Well, the moment has finally arrived where I am writing my last blog entry here in the UK.

I am surrounded by boxes, bags and mayhem. I have a permanent knot in my stomach and can’t quite decide if it is exhileration and excitement or just plain fear! I think it is a mixture of all three….plus some others too!

So, until I get my computer rigged up in France, I shall be concentrating my efforts on last minute packing, tip trips and saying my goodbyes.

Time to switch off and I’ll return once we have embarked on our new French life!!

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I booked the tickets for our out-bound journey through Ryanair today and although the flights have gone up and then down to a very reasonable price, I can’t help feeling a little hood-winked!

The online order form is such that if you don’t want insurance, you are told to select from the drop-down menu. The drop-down menu is not easy to find! I then found it and chose the appropriate ‘no insurance required’ choice and clicked. Only when I get to the end and have completed, do I find that I needed to do that with each person….seems pretty obvious now, but it is not at all clear on the form. It would appear that there is no way of going back to amend choices made earlier on, unless I am really stupid and missing something , somewhere. So, Diddy and myself now have insurance, whether we want it or not!

I am also smarting at the baggage selection, even without baggage, I am charged £2 for ‘priority’ boarding…there seemed to be no other option. So now The Boy can go on before me and Diddy to select our seats.

I am especially annoyed as I have been through this before and vowed I would double check everything first, but even with prior knowledge, it is a process that seems to be deliberately complicated and misleading.

The flights may be cheap but the add-ons just keep rising!

Here is a breakdown of the flight expenses:

• £29.97   Flights (cheap as chips!)
• £80.20  Taxes, fees and charges…including credit card fee
• £11.40   Aviation/WCHR levy…whatever that is!
• £10        Insurance
• £131.57  Total paid

See what I mean…hoodwinked!

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I had wobbly moment number 2 today….handing in aforementioned letter to the school secretary!

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I knew it had to happen eventually, but I had my first wobbly moment last week.

With a firm date in mind now, I thought it would be a good idea to start some draft letters. I began with Mr Filby, the flute teacher, moved onto Gwendoline from French club, next onto Brown Owl and was doing really well. But not long into the letter for school, I could feel prickles in my eyes and a lump in my throat. I had to walk away from it for a few hours!

Just putting into words the definate date of departure was bad enough…it’s been a long time coming; but then writing my thanks and appreciation was just too much! I realised what a great little school we have been part of for 3 years. I found it a really difficult letter to write in fact.

I shall really miss the teachers, I shall miss the mums, I shall miss the children that I have seen grow up over the years, I shall miss the social events, such as the Christmas Fayre, the Summer Fete etc and the little extras that come with a lovely pro-active school.

But, all in all, I can’t/mustn’t dwell…..decisions have been made and life moves on. I am moving onto another chapter that will be our future memories. But I am grateful for the memories that we will have from this school.

I’ll be off again in a minute if I keep this up!

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Ok, I’m back now, ready to roll! Lots has happened, so bear with me as I update you all!

We had a great time in the Lakes. Diddy and The Boy spent a few days with Daddy in Cheshire, which meant I managed to grab a few lie-ins! Yep, in bed until 9:30 one morning! Elsie Marley…eat your heart out!

There has been dissapointment however with the house sale. Our buyer, who is a cash buyer, has had her buyer drop out, which means the house of cards has collapsed. So after surveys and searches we are back to square one. The agent has suggested we just re-market the property and not hang around for her. So I have spent today clearing up again. We will all have to start being clean and tidy again….never easy with two kids…not mine anyway!

But the good news is that we are going anyway. We figured that even though a buyer wouldn’t be difficult to find, the paraphernalia that goes with it will maybe put completion back until September. Not ideal when there are children to start at school and settle in.

Billy Jenkins has been booked for the 4th July, 4 weeks tomorrow and we will more than likely fly out, either the Thursday or a few days later….yikes!! Better get my act together!

Plum and Peter go on Friday but had a shock when the gearbox went on the car…..£1,600 worth of gearbox! Must have been all the rip-snorting I’ve been doing in it around Barnet!

Good thing is that I am now over my rabbit-in-the-head- lights blip and have started on my lists again. Hoorah!

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It has been a while since I wrote anything in Beauregard the Blog and for that I apologise! I seem to have dried up. I can’t really blame it on a hectic week as it’s been fairly quiet here….boring and pedestrian almost. Maybe that’s the problem….

Actually, one problem has been WordPress. I seem to have a bug which, when I go to save my post, deletes it. Very annoying the first time it happens, infuriating when it happens again and again…….

A few things of note have happened.

Plum has now officially finished work and is currently on a three week countdown on leaving for France. It must be very strange for her, she has worked within the same industry for 20 odd years….since she left school in fact. I don’t think the full impact has hit her yet….it will!

The house was surveyed a week ago and we are awaiting further news. This house selling is an odd phenomenon…it’s all go one minute and things happen at the speed of light, it then grinds to a halt and there’s nothing can be done! It’s quite frustrating as I am unable to plan much until I have the completion date. Seeing as contracts haven’t yet been exchanged, I have no idea when that may be.

Still, at least I am now able to start writing lists….even that eluded me for a while. I have lists for everything, even list ideas for more lists! Is list making a woman-thing? Or is it just me? I can’t deny, it does help. I have even tried MindMaps…..I’ll give most things a go, but I always come back to my scraps of paper in the end. There’s something very comforting and steadying about a list in the midst of turmoil and chaos! And you can’t beat the feeling when you get to cross something off….lovely!

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 I managed to get a box of boxes from the Yellow Storage place yesterday….Whoopee! Does that mean my lapse is lapsing?

It does mean that I can get in to the loft and start going through whatever is up there. Not a job I am particularly looking forward to but essential nontheless.

I forgot to tell you the other day that, my sister and her boyfriend have taken the plunge and are moving over to their property next month/early June. After much soul searching, agonising and debate, they made up their minds, well,….. overnight (as well as a good few months of the ‘Why are we doing this day in, day out?’ sort of feelings.) 

I am still in a state of shock…it has taken me 2 years to get this far, they make up their minds overnight and will be there to greet us from the airport when we arrive..too bizarre!

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In a matter of weeks, myself and my children are moving to France. Am I in a mad panic? In a rage of activity and list-making? In floods of tears and sleepless nights?

Strangely and, increasingly worryingly,no, I am not!

It’s as if I am untouched by the whole experience and as if it’s happening to someone else. I’m not sure if I have just gone on shut-down but I seem unable to even think about what I need to be thinking about!  After 2 years of planning and research, I am stunned into inactivity.

Is this normal, I wonder? I have managed to start the ball rolling with renewing The Boys passport, but as far as organising anything else I am, well, apparantly unable.

I am waiting for the bolt of lightning that will jolt me into action….please, let it be soon!

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The house went on the market last Wednesday, at last. And by Saturday we’d had hundreds of viewers and, yes, an offer! It took 3 days for it to come in. So I am now eating my own cynical words of a few weeks ago and lots of humble pie!

It would appear that the agent does know what he’s talking about and so, we can only assume that when he says that we will be out in 6 to 8 weeks time, he is in fact correct! Let’s hope so!

Diddy is now planning the trip down and has taken a fancy to the Bilbao mini-cruise, but at that price, it won’t be happening. Neither will a leisurely drive, if Ryanair are doing special prices. It may be better to fly anyway, as no doubt we will be quite emotional and in need of a quick arrival.

Hello again, by the way! I really don’t know what happened to April. Diddy has been off school for a total of 4 weeks, The Boy for 3; what with poorliness and Easter holidays. (Not sure if that sentence makes sense!) I think I must have been doing my hardest to entertain and stay sane, which leaves little time or energy for feeding the blog! But I am back now, having dropped them off at school this morning and look, I am already blogging!

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Dave came round yesterday from the estate agents. He was very upbeat and positive, he believes that within a week of the house being on the market, we will have an offer. He is sure that by the end of April, contracts will have been exchanged, and that we should be moving by mid to late May.

Whooooosh…did you see that….pigs…..straight over my head!!

I may be doing the poor man an injustice, but I have heard all this before from estate agents, they seem to live in an alternate world to us mere mortals. He forgot to mention Easter, which, although only a weekend, in reality will put solicitors, surveyors and all other related professionals out of kilter for at least a fortnight! I know, I have sold a house over Easter before.

Hopefully, he is right, after all he is the expert.

I better get busy de-cluttering etc, in time for the photo shoot. Hello magazine it ain’t! But I may just get out my fluffy, kitten heel slippers!

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