Christmas Partying

Ok, it's really the twelfth (doing a Zach thing, but in reverse) but last night I was snoring on the sofa.  This entry is about the thirteenth, so it will do.
    It was Christmas party day.  Actually we went to three parties so far, the first being an Army ball the night of the eleventh, which didn't make it into my journal cuz I did a really unusual thing:  I wrote my journal by daylight.  It was quite a nice evening.  All that is good and right, well almost all, about the Army comes out at a ball.  I am the kind of person who cries upon hearing the national anthem, so the pagentry of the opening ceremony, the Posting of the Colors, is especially moving to me.
    I am getting ahead of myself.  Three weeks ago when we found out about this event, my husband suggested I wear my navy suit, the one with the long slitted skirt, so that was what I was gonna wear.  The night of the ball he suddenly realized I was right: this was no item for a semi-formal ball.  He realized this just an hour and a half before we needed to depart.  In the evening.
    Wal-Mart to the rescue.
    I dropped him off at work so he could lock up after the soldiers leaving there, and I rushed over to the Wal-Mart, grabbed three dresses from the "Trends" section, tried them on, eliminated two, grabbed some black pantyhose with tummy control, some silver underthings, and a silver chain.  I paid, changed in the ladies' room, flew through the store to the exit in my cowboy boots (the black shoes were still in the van) and zoomed back over to pick him up.  From the time I dropped him off to pick up, I had one hour exactly.  I was back with two minutes to spare.  The dress is one I am actually pleased with.  It's a black velvety minidress with flowery embroidery above its empire waist.
    When we got to the ball, it seemed the dress fit right in.  The dresses ranged from prom gowns right down to minidresses much smaller than mine.  About 65% were solid black, quite a few more black and some other color, and several in other colors.  The soldiers had the option of dress uniform or formal attire.
    We got a table with some pretty friendly and interesting people.  The food was great, beef wellington or stuffed flounder (I had the flounder - magnificent), and the sing-along was funny, a rendition of twelve days of Christmas where each table was assigned one of the days and had to stand and sing and act out their portion of the song each time it came up.  This part came quite a while after the wine has started being served, so most folks felt fairly compliant, and it was great fun.
    There were a couple more ceremonies and a short film, then the colors were retired and the dancing portion began.  The deejays hired for this thing were really good, got the crowd all out on the floor rather quickly.  My very undancing husband actually offered to dance with me.  I danced so hard (it's been a couple years) that even though we had to leave early to get the kids, my dance craving was pretty satisfied.
    As for the Saturday parties...well the first was a party for all the kids in the battalion.  Tons of squealing little cuties were packed into the multipurpose hall, playing games and doing crafts.  My two loved the cakewalk best.  Then Santa arrived and began to hand out gifts.  The lady with the bullhorn called out each kid's name and they lined up to see Santa and receive a gift.  My kids were all aflutter at the thought of getting a present from Santa, watching other kids get gifts.  I said so to the hubby, who replied, "Yeah, gifts their parents got them."  An apologetic look was on his face.  I didn't know about this.  "And you didn't get them one."  "No."
    I was pissed.  I was seeing Moomie's face as the last of the names would be called and he'd be giftless.  I could imagine what he'd think, that Santa forgot him, or didn't care about him.  My smaller one is two, and doesn't understand all this stuff as well as my bigger one.
    "Here, take the kids.  I have an errand."
    PX to the rescue.  Into the Toyaland shop for a Mr. Potatohead and a My First Flashlight, then into the store for some giftwrap (all the other gifts were wrapped, and Moomie would notice the difference if his and his brother's weren't) and an excruciating wait in the monstrous line.  A pause at Dunkin Donuts next door to wrap it on a table, then a bolt back over where Santa hadn't left yet.  Thank God.  After we got the kids in line to see Santa, we discovered the emergency gifts they had stashed away for situations such as ours.  And some were definitely getting called into service.
    The kiddos loved their gifts.  It worked out.
    After that, it was a quick stop home then off to another party, this one for the UU church we belong to.  The kdis were both asleep by the time we got there, so we wrapped them in our jackets and laid them on a futon sofa to sleep while the hubby warmed up the mashed potatoes I had made earlier in the day.  The beverages were already going around, so I got some wine and started saing hi to folks.  The children woke up and needed coddling, then they were cranked up again to play with others.  Everybody was boisterous.
    The meal was wonderuful, turkey and a wide variety of side dishes.  The potatoes, which had ample amounts of garlic and herbs, red peels left in, vanished within the first ten minutes.  That felt nice;  I am no great cook.
    Afterward there was singing, which was lively and fun.  One accompanied on piano, and another on accordion.  When the children got uncontrollably punchy, we left.  It was quite a lovely time, as so far all the gatherings related to this church have been.
    So.  We got home and the hubby needed the computer right away.  So I sat on the sofa behind the computer.  I found out this morning that I snore.