A charcuterie board with cheeses, meats, olives, jams, and fruit. it's absolutely packed on and the entire thing is sprinkled with pomegranate arils.

Merry Christmas!

This post was scheduled in advance; I’m not actually writing blog posts on Christmas Day. Having been a blogging slacker for <mumble> years, I had one solid moment of blogging motivation earlier in the week and decided to roll with it, scheduling a couple of posts for the coming days.

It’s 75°F in Atlanta as I write this and it’s supposed to be the same on Christmas Day. Not gonna lie; I’m a little salty about it. This is deeply unserious Christmas weather! No coats, no scarves, no fire in the fireplace, no “frost nipping at your nose”. I realize we’re never going to get a white Christmas here but holiday appropriate temperatures would be nice.

Regardless of the weather, holiday traditions are absolutely still traditioning. This year has been heavy for so many reasons, so I leaned hard into fun gifts. I’m especially excited about one set of gifts I got for everyone—customized calendars from Nights on Earth (shhh… don’t tell). Beyond that, the classics still hold: a puzzle for the puzzle person, single malt Scotch for the Scotch person, a Masterclass subscription for my love, and geeky supplies for the 3-D printer guy. Gift giving is one of my love languages, and I’m particularly pleased with my selections this year.

If you’re celebrating Christmas, I hope it’s everything you want it to be. If you’ve celebrated Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Yule, the Solstice, or something else entirely – HAPPY celebrations to you too. And if today is just Thursday-with-better-food? I hope it’s peaceful and calm.