Thanks to a confluence of events and a “use it or lose it” annual vacation policy, for the first time in my adult life I’m enjoying a week of Christmas vacation. That makes me happy. Here are some other Christmas-related things that make me happy, along with a random thought or two:

• Getting toys for Christmas. Yes, the toys have changed over the years, but finding a new Playstation or game, or some other electronic device under the tree still beats underwear and socks. Come to think of it, though, I need some new socks.

• It’s odd that two of the movies on our current list of Christmas classics had only modest success when they were first released.

“A Christmas Story” and “Christmas Vacation,” both among the most beloved and quotable holiday movies of somewhat recent vintage, were not runaway blockbusters. They found their biggest audience years later on television. Not sure why it took them so long to catch fire, but better late than never.

• The Hawaii Bowl. Always played on Christmas Eve night, there’s something soothing about watching two mid-card teams playing a meaningless bowl game in the islands. Ever since they did away with the Blue-Gray game, this has been our one shot of consistent Christmas football.

One thing I’m curious about, though, is when they started spelling it Hawai’i? I don’t like the apostrophe, or when they randomly change long-accepted pronunciations and spellings without an explanation. We really needed a proper press conference on this.

• Saturday NFL football. In a similar vein, last weekend’s Saturday NFL tripleheader was a welcome callback to days gone by. When I was growing up, there were a couple of those weekends and you’d catch glimpses of the games while shopping as if spotting Bigfoot or a unicorn sprinting through the mall.

• Christmas dinner at Waffle House. This is a tradition my wife and I started one year when we ate lunch with relatives. We woke up in the evening after a nap and didn’t feel like cooking, and also realized we’d forgotten to bring any leftovers home. A quick discussion brought us the realization that Waffle House is open 24-7-365, even on holidays. Whenever we’ve gone on Christmas Day there’s always a line, too, so it seems we’re not the only ones who have realized this.

If you go, make sure to tip your server well. They make it so you don’t have to cook.

• The Christmas Eve calm. Driving around town and seeing everything shut down on Christmas Eve, all of the business signs turned off, and no signs of life on the roads is very fitting for a night of peace.

Merry Christmas!

Ernest Bowker is the sports editor of The Vicksburg Post. He can be reached at ernest.bowker@vicksburgpost.com