Lady"??? What am I talking about you ask? Well, let me share! I recently discovered "The Fly Lady" one day while I was blog stalking! he he Anyway, The Fly Lady is a woman that has invented and shared her techniques on how to run and keep a clean and tidy house. However, her ideas are so much more than just the monotonous daily routine of house cleaning. She has ideas on how to make and adapt a daily schedule for all of us "Domestic Engineers". The "Fly Lady" is named Marla Cilley. She does not fly a plane as you might think by her name. Marla received her name because of her love for Fly Fishing. She even taught it at a local college for years. FLY stands for FINALLY LOVING YOURSELF. Marla teaches how to make a household routine that works for you!
I am so excited to start her program! It is a free set of scheduled emails sent everyday with a new tip of the day on keeping a tight ship at home.

I enjoy keeping up our house and making it a home for my husband. I am so blessed and thankful to him for understanding and believing in the importance and value of a stay home wife and most importantly mother. I truly believe that being a stay at home mom is the best and most valuable job in the world. To all you Mommas ( including my own Mom) who do it everyday thank you for your sacrifice. Your children will thank you for making them a better person! I thank you Rich for providing the means both physically and spiritually for our family.

I think I will really enjoy this program because it will help me adapt a schedule. I have a wonderful friend Melissa who is a list maker. I am so impressed by Melissa's organizational skills and ability to schedule. I aspire to be more like this. Melissa is a sweet, dear friend who is a fellow Marine wife. We met while our husbands were in training at The Basic School for Marine Officers in Quantico Virginia. I learned so much from Miss Melissa that year, and I miss her so now! Anyway, one of the many fond memories I have of Melissa is of her list making skills. One fall day while we were all busily getting ready and packing to move on to our next duty stations. I went over to Melissa's to sit with her while her movers came to the house. I noticed she had a list sitting out on the table of her schedule of things to accomplish for that day. I was so impressed by her list, it was even typed! I asked Melissa if I could take a closer look at it. She willing said of course. I will never forget what wonderful organizational skills I witnessed on that day. Her typed list was set in Military time mind you with a dash next to each time written next to it was what errands or events she needed to get done at that time. As if that wasn't impressive enough, she even had scheduled at 08:30 time for and I quote "A McDonald's Sugar Free Latte no whip". I knew then Mel that you were a woman with a skill that I wanted to possess! Mel, I love you for teaching me how to make lists and stick to them! So here's to you as I embark on "The Fly Lady " journey!

As a Marine wife I am all about the idea of lists, charts and organization. Heck. that's what makes the Military go round !! I believe as a whole the family unit functions better when there is a mapped out routine and plan in place. I know as a teacher my students always functioned at their best when I had a set schedule for the day with boundaries. Children crave and need boundaries and guidelines just like adults do! Rich and I have been discussing these points and how we want to run our home with our new growing family. Now that Rich and I have a little one on the way, I believe there is no better time than now to get my butt in gear and let the scheduling and organization begin!! So, from time to time I will be sharing tips along with my progress on "The Fly Lady" program. I realize this will not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you are interested I will be sharing my progress. Here is the Fly Lady's website if you want to join with me. WWW.FlyLady.Net Say a prayer and wish me luck!
I'm ready to fly Fly Lady !!! :)


Fly Lady Tip #1

1. Keep your sink clean and shiny everyday.

2. Get dressed every morning, even if you don't feel like it. Before you even begin your household/ daily routines.

3. Come up with and do your morning and before bedtime routine everyday.

4. Don't allow yourself to be sidetracked by the computer. (EEK hear that Blog, this will be hard for me but I will schedule a computer time) !

5. Pick up after yourself, if you get it out, put it away.

6. Don't try to do two projects at once. One Job At A Time!

7. Don't pull out more than you can put back in one hour.

8. Do something for yourself everyday, maybe even every morning and night.

9. Work as fast as you can to get the job done. This will give you more time to play later!

10. Smile even when you don't feel like it. It is contagious! Make your mind up to be happy and you will be!

11. Don't forget to laugh everyday, pamper yourself. You deserve it! ( I love this one)