Thursday 2 February 2006

better now, thanks


After the initial shock and horror of being back at the office, things aren't too bad now. In a strange way, it feels like I never left. Everything is so familiar and it hasn't taken any time at all to get back into the swing of things - I even got my chair back without any difficulty. Everyone's been lovely, asking me how I'm handling the return to work and how Jack's doing. I've got all of my desk critters set up again (a USB "lava lamp", Mr. Potato Head keyring, a Jack-Jack Pez dispenser, Lisa Simpson figurine, a plastic moose, stuffed beaver, Batdz Maru, Cartman keyring, a vibrating Ireland bus, and my Lemon Jelly rubber ducky), a lovely picture of Jack courtesy of my husband, and a drawer full of PG Tips teabags. I'm starting on a new project and looking forward to the scrummy Fitzbillies cakes we get every Friday morning.

It's still hard to get used to the dramatic reduction in Jack time, but maybe seeing him less is better for both of us. I find that the time I do spend with Jack now is entirely focused on playing with him and giving him lots of attention. When I'm with him for the whole day, I tend to go about my daily tasks with intermittent playtime. Quality vs. quantity, perhaps.

On a final, very exciting note, I can taste again. After six days my sense of taste and smell has finally returned. You have no idea how exciting this is for me - last weekend, I made a spicy curry that could have been a bowl of wallpaper paste for all I could tell. It's incredibly depressing to eat simply to fill my stomach and unable to derive any joy from it. On the downside, nappy changing is a lot smellier now.

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