ATC Cont.

After coming back from the outlets it was time to get ready for the ball. The boys were already over with the older kids and having a blast. They could care less about the ball. I was totally excited because it has been so long since we bothered with a ball. I had found a new dress and Donte looked mighty fine in his blues. We walked downstairs in the hopes that we could get our pictures done early and enjoy the rest of the evening. We got in line and we were about the 5th couple in line…..I thought how wonderful. This should go fast…WRONG!!!! There was one lonely photographer and no assistant. The poor guy was obviously wearing three hats and having a bit of trouble getting it all done. We waited for about an hour…..and yes I kicked my shoes off. …..no way was I going to suffer. We got our pics done and met up with the rest of the station. The guys had to go in early because they were doing the arch with the sabers. So we had to wait and wait and wait……finally one of the other guys escorted me through the receiving line and we finally got in. We tried to get a table that would seat all of us. Since we are such a small station we thought that it would be really easy but we were one short so T had to sit at the table next to us. Never the less the night was spent laughing and talking. Donte even met a guy that went to basic with him. Said that he had gotten out of the ARMY and was a civilian now. What a small world that was 14 years ago. Donte’s station won another award and his station commander won the station commander award. It was more than well deserved; he is a great team builder and has some great values to his practices. The awards took hours and after it was said and done we all went back up to change.
The resort had a club in it and we decided to meet up there. Now I used to love going to the club……heck Donte and I met at the club…….I was so ready to leave because the smoke was so thick you could barely see through it. So we went back down to where the ball was. The DJ was there but they closed the bar so there were literally 4 people there. Common sense should tell you that if the equation reads (soldiers + their spouses) + a formal ball + a full bar= FUN if you take away the full bar it ='s over. What a mess. They should have hired the DJ from the night before. He was great the DJ for the ball……for lack of better words sucked!!!! There were 6 of us so we went in and sat and talked we even danced a little. By then it was approaching 2 AM and time to settle in.
After getting back to the room and getting the kids settled in we crashed! We had to leave the next morning and hadn’t packed a stitch.
The next morning we got up and packed. Donte went downstairs for yet another meeting. We loaded the car and all headed down to the conference room. They had many speakers that came in and we all sat patiently and listened to them……OK not really Donnie and I played the make the squares game for what seemed like hours. Donte and Daniel sat right in front of us so Donnie and I were covered. I saw that one of the speakers was the nice guy from the university that I had gotten info from for DONTE. He was a great speaker and imagine my surprise when he says that he has even known SFC Slade for 14 years…….OMG how funny... I had spoken to him about Donte and that he and Donte had spoken and he was Dontes friend from basic. Not only did they have to go all the way to Wisconsin to meet but he lives right by where we do and attends the same YMCA. Boy life is strange at times.
After all was said and done we settled into the ride back home. I slept. I think I was out for a good 2 of the 3 hours. We got home, unloaded the car and headed off to pick up Diggy and Murphy. Pet smart is only about 15 min away and I was ready to see my little stinkers.
The dogs had a blast and were very happy to see us. They had been groomed and Murphy had been shaved. They were so cuddly and were jumping all over the place.
After tons of laundry and putting everything away I had just enough time to catch a few hours of sleep until I had to wake up and go back to the grind of everyday life.