one of these years we're going to have a christmas without some glitch coming along and either freaking us out or tweaking the holiday out or both. it would be really nice to make the plans and have everything just be smooth sailing. really.

of course, right now i'd be happy with managing the holidays without holding them together with glue, paper clips, and duck tape.

our first tweak of the holiday weekend: our phone was disconnected. turns out a check i wrote bounced. no surprise, i suppose, considering our finances have held together with glue, paper clips, and duck tape for some time now . . . . minus the glue. and the duck tape. i went to pay it and was told the minimum i needed to pay and that it would be back on in a few hours if i paid by credit card. apparently the woman got it all mixed up and i probably should have paid by debit card since the phone is still disconnected.

if we're still down on monday, i'll call again and find out what's the deal. in the mean time, no calls from a particular creditor who literally calls 10 times a day is rather nice. and i suppose it can't be too much of a concern in other ways - most people know how to contact us by cell phone if necessary and i doubt anyone would call to give me an interview now. it's the holidays. no one's even in the office as far as the schools are concerned. so, a nice quiet day without the phone ringing off the hook every hour.

not that saxy and i got to enjoy it. we spent a lot of our day in the doctor's office. which is the other bump of the holiday season. i had hoped to hold of the visit until monday, but that became quite impossible as of last night.

for 3 months now, no period. i was really beginning to think that part of my life was finally over. i was really looking forward to that part of my life being over! then about 2 or 3 weeks ago i started that spotty thing i've been doing, only this time it didn't go away. in fact, it got heavier, though nothing like it was before. it actually seemed kind of a normal flow to me. no real major issues. occasionally it would taper off and then renew, but it wasn't particularly uncomfortable, just annoying. last night that changed and i flooded badly. all things considered, i decided it was time to be really worried about it.

i had planned to wait for the doctors visit until monday, but it's a good thing i didn't. the office will be closed monday. we went in today and the doctor gave me a hormone to take for the next 10 days to help me taper off (it's already working) and orders to make an appointment for a pelvic ultrasound. i was worried i would end up in the hospital for a d&c; which is why i had planned to wait - i wanted nothing to spoil our holiday this year. however, apparently the body is doing what it's supposed to do, just not in the way it should, and the hormone pills will help fix that. in 10 days i should get a 10 day break and then cycle again. in the mean time, i'm back on my vitamins, been ordered to increase my iron again, and told to be sure to drink plenty of fluids. the really good news: i wasn't at all pregnant at any time. (yes, i'm fixed, but it's been known to happen, and the flood was bad enough that it crossed my mind briefly as a possibility.)

the day pretty much wore me out, so kitten was doing our baking. turns out she undercooked the chocolate crinkles so we get to make yet another batch of those tomorrow. and we now need to hunt up a good sugar cookie recipe. i have one i've tried that sucked, so i have to hunt down a new one.

tomorrow kitten and i get to finish up the baking, the kiddos get to finish up the chores, and saxy gets to work a little on the yard plus go pick up a check that we weren't certain would actually show up. we've rarely had the kiddles over for christmas eve so are trying to think up a holiday tradition that will cover us for a few years. we've decided that one gift will get opened by either kitten or taz (depending on if kitten is visiting for the holidays). part will then be enjoyed by the kiddles while we make christmas eve dinner, which won't be too fancy - we already have a big fancy dinner planned for the next day and one big, fancy dinner in 2 days is enough. after supper, we'll all enjoy the second part of the gift over hot chocolate and cookies.

don't know how well this will go as a tradition yet. it really isn't much different than our usual time with the kids, but it's something. and it's something that doesn't require us to actually leave the house. we were out doing last minute shopping today (not for gifts, thank god!) and, as we got into the car to come home, decided that it didn't matter how badly we'd need whatever we might find ourselves without, we are not going back out over the christmas weekend. doing that would be more than a bump - it would be insane.