Help my domain name's been stolen

All my regular readers are aware that I have been having more than my fair share of computing issues recently. 
First I wiped my blog, then I found out that my custom url wasn't attached properly to my blogspot creating probs with my stats, then I lost all of my email when the cats decided to re inact a battle on my keyboard......

Then on Friday I had what was quite possibly the worst problem to date.

My work domain had expired. Usually you get an email or a letter from the people that you registered it with asking if you would like to renew. I didn't get a letter or an email and my domain relapsed and I stopped receiving email.

You would think that this isn't such a major problem, that you simply get in touch, pay your money and away you go. But things are never that straightforward are they?

After many calls it transpired that my domain - the one with the great natural Google listings (search for baby PR and that's me right at the top) had been bought up by someone else.

This kind of thing goes on all the time. These companies wait for active urls to lapse and they snatch them up and there isnt really anything you can do about it.

I tracked the company down to an address in Mumbai. I tried to go onto their website but my mac threw up one of those scary malaware warnings..'visiting this site may damage your computer, asre you sure that you want to proceed?'

Erm.... no actually, things are bad enough without causing more damage.

I contemplated the reality of having to change my web address. No one would be able to find me - as my old details would still be traveling around in cyber space and at that point I realised that your domain should be one of your most treasured possessions. 

I got onto the Indian site using my iphone, found the contact details and gave them a call knowing full well that they could potentially ask for £££ or simply refuse to give my url back at all.

I got away very lightly with paying just $100 and within five minutes my site was back and my email service resumed.

It was an awful experience though and one that I wouldn't wish on anyone else.

Before I go and stick my head in the oven can I ask if you have ever linked to my blog that you check your link?

I am having real problems linking my yummymummytips url to my blogspot address and I'm now fed up of trying!

So it's goodbye to YummyMummyTips.com as I will now be happily residing right here on blogger at http://www.mummy-tips.blogspot.com

If you could amend any links it will make a sad blogger a bit happier!

...... was only kidding about the oven.... it's electric.

Wow, what a week...

It has been a pretty crazy week for everyone involved in my industry. It began with the annual Baby Products Association trade show from Sunday to Tuesday, the Prima Baby Magazine Award winners lunch was Wednesday and the biggest consumer show of the year, the Earls Court Baby Show, Friday till Sunday. Any single one of those events would quite frankly have been enough but to have them all in one week was a bit too much.

On the up side there have been some fab things happen this week too.

1. My hubby sold the first piece from his collection – a truly stunning jacket (that I had my eye on!). I am so proud of him and all that he has achieved and learnt over the past year.

2. My Twitter sister @OMGpregnant had a text book birth on Monday afternoon welcoming her little Bean into the world – the tip side of that amazing event was that I wouldn’t get to spend the day with her at The Baby Show on Friday as planned.

3. I met my client Lynda from easidream for the first time. Now I do feel that we are old friends as we have become quite close over the last few weeks as we have been working furiously to plan for her official launch, which took place yesterday at the show and we nailed a full page edit in Sunday Times Style mag (that appeared last Sunday).

4. I met my other new client Robynne, who is a truly amazing lady. She nearly reduced the consumer editor from the leading baby magazine and I to tears as she told us the very sad story of how she adopted her first daughter.

5. ModelGirl and I spent the day with my other Twitter sister @soph4soph and her baba the totally cute little Soph. The up side of The Baby Show is that I can spend the day with my pals and still work. We had a lovely day, marred only by the fact that we were missing @omgpregnant. The girls looked stunning in their identical Sophie4Sophie dresses. They bonded and had a lovely time playing and looking gorgeous! We all had Tellytubbie headbands and covered ourselves in I Love Stokke® badges. Pizza for lunch and a couple of odd Twitter experiences as people came up to us as asked “Are you MummyTips and soph4soph?”

Random!

I guess that Nat with the famous yellow Xplory® and me with my bleach blonde hair trailing around after two beautiful girls makes us easy to spot!

6. I got to spend a day with the fabulous TotallySonny! That might not sound like much but when you have four children it isn’t very easy to get regular one on one time. I do spend much more time with my girls and in all honesty I can’t remember the last time that it was just the two of us. We had a lovely day – OK so it was back to The Baby Show again but today we were on a mission. With my work hat on I was meeting with the actress Sarah Parish and her actor hubby James Murray. So what you may say… but for Sonny, this is his idea of heaven. Sarah Parish was the Empress Racnoss in Dr Who and James was Steven in Primeval. His two favourite TV shows in the world!

So we met them and they were lovely to Sonny. James bought him a hot dog and they signed a few bits for him. But the icing on the cake for my fella was James telling him that he loves the name Sonny and that it is top of their possible boys name list. Sonny duly handed over one of his TotallySonny.com badges and we had a whizz around the show with them.

There were some great products at the show. I had a sweatshirt printed for Sonny from Simplycolours.co.uk - they are the best personalised T shirt company that I’ve seen. T-shirts in bright colours in sizes from baby up to ten years and of course all of the fabulousness from my clients Annabel Karmel, easidream, Arm's Reach co-Sleeper, Stokke, TotsBots and Zoobie.

But biy am I happy to be at home today. Totally worn out and looking forward to X Factor!