I don’t know about you guys, but my December went by in a bit of a blur. There was my kids’ school Christmas production, my husband’s work Christmas party, two different parties hosted by friends, and numerous other ‘extra’ activities connected to Christmas. Then there was Christmas Day, where we hosted a big feast. I love planning (and cooking) the big meal and I buzz around for days beforehand and the day of, and then when it’s over, I crash.

(Related: I spent the entire next day on the couch reading a book.)

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We’re exactly one week away from Christmas (Don’t shoot the messenger!) and tensions seem to be running high not just for my husband and I, but for many of our friends. It’s supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year, but it seems to be turning into one big headache instead. Here are a few tips to stay connected with your other half during the holidays.

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My husband and I arrived home from work yesterday — he at a renovating job, me at the local food bank — and sat down to see what we had on our respective agendas. Friday afternoon/evening is a birthday party/dinner for our nephew, Saturday afternoon/evening is preparing for and then attending a family Christmas event at the church my husband works at. Sunday morning is church (where he runs the children’s program), and Sunday afternoon he plans to go shopping for gifts for his staff members and volunteers.

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Buying Christmas gifts for my husband is never an easy task. He’s a handy guy who likes to renovate our house/build furniture, but in order to get him a tool he needs, he has to send me a link/tell his Dad to help me find it. The same goes for hunting gear - he knows what he wants/needs and I haven’t a CLUE. I did manage to come up with a few ideas that I think he’ll like/appreciate, and would love to hear some ideas from you guys. We’ve only got two weeks to get it together, folks.

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I remember decorating our family’s Christmas tree with my sister while the Wizard of Oz played on the television. My Mom didn’t seem to mind us taking the reins and we had so much fun doing it after my step father strung the lights. Pulling each ornament out of the box like a long lost friend and carefully placing it on the tree, throwing tinsel on the branches, spraying fake snow on the ends of the branches. (It was the eighties. Don’t judge.)

When I was single, I had a little tabletop tree that I would decorate and place on a counter in my apartment, and when I got married, my husband and I inherited a (really nice) artificial tree from his parents when they downsized to a smaller one. I decided on a theme that fit my house (country)(even though I hate country music) and proceeded to buy/make what I wanted to decorate the tree with. Every year when it’s time to decorate, I turn on the Christmas music, open up the boxes, and get lost in the fun of Christmasifying our home.

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I’m in New York City for a blogger event, and in order to get here, I had to catch a 6 a.m. flight yesterday. I had to be at the airport at 4 a.m., which means that I had to wake up at 2:30 a.m. It was as awful as you might imagine.

I slipped out of bed, walked quietly to the bathroom, shut the door behind me, and turned on the light. Awaiting me was a post-it note from my husband telling me that he loved me and to have a fun trip. When I went into the kitchen, he had written a post-it note with ‘I love you more!’ on it, and when I went to pack my laptop, he had written me another note. (See above photo.)

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