From Mental Floss
Lots of people think that the X in Xmas is a secular watering down of the word Christ. You know, a "we love to celebrate the holiday but don’t believe in Jesus" sort of thing. However, that's not the origin of the X.
The X actually comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of Χρήστος. And if that’s all Greek to you, Χρήστος, of course, means Christ.
According to Etymology Online, the abbreviation dates back to 1551, when it appeared as X'temmas. Around 1100, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle used Xres mæsse, where Xp- or Xr-corresponded to "Chr."
Be that as it may it has become the secular version of the winter holiday in the Western world. We celebrate Xmas, a holiday of love and light and friends and community. No deities allowed.
And Xmas is coming. I'm not starting my program until after the first of January because I have a project kicking my arse right now. I want to finish my stocking before Xmas, but I don't think it's going to happen. And yet I am not giving up now.
This week-end we're putting up the tree. Well, first we're moving furniture and then we're going to see about a tree. I have no clue how big of a tree this year, we might end up with a small one perched on the coffee table, but there will be some kind of tree. I'm going to wait a few days before decorating to see how the kittens react. I have lots of kitten safe ornaments, thankfully.
Tonight is the last party in our dungeon. It's closing due to lack of funds. Actions have consequences, especially in an election year and especially when your reliable subscribers are members of the LGBTQ community. The community will carry on. Since we're Moving All The Furniture today I doubt we'll be going. I should feel bad about this. I do not feel bad about this.
Some friends are coming to help with the furniture. I don't have food to put out, which seems more than a little rude. I might throw in a batch of muffins. On the other hand we're offering beer and wine, neither of which really goes with muffins. I am uncertain. I'll share what we decide.
Next week-end is Festival. which is the big fundraiser for our local charity hospital. Kitty and I volunteer all year. I won't get all political for it because it's not my show, unless people are utter assholes in which case the rainbow scarf is coming out.
This is the first year that we've actually been able to celebrate Xmas with just our family. We celebrated with Kitty's family when we were first married. which was interesting. In California Kitty kept saying that there was all this tension. I thought I was in a sitcom. In Colorado everything was calmer but they really don't have enough air up there so I was bound to the couch most of the time. And travel was always a bitch. With my family it was crap, the joys of being an ACoN and all. Most of the years here Kitty had to work for Xmas, which happens when you work in an ER. So we hit this year and realized that we don't have any family traditions. So we're making some and adopting others.
On Xmas Eve we're adopting the Icelandic tradition of exchanging books, making cocoa and cookies and curling up to read, We are both book people who have need seduced by the internet, and we want to get back to paper. So books and a quiet holiday eve it will be.
On Xmas day we're adopting the time honored Jewish tradition of Chinese food (said firmly tongue-in-cheek). We're ordering a feast, staying in comfy flannel and watching holiday movies. We may invite our friends to join us, but they have to bring their own flannel.
Small gifts will be exchanged, of course. I have a scarf for Kitty almost off the needles, and then a hat. Past that I am making a hat for me and then scarves. Lots and lots of scarves. This will be the year I re-start the weight loss, so no sweaters yet and I'm not a big glove person and I don't like handknit socks (there, I said it) so scarves it will be. They make a nice layer over the tank top and flannel shirt uniform of an Alt-left woman in the Pacific Northwest (also said with tongue-in-cheek)
I have about five chapters to finish on Understanding. and then about five or six on Least Expected, which is a new one I just started publishing. I'll finish those over the next few days and be able to publish all month. Maybe this year I'll be able to finish a few, although right now The First Run is kind of scaring me.
I think that's caught up.