First, some background. My friend Megan (center, below) is married to Brad, who is a submariner in the Navy. Until she finishes her bachelor's degree this summer, Meg is living in Ohio while Brad is living 12 hours away in Connecticut at the sub base. Long story short, Meg called me a couple weeks ago and asked if I wanted to be her driving buddy to go to the April 10 Navy ball. I mean, how many people have the opportunity to go to a Navy ball in their lifetime? Of course I said yes.
The thing about going to the Navy ball is that you have to be accompanied by a sailor. And since Brad has more than one friend who would have appreciated a date, Meg invited my friend Kait (left, below) to come, too.
I've known Megan since preschool and I've known Kait since first grade. We can get a little ridiculous. Anyway, this is us:
Meg and Kait picked me up in Ada at 2 p.m. on Friday and we headed out for Connecticut. I drove through Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is a very wide state. Four or five hours wide, in fact. (But at least I didn't have to drive through New York or Jersey!) We ended up pulling into Brad's house in CT at about 1 a.m. Then we went to sleep, because after twelve hours of travel, that's all you really want to do. Brad and Meg are in the process of moving into their house, which is a very nice size, so there were a lot of boxes everywhere. The only real furniture they had was a sectional that was big enough for about four people to sleep end-to-end, which was a lucky break for Kait and I, because their floors are tile. ...Anyway.On Saturday, we went with Brad and Megan to visit a Siberian husky breeder in order to pick out a puppy. There were a lot of puppies. I'm not a dog person, but after spending time with the puppies, I almost wanted one of my own. They were really sweet. (Although some of them had just opened their eyes, so when you held them they started screaming because they were scared of heights. It was cute, but very loud.) Brad and Meg picked out a black and white puppy. They christened her Maya. She's sweet. They get to take her home in mid-May.
By the time we got back from the puppy excursion, it was time to get ready for THE NAVY BALL. Woohoo! So... we did that. The men looked very sharp in their dress blues. (Note: Navy uniform pants have 13 buttons instead of a fly. Megan calls them birth control pants-- 13 chances to say "no!") Me, Kait, and Megan looked very sharp in dresses. Because, you know, we're not in the Navy and could wear whatever we wanted.
Brad's friends Daniel and Kevin were Kait and mine assigned dates for the night. It was awkward. But hey, it was a Navy ball, so the novelty totally made up for it.
The ball was the 110th celebration of submarines. The ball involved a three-hour dinner program and then dancing and such. (In the end, we left after dinner and skipped the dancing. We proceeded to have our own party back at Brad and Meg's house.) The program honored submarines lost in the line of duty, from pre-WWI to the present. Cadets from the Naval academy did a choreographed salute thing (not really sure what to call it) which was cool. We met a LOT of sailors.
At Brad and Meg's, we played cards and took photos and generally had a good time. I went to bed at 3 in the morning... and woke up at 9 a.m. to pack and leave for Ohio by 10. Good times, though.
The drive back was pretty much just like the drive there. Let me just say that I love car trips. I like looking out the window and seeing new things, I like the drama of trying to pass other drivers/avoid cops/stay on the road/navigate new places, I like spending time talking or listening to the radio or singing or being ridiculous. So the drive back was a fun time. We stopped and had a picnic at a rest stop in Pennsylvania because the weather was so beautiful and because we had stuff to make sandwiches. Yum! In the words of Kait: "This rest stop is so nice. It has picnic tables... and butterflies..."
All in all, the weekend was really fun. It had car trips... and dress blues... and a once-in-a-lifetime (probably) opportunity to attend a Navy ball. :)
Note for those who care: I made my dress. I'm most proud of this because I didn't use a pattern. Epic win! During the ball, this led to an involved discussion between me and the sailors about sewing. They have to sew a lot of patches and etc. on their uniforms. Too bad they are a little skittish around sewing machines...
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