Does this mean that the holiday has actually started?

We bought our tree today. This is a few days earlier than usual, but with intermittent snow predicted from tomorrow through about Wednesday we thought we'd better get it done. We probably won't actually put it up or decorate it for a few days.

While we were at it, because it was sort of on the way, we stopped at The Wine Cask, as we were low on a few alcoholic essentials -- about $150 worth, as it turned out.