Her unbridled joy is the spirit of the holiday....

Whether one is religious or just like to celebrate the beauty of winter and winter solstice, Happy Holidays!

Boy did she have a belly ache last night. She was a pitiful site last night whimpering and crying, had to rub her belly til she fell asleep.

poor little one.

but last night I was worried that she ate the squeaky from her skunk. She's a little devil. I saw that she had something in her mouth and when I went to take it from her to see what it was, she swallowed it. I was really worried about having to find a vet this morning. But she seems ok now.

But I've never heard a dog cry about a bellyache like she did last night.

Our dog is named chewy and he lives up to his name just fine. We can no longer give him any stuffed toys. He has the stuffing all over the house within minutes. We give him the toys without stuffing but "mom" still worries about him eating the squeaky things inside the toys..Santa was very good to our little Chewy though...Squeaky toys everywhere...

Mine knew there was a chew-bone in his stocking and has been guarding it since I put it in there a few days ago. He sat in front of it and growled at any cat that came near.

It's all gone now, already history.

its custom and practice for it to be so. I have no concept of that ending.

Merry Christmas to you.

Enjoy your ordinary day.

Some of the best Biblical scholars concede that the scriptures say that Jesus must have been born in the springtime.

But if Christians found the solstice celebrations too well entrenched to overcome, and took an "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" strategy, I just don't care.

They tried exactly the same thing with the other holiday they hated: Halloween. They tried to get people to observe it as "All Saints Day".

Gamesmanship. That's all it is.

Let's understand that the ideas of gift-giving, big celebrations, yule logs and such are all related to the solstice and predate Christianity by thousands of years.

But the pagans don't own the calendar any more than the Christians. Enjoy the season in whatever way gives you happiness and peace.

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They get all the purely religious stuff -- creches and midnight masses and (sadly) most of the really good Christmas carols, along with the sentimental drek like "Little Drummer Boy."

The rest of us what we might call Santa-fest. We get to set up trees with ornaments and garlands and a star at the top. (It's not the Star of Bethlehem, after all -- it's the North Pole Star at the top of the world-tree.) We get to give and receive presents and enjoy the spirit of generosity and eat and drink in the company of those we love. And we get whatever songs we can peel off, from "Here We Come a Wassailing" and "The Twelve Days of Santa-fest" to "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" and "I'm Dreaming of a White Santa-fest."

I'd consider that a fair trade.

The party is good enough, in and of itself.

But then, when you're lucky to be alive and you know it, any celebration is good.

It's the "War on Christmas" types. The ones who turn green and curl up into a fetal position when you wish them "Happy Holidays." The people who think they have a lock on Christmas and get to tell everybody else what is acceptable and what isn't.

Those people are a pain in the butt -- so I'm proposing we cut them loose and let them have Christmas, if they want it so much. The only limitation is that it has to be the minimal, wise-men-and-farm-animal Christmas. We get to keep all the jolly pagan parts.

because my family does.

As for Jesus, I believe he lived, taught important things, then was co-opted by Paul of Tarsus.

In the song Silent Night, they give away the truth about when he was born. It talks of shepherds tending sheep on a 'cold winter's night'. No, they wouldn't. The sheep would be slaughtered except for those that would be needed in the spring, then all would live at the farmstead. No one sheep herds in winter because there is no fodder.

Christmas replaces the roman holiday to sol invictus.

I don't hold idiot christians against Jesus. I love him. He is my friend and mentor. His teachings are filled with love.

Regardless of the reason.

But I will not be bullied into saying it on other days. That would be like saying "Happy MLK Day" on May 12.

A friend of mine greets me every time he calls with "Happy Holidays" no matter what day it is. I like that. And now I am going to call him -- because it really is a holiday.

be bullied into anything. I went thru a stage of making a point of saying Happy Holidays exclusively to prove that I wasnt being bullied by the terrible Christians. I realized that if I want to make a statement about Christianity, being somewhat belligerent about it at this time of year, isnt the way. It's a greeting intended to be pleasant. Once I decided that no one was forcing me to say Merry Christmas, I do whatever I feel like. And saying Merry Christmas on Dec 1, to me means, "I hope you are going to have a Merry Christmas." I am speaking as a non-Christian.

I don't go out of my way to pick a fight with Christians. But I don't submit to bullying either.

Besides, most of the people who are the most interested in this are fake Christians anyway. They aren't worth arguing with.

I wish everybody a happy an prosperous new year, and hope they enjoyed the holiday season that ended yesterday.

How does it change your life and what do you care how others worship/celebrate/marry?
Freedom for ALL.

But Christians do that all the time. It is a question of freedom to worship as you please versus presuming a right to tell others how to conduct their lives.

I agree. Freedom for all.