Fun weekend

This past Saturday night was our unit's Ball. As much as I had dreaded it, we had a great time. It wasn't without its moments of drama, but overall, I'm glad I went. We got a room and spent the night there at the hotel, so we didn't have to worry about driving home afterwards.

Here's the view from our room. Isn't that just too fabu for words? *sigh* So peaceful. Yes, as soon as we got checked in, we were out on those docks!


After the "Reception" (read that as cocktail hour), everyone was seated, and the ceremony began. Speeches, speeches, *yawn*, more speeches. Then came the cake cutting ceremony. Traditionally, the first piece of cake is given to the oldest Marine present. This "old man" and his wife are a complete HOOT! I think the world of them.

At all the other Balls I've been to over the years, the SECOND piece of cake is given to the youngest Marine present. At this one, though, the first piece was tasted by the oldest Marine and then passed on to the youngest to symbolize the passing of the torch, so to speak. I've always seen the cake cut with a sword also, but that wasn't done here. *sigh* I digress... The youngest Marine always makes me feel OLD. This year's was born at the beginning of MY SENIOR YEAR IN HIGH SCHOOL!! *groan* Before long, they'll be the ones born the same year as my kids.

Anyway, here's a not so great pic of the cake. Who doesn't love cake? It was GOOD, too.


After the ceremony, we had dinner. This year they had a very good idea. Instead of the fiasco of who wants chicken, who wants beef, blahblahblah, they did kind of a combo plate. We had a small piece of steak (cooked just right IMO, but not done enough for The Hub's taste), a small boneless chicken breast (which they didn't season), and a skewer of grilled shrimp along with steamed veggies and mashed potatoes (real ones, not that instant crap). I liked it.

After dinner and cake came dancing. THIS is where the fun began (being sarcastic AND truthful here). I made some friends, laughed, danced, played Mother Hen, mediated, ran interference, drank beer...you get the picture.

Since I griped ALL last week about the dress, I guess I should show a pic of it, huh? It's NOT my best work, and I didn't love the dress, but it was comfy (as formals go). As many pics as were taken that night, there are none of the full view of the dress. It's long in the back, but comes up to a point at about the knees in the middle of the front. The shoes lasted about 2 hours, and then I went barefoot (yes, even outside). This is NOT unusual for me. Before the night was over (which was 4am for me), I was in jeans and a polar fleece. Here's a pic of us. Amazing what nine years does to a person. Something weird with the pic that makes one of The Hub's eyes look wonky, but it wasn't like that on the original pic.

Yep, that's a Corona in The Hub's hand. My beer was on the table behind the camera. There were A LOT of those consumed that night. ;) We had a lot to celebrate...the Marine Corps birthday, our anniversary, and The Hub's promotion. And boy, did we celebrate!