weird Christmas and other stuff

This Christmas has been a bit weird. Or maybe its just been different. Maybe like a pinecone wreath. I think it started with our Christmas tree. We just couldn't get it to stand up straight. We tried everything: sawing a new bottom, adjusting every screw multiple times, trimming branches, etc. Eventually we ended up tying a piece of burlap around it and nailing the burlap to the wall. It still leans quite badly. It does seem, however, that we've come full circle with our tree. The first year we were married and living in government housing (wall to wall linoleum and all) and we were given a branch for a tree by some friends. We got a stand (which it was too small to fit in) and ended up tying a shoe string around it and attaching it to the wall with thumb tacks. So we've upgraded to burlap and a nail but we really haven't come all that far five Christmases later.
Then with school coming right up to the week before Christmas, working until a few days before, and then driving 18 hours to go visit family, and unreliable snow showings in Utah of all places...well its been weird.
Last night Doug and I opened our gifts from each other because tonight we need to pack and prepare and tomorrow we hit the road. In the spirit of weird Christmas I got him
1. a tent that we tried to put together in our kitchen (it was a 2-3 person tent so it should've fit) but it ended up being able to house 9 or so very large humans and the kitchen sink - literally - so we decided to return it. :(
2. a book about screenwriting that he promptly opened and read a random page from in which it said something along the lines of how every screenwriter is divorced or has no family because you have to choose between them and if you are dedicated your family/wife gets the boot. I think I gave him a horrified look and he just set it down gently and moved on to the next gift.
3. a movie which we apparently already had on our fancy download hard drive storage device thingy that I obviously never use and he obviously does.
4. a sweater even though he said he didn't need any clothes because I think it looks good on him
5. lastly, two reese's peanut butter cups. He liked them and I'm pretty sure my most successful gift was a whopping 69 cents. haha
ah well
In the same spirit, he got me almost the exact same sweater as one that his grandparents got me that I asked for. We laughed and decided to make a toast and drink some sparking cider only to discover that we had used all but one of of our goblets for a dinner we had earlier that evening, so we ended up drinking out of the same glass and foregoing the toast. :)
I guess some years just feel more Christmasy then others.
My husband is a fabulous gift giver though - check out some of the things he got me! I LOVE them (and him).
1. A beautiful cakestand that I love (which goes perfectly with the white ceramic one I got for my birthday from some fabulous friends!)




2. This wonderful cookbook with tons of excellent crock pot recipes from Williams - Sonoma

3. These pants from Ann Taylor Loft (they actually have pants that fit people my size - crazy!) and they're called Scuba Pants, how fun is that?!

4. and some slippers!!! (I've been wearing some that my dad left at our house now for about three months and they are about 5 sizes too big)Great gifts, huh! So its been a weird Christmas but its still been great. This time of year can be so stressful but it also reminds me of how incredibly blessed I am to have such a wonderful family and fabulous friends. I'm especially grateful to be done with this past semester. Whew! I'm really hoping next semester isn't so bad. I'm trying to prepare for it now because I know that it will likely be harder. But it will be the last one so that is motivating in and of itself.
I've had a number of questions on the hormone/birth control saga. I think I've finally come down from the roller coaster. Since its been so long since I 've had a regular cycle I've been pretty freaked out not knowing what a normal day count should be. Twice I've gotten myself all worked up that I could be pregnant because I had heartburn or was tired or for whatever reason, only to have a period the next day. So I guess my cycle is a bit longer than average and I can just chill out. (Also, sorry about all the period talk all the time - just telling it like it is). I waffle back and forth between thinking maybe I (or we) could be ready and we should just go for it and then I think about how inconvenient it will be and how I don't know about the timing and all of these other probably-minor-but-seemingly-large concerns. Then I think that if I have doubts then I must not be ready. Then I think thats dumb. Then I get tired of thinking about it and I get back to whatever I was doing. So yeah. Thats that I guess.
Anyway, this post is becoming as weird and random as all of the things I've talked about so I should just stop.
Hope all is well with everyone and if you're reading this, you're probably someone that I would wish a very Merry Christmas to and give you a big hug and tell you I love you (and if I was on top of it enough to do Christmas cards, I would've sent you one) So lets just pretend that I just did that.
ok.
good.
love you people.