It has been a crazy busy weekend for us.

Thursday night we were given free premiere tickets for “Iron Man 3” at the Hoffman AMC in Alexandria, VA by the GI Film Festival, which was sponsored by the Gary Sinise Foundation.  The Gary Sinise Foundation had invited military personnel and wounded warriors, which I thought was really nice.  They also had a raffle, and Michael T. Williamson (the actor who played “Bubba” in Forest Gump) introduced the Foundation and took a lot of pictures with everyone.  Unfortunately they didn’t provide enough “grab bags” for everyone, and since we were some of the last to exit we were unable to get one so I can’t share what was in them.  Still, I thought it was a nice gesture and free soda and popcorn for the movie was enough for us!  The movie was great and action-packed, but had some parts of comedy we thought were unnecessary and took away from it being an action film. I was asked to share if it was family-friendly, and I have to say yes- there are no steamy parts but there is a lot of blowing things up and some language.

Friday after a crazy day at work I arrived home to find an arrangement of wonderful things that Nathan had put together for Military Spouse Appreciation Day.  It was the sweetest thing!  Of course, he had red roses, chocolate, cheese, hummus, and a glass of wine.  A perfect post-work relaxation.  There was also jazz music playing, and the house had been cleaned!!  He loves to remind me how wonderful he is!

 

We were also given two complimentary tickets to the Step Out with the USO 2013 Benefit on Friday, held at the Hilton by Dulles Airport.  The tickets we were given had been purchased by contributors to be given to active duty service members  so they could attend at no cost.  It ended up being a very classy event and we had a fantastic time.  We were seated at a table near the stage with some members of the “Elks Lodge” from Loudoun, and they were a pleasure to have dinner with.  The food was wonderful, the people were great, and the raffles were a fun touch.  We also very much enjoyed meeting Major General Waff, and Nathan was eager to introduce himself once he had learned they both had attended VMI.  The St Thoms Cat swing band brought a lot of people on to the dance floor, and we were amazed at all the great dancing it brought out!  Overall we had a very fun time and were extremely thankful to the contributors that made our attendance possible.  We were also given a free night’s stay at the Hilton for that evening, but unfortunately had to turn it down because of having the dogs at home with no babysitter. We were very grateful for the gesture, though, and would have accepted otherwise.

 

 

 

Saturday was extremely busy, which has led to a very uneventful and lazy Sunday.  Nathan woke up at 6am to drive down to Charlottesville to work on our boat, and I was up at 7am to work in a swim, shower, drive to my parents, take Charlie to the groomer, buy shoes for that evening, and get my hair done.  Luckily I had my amazing mom to help me stay organized, and she was able to get some things done during all my day of craziness!  All that was finished, and I thanked them for “babysitting” the dogs for us for the night and headed back to the condo.

Saturday night was the 2013 Old Guard All Ranks Ball, which was held at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.  The tickets were $240 for the two of us, and the event was a little disappointing considering the expense.  Don’t get me wrong- we had a great time and really enjoyed ourselves throughout the night.  But, I did have some comments about the event (coming from a marketing-type employee!) that could really have made it better.  I don’t know the exact count of the attendees, though I know it was more than 500.  The speakers were not set around the room, so no one could hear them who wasn’t sitting directly in front of one.  Similarly, the slide show was shown on two projectors in locations only a select group of attendees could see without straining or moving.  The food was sub-par, and probably the most disappointing part of the night.  The salad had very minimal if any dressing, the meat was dry and the food was all buffet style, which I thought was odd considering the price of the tickets.  Usually an event of that size is plated to avoid so many people standing around waiting to eat.  I was also told later they literally ran out of meat.  That’s a little crazy at an army event!  The table cloths didn’t match (all different shades of green) which might have been planned, but kind of looked a little like the catering company “ran out” of army green colored cloths.  Otherwise, we enjoyed our table, loved the DJ, and the take-home glasses were a nice touch.  The photographer seemed to be everywhere, which was good for those couples trying to get “event shots”.  And Nathan and I very much enjoyed looking through them to see what and what not to do/wear at a ball!!  A few of us went out in Chinatown afterwards and then made our way home.  It wasn’t a super late night, but we were absolutely exhausted.

So today is Sunday and also Mother’s Day.  I have to throw in the fact that I hope everyone who is/was/will be a mother has a wonderful day and remembers how much they are worth in the world.  Without mothers there would be no one 🙂 Nathan and I will be seeing my mother and grandmother this afternoon, and I am reminded how fortunate I am to have such an amazing mother-in-law who we will be seeing next weekend.  Happy Mother’s Day!!!