Festivus (or something) at the ranch

If you've been reading along, there may have been some mention of our being unable to muster up any excitement for the holidays this year. I know how odd that may seem. After all, we live amidst a Christmas Tree Farm!!! We ladle out cocoa to happy revelers for a whole month. You'd think we'd be about the jolliest people around, wouldn't you?
Well.. every 5 or 10 years we hit one that just doesn't make it. Between all of the businesses between us and the sick brother, it turned out to be this year. We warned the kids and relaxed. It was a nice holiday season, but there were no piles of gifts, no decorations, no BILLS.
We'd agreed to celebrate sometime in the middle of January when we felt like it. Because Molly's 18th (NO!! it CAN'T be!) birthday is this week along with her departure to distant lands, we set our sites on yesterday.
You won't be able to tell by the pictures, because I was behind the camera, but let me just tell you, I looked fabulous in my Festivus regalia.
Oh - btw - before we start we are only borrowing this name until we come up with something better. We were looking for something that didn't come with a bunch of rules, but when you look Festivus up, it is just as fraught with rules as any other celebration. Our relatives a few generations back used to make up their own days. We had Cow Tail, Ashy Poodle, and a few other that have slipped my mind at the moment. Anyhow, my brother John got on-line before our gathering and picked up all the rules, reminding us that there should be no gifts, that we had the date wrong, and that we should be arm wrestling. Lucky for him he is ill, or I would have had to take him down.
We haven't settled on the "traditional" meal for our new holiday, but have agreed that it shouldn't be difficult and settled on chicken from the butcher down the road. He does it up either fried or barbecued, and the boys all like the wings. Nice cole slaw there, too. Of course Maryanne CAN'T just let that go, so there was also a lovely salad and stuffed shells. Oh - about those clips on her head... I made her go get dressed up. Geesh!
One of Rob's friends, Bryce, decided that he really needed to see what this was all about. He unwittingly teased Molly about being a lefty - not knowing that he was in a veritable vipers den of lefties. Does he look a little frightened? He brought candied yams with mini marshmallows. He's alright.
We'd traded names back in December sometime, and decided that the wrapping should be a gruesome as possible. John wrapped Mark's gift in a Victoria's Secret bag, for instance, and the most prevalent wrapping paper had grimacing monkeys all over it.
We all went to our little homes and passed out by late afternoon. Perfect holiday if you ask me.
Now all we have to do is wait for this little pigeon's birthday, and it'll be weeks before anything else happens!