We’ll admit it: we were a little relieved when the holiday season finally ended. As much as we enjoy the festivities, December often brings extra stress—last-minute shopping, long-distance travel, family obligations, and unpredictable weather. So when friends and family called us crazy for adding a move into a brand-new house to the mix, we couldn’t blame them. It was, admittedly, a bit nuts.

Looking back, we realized this wasn’t the first time a major project landed during the holidays. In fact, it’s been a recurring pattern: for several years in a row some renovation or upheaval seemed to coincide with Christmas. Once we started listing the events, it became clear this had become our own strange tradition of complicating the season. Here’s how it unfolded.

At the end of 2007, we were wrapping up a kitchen remodel. By Christmas we had already been living without a proper kitchen for a couple of months. The new cabinets had been installed, but we were still waiting for the countertops to arrive and for the room to be fully functional again. In the meantime our kitchen sink was gone, and we ended up washing dishes in a tiny bathroom vanity. It’s amazing how quickly that kind of temporary arrangement wears thin.

In 2008 our focus shifted to the floors. Right before heading out of town for a family holiday, we packed up and shoved most of our belongings into the kitchen and den so the rest of the hardwood floors could be professionally refinished. The timing was less than ideal: the house was disruptive and messy, with furniture and boxes everywhere. It made daily routines awkward and added a layer of logistical headache to what should have been a restful break.

2009 brought a bathroom remodel. Work began the weekend after Thanksgiving, so by New Year’s we were in the middle of tiling and demolition. For several weeks our only full bathroom was out of commission. That meant gym showers, borrowing time at family members’ houses, and more than one instance of makeshift outdoor rinses after a particularly dusty day of work. Those improvised solutions became part of the story of that holiday season.

This year’s mid-December move added yet another chapter to the tradition. We packed up every last possession, loaded a U-Haul, and set out for the new place. Just minutes into the trip the truck slipped into a ditch, turning the day into an unexpected adventure. Unpacking at the new house looked chaotic for a while, with boxes piled high and rooms in various stages of sorting. Despite the mishaps and the stress, once we were somewhat settled we could see the humor in the chaos and appreciate the progress we’d made.

In hindsight, these disruptive, inconvenient holiday projects weren’t all bad. Each one forced us to simplify for a time, to establish priorities, and to adjust our routines. They also created memorable stories that we still laugh about: the sinks and vanities repurposed for an interim kitchen, the living room furniture piled into odd configurations to protect floors, the borrowed showers and backyard rinses that made even the smallest comforts feel extra special once returned.

We sometimes joke about what the next end-of-year surprise will be. Will it be another kitchen redo? New floors? A bathroom overhaul? Maybe we’ll attempt multiple projects at once, just to keep the streak dramatic. Regardless of what happens, we’ve accepted that sometimes life’s big changes don’t wait for the most convenient moment. The holidays can be hectic, but they also seem to be a time when we find the energy and motivation to tackle big projects and then celebrate the results with friends and family.

Update: This quirky pattern carried on past those early years. In 2011 we completed a major kitchen renovation right around Christmas, and in 2012 we were navigating a chaotic book tour while hosting the holidays at our house for the first time. Clearly, our holiday seasons don’t always follow traditional timelines—but they do make for memorable stories and, eventually, a home that feels more like ours.