Keeping busy

December 1. I had hopes for this year. So many hopes. I hoped that by Christmas hubby and I would have a child of our own to share the joy of the holidays. I hoped that the surgery I had in April would resolve our problems. I hoped that at the VERY least, I'd be able to say I was p/g by Christmas. And yet here it is, December 1 and none of those things has happened. Sh*t.

I am enduring the 2ww as best as I can. I'm plunging myself into a variety of things, mostly Christmas preparations, to keep my mind busy and to NOT obsess. So to that end, in the next week, I have the following things to tackle:

- finish the Christmas Cards
"Ah," you say, "that'll be easy." Nope. Not my way. First of all, I usually send in the vicinity of 180 to 200 Christmas cards to people all over the globe, as far away as New Zealand and Japan. And, in each one of them, in BOTH red and green pen, I write a little message, the date and of course, signatures. Then I print out Christmas labels with little holly and berries on the border. And in years past, I'd hand-draw (again, in red and green pen) a candy-cane with a green bow around it. Just call me Martha Stewart. Or... stupid. Either works for me.

- finish putting up outdoor decorations
Hubby put lights across the top of the house, but now I need to put the greenery down the railing (both sides) and wind the lights around that. Then the two swags with a wreath in the centre, and lights through that. And a big wreath on the lamppost out front. And the wreath on the door. A couple of days ago, I bought lots of little decorations to update the wreaths and inject some much-needed colour into them; they've faded in the last couple of years.

- put up the tree and decorate it
Usually, this would take about seven hours. "Seven" you say? Yes, seven. Why seven? Um... cause... I put about 800 lights on our Christmas tree. I don't wind the lights around the tree on the outer tips. No no. To add depth and richness of colour, I thread the lights along the edge of each branch, right to the centre of the tree, and out to the tip of the branch, then back to the centre on the other side of the branch, etc. All the way to the top. A couple of years ago, we started putting the tree away (yes, artificial... allergies dictate that it should be) with the 800 lights still in place. So now when we take out the tree, we just check the lights that are already on it and hope that we only have a few to replace.

- help a friend do her decorating and her tree (on Sunday the 3rd)
Being a single mom with no family in the area, she is close to her "chosen" family, and I'm lucky enough to be included in that. So hubby and I will go over on Sunday and spend time with her and her 9-year old daughter (who calls me Auntie Gil) and we'll give them a hand and stay for dinner.

- pick up tickets to a concert for Mom and me
Mom LOVES Rod Stewart. And it so happens that he's coming to the city at the end of February next year. So I'm going to get two tickets to the concert for us and call it Mom's birthday gift. She hopes she'll be able to come visit at that time, barring any serious health problems or complications. We'll play it by ear. Anyway, to get the best tickets, I ought to actually LINE UP. The last few times I've tried to purchase online, the darn checkout gives me a "Timed Out" error. And on the phone, it takes AGES to get through. Bleh. So I'll just go get the tickets in person. Easier that way.

- finish the Christmas shopping for people here, before my vacation
I still have a few people to buy for, and wrapping to do before I get on that airplane in a mere 11 days.

- pack for vacation
Luckily this doesn't have to be done until the day before the trip. Unfortunately, that day is also my POAS day. *sigh* Is that really fair? I mean, come on!!!

Anyone got anything else I can cram in there to keep my mind off the 2ww? Baking? Cleaning? I know... choosing the hardwood for the little bedroom!


Sending love to...
Okay, before I sign off, I am sending SO MUCH LOVE to two fellow bloggers, both of whom got BFPs this week! Lisa at My Vasectomy Reversal and Gaelen at Pregnancy Envy (complete with little pictures!) had fantastic news to share. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for them both! And secretly, I'm hoping that good things come in threes this time. Love to you all in blogland.