Apparently, I'm having a wistful day. I saw this Onexposure photo on Smashing Magazine today, and I adored the quote, "Beijing, China, but it could be everywhere." 'Tis the season, I suppose.

This is a recent Twitter from Merlin Mann:

"If I were Jesus, I'd make a rule that nativities had to use live ducks. Because ducks hate costumes, and Christmas should be hard but funny."

Christmas is always an interesting time of year for me because my family is not majority Christian. We don't really celebrate the "reason for the season," and it's easy for me to get caught up in the tradition and gift-giving. I think that both of these things can be positive, but they are not inherently so. However, I love getting to spend time with my family and the people who understand me best, in many ways.

One of my all-time favorite Christmas movies is Home for the Holidays with Holly Hunter and a host of other excellent actors. There is a wistful, nostalgic tone to the film that I have appreciated since I was a teenager. (I feel a little emo saying that...) Christmas is hard in our family, and it will only be harder this year with trying to figure out our "new normal." I'm a little apprehensive to be honest, but that's nothing new.

In past years, I've been tempted to make myself an advent wreath to remind me of why I celebrate Christmas: the birth of Christ. Not my family or tradition or gifts. The birth of my Lord and Savior. I'm a little late, but I might make one anyway. What are your Christmas traditions?