Today I make the annual pilgrimage to Ozark, Alabama, the starting leg of this year’s Christmas-Independence Bowl-New Year’s trips. Things on the list to do before the 25th:

• Go to my friends’ wedding tomorrow. (Yep, the apostrophe is in the right place…two of my friends are getting married to each other. That seems to happen a lot with me. It cuts down on the number of weddings I go to.)
• Get the rest of my Christmas shopping done. Yep, the male Christmas-shopping equation is now in effect.
• Go to my hometown church’s candlelight ceremony. Usually held on Christmas Eve, but given how Sunday falls this year, it’s going to be held this Sunday evening instead.