Cadburys Heroes & Christmas hits

So, it's the Sunday before Christmas and I'm sitting here doing some quality testing / market research on a gigantic box of Cadbury's heroes which I earnt by doing a spot of babysitting last week. James is crawling backwards into the DVD player / the hifi wires which are not in the least bit babyproof, Hinba is giving me 'let's go for one last walk eyes', and Hugo is somewhere near Carlisle. Hugo is somewhere near Carlisle having spent the last weekend before Christmas, shooting in Gloucestershire. Not that I mind, that much, but getting up at 6.45am seven days in a row with no-one to help at weekends sometimes does really wind me up.

James turned 9 months today and he woke up with his first tooth - at last he can join the ranks of slightly wierd looking babies who have Goony-esque mouths. Oh joy. No, really, I am quite proud.

So, I went back to work last week for 2 more Keeping in Touch days, which can be credited with the fact that unlike last time, at least 90% of my team were in the office, with the exception of Craig, who hasn't been to work for about 8 months and no-one actually asks where he is anymore. (Still on the payroll though...figure that one out). My boss, Ben, greeted me with a 'hiya alice' understated as though I had been coming into the office everyday for the last ten years. I wasn't expecting dancing elephants and trumpets (as I later said to him), but it would have been nice to have had a CONVERSATION about what is expected of me when I go back. In the end, I had to google his diary and email him (sitting opposite me) with a request for a meeting between his other engagements (not much going on but he was clearly still too busy to have a proper catch up wtih me). I was tempted to dance around shouting 'loser loser loser' and doing the Shrek L on forehead sign, but, as a mature and confident woman, mother, poet and wife, I simply sat down and looked at him. He looked at me. This is his trick to see who breaks first. He thinks if you don't say anything in meetings, especially one to ones, then the other person will open their hearts. I took a sip of coffee. Ben opened his pad and took the lid off his pen. The pad remained blank as the conversation eventually started. He doesn't know what I'll be doing when I go back, he can't tell me where our team is heading, he says we're recruiting but not yet although vacancies are advertised for some mysterious reason....he said lots of things, and yet he said NOTHING. Amazing how people working in PR and politics are incredibly good at this. The conversation ended about 10 minutes later with the pad still blank. I pointed this out saying something like 'glad our conversation was so enthralling you had to take notes" (yes I know sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, but despite being a mature, bold and confident woman, I was actually seriously annoyed at this point. He replied with a non-wittycism and back we went to our sad call centre-esque desks. Sitting opposite each other but not actually talking....something akin to a terrible marriage.

ANYHOW, I'm not going back until the 6th Jan so lets have some fun until then.

AND it turns out at our office Christmas night out, (WHICH BEN DIDN'T GO TO), that absolutely everyone dislikes him too. Which has actually made me feel so much ebtter about going back into work.

James is now on my knee eyeing up the gigantic box of chocolates and 'I'm walking on the air' is twinkeling across from the lethally positioned Hifi.

Hugo should be back soon if he's not stuck in a snow drift, and we can have maybe one hour of family time together before James has to go to bed and the working week starts again.

The count down to Christmas has started and I can't wait! Bring on more snow and lashings of mince pies. And let's postpone this going back to work business as much as possible.