Having a Ball

The 3-61 Holiday Ball was last night and I have to admit that it was quite a lot of fun. I wasn’t sure what to expect, even after the very useful ball etiquette class, simply because you never how serious some things are going to be. It was really pretty relaxed though. I already knew about half the people in the reception line and everyone was very nice. We also got to sit with the S2 shop, so other than meeting Sgt. Baumiller’s date, Jeff (aka Sgt. Collins, aka Mr. Baumiller), I knew everyone we had dinner with. It was us, Tessa and Jeff, Tim and Cassie, Kelby and Charlee, and Tim and Angelique. Poor Patterson, being the singleton, got put at a table with the S3 shop nearby. Being pregnant, I got a pass on a lot of the standing, which was nice but not particularly necessary. Like I said, I wore dance shoes so that I’d be able to keep them on for longer.

After the receiving line, we went into the ballroom and a few of us lingered near the back, just chatting and watching the world go by. I was very gratified by one Sgt. Evans reaction. He shook Alan’s hand and then did a double take and came back and shook my hand. Judging by his face I guess I looked good. LOL. We moved to our table, but had to wait to sit until the folks at the head table sat. Well, technically. A lot of people were already sitting. They posted the colors, for which everyone stood, and then Chaplain Oanca gave the Invocation.

I think my favorite part was the grog ceremony. Grog, while technically a mixture of rum, water, and beer, I believe, is quite the concoction in the Army. It started with some of last year’s grog. Then they added various things to symbolize the unit. Red fruit punch for the blood of the fallen. English gin for the unit’s time in England. French wine. Rip It, which is an energy drink the Army gives everyone, poured from a canteen. Dirt from the boot of soldier in Iraq (actually raw sugar). Horse shit (apparently a crumbled chocolate donut) because it’s a Cavalry unit. Champagne to represent future victories. Lots of other unidentifiable alchohols, including an excessive amount of Jack Daniels. Actually, most of the Jack Daniels went into a First Sergeant’s stomach. He set quite a precedent. Unfortunately, Tim Migliore was doing that part of the ceremony with him and had to drink more than he was probably comfortable drinking. He seemed a little worse for wear when he came back to the table. The ceremony is funny. Once they’re done mixing it all up, the commanding officer gets the first taste and he’s always supposed to say something along the lines of "This may be fit for human consumption, but not for a Cavalry unit." Then either he or another officer or NCO adds the last magical ingredient. In this case it was a pair of golden combat spurs. Then they invite everyone to go up and try it. Alan did of course. Fortunately, there are extra bowls of it placed around the sides of the room and he got a pitcher from that, rather than the one they’d added everything to. It wasn’t bad. No worries, i just had a tiny taste. Then again, it’s probably like jungle juice, which tastes like Kool-Aid but will knock you on your ass somewhere in the second cup when you’re not expecting it.

After the grog there were toasts. To the United States, the Army, the Cavalry, the President, the unit, etc. The last request is always "Gentlemen, seat your ladies," while the men remain standing and toast the women. Then dinner. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I finished my salad and roll and had to wait for dinner. Dinner was tasty. I had chicken stuffed with Boursin, mostly because Alan didn’t know what I wanted when he RSVP’d. He figured we’d get one of each and if I didn’t want the chicken, we could trade. It was really yummy though. And cheesecake for dessert, so no complaints from me on that one. LOL. After dinner they had a video presentation obviously put together by someone in his late 20’s or early 30’s because the music was "My Hero" by the Foo Fighters and "Tonight, Tonight" by the Smashing Pumpkins. I approved. After the video was the guest speaker, Colonel Mingus, who Alan’s mentioned to me in the past as someone he’s had to brief at work. Then they retired the colors and closed the formal part of the evening and opened the floor up for dancing.

I did manage to get Alan out on the floor, after a while. Mostly by dint of dragging him against his will. He claimed he wasn’t drunk enough to dance. He’s a terrible dancer, but at least he made some effort and we laughed a lot about it. There were quite a lot of people who were too drunk to dance and fell down. Seriously. I also met a lot of people who probably won’t remember meeting me today. We left a little before ten because my feet were finally starting to hurt and I was hot and sweaty. I’ve been feeling very flushed in the evenings lately for some reason. It felt amazing to get out into cold parking garage. I drove home because Alan had had an entire glass of grog, plus a glass of wine and a beer. Fortunately, the Hilton where the ball was held isn’t very far from our house.

I’m glad we left when we did. My feet were sore and swollen and I was in the state of barely being able to walk by the time we got home. Alan had to take off my shoes for me because I can’t bend over very well anymore (he had to put them on too) and he was nice enough to rub my feet while we watched "Psych" on Netflix. They’re feeling much better now. Apparently, my body chose the last week or so to start sending extra hormones coursing through my blood stream, so the top of my dress was a little snug. It fit perfectly last week when I was adjusting the straps and adding the modesty panel. Last night… things were a bit stretched across the bust line. Alan says it’s because God loves him and wants him to be happy. He probably won’t think that when I have to buy all new bras just to get through the next couple months. And that’s before the nursing bras. But all in all, I looked good and had fun and that’s what counts.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get pictures. I brought my camera, but something’s wrong with it and it didn’t work very well at all. Some of the pictures are ridiculously dark, even though it wasn’t badly lit in the ballroom. And when I tried switching to night mode or high ISO, it came out even worse. So I think that camera is dead. It’s a good thing I bought Alan a new camera for Christmas. I wish we could have brought the good camera, but it would never have fit in my bag. We did get formal photos done and Cassie and Angelique have both promised to send me the pics they took of us.

There seemed to be quite a lot of girls and women who didn’t get the memo that this is a formal affair. I saw some ridiculously short and tight dresses and some very uncomfortable-looking heels. Seriously, if you’re invited to something called a "Ball" wouldn’t your first assumption be an evening gown? At the very least, wouldn’t you go online and do some research to find out what is and is not appropriate?

My hair is still looking awesome. I went with a sort of retro 60’s look last night with a deep side part, half up, and curls down my back. I kept it going with my makeup, doing a winged black eyeliner that I will probably be trying to get off for the next few days. At least my hair will look sexy for a while.

Alan ishome for a while, formation being pushed back to 9:30 this morning. He’ll be home early too. Tomorrow he has to sign out on leave, but that’s all. Lucky, since we still have some Christmas shopping to do. I think I’d like to get Claire a stuffed kitty as a thanks to Dan and Katie for watching the cats. Hopefully I can find one that’s a bit fluffy like Karma. On Sunday we’re leaving for Connecticut. I’ve already laid claim to the first driving shift. Although the goal is to switch off every three hours, it probably won’t happen that way, especially overnight because I have lousy night vision and I tend to get drowsy in cars whether I’m the driver or not. But soon we’ll be in Connecticut. Yay!

Anyway, time for breakfast.

~Liz