Sub Ball 2008

What a Ball. What a good time. What a bunch of tipsy people because some much higher up decided to attend at the last minute then decided to be an hour late (so not fashionable, man) showing up. Of course, no one could eat until he arrived, so what did a majority decide to do? Drink. It was getting right interesting before the food finally got served!

The ceremony of the Submarine Ball is always a humbling thing to be a part of. The bell is tolled for all boats that have been lost. The room is silent as each boat's name is read and the bell echoes throughout the room. When our National Anthem is sung, you see service members stand at attention, proud to be wearing their uniforms. I find my eyes getting more misty from seeing the pride and emotions on their faces, more so than for the song that particular time. It makes me want to burst with pride that I am a part of this community where the love of country prevails.

This year was much better for me personally. I got people now. I got a group of ladies that guarantee I'm going to have a good time if I'm with them. We didn't get to all sit together as you have to sit with whatever command you are with. Carla was all the way up at the front at the stage. My table was next door to D.'s table who had J sitting with her...at the back. And we surely don't mind the back near the door. Makes for easy get aways. K. was clear across the room but we made sure to keep her updated on what was going on. Oh, and M kept checking in, too, and keeping up with all that was happening. We met up regularly to walk out and we had attitude about it because we were a Posse!

This years event was held in the same place as last years. Jekyll Island is a beautiful place and I love going to there to visit. Miss J brought her fancy schmancy camera and we went outside to take pictures with our handsome hubbies with the ocean in the background. Miss J's hubby is out protecting our seas at the moment, and Miss D's hubby....who is on the boat with J's hubby accompanied her so they could partake in the festivities. I love that about Navy Wives. They can stick together and still enjoy such events, even if the hubby isn't home to go with them.

I had a delicious time doing my People Watching with a table mate. She is the wife of an office mate of The Mans and we love to get together at shindigs such as this and just dish on those fortunate or unfortunate to walk past us.

Please don't think I'm a vicious mean person. I truly am not. I know my own personal limitations and flaws and am sure someone might've had something to say about me at another table somewhere in that vast room.

I just hope they saw some of what I did!

Like, for instance.......

Miss Thang who was three tables away? I am just blown away that you decided to put the pink streaks in your hair to match your gown. Wow. Your ability to match the shakes of pinks is just remarkable. I apologize for staring like I did when I walked past you.

Miss Wonderfully Done Boob Job? Girlfriend, you are 40 if you are a day. No one over 35 can own ta-ta's like that naturally. Kudos to you for wearing a gown that worked those girls to their fullest advantage. Money well spent, Sister.

I was also glad to see that electric blue eyeshadow hasn't completely gone extinct. I fondly recall the days back in the 80's when I had my own love affair with the stuff. So many times I was sent back in the house to remove at least 90% of it because I was blinding my parents with it's electric loveliness. It was also awesome that the gown matched that electric blue eye shadow. Work it, Girl!

There is one guy I'd like to mention. I don't know your name, man, but you have to be made of rubber!!! I kid you not. This guy was around 6'3" and he could move like nobody's business. He entertained me every time he hit the floor and I would literally stand up at the table to watch him because he just looked like he was having the time of his life!

Those are just a few observations from the night that I thought I would share with you. I can't really diss the guys because they all wore the same kind of thing. There were some tuxedo versions of the uniform, some regular dress blues, and jumpers for the younger generation. I admire each of them. Soon after dancing started, jackets were coming off and so were the heavy jumpers. Sure, this is breaking the military dress code, but come on! It's a special occasion!

My favorite moment of the night was when we got to the dance hall. People were still coming in and my friends and I had snagged a table. A few of us were sitting (and already shoeless, might I add). A good friend of mine was standing up catching her groove as she was feeling no pain. At the end of the song, she proceeded to put her fingers in her mouth and let loose the loudest most ear piercing whistle. It got silent as people stopped to look at her. I took advantage of this quiet moment with a few hundred people to half way stand up, point my finger at her and say on the loud side, "THAT'S MY FRIEND RIGHT THERE!" To where she replied with a proper rebel yell and the silence was broken. Only a true friend would make a properly loud claim such as that, you know.

I managed to snag a few slow dances with The Man. We're not into the fast moving dances because, well, we're old. He's got knees that have seen better days and I didn't want to pay the next day with being too sore to even move. I love slow dancing with him. He's smooth on the dance floor, Internets. And Lawd....he sure smelled good.

We didn't stay that late as Paige was manning the home front in the child care department. She had her siblings and Carla's three kids. Her friend Maribeth (shout out to you, girl, since you read now!) came to help and they did a fantastic job. All under the age of 9 were sleeping and had not a care in the world by the time we rolled in (before midnight, thank you very much!).

I managed to take a few pictures of the evening and will now share a few with you. I do not have permission to post them, but my girls know I love them and would not put anything embarrassing up. (I'm saving those to use on a case by case basis....)

This is before we left to head to Jekyll. I don't like The Man to wear his glasses in pictures because he doesn't wear them on a regular basis. I would have used a different picture but I like me in this one. So, you're stuck seeing him in glasses. Yes, my hair is naturally curly. I have to work hard to get it straight! I just thought I'd do it different than last year's straight style.





This is a few of my Posse. From left to right: Donna, Carla, Jordy, Me, and Kerry (that's Vitt's teacher, too!). This is at the dance hall and and we wanted a whole group but D was somewhere on the dance floor with M and we just couldn't corral them to the table.

Ed (Kerry's hubby), Fred (A.K.A. The Man), and John (Carla's hubby) in all their uniform fineness. I love this picture of our guys!

This concludes my re-cap of this year's events. J said she'll send me some pictures to post on here, so I'll be sure to share when she does. Blogger seemed to be working against me as it has taken three days to finally pull this post together! For some odd reason, the pictures didn't want to work for me. I'm glad whatever was wrong has righted itself.