If dreams came true I'd be wearing unwashed pyjamas teaching a class of pre-school children how to eat a sandwich without dropping crumbs. Then I'd be dragged to the stocks by my old boss and pelted with eggs. So you can imagine how relieved I was to wake up without yolk on my face this morning.

It's because I've started a new freelance job, so my brain is in overdrive trying to make sense of the new task, new team and the time we have to prepare for the big day. We're launching a temporary radio station in West Yorkshire and I've been drafted in to help with one of the programmes. 

So my plans for a leisurely December have gone right out of the window. Frosty walks with furloughed friends have been put on hold as I've scrambled to get gifts bought, make meals in batches and get the house Christmas-ready. The teenagers are particularly pleased because it means I won't be home to cook tea every night, so their dad's sausage pasta and anything with chips will be on the menu more often.

Being back in an office is brilliant. Obviously, it bares no resemblance to a pre-covid state of affairs as desks are miles apart, everyone's masked-up and the cafe closes at noon, but after working from home for most of this year, I'll take any change of scene I can. Another bonus is that for once, I'm the oldest person around the table. They're a whole generation younger than me and it's refreshing. They're keen and sharp and properly savvy. One has a legal background, another a former footballer and most are vegan, so I've already had a sausage-less roll from Greggs and promised to make some butter-less buns.

By the time you're reading this, we'll have already had what's known as a soft launch. It means that after being given just four days to imagine, create and produce our programmes, we'll have gone live, but not many people will know. The idea is to leave room for snags and niggles to be ironed out before a bells and whistles launch further down the line. You'd think this might help ease my dreams but I haven't had the one about a naked physics exam or the courtroom murder trial yet, so I know there's a lot more work to be done.

I usually crave more time and a bit of peace during the festive season. By now, a cold would have taken hold and I’d be fractious at best, hurtling from school plays to Christmas karaoke with more mirth than myrrh. Now though, I’m grateful for the chaos. Bring it on. Last month, with the pandemic and budget cuts, my career in radio and television felt like it was slipping through my fingers. But just as I was losing hope, the phone rang with a job offer. Then the day after, it rang again. And just like that, I’m back in the game and whisking up an egg-less nog. Merry Christmas.