![10 Tips To Survive The Holidays [EXPERT]](http://images.tangomag.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/node-full/image_blog/christmasgifttiny_1.jpg "10 Tips To Survive The Holidays [EXPERT]")
You don't have to be Scrooge to hate Christmas. In "A Christmas Carol" we learn that Ebenezer Scrooge used to be a nice boy who became bitter through parental neglect and brittle by his emotional dependence on his sister, who abandoned him by dying. Poor guy. He was the sad product of a dysfunctional family.
I can hardly believe it, but Drew, my husband, and I will be celebrating our first wedding anniversary in just five days. Has a whole year really gone by since the day we said "I do"? Actually, no, because neither of us said "I do." I think what we really said to the Rabbi when he married us was: "We will say "yes" to whatever you ask us as long as we never, ever, ever have to plan another wedding again!" Anyway, according to the calendar, almost a whole year has gone by since that day, and, I'm happy to say: so far so good. But all that could change next week when Drew and I go on our first ever road trip together to celebrate our anniversary.
Almost every dry-speller we spoke to said that celibacy -- voluntary or not -- was a valuable growth experience, helping some feel more confident while others relished the surplus of "me time." And surely that's worth more than, say, sleeping with one of these dudes. We discovered three main types of dry spells and spoke with survivors for insight.
Tips for newlyweds on surviving the first year of marriage.
For two weeks in June 2008, heavy rains and widespread flooding pummeled the Midwest. The nation's worst natural disaster since Hurricane Katrina, the floodwaters decimated downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa, causing an estimated five billion dollars in damage and displacing over 2,000 people. Flood survivors recount how they lost everything but kept their marriages together.
