We aren't religious people, despite arguably religious homes as children, but we do celebrate the decorations, food, gifts, and Santa parts of Christmas.

My childhood was filled with lukewarm Lutherans, and the wife had a little less. Still, everything is kind of aligned with or related to Christianity. We don't go to church now, unless that's where a school thing is happening, not even on the special days when most less involved people go. We don't visit any kind of sacred space, or use any text as the rules for life. The Ten Commandments ring a bit, but the ones that make sense, like don't kill each other or take other people's stuff. I'm not sure about the worshiping false deities, but I think we're covered by not worshiping any. Not exactly Atheists, but not any church-going group, either.

We do like the winter celebrations, though. The food and songs, the lights and decorations, and the gifts, even with commercialized Santa, all fit into our way of getting through the sometimes terrible weather leading up to the Winter Solstice and the surrounding pagan celebrations, some of which have been appropriated by religions. The festivities help make the early winter not feel so drab, as the colors go away, and the trees all seem to turn black or grey and get covered in white or grey snow (depending on how long the snow has been coating things and collecting dirt). Really, Christmas should probably be moved to February, as we already have Halloween and Thanksgiving to help with the transitions, and can probably get away with something further out than a week before New Year's, but we're not in charge of those decisions.

With all that, we do get a tree and decorate it with ornaments that hit on Christmas themes and family ties. We string lights there, and occasionally put some outside on the porch. If we're hit at the right time or see a good deal, we'll hang a wreath on the door. We eat themed meals, make themed cookies, enjoy seasonal drinks like eggnog, and buy presents to wrap and give away.

It's been raining, but we decided to brave the elements and get a tree. Because our birthdays are in December, and my company has a busy November, we tend to get Christmas trees after celebrating our birthdays, instead of risking "Happy Birthmas" for the little little, as sometimes it felt happened for me as a kid. I don't think it did as much as I remember, but I also don't remember getting a bike for my birthday, but do remember getting a birthday-slash-Christmas gift from time to time.

We went after dinner and found a reasonable looking tree, but couldn't find one at a reasonable price. We got one anyway, dropping more than a hundred bucks for a six-foot tall stick with needles that will endlessly fall on our floor for the next month or so, until we're compelled to take it outside or risk missing the tree-removal window from our rubbish company.

The Vikings lost a horrible Sunday Night Football game. The game seemed closer when you look at the score, but the Lions really wanted to win. They're a lot behind the Vikings in standings, but still in a hunt for a wildcard spot. Early it looked a lot more give and take, but it turned into Lions take a lot, down to the last minutes when they scored the two-touchdown lead, to ultimately win 23-34. As always, there are a couple "bad calls," that went their way for a score, and not our way to remove a score...those two alone meant the difference, right?

Everyone's healthy.