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Kelly's Holiday Cruising Missions
Kelly has created special missions to help us get ready for the holidays one BabyStep at a time. Now remember, you are never behind, just jump in where you are! Are you ready to FLY through the Holidays??
Mission #25: Review the List and Budget
Dear Friends,
Today is Desk day and today is the day that you need to make sure
that you have your bills ready in one spot to pay and balance your
check book. It is so easy to forget to record things and not have
your bills in one place so when it is time to pay them you can do it
with ease instead of tearing through the house because you can't
remember where you stashed a pile of mail. Take 15 minutes today to
get your bills collected and have them in one spot and go through
your checkbook to make sure you have recorded the last check you
wrote, the last deposit made and the last ATM transaction. These are
things that when forgotten will cause errors! Don't forget to review
your gift list and make sure you are sticking to your holiday budget.
Mission #24: Errand Day!
Dear Friends,
Today is errand day and I bet you know what is coming! I have issued
you missions this week that have to do with things that need to be
mailed: Packages and Cards. While doing your errands you need to
make sure you have your mailing supplies ready. This means stamps
for your cards, boxes, markers and mailing paper if needed.
When it is time to mail those holiday cards you will be thanking me
for making you buy those stamps early!! Don't forget on your grocery
store run to pick up any items that you can off of your meal plan and
menus list for the Holidays.
Each time you make a trip to the grocery store look over your holiday
planner and see what items you can take care of. This will really
help you out when you get closer to the holidays and find that you
don't have to run out to do a mad dash through the grocery store
where you overspend and exhaust yourself. We are FLYing not dashing!
Mission #23: Anti-Procrastination Day - Cards!
Dear Friends,
As always, Wednesdays are Anti-Procrastination Day!
Today is the day to break out those Holiday cards that was part of an
earlier Mission and go through them to decide which ones you will use
this year. If you all are anything like me you have loads and loads
of cards that you have saved from year to year that were leftovers.
You know how you buy a box of 20, only use 17, so you have three left
over and they get tossed into a box and each year they multiply.
There have been three different years that I did not have to buy ANY
Holiday cards because I had plenty! Go through these cards and pull
out the ones that you are going to use this year and just for today
address 5 of them.
Each day address 5 cards and keep doing this until you are finished.
You will love the feeling of ease and relief of having your holiday
cards ready before Thanksgiving!! If you are going to send a family
holiday letter included in your cards, you need to start working on
it NOW. Do not put off addressing your cards because your letter
hasn't been started or is not perfect. Do not put yourself through
the stress of the perfect holiday card and letter. We get so caught
up in the magazine look of picture perfect that we lose ourselves in
trying to compete.
That is not the point of holiday cards or letters. They are to wish
happiness and share some news of the past year. You are not keeping
up with the "Jones'" you are FLYing!!
Mission #22: Plan and Play!
Dear Friends,
Today is Plan and Play Day! You need to review your gift list and
see what items you still need to pick up and what things need to be
mailed. NOW is the time to get these items taken care of. I am the
worst at mailing things on time to those far away friends and
relatives. Take time out today to really look at your gift list and
make sure that those that need to be mailed get taken care of. Look
ahead to errand day and see what items you can arrange to pick up.
If you still need to place online orders, catalog orders or mail
orders, you need to get a list together and then check them off as
you get them accomplished. You don't want to miss out on items that
you really wanted to give this year because they are out of stock,
because you waited to long.
Now that we have talked about the Planning part of our day, what
about the Play part? For today make sure you take time out just for
yourself. This could mean that you go to your bedrooom and shut the
door for 15 minutes and read, it could mean you have lunch with a
friend. It does not matter what you do as long as you take some time
out just for yourself to play!
Mission #21: Toss the trash as soon as you see it!
Dear Friends,
If you have been following our Holiday Cruising Plan then you know
today is Clean and Fling day! This means as you are doing your
Weekly Home Blessing, you are to fling as you go.
As you find yourself in each room, have a little bag with you (the
plastic grocery bags are fine) and when you see something that needs
to be tossed, TOSS IT!! Don't skip it and think you will get back to
it, simply grab it and toss it in your bag. This means anything that
is trash! There are always things laying around that need to be
tossed but we are so used to seeing them around we don't think to
toss them. We are going to be decluttered and soaring through the
holidays!!
Mission #20: Reviewing the Gift List!
Dear Friends,
Today is desk day.
For today you are to check your Holiday Control Journal to review
your gift list. You need to check over it to make sure that you
haven't forgotten anyone and to check your budget.
Look over these and take a moment to be proud of yourself for FLYing
through the holidays one babystep at a time!!! We are so proud of
all of you!
Budget; Don't Begrudge it!
Mission #19: Holiday Food Shopping List!
Dear Friends,
Today is Errand Day!!!
Today is the day to get all of your non-perishables for the
Holidays! Look over your meal plans and menus to form a grocery
list.
Break that grocery list down into perishable and non-perishable
items. For today try to tackle all of the non-perishable things that
you can. This means the canned goods, box goods, paper goods, etc.
Get all of these items taken care of and out of the way. You will
feel so good to know that you have these things ahead of time and
this allows you time if you forget to pick something up.
We are making sure that we FLY through the holidays one babystep at a
time!!!
Mission #18: Toy Box Diving!
Dear Friends,
Today is Anti-Procrastination Day!
We are diving into the Toy Box today! Today is the day for those of
you with children, to take 15 minutes to fling through the toy box to
get rid of broken toys, toys with missing pieces, puzzles with
missing pieces and games with missing pieces. It is time to let them
go! Fling, Fling and Fling some more. By the way, you can add this
into your 27 fling boogie!
If you do not have children's toys to go through, you are to toss,
toss and toss some more of those catalogs and magazines that have
piled up. Once again, these items count for a 27 fling boogie!
Happy Flinging!
Mission #17: Planning the Meal Accessories!
Dear Friends,
Today is Plan and Play Day!
Last week I had you work on your meal plans and menus for the
holidays. This means for Thanksgiving and whatever other holidays
you celebrate. For today you are to add to those plans.
Do you need specific tablecloths, napkins, center pieces etc.? Not
the whole house accessories, just for the meals.
Write them down in your Holiday Control Journal along with your meal
plans and menus. Schedule yourself time to take care of laundering
the linens, polishing silver, and getting the serving dishes ready.
When these things are taken care of before the eve of the holiday
itself, it gives us time not to have to stress about getting "it" all
done!
Have fun! We are FLYing through the Holidays!
Mission #16: Clean and Fling...
Dear Friends,
Your Holiday Mission for today is to Clean and Fling!!!
Monday's are Weekly Home Blessing Hour days at FlyLady and your
mission is to do a 27 fling boogie as you bless your house. We are
cruising through the Holidays together and every time you can get rid
of some clutter is going to help you FLY!
Grab one of those plastic bags that you get at the grocery store and
loop it along your wrist or loop it through your belt loop on your
pants, as you are going through the house just toss in the bag
whatever needs to be tossed. This can be junk mail, odds and ends
that have been laying around and whatever you see that is just plain
clutter and needs to be gotten rid of. Do not spend hours doing
this, just have the bag handy while you are blessing your home!!
Have fun!
Mission #15: Reviewing the holiday budget...
Dear Friends,
Today is desk day and your mission for today is to review your budget
for the holidays and look to see how and when you can take care of
the shopping that you will need to do. Not just presents, you need
to take into account meals, postage, cards, wrapping supplies,
decorations etc. Budget; Don't Begrudge it!
Be careful and thoughtful, you do not want to rack up huge credit
card bills that you will be paying until spring for the holidays.
Try to fit your budget around what you can afford to pay for. If
this means a little less than what you would like, try to remember
how great it will feel not to be overwhelmed in January when the mail
comes. Set limits and try to work within them. Don't look to buy
presents that will impress, look to give gifts that will be loved.
Be creative. Talk to your friends and family and see if they would
like a challenge for this year. Talk about theme gifts such as an
ornament or t-shirt exchange with a price limit. Look for fun and
creative ways to express your love without busting your budget.
Don't look at budget planning as a chore and as something that is
depressing. Look at it as a challenge that you know you can handle!
Take pride in the fact that you are planning this year in a way that
you never have! You are FLYing!
Have fun!
Mission #14: Errand Day...
Dear Friends,
Today is errand day and that means we pull out those Holiday Planners
and review our list and see what things we can get accomplished!!
Review your shopping lists for gifts and see if anything that is on
the list can be taken care of while you are on your errand run. Look
over your grocery lists for the menus that you have chosen and you
can add a few of those items on to your weekly grocery list to stock
up ahead of time. Remember to consider other errands for the
holidays as well, are there linens that need to be dry cleaned,
clothing, coats, etc? Don't forget about the standards to get you
through the Holidays as well: toilet paper, toothpaste, napkins,
paper towels and plenty of window cleaner LOL! Have to keep those
sinks shiny!
We are taking babysteps to FLY through the Holidays together! One
thing at a time!
Have fun!
Mission #13: Ordering Your Gifts...
Dear Friends,
Today is Anti-Procrastination day and your mission is to complete
your mail order, catalog order, phone order or Internet order
shopping! Do not wait until the last minute to place your orders and
then find that the items you wanted are out of stock, back ordered or
that you have waited too long and there will not be enough time to
ship them. Place your orders early so you avoid missing out on what
you needed and also to allow time for errors. Take time out now to
take care of this or you will have to find the time later to go
shopping which then turns into impulse buying and overspending!
Have fun with this, you will feel so relieved when you take care of
this!
Have fun!
Mission #12: Planning Menus and Having Fun...
Dear Friends,
Today is Plan and Play day! This means we are going to do some
Holiday Planning and then we are going to take some time out to
PLAY! Grab your Holiday Planner and get ready to jot down some
things. Last week on Plan and Play day I had you establish what your
plans for the Holidays were: Where you were going to spend the
Holidays, who with etc. Now that you have done this it is time to
establish some menus. If you are traveling then you need to think
about what you would like to bring with you to contribute if
necessary. If you are hosting a Holiday dinner you need to establish
what your menu will be and start a shopping list. You also need to
think about if you are having guests in your home for meals other
than a main Holiday meal, what will you serve, and again, establish a
menu and shopping list. Don't forget to think of all meals not just
dinners. Breakfasts and lunches need to be written down and thought
about. In the United States, Thanksgiving is coming and you need to
include that in your Holiday planning as well. You need to be
creative and adapt our Holiday Planning Missions to whatever Holidays
you will be celebrating.
For today, jot down a simple meal plan and a simple grocery list.
You can add to this as we go but establish something to work with and
for when you go shopping you can start working off of the grocery
list to being some of the non-perishable food items home and stock
up.
Don't forget to take a bit of time just for yourself today to go and
PLAY! Even if you just take a 5 minute walk to look at the leaves
changing colors, take time out today just for you!
Have fun!
Mission #11: Blessing and Flinging...
Dear Friends,
Your Holiday Mission for today is to Clean and Fling!!! Monday's are
Weekly Home Blessing Hour days at FlyLady and your mission is to do a
27 fling boogie as you bless your house. We are cruising through the
Holidays together and every time you can get rid of some clutter is
going to help you FLY! Grab one of those plastic bags that you get
at the grocery store and loop it along your wrist or loop it through
your belt loop on your pants, as you are going through the house just
toss in the bag whatever needs to be tossed. This can be junk mail,
odds and ends that have been laying around and whatever you see that
is just plain clutter and needs to be gotten rid of. Do not spend
hours doing this, just have the bag handy while you are blessing your
home!!
Have fun!
Mission #10: Reviewing the Holiday Budget...
Dear Friends,
Today is desk day and your mission for today is to review your budget
for the holidays and look to see how and when you can take care of
the shopping that you will need to do. Not just presents, you need
to take into account meals, postage, cards, wrapping supplies,
decorations etc.
Be careful and thoughtful, you do not want to rack up huge credit
card bills that you will be paying until spring for the holidays.
Try to fit your budget around what you can afford to pay for. If
this means a little less than what you would like, try to remember
how great it will feel not to be overwhelmed in January when the mail
comes. Set limits and try to work within them. Don't look to buy
presents that will impress, look to give gifts that will be loved.
Be creative. Talk to your friends and family and see if they would
like a challenge for this year. Talk about theme gifts such as an
ornament or t-shirt exchange with a price limit. Look for fun and
creative ways to express your love without busting your budget.
Don't look at budget planning as a chore and as something that is
depressing. Look at it as a challenge that you know you can handle!
Take pride in the fact that you are planning this year in a way that
you never have! You are FLYing!
Have fun!
Mission #9: Errand Day...
Dear Friends,
Today is Errand Day. Your Mission for today is to review your
Holiday Control Journal and see what items on your list can be taken
care of while doing your errands.
If you are headed to the grocery store, can you pick up a few items
for the Holidays that you will need? Baking supplies are so
expensive when they are all bought at one time. If you start adding
a bag of flour, nuts, spices etc to each shopping trip, you will
hardly feel the purchases rather than waiting for one big trip. This
applies to other things as well. If there are decorations that you
would like to have, you can add one or two things to your trips to
the store. Again, saves time and money from those major shopping
sprees.
If you are heading to the Dry Cleaners, does your nice coat, good
dress, suit etc. need to be cleaned and pressed? How about the Home
Improvement store? Do you need light bulbs, new decorative light
clips, etc. Try to slowly add a few things on to your errand day
each week and you really will not notice the small bits of extra time
versus the monster rush to get it all finished three days before your
Holiday.
Safety Mission: This weekend in the USA and Canada, our daylight savings time
changes back to standard time. It is also time to change the
batteries in your smoke alarms. While you are out shopping; pick up
the batteries that fit your alarms. This way you will have them when
you are reminded to change the clocks and batteries on Saturday
Night. Many house fires happen around the holidays. Be Safe!!
One other thing we change is our toothbrushes!
Have fun!
Mission #8: What size are we?
Dear Friends,
We are throwing up those sails for our Holiday Cruise! Today is Anti-
Procrastination Day!
Your mission for today is to do a "What size are we?" mission! This
means that you write down the sizes for your family, height, sizes
for shirts, pants, pajamas, dresses, shoes etc. Place this list in
your holiday planner and have them ready for when a dear friend or
family member wants to bless someone in your family for the
holidays. When they ask you "what size is little Timmy?" you won't
have to do the zany brainy shuffle and try to remember what size you
bought in September for school and then try to add to it since that
was two months ago! Trust me, I know this trick! Make sure you do
this for yourself and your spouse as well. No more racking your
brain trying to remember, you have your trusty holiday planner and
can refer to it whenever you need to.
Have fun with this! This one mission will save you from having to
explain why little Timmy has never worn that great shirt that is two
sizes too small from Aunt Sally or save you time in the returns line!
Have fun!
Mission #7: Planning with Your Holiday Control Journal
Dear Friends,
Today is our Plan and Play day! This means that you take time out to
work in your holiday planner and then to make sure you play today!
Even if you only take 15 minutes just for yourself, make sure you do
it!
Today review a bit in your planner and start filling in a few more
things. Have you decided whether you are traveling this year or
staying home? Have you decided who you want to invite to your home
or do you want this year to be immediate family only? You need to
make some decisions and start to plan for this: If you are traveling
then start to work on your travel dates and transportation. If you
are inviting company to your home, start planning a guest list and
how you will prepare to have them in your home. If you are staying
home with no guests, start planning how you want to spend your time,
church events, community events etc. Don't get carried away and
spend 4 hours making every single decision today, just take care of
some basic details.
Again, remember to take time out today to PLAY! This can be treating
yourself to a bubble bath, going out for ice cream, reading a chapter
in a book that you have been trying to finish; it doesn't matter what
you do, just that you do something fun today!
Have fun!
Mission #6: Planning the Decorations!
Dear Friends,
Your Holiday Mission for today is to jot down in your Holiday Control
Journal what decorations you want to use and what rooms you want to
put them in. That is it. You are not to drag out the decorations
just yet. We will get there! For now just make a plan of what you
want to use and what room you want to use them in. This is to plan
what you want to use that you already own. If you have candle lights
that you put into the windows, centerpieces, advent calendars etc.
Just jot them down in your Holiday Control Journal.
We are going to have fun FLYing through the Holidays!
Have fun!
Mission #5: FACE your Holiday Budget!
Dear Friends,
Your Holiday mission for today is to take time out to establish a
budget for the Holidays.
Look over your gift lists and menus and try to work on a budget for
these things. When you establish a budget and try very hard to work
within that budget you will find that you do not go overboard on your
spending because you have taken the time out to plan and think things
through instead of shopping impulsively.
Try to establish when you can start your shopping and to break it
down into small manageable tasks. You need to figure out how much
money you can afford for: gifts, mailing, wrapping supplies, travel
expenses, meals, baking etc.
You can put these numbers into your Holiday planner that you were to
create in Mission #2 (remember all the missions are available on
FlyLady.net). This way you have your lists and budget all in one
place.
Taking things that are overwhelming and breaking them down into
babysteps help us keep the CHAOS away!!
Have fun!
Mission #4: Errand Day!
Dear Friends,
Today is Errand day and your mission for today is to pick up any
detail items that you can. Postage stamps, scotch tape, packing
tape, markers etc.
Try to get these things together and put them with the supplies that
you gathered up yesterday (the holiday cards and wrapping paper).
Having these things early and ready will prevent those late night
dashes to the store that end up costing you far more than just tape.
Remember not to obsess over these things, we are going to cruise
through the Holidays one babystep at a time!
Have fun!
Mission #3: Gathering the Wraps!
Dear Friends,
It is Anti-Procrastination day and we are headed out on our Holiday
Cruise!
Your mission for today is to gather up all of your Holiday greeting
cards, wrapping paper, bows, ribbons etc. Do not go overboard on
this one. Just gather all of these items together into one central
location to have ready for when you need them. This is one of those
things that we always seem to say we are going to get to but yet end
up tearing the house apart trying to find that certain roll of paper
or certain box of cards that you are just positive you remember where
you put them last year.
Gather them together and place in a box that you can keep in one
place to be able to use when you are ready. One member last year
told us of how she used an old suit bag that hangs in her closet to
hold the rolls of wrapping paper and used the zipper pockets on the
side for the tape and ribbons. This is very clever and allows you to
use that old suit bag that has been hanging around or you can pick up
an inexpensive vinyl one at your local discount store.
Have fun!
Mission #2: Start a Holiday Control Journal
Dear Friends:
Today is our Plan and Play day. Your mission for today is to create
a Holiday Control Journal. Now before you break out the colored
index tabs and sheet protectors DO NOT get caught up in having
the "perfect" holiday planner and think that you need a fancy
notebook or specific type of planner.
I have done this for the past few years and I usually go and grab an
old spiral notebook from one of my children and rip out the used
pages. I am able to take this with me shopping and I try to make
sure I take it in the car with me. You can also add some lined
notebook paper to your control journal and make it a holiday
section. Just remember not to get so obsessed over what you use that
you end up not using it because you are spending too much time making
it perfect.
We have made one for you to print out and put in your Control
Journal; it is posted on our website in the red section. If you have
trouble downloading it. (You will need to download Adobe Acrobat;
There is a link for that download too) If you still have trouble
there is a link to email me and I can send it in a Word document.
If all else fails then follow these simple directions for the headers
at the top of the pages.
http://flylady.net scroll down to the red Holiday Cruising Section
Use your Holiday Control Journal to plan ahead for menus, meals, gift
lists, decorating, grocery lists, etc. This is what you can use to
keep track of catalog orders, church schedules, phone numbers and
miscellaneous errands that need to be taken care of. Tape or staple
an envelope in the notebook and this is where you can keep track of
your receipts.
For today, grab your Control Journal and start jotting down some of
the basics that are necessary for the way that you celebrate the
holidays. Just 15 minutes will help bring Peace to the holidays.
Don't forget to take some time out just for you today!!
Mission #1: Clean and Fling!
Dear Friends,
We are ready to kick off the FLYing through the Holidays Cruise!
Your first assignment is a Clean and Fling Mission! When doing your
Weekly Home Blessing today grab a small trash bag or one of those
plastic grocery bags, make friends with it as you are going to carry
it through your weekly home blessing. As you enter each room when
you see anything that needs to be tossed just fling it into your
bag. It is amazing how much stuff we have laying around that can be
tossed that we just don't take care of and before you know it a hot
spot is flaring up!
Don't think too hard or obsess over this, just fling, fling and fling
some more. Give yourself bonus points if you fill the bag up!! LOL!!
Have fun and remember we are FLYing!
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