Festivus for the rest of us

We have been lucky enough to celebrate holidays with friends and/or family over the years in a variety of locations and sometimes it has just been the two of us having breakfast at the local Waffle House, a tradition whose origin now escapes us but we dutifully carry on.  This December 2013 was particularly fun.

We attended two Buffalo Bills football games.  One in Tampa (lost bad) and one in Jacksonville (won barely).  That NFL Fantasy Football commercial whose background song is, "Cause you had a bad day...You're taking one down...you sing a sad song just to turn it around"...yatta yatta. Although the outcomes could have been better for the Bills, we had a great time at both games. We will get 'em next year.

Tampa Bay Bucs vs Buffalo Bills (27-6) :-(

We attended my brother's annual Boat Parade Bash.  Every Christmas a few zany Captains decorate their boats with lights, music and even some animation and drive up and down the many canals in the various Florida beach communities for prize money and to promote holiday cheer.  It is akin to a miniature Mardi Gras on the water.  There is eating, drinking and bead throwing with the added danger of falling off the sea wall.

My brother and his wife never fail to disappoint when hosting a party.  The Big Green Egg was fired up and roasted enough pork butt to feed the hearty crowd of about 50 people  It was a reasonably warm evening on the 21st of December and it was a great night of holiday frivolity.  We think this is a sighting of Herbie, the elf who wanted to be a dentist. It is no wonder his practice never took off...

Love the tights and flip flops.

We took a little side trip to visit Mike's dad for a nice Christmas lunch. See where he gets his good looks?




















Back to my brother's place for an awesome Christmas Day dinner. Again, his Big Green Egg prowess did not disappoint.  Smoked prime rib of beef was the centerpiece of our meal.  It was quite a feast.  Carnivores only please!

I realize I focus a lot on food, not sure what that says about me, but I think I like it.  We had great fun, laughs and a lot of catching up that was a huge part of our time with my brother and his very lovely wife and many of their good friends which we have come to know over the years.  The times that great memories are made of.