It’s the 18th, which means we’re one week out from Christmas. You’ve got this!

Our kitchen has made the switch over to holiday mugs:

While Rudi prefers his ski tavern pottery for coffee year-round, his reindeer mug is his go-to for tea and cocoa at this time of year.

My Santa mug (or, as Rudi lovingly calls him, “Willie Nelson”) holds two cups of liquid, which makes it my daily tea vessel. I’m nearly positive I picked him up at the Christmas Tree Shop back in Connecticut.

On the other hand, if I’ve made a pot of tea, I either pick the squirrel mug (a gift from Rudi) or the kitten mug, which I’ve had since I was a teen. They’re small for a standalone cuppa, but great if you’ve brewed a couple hours’ worth at once.

Snoopy, a gift from a former colleague, is my cocoa mug, since it’s decently big enough for a nice cup of hot chocolate without having to skimp on whipped cream.

Do you switch your drinkware out for holidays or do you drink from the same collection of mugs year-round?

Today is Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent. It is dedicated to joy and rejoicing in the season (traditionally in the coming of Christ, but I find taking a broad approach works best for me).

My family didn’t go to church when I was little, joining only when I was in the third grade. My parents can probably shed some light about what prompted them to start going, but the reasons weren’t particularly important to me as a kid.

During December, families would light the Advent wreath candles, and one year (maybe when I was in sixth grade?), we were chosen to light one. It wasn’t Gaudete Sunday, because our candle was purple, not pink, but it was still cool.

What I loved most about our church at first was that it had a children’s choir, and third graders could join. So every Thursday afternoon, I (later with my brother) would go to practice. During the school year, we performed once a month, mostly at the family service, with added appearances at Christmas Eve and Palm Sunday).

I stuck with it through ninth grade, when I could have moved over to one of the adult choirs. Since nearly everyone in there was at least my folks’ age, I opted against it. But every once in a while I hear a song we performed as part of the choir (“Fum Fum Fum” and “Lord of the Dance” are favorites) and it makes me smile.

Sarah invited me to check out D.C.’s Eastern Market Night Market with her, a new event we hoped would meld the cheerfulness of the Eastern Market weekend market experience with the bustle of neighborhood and downtown Christmas markets that pop up this time of year.

While that description would be a stretch, we had a good time anyway and got some of our Christmas shopping done. Holiday gift buying is, without a doubt, best done with friends. I’ve become solitary in that activity over recent years, and tonight reminded me I should make sure I combine lunch or dinner dates at this time of year with running into a shop or two. I stay on task and it’s fun to mull over possible presents with another person.

Ten days until Christmas. Corey and I are lying on the couch, admiring the tree in our darkened living room. He just went over and pet one of the cat ornaments dangling in front of the tv, which I’m pretty sure means he approves of its placement.

Last night, Rudi and I put another strand of lights on the tree, since a third of our long strand decided to conk out a couple days back. People mostly fall into two camps — put lights on from the top or put them on from the bottom. My dad falls into the latter, which means when I decorate their tree — still lit with clippable C7 bulbs, I start from the top. It takes a whole day to get all their lights on.

Rudi’s and mine are lit with little LEDs, and we start from the bottom, because I like to see where more lights are needed as I go along. But a few years back, I decided we needed more lights, so now in addition to the long single strand that goes up, there are three shorter strands that come back down. The best of both worlds.

But this last strand is now wound amongst ornaments and in knotty twists and turns to replicate the section that went out. Dedecorating the tree is going to be fun… But that is decidedly a January problem and not a December problem, and I’m glad the tree no longer has clear dark patch. Better to have a problem for just one day than to be bothered by something so solvable for the next month.

We had some bad news yesterday here in the Burrow.

This song, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” from Meet Me in St. Louis expresses the mood here:

By tomorrow, I’ll have processed things and be better able to write something holidayish. See you then.

Welcome to the back half of the Virtual Advent Tour.

Behind today’s door, we find a post from Rudi at Random Duck in tribute to national comedic treasure, Dick Van Dyke, who celebrates his 98th birthday today.

To keep with the theme, here is Dick with Jane Lynch, performing, “We’re Going Caroling”: