Another busy month about to close and a few more things ticked off the to-do list.  Our big achievement this month is that Nick has broken the news of our plans to his employers and, on the whole, they have taken it better than we could possibly have hoped. Now that we have their support, the reality of our endeavour is starting to sink in and even the kids have started saying “when” rather then “if” when they talk about it.  On top of that I have started booking accommodation for the North America leg and begun selling any and all unwanted items that might make a few pounds to put towards the trip.  With the long bank holiday weekend approaching, the beautiful, warm weather we have been enjoying has, predictably, given way to the usual cold and rain; nevertheless we hope to make a start this weekend on the building work to turn the garage into secure storage for our things whilst we are away.  Of course, when I say “we” I mean “Nick”!

I’ve pencilled in some decorating during May – as lovely as Alex’s sketches on the landing walls are, I doubt they would engender the same warm, fuzzy feeling in any self respecting tenant.  Indeed we may have to cover over the paintwork in the kitchen where we have faithfully recorded the boys’ ever increasing heights over the last 8 years.  It’s funny how I’m more concerned about the loss of a few lines on the walls than I am about all the stuff we’ve been selling.  Mostly Nick has left me to it when it comes to advertising and selling our things but I did notice he was very proactive when it came to getting rid of the camping equipment – strangely enthusiastic about the prospect of never having to endure another night under canvass helping out with the fundraising…

At the end of the month we have our road trip to Nuremberg to look forward to.  We have agreed that we will share the driving since we hope to get all the way from Calais to Nuremberg in one go.  I have to say I am nervous about driving in Europe, having had precisely no experience of it at all yet.  What baffles me though, is that Nick doesn’t appear at all concerned about the prospect of being a passenger, with me at the wheel in either France, Belgium or Germany.  Maybe the kids get their love of white knuckle rides from him!

All in all, lots of progress made, lots still to do and lots to look forward to.

When I married Nick I knew that he could find his way around a computer and that was useful; amongst the many things he brings to our partnership it’s like I’ve got my own branch of the PC World help desk on hand 24/7.  The trouble is that when you have someone in the family who is quite good at something, particularly something that you yourself are not really interested in, well you just don’t bother learning. Even the basics.  To some extent that’s how partnerships work – he likes cars; I get palpitations every time I have to put fuel in one of them in case I’m not thinking and manage to pick diesel instead of unleaded.  I like cooking; he can follow instructions on the microwave if I’m out.  It sort of works – he picks the cars and I choose dinner.

He has pretty much left me to my own devices when it comes to this blog and I thought I was doing pretty well – I’ve managed to create an account (when I can remember my username) and, more by luck than judgement, I seem to have picked a blog theme which is readable on a phone as well as a pc. So far, so good.

So it came as a bit of a surprise when I logged in today from my parents house to see what everyone else sees. It seems that adverts have been inserted throughout the last few blog entries embedded into words that were used in entirely different contexts – like the word “bonds” suddenly takes you to some dodgy looking investment advert.  I’m hesitant to repeat the words for fear that further dubious looking financial adverts that have no affiliation with me or even frankly the subjects I’m writing about will appear.

It’s late and the juvenile in me wants to see what happens when I insert random words like cockamamie and chilli sausage – will it be an advert for absurd South American recipes or something to warm up middle aged ladies bored with their usual culinary repertoire – the mind boggles!

In the meantime, I’m struggling with the basics like adding more than one photograph at a time and something called “widgets” – something I suspect I need but can’t actually be arsed to find out what for.  (**Note – deliberate use of the @rse word there for similar juvenile reasons cited above).

I think it’s time for a call to the help desk – I wonder if he is awake.