Who am I?!

First, we are running behind with this week's blog. Sorry! But it's been a week of epic multi-tasking proportions.

Let's roll back to Thursday last week for a minute. As Mim was taking her midday nap, news came in that I'd been shortlisted for a job interview. This was very welcome news and as I continued with my usual Thursday nap-time cookathon, I started to turn my thoughts to the presentation and interview. These thoughts were halted abruptly as Mim woke up and we reverted to Mummy's Christmas card sweat shop - this is where I had her ladyship daubing green paint-loaded sponges onto paper and liberally waving around glitter glue for an hour in a fashion that would've made Tony Hart very proud. I thought I was rather brave, given our last craft session ended with us both doused in blue paint and looking like Smurfs.

Having finished with the festive artwork, we went bauble shopping (don't tell the good husband, apparently spending priorities do not include decorative Santas... what does he know?!) and as we rounded off the day with the usual mad maraudathon I prepared for the next task... the W.I.

A cursory hello to the good husband and it was off to a committee meeting for the nascent Flixton Women's Institute. Now, this is all new to me. I've never been one for jam and Jerusalem but ever since my maternity leave I'd been baking like a woman possessed and the good husband can only eat so much cake. I needed an outlet. I also have an insatiable need to 'get involved'. I don't know why this is? But I'm forever signing myself up for something or other and the W.I. at least is less strenuous than the 190 mile cycle challenge I heard myself agreeing to the last time I was feeling community spirited. Anyway, three hours later, I came away as Madam press secretary and feeling rather enthused by it all to boot!

The next few days were spent frantically alternating between work; entertaining Mim; interview preparation; Christmas tree purchasing; mince-pie, gingerbread and truffle making; Christmas card writing; Christmas shopping (mine and the husbands!) and W.I. goodness. I was starting to feel dizzy. Only one thing could help - copious amounts of alcohol!

And so it was, I found myself doing jaeger-bombs at three thirty in the morning. I know, I know! In my defence, I had just finished my interview and it was the much anticipated works Christmas do. If you think of it like that I really had no choice. It was a great night and my hangover was improved immeasurably by hearing I'd got the job!

All in all, it's been a crazy week but I can now relax into a great Christmas with the Good Husband and Millie and as ever, I have learnt several valuable lessons:

1) childcare on three hours' sleep and a shots hangover is not something to be repeated
2) The staff at the Hilton do not take kindly to drunken women doing wheelies round their lobby on their fancy luggage trollies
3) It's always good to sign up for new things, especially those that involve lovely ladies making cake
4) Put the baubles on the highest branches of the tree. Toddlers will try to ram raid your tree with buggies/ cars/ walkers/ sheer spirit
5) Don't accidentally put self-raising flour into your mince pie pastry