Monday, October 14, 2013

I have the holiday blues, and it's only October...

I love, love, love Christmas. I could listen to Christmas carols starting in July. I once begged Dan to let me leave our (artificial) Christmas tree up until June. (In a surprising turn of events, he said yes. But I chickened out sometime in mid-February.) Dan and I got married right before Christmas almost seven years ago, which gave me yet another reason to love my favorite holiday ever.

This picture is only kind of related to this post, but it is fabulous.
I stock up on Christmas ornaments everywhere we go, and I may have gone ever-so-slightly overboard with Lucas's gifts for his first Christmas last year.

In my defense, I'm pretty sure everyone needs a gigantic stuffed hedgehog for Christmas.
So it's kind of an understatement to say that I start looking forward to Christmas ridiculously early. Like, starting December 26. But... we just got Dan's work schedule for December, and he works five twelve-hour shifts in the days surrounding Christmas and on Christmas Day. Whomp whomp.

Dan likes being an ER doctor, and I'm ridiculously proud of him, but the whole "your place of employment literally never closes, ever, not even once, for any reason whatsoever" thing is not my favorite. So my choices are to spend Christmas at home with no family within a few hundred miles and only see Dan after Lucas has gone to bed or fly to visit family (With a toddler. By myself.) and not see Dan on Christmas at all. And frankly, I kind of hate both choices! Do you think that I could get the hospital to close the ER if I got enough people to sign a petition promising not to have any emergencies? As a backup plan, maybe I'll bring our Christmas tree and gifts to the emergency room and have Dan open presents with us in between patients. I really don't see how the hospital could object to that.


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Assuming of course that your Christmas wish is that my husband will have to work. 
Which honestly is kind of a mean wish.
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26 comments:

  1. Having grown up in a medical family, and having my own medical family now, I know all about this awful thing. We often celebrated Christmas on December 23, or 24, or 26 (once even as late as 29) just so we could all have Christmas together. I also have friends that can't be with their spouse and fly to be with family. There is no easy choice. Good luck deciding.

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    1. I'm so sorry that you can relate to this! I like your idea of celebrating together before or after Christmas, especially since Lucas isn't yet two and has no idea when Christmas is anyway! I'm definitely going to incorporate that into whatever we end up doing. That way Dan can still watch Lucas open his presents! :)

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  2. I like the idea of taking the tree and presents to the hospital--but don't doctors get stuck in 8-hour surgeries? The unpredictability of that job would drive me crazy--I'm one of those anal-planner types! Of course, my husband works in sales, so his day is pretty unpredictable, too, although not nearly as important as ER doctor!

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    1. Fortunately the 8-hour surgeries aren't part of Dan's job, but if he's the only doctor on, there's a very good chance he wouldn't be able to see me! Before we had Lucas, I went to visit Dan at work on New Year's Eve so we could be together at midnight, and literally the second it turned midnight, a gunshot victim and then a stabbing victim came in to the hospital. Needless to say, we didn't get any quality time together!

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  3. Boo!! This year Christmas could be a little crazy since I am due the week of Christmas... I might even end up being in the hospital too! So celebrating on another day sounds good to me. Although I think you need to share some of your Christmas spirit. Unfortunately Christmas is like one of my least favorite holidays. I am determined to make it better this year though! Maybe I should start preparing now...

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    1. Christmas is one of your least favorite holidays????? Oh my. We'll have to work on that. ;)

      Too bad you're not delivering at the hospital where Dan works! We could have a Hospital Christmas together!

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  4. I've left my tree up past February. Before. Totally feel you. Meghan swap bot follow me

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  5. Can you celebrate Christmas a little late? I find that if I postpone holidays (instead of having them early) it still gives me something to look forward to. This makes the holiday a little less depressing. Maybe you could plan some cute holiday crafts and activities with the little one this year and put on some holiday specials. Go sledding? When I was a single mom that was how I celebrated special days. It really did help.

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    1. Yeah, you're right - celebrating late would probably be better than celebrating early. He has several days in a row off the next week, so then we could celebrate without the upcoming five days in a row hanging over our heads.

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  6. LOL. I love your wallpaper (it's the same one I'm using this month!) Your son is adorable. Sorry for your holiday blues. I understand the situation, as I am the daughter of a mailman (not as essential as an ER doctor, but December is never really peaceful!) I hope you find a work-around for the scheduling. (basykes on SwapBot)

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! And clearly you have great taste in blog wallpaper! ;)

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  7. I say go see family (that is if you like them LOL) and then celebrate Christmas a little late. My husband has been deployed during most of the Christmases we have been together and have had to celebrate either early or late. It works! :)

    -Zefaniya (Follow me #18)

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    1. Haha! Fortunately, I love my family! I'm sorry that your husband has been deployed for most Christmases, but I'm glad you found something that works for you!

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  8. I love Christmas too. We're already doing our Christmas shopping. I like to get my gifts early since I want to get my family and friends something that they more personal. I understand the whole medical Christmas thing. Most of our family is in the medical profession. Hope you can find a way to celebrate that works for you. (swap-bot katrinaalana)

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    1. We started our Christmas shopping, too! Yay for celebrating Christmas starting in October! :)

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  9. Hello!! I Uniqueeutopia from swapbot. What a wonderful wife you are! I can't imagine being married to a doctor. On the other hand, what a strong and loving retirement you get to look forward to together knowing how you both are helping others by sacrificing yourselves. You are so appreciated!!! As for Christmas...MUAHAHAHA! I managed to inherit a giant box of gold sparkled flora this summer. Methinks I will be decorating like Whoa!

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    1. Oooooo!!! Gold AND sparkles?!? Please say you'll be posting pictures on your blog!!

      And thank you!

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  10. Your son is really cute! I also love the Christmas season, I love the smell of pine and I spend a lot of time to decorate the house ... What matters most at Christmas, this is not the day of December 24,25,26, but the atmosphere and the love that emerges on the day the party ..

    Miss Beguen - Follow me #18

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    1. Thank you!! You're right, the actual day definitely isn't as important as the people I get to celebrate it with!

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  11. I also agree that a giant hedgehog is a valid Christmas gift... I very much think I need one for myself.

    oddbroad - follow me #18

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    1. Ha! Yes you do!! We got it from Sam's Club. They also had a giant giraffe with no neck. ??

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  12. Maybe you could think of an alternative way to enjoy Christmas? I know it would suck being away from your husband, but how about something like visiting senior citizens who are stuck at the retirement home or nursing home for Christmas? (Sounds corny, but could be fun, plus it would make a lovely blog entry.) Or look around for someone having a Christmas celebration for people with no local family members? Some people do that. I've heard you can invite local army soldiers over for the holiday dinner. Or wait, maybe that was just on The Middle. Either way... I hope you find some way to make Christmas something to enjoy!

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    1. Good ideas! I have a friend who takes her kids to bring cookies to the firefighters and police officers who have to work on Christmas, and I've always thought that was a nice idea!

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  13. ooo...very tough.
    I think I'd bring Christmas to the hospital and cheer folks up.

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    1. I do have Christmas trees in a variety of sizes, so it's actually feasible!

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