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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I had a bit of a panic on a few weeks ago. It involves the lovely view that you can see above and plans for a golf course.

Mum bumped into friends, who live in the commune, in Shopi and was asked if she had heard the news. ‘What news?’, she asked, ‘The plans to build a huge golf course at Beauregard’, came the reply.

Well, we hadn’t heard the news, as it happened! Could this be the best or the worst thing to happen to us?!

We knew that the farm opposite was for sale and of course, my imagination went into overdrive. I had images of electric golf carts, a hotel and country club on our doorstep, with car-parks left, right and center, flying golf balls and a 12 foot fence. This is after 4 years of  landscaping and general mayhem.

Not exactly the rural idyll that we are so fond of.

I know there are worse things that can be plonked on your doorstep, like a pig farm or abattoir, for instance, but I must admit to being a bit, well, concerned, to say the least.

However, after a quick chat in the local village bar with Mums friend, it would appear that there are plans for a golf course, only it’s closer to the leisure lake and the village and won’t impinge on our hill-top solitude.

Phew!

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One of the reasons for writing a blog, is to keep in touch with family and friends in the UK.

With this in mind I have downloaded Skype, which enables free ‘phone’ calls via the Internet…very handy! I have also registered with Meebo, which allows messaging.

However, I am unable to place the Skype button that I want onto my sidebar, due to WP not supporting java-script. I have managed to put a different button on , but I’m not sure if it even connects.

And as for Meebo…I have all but given up! After repeated attempts, going back a long time now, I am simply unable to log-on, which is vital to do any messaging. I have registered and have even managed to place the conversation box in the side-bar, but it really is useless. I shall leave it there in the hope that I can sort out the problem…but it is so frustrating!!

Plus, I seem to be having problems with WP too. If I forget to save a new post almost immediately, which is easy to do, when I do try to save it, it disappears….aargh!!

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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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 Today has been the first time in probably a week, that I have had the slightest inclination to write, read, edit, think about, or do just about anything with my poor blog. It is feeling very neglected!

For, the whole household has been struck down, in biblical proportions, by goodness knows what. Well, The Boy, we know, has Chicken Pox. That’s quite straight forward and almost minor. He seems to be coping very well with the whole experience and, although not looking very pleasant, he isn’t scratching, or oozing too badly!

However, myself and Diddy and sister Debs,have been smitten with a nasty and vicious virus from the Essex Marshes, brought back by Class 3 from their jolly field trip. So far, it has taken out three of us. I have been unable to move very far for the last five days and have really had no energy for anything. I have thrown a bit of toast at the children on occasions and just crawled back to my bed, to sweat it out! Not very pleasant at all! For five days, I have felt worse each day and gone to bed telling myself…’you’ll feel better in the morning’. But it’s just not happened! Diddy has had temperatures of 40 degrees, although, I’m glad to say that she is now almost completely recovered, apart from the hacking cough and head cold.

I am relieved to report that, today, I do feel a bit better. But I think it’s going to be a while before I’m back to speed. Plus, I now have the school holidays to contend with, so if the fever doesn’t get me, the insanity will! Plus, the doctors tell me that Diddy is likely to get Chicken Pox over the next ten days…we shall look forward to that!

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 I forgot, in my previous post to tell you about my experience at the airport on the way back.

I must have a dodgy-looking demeanor, as this has happened to me before with my video camera. I was stopped at the customs check and all my luggage was looked into in great detail. The people are very nice and ask permission to check your stuff, I’ve never seen anyone refuse permission and I’m not about to go all militant and make a stand.

So, what do they find? Liquid semtex? The makings of a simple but effective scatter-bomb? A nuclear device….(too much 24!) No, it’s my make-up! This is the first time I have ever taken make-up to France. I seemed to get it out of Stansted with no problem, but along with bottles of fluids etc, make-up is now a banned substance. Like I’m about to hold up the air-hostess with my lipstick….(’Sorry love, that’s not my colour!’)

So, the customs man frog-marches me (no pun intended) to the check in, where I have to pay to have my hand-luggage put in the hold! So much for saving money! He was in no mood to have a smile or a joke, he’d obviously done this a few times already!

I know, they are only doing their jobs but I was pretty mad by the time we got to the waiting area.

And then you get the really keen, gotta-get-the-best-seat fliers. They are usually middle-aged and you can spot them a mile off…..every time there is a bing or a bong from the tannoy system,they are on their feet, ready to dash to the boarding card girls. They always sit at the front and are slightly irritated when told to ‘remain seated’ blah,blah ,blah. When called to go through, they hassle and push and stand far too close, breathing down your necks until you have been ushered through. They are a million times worse now that priority for families and small children has been stopped. These are the sort of people that would have disguised themselves as women on the Titanic to get a place on the lifeboats!

Once past the boarding card girls, the fun begins….anyone would think they were on a mile sprint as they hot-foot it to the staircase at the foot of the plane. And they always win! You can feel the smugness as you walk onto the plane and they are sitting at aisle 6…(as we all know, you can’t sit in aisles 1 to 5.) They’re sitting there with their Sudoku books and sandwiches and eye-masks and inflatable pillows, as if they have been there for hours. (Maybe they are on a round trip and never actually got off!)

And they always win because they are unfettered by small children and family. Why does little Johnny have to have a tantrum right now? Why does Chloe have to fall over just as we get on the tarmac? Why does the wind take the boarding cards from my sweaty hand right at this moment? Can’t Grandma wait until we’re airborne to use the loo?

It’s such a great, satisfying feeling though at Stansted, when you see them around the carousel, still waiting for their suitcases to arrive from the depths of the luggage-handlers world. Bruhahaha!

 There is some justice in this world after all!

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I have been having a good read today of my feeds and getting lost in the MyBlogLog world of communities. With a few links and clicks, it is easy to get immersed in a different world and explore many paths.

I have noticed though, that I seem to read more blogs that deal with blogging itself than anything else. Not a problem; after all, I am constantly reminded that it is good to check out other blogs. In fact, I find them quite addictive, as I glean further nuggets of information that is going to improve my blogging.

But I do admit to finding it a bit disheartening. There are a huge number of fantastic, informative, clever, fascinating blogs that offer advice from SEO tips, to how to create great ‘copy’, how to ‘monetise’ your blog, how to attract and keep a huge readership. I find it disheartening because when I think to my little Beauregard blog, I feel very parochial. It’s that kind of ‘Closed for Lunch’ feeling! The Radiator Springs of the blogging world! It is easy to feel like the poor relation as the ‘expert’ bloggers dominate the horizon.

I’m often left wondering if the only way to succeed in blogging is to write a ‘how to’ blog of some description or perhaps an up-to-the-minute news blog or a ‘widget/plug-in’ blog. I mean, are there any people out there who write  blogs about ‘ordinary’ things with even the tiniest amount of success that the big blogs seem to muster? Are there any people out there who write blogs about ‘ordinary’ things full-stop?

But, hey…..I enjoy doing what I do and that’s the most important thing, let my enthusiasm shine through! I need to get back to basics, focus on my direction, write killer headlines,  get my opening sentences sorted, think about my audience, inject my personality, write ’sticky’ posts, at least four a week…..oh, and read lots of other blogs!

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 Oh dear….it would appear that all of my carefully crafted header images have gone AWOL at the moment. I thought it was me but having gone through my other blogs, they have reverted to the default too. Not that it’s not a good default…just not what I  want.

It’s too late to fiddle  now, I’ll check it out tommorrow…besides, Prison Break is about to kick off and all might have gone back to normal by the morning.

That didn’t sound very dedicated to the blogging cause did it? I promise to try better next time!

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