Dear Friends,

We don't like change but sometimes we have no choice! As a result of the last 5 years of the downturn in the economy starting with the shutdown; we have made the tough decision to stop selling product on our website. This has been a hard decision. Please Check out our live on Youtube.

We will be getting a brand new website too. We thank you for all your love, support, and prayers! I am excited about a new birth! We have a Clearance Sale on all of our tools!

I love You All!

FlyLady

P. S. All sales are final and no returns.

Thank you for your love and support over the years. 

We are Clearing Out Our Warehouse!

The FlyShop is Closing

FlyLady’s Sales are ending soon! Purple Rags and Mops!

We found another Case of Kitchen Towels! Yippee

Dear Friends,

With each new year we resolve to eat less, move more and take better care of ourselves. We have all made these resolutions and end up with broken spirits because we have set ourselves up for failure once again. I would like to look at our expectations and come up with a way to do all these things in simple BabySteps that can change our lives.

We don't need a new year to decide to take care of ourselves. What do we mean when we decide to "Take Care of Ourselves"? It all boils down to a lifestyle change for many of us. Now we could go cold turkey and go away for a month to some elaborate spa where they fix our meals for us, put us on an exercise regimen, run medical tests and pamper us or we can learn from them and do it ourselves.

If you went away to one of these retreats for a month what would be the first thing they would do to you? We would have to sign a waiver, get a physical and blood work. Why do you think they would make you sign a waiver? This is to relinquish them from any liability that could result from you killing over from a heart attack. This in itself should be a wake up call for most of us. Our lifestyles are contributing to the increase of heart disease, obesity, and diabetes in our country. With this in mind it is up to each one of us to take charge of our bodies and our minds and go get a physical along with the blood work. We should do this before we start any new lifestyle changes. This is our barometer to help guide us. Do not procrastinate about this. Make your appointment today because this is the first step to the rest of your life. Talk to your doctor about taking these BabySteps to change your life. Ask for help and as long as you are getting blood work done get them to run a full panel thyroid screen.

At the spa you will probably be forced to go cold turkey when it comes to smoking, alcohol, and caffeine. So how can we limit these things for us while we are enjoying our Home Spa? Let's look realistically at how much we are doing these things during a day, week or a month. For some people money can be a motivating factor for others they just need to decide that moderation is the key. So instead of 5 cups of coffee a day; just have one. Then replace the coffee with a bottle of water. With dinner have water and one glass of wine instead of a bottle. Smoking is very a very hard habit to break so look at when your body is craving a cigarette and when it is just a simple habit to light up. You will be able to tell the difference. Be nice to yourself and don't punish yourself by taking everything away cold turkey. You know how fad diets work. You feel deprived and then just throw the diet out the window and devour all you can get your hands on. During the process we are going to learn to nurture ourselves at the same time we are making the lifestyle changes. This way you do not have to feel like you are being tortured.

We can turn our homes into nurturing spas with just a few little additions to our grocery lists. Spas have good wholesome snacks just waiting for you to enjoy them. They require you to eat several times during the day. We don't normally do this because we are too busy to eat. The main reason we don't eat good wholesome foods is because there are not any in the refrigerator. So add whole fruits, cut up veggies, nuts, cottage cheese cups, yogurt, and salad fixins to your weekly grocery list. Remind yourself to eat between meals. Imagine that; you have permission to snack.

At a spa you never see anyone without a water bottle. There are water coolers everywhere and little reminders to drink up. I am not talking about over doing here; just getting eight cups of water a day. If you eat 3 meals a day and 3 snacks a day then drink a small glass with each then you have had 6 glasses of water. Now add one when you get up while you are getting dressed and then another one before bed. You have done it; 8 glasses in a sixteen hour day. That is only one glass every couple of hours. Set your timer if you have to so you will remember to drink your water.

Now for the hard part of being at a spa! They are going to force you to get into shape. We have been couch potatoes for a very long time and we have given them permission to help us. Well let's give ourselves this same permission. You may need to ask a friend to help you. It is much easier if you have someone that you are accountable to. Not moving is not an option, the Spa trainer is not going to accept any excuse for your inactivity; Moving can be as simple as walking around your yard or on a treadmill. Start by adding a fifteen minute walk to your morning routine.

Then gradually you will be incorporating other babysteps to your daily walk through life. Little things like parking farther from the front door at the grocery store or taking the stairs. Before you know it you will be playing in the yard with the children or taking the dog for a romp having a great time incorporating loving movement into your every day life. When you make it fun it will continue to bless your heart.

A spa has lots of ways to pamper you; Starting with your bedroom. The beds are nice and inviting. They encourage you to go to bed at a decent hour by having a curfew. When was the last time you went to bed before 11:00 pm. There are fresh sheets on your bed and plump pillows to curl up with a good book for a few minutes of leisure time. Getting your rest is one of the keys to helping our bodies renew themselves and heal. There have been studies that correlate obesity to not enough sleep. Let's go to bed and quit making our bodies beg for sleep. Our bodies need good food, water, loving movement and rest to function properly.

We also need to reward ourselves for the simple life changes we are making. At our home spa we can do things like manicure, pedicure, bubble baths, facials and other little things to help us feel good about the babysteps we making part of our routines. These little rewards help you to feel good about you and teach you to FLY (Finally Love Yourself) and isn't that what blessing your heart is all about. We deserve to live happy, healthy productive lives. Enjoy your spa!

Finally Loving Yourself is easy with a Spa Attitude

FlyLady

Dear FlyLady,

I have been procrastinating because I don't understand how it all works together. What is a Basic Weekly Plan, Morning Routines and Before Bed Routines? I don't know why I procrastinate.

Overwhelmed FlyLady

Dear Friends,

Our perfectionism is what causes us to Procrastinate.

Stop, take 15 minutes to write down those little buggers, you know, those tasks that you need to get done, want to get done, but NOT RIGHT NOW done. Yep those tasks. Get a pen and lined paper and don't forget that timer. Set it for 15 minutes and write down everything that comes to mind that you sure would like to get done. Now I'm not talking paint the outside of the house done...I mean sew on a button, trim the dogs nails, re-pot a plant, those tasks. When the 15 minutes are done look at all you have to choose from. Choose at least one a day to work on this week. On your mark get set GO FLY.

The question has been asked more than once; what is a Basic Weekly Plan? Let me start by explaining how the idea of a Basic Weekly Plan came about. On New Year's Day of 1999, I was determined to "Get Organized". In the process of trying to figure out why Pam and Peggy's Card File System had not ever worked for me for very long; I started sorting all my cards into piles: Daily, weekly, monthly and seasonally.

The daily cards became my morning, afternoon and evening routines. My monthly cards were broken down into the five zones in our home.

Seasonal cards were posted on our calendar. Then there was that pile of everything that needed to be done each week.

This is when I decided to assign a topic to each day of the week. And I divided the pile between the weekdays. Let's start with Sunday.

Sunday is Renew Your Spirit Day: Take care of me

Monday is Weekly Home Blessing Day: Bless my home and laundry

Tuesday is My Free Day: Lunch with friends,

Wednesday is Anti-Procrastination Day:

Thursday is Errand Day: Grocery Day and appointments

Friday is Clean out the Car Day, Date Night and Do Bookkeeping

Saturday is Family Fun day; Spend time with family

Make a list of everything that you need to do each week. Set up your very own Basic Weekly Plan or use ours.

Are you ready to FLY with a Basic Weekly Plan guiding your way?

FlyLady

If you need more help with a Basic Weekly Plan there is a worksheet in our Control Journal. Don't let your perfectionism stand in the way of peace you deserve.

We love your testimonials; Just Click this Link to send it to

FlyLady@flylady.net with TESTIMONIAL in the subject line.

Dear FlyLady,

FLYing has completely changed the way I think about making the bed. For most of my life I preferred an unmade bed, because otherwise I was just going to have to unmake it every time I got into bed. I thought it was more "efficient" to leave it unmade. But my husband prefers for the bed to be made because he thinks it looks nicer.

The eventual compromise was to get nice organic cotton bottom sheets and pillowcases and to put a duvet cover over a comforter instead of using a top sheet. This reduced the time to make the bed to about 15 seconds. Even I could handle that in the morning.

The problem came when it was time to launder the duvet cover. Laundering was easy enough, but putting it back on the queen-size comforter took either two people or a lot of wrestling with the duvet cover.

For twin and toddler beds I have used home-washable comforters instead of a top sheet or duvet cover, and this made bed-making so easy that even very young children could make their own bed. This doesn't work for larger comforters, though, unless you use a jumbo-sized front-loading commercial washer.

So we continued to dread changing the duvet cover. But we also dreaded having not-so-clean bedding. And then I was FLYwashed.

Instead of viewing it as a boring chore to be done as "efficiently" as possible, I started to think about making the bed as blessing my home and my husband. I started to think of our bedroom as a sanctuary and a place of nurturing and renewal. I started thinking about what would make the bedroom a beautiful, welcoming space. Then I started thinking of the beautiful patchwork star quilt that had been in the cedar chest because it was "too special" to use on our bed.

Sure, that beautiful star quilt would wear out if we used it every day. But what good was it to have the quilt if it was literally locked away in the chest? So I released the star quilt from its imprisonment in the cedar chest. I got top sheets and and bought some pillow shams that went well with the quilt. I also bought two extra bed pillows so that the shams would not have to be taken off and put back on daily.

This wasn't quite warm enough for my husband, so I went back to the cedar chest for a Pendleton wool blanket that was "too special" to use on our bed. WE are special! We have been making the bed with the beautiful quilt and blanket for about a year now, but today I used my timer to see how long it took me to make the bed with the top sheet, blanket, quilt, and shams. About a minute. I think the extra forty-five seconds over the old "efficient" method is actually a good investment. The quilt and blanket blanket were gifts and every day they remind us of special occasions and special people.

I smile to see how beautiful they look and how beautiful the bedroom looks. Every day. Many times a day. I get a lot of smiles and good feelings for a forty-five second increase in bed-making time -- and an appreciative husband. I now see that it is better to use the "special" quilt and blanket daily and to let them get old and worn and loved like the "Velveteen Rabbit" in the children's book. And I now have photos of the quilt and blanket so I can still smile years in the future when they are too worn to bless our bed.

I also have another plan for when that eventually happens: I'll find some not-quite-so-worn parts and I'll use them to make a dresser scarf or potholders or a toy rabbit or whatever I might be inspired to create, and we will still be blessed by them every day.

Blessings to you, FlyLady. And thank you for changing my attitude and my life.

Willow in Oregon

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flylady@flylady.net with I HAVE MY SHOES ON in the subject line.

Welcome to April! It’s a brand new month and that means it’s time for a brand new habit.

This month, we are concentrating on Making Your Bed. This one small step makes a huge difference in the look and feel of your room. Here’s some great information from FlyLady to get you started.

Your bed in the bedroom is what the sink is to your kitchen. – FlyLady

"Don't put off doing your routines! Weekends are made for fun; not play catch-up!" ~FlyLady

Reading the Bible Everyday

Saving Money Cooking "How to Cook" PlayList!"

I can help you get a jumpstart with my book,

The CHAOS Cure! ~FlyLady

This Week we are in Zone 4; our Master Bedroom, Bathroom, and Closet!

This week we are working on Zone 4: The Master Bedroom. It also includes any bathroom you may have off the master bedroom, and whatever lurks in the bedroom closet. This will be an ongoing process. You may or may not get the entire room cleaned this week. That is not the objective. Any thing you do in this room now will be an improvement over the way it was last week. Next month you will focus on it again.

Your bedroom should be the cleanest room in your home. Many of you still use yours as a garbage/clutter disposal for the rest of the house. If your bedroom is clean and clutter free, then it becomes an inviting haven for building your relationship with your spouse. The best gift you can give your children is a strong marriage. This is true whether your children are 2 or 40 years old.

Your task is to declutter this area. Spend 15 minutes a day this week doing something, anything, in the master bedroom. It did not get dirty in a week and it will not get clean in a week, but you will be making head-way. It is a trend! Get in the habit of decluttering in small segments of time. Decide what time of day you are going to tackle this little job, set a timer for 15 minutes, and just do it.

Wednesday is Always Anti-Procrastination Day!

Every Wednesday is Anti-Procrastination Day for FlyLady. This is a day that we take care of things we've been putting off. You can use this day to take care of any procrastinating you've done. You can do things like:

• Do the Laundry
• Clean Out Your Refrigerator
• Make doctors appointments
• Finish that report for work
• Work on a project with your child
• Clean the fish tank

You can do whatever you need to take care. This is the day to stop putting things off.

"Procrastination is the death of us, our relationships, and our peace!" ~FlyLady

Zone 4 Mission #3 Wednesday

Dear Friends,

It is anti-procrastination day and we are going to clean off the nightstands! Get the tissues, cups and stuff that has piled up, toss and put away. The grab a feather duster or dust rag and dust the surface. Place a pretty candle or picture there. Something that is new to that spot that you love to see.

Waking up and not seeing a pile of things on the nightstand and a pile of clothes will make your morning a little brighter!

FlyKid Mission #3 Wednesday



Hi Kids,

Today we are going to go into our rooms and pick up any clothes we have laying around on the floor, our desks, dressers or chairs. If they are clean - put them away, if they are dirty put them in the dirty clothes basket or hamper. If there are too many to take care of all of them in 15 minutes, you can do this tomorrow too as a bonus challenge!

We have a Student Control Journal for you, it's FREE.

I used to cringe in agony when I would see people pull up in the driveway now I don’t. Just like Marla says the husband has started organizing and getting rid of his stuff too. The teenage boys are a work in progress. I loved the tips on , the delicate cycle, storing sheets under the bed( I’ll Have more room in my linen closet and that’s major when you are limited on closet space like us) .

The FlyLady is such a good motivator! I have found my self quoting her and singing the songs. Earlier I was cleaning and was upset about something having water spots and Marla popped in my head and said “that’s your protectionism “ and I moved on.! I so wish I would have stuck with The Flylady years ago when the kids where younger but, so glad to have her now.



1. Getting Dressed to Lace Up Shoes, Fixing your Hair and Face
2. Swishing and Swiping Your Bathroom Blesses You Most
3. Is Your Bed Made? Every Room has a Shiny Sink
4. Checking Your Calendar; relieves stress
5. Reboot Your Laundry; A load a day keep Mount Washmore Away
6. Think about what's for dinner this relieves lots of guilt
7. Drink your water, take your supplements, and meds
8. Empty Your Dirty Dish Disposal Unit
9. Check Your Morning Routine to see if you missed anything
10. Have you had any lunch
11. Reboot Your Laundry
12. Declutter for 15 minutes
13. Did you drink your water?
14. Have you exercised today?
15. Start Your Before Bed Routine after dinner
16. Check Your Calendar for Tomorrow
17. Lay Out Your Clothes for Tomorrow
18. Place things needed for Tomorrow on your launch pad.
19. Spend Two Minutes Clearing off a Hot Spot
20. Shine Your Sink
21. Wash face/Brush Teeth
22. Go to Bed at a Decent Hour