Christmas. I guess it had to happen. And don't get me wrong, I'm glad it did, I'm just sorry not everything we wanted to happen "by Christmas" has, and yet it's here anyway, ready or not.

And... now I'm over it. Because I made some good decisions about Christmas this time around. I stopped treatment back in, what - end September? I let my "if it hasn't happened by Christmas" deadline go, laughing all the while at my naivety. I moved country - a measure which may be a little extreme for those who just want to make a quick getaway after the pudding. And there's one more thing.

In my family, we always had The Main Christmas Tree at my grandparents' place. It was where everyone gathered on Christmas morning to perform a little ceremony we called, imaginatively enough, "Christmas Tree" - basically a morning tea and the official exchange of gifts. The Christmas tree at my parents' house was a size down, and various other relatives who lived on their own or in pairs had little trees, just big enough for one or two.

This is our eighth Christmas together since we got married. And true to tradition we have always had a little desktop tree, just big enough for one or two. We were planning to upgrade, you know, as soon as we "started our family". Now I could bang on and on here about the definition of family, arbitrarily self-enforced hierarchies and the necessary re-examination of traditions over time, or I could just show you this:


And if you don't feel you can have a Merry Christmas, then at least let me wish you a happier new year.

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Other bloggers who are trying to enjoy Christmas despite infertility (and in some cases succeeding, to a greater or at least more drunken extent): Josie, Kir, Miss E, Katie, and Beagle.