Well, the military ball was interesting. Not quite what we imagined it would be. It was quite a bit more formal than we expected. The first hour was a real waste of time, as we did not know anyone and it was mostly a "gathering" hour. The people that we went with smartly skipped this hour and only showed up at the beginning of the second hour, when they seated us in the ballroom.

Yeah, thats right, they seated us according to a seating chart. And not at all with people we knew. We were seated at the "crazy" table with a bunch of crazies. Ok, maybe it wasn't that bad. But lets just say we spent most of our time away from our table in the lobby with the O'Donnells and Christopher Bowen.

Then there was the introduction of a bunch of people we didn't know, all of whom got loud ovations. Uh huh, we clapped like fools for some colonels daughters AFTER we clapped for him! Then there was the toast (long live the queen) and the posting of the colors and a prayer.

After a couple more speakers (short ones) we got to start eating. They started out with a salmon entrÈe with cream cheese and cucumber and bread. It was quite good, and M‰ria ate hers and half of mine. =) Then there was a caesar salad that was pretty good. When the meal came I ended up getting the prime steak and M‰ria ended up getting the stuffed chicken. We both enjoyed our meal.

Then there was another speaker who introduced the nights featured guest. I don't remember his name, but he was a retired lieutenant general who started out a private in WWII and commanded troops through vietnam. He was 87. He also got to cut the cake with the youngest soldier using a sabre.

Um, lets see. What else. I think that is about everything that happened. M‰ria will remember if I forgot something and throw it up here. =)