Dining Out

I figured a good way to start the blog would be to talk about this past weekend.

Cassie is a 2nd Lieutenant in The Army Reserves and had her Military Dining Out this past weekend.  Before this I had been incredible nervous, wanting to make sure I was going to look formal enough and make a good impression. I was lucky enough to have wonderful friends to help me pick out something to wear, from Ashley dealing with me at the mall and Ali dealing with the photos.

Friday night we headed up to Wausau, it was foggy beyond belief, I was happy that I wasn't driving, at times we were going 45 MPHs.  I don't think either of us were ever so happy to see the HOJO (Howard Johnson) where we were staying and they were having the Dining Out.

Saturday it was an early morning start Cassie had to be at the drill hall by 7 am, which means getting up at 6 am.  Thankfully we are close to the drill hall.  While Cassie was at drill I ran to Herrshners in Stevens Point it is about a 30 minute drive but they have a bunch of the yarn that I love cheaper than anywhere else.  Ran to Subway for lunch and then back to the hotel to wait for Cassie.   I started getting ready probably much earlier than I had to but I was so nervous I had to do something.  We were invited over to one of the Officers houses for a few drinks before hand.  This really did help with my nerves as I had met this gentleman before.  We headed back to the hotel and headed down so we could be ready for the receiving line and to get our photo taken.  Everyone was very nice and welcoming.  I wish I had grabbed a program so that I could tell you who was all there.

The Dining Out was an amazing experience to be a part of and very full of tradition.  They have a tradition of Grog there, they put in liquor and beer from all the different theaters of war and battles.  Soilder's get called up if they have done something wrong to drink from the Grog.  Normally civilians don't have to or get to try it.  Cassie brought some back to the table and I tried it.  The Grog wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but I wouldn't be able to drink more than a few sips.

There was a lot of business being talked about and a lot of standing (4 inch heels were not smart!).  Once we were finally released, Cassie and I went back to the room to change and then went back down to watch the last of the Packer game.  This was also a lot of business talk, thankfully I am good at small talk.

I was happy once we went back to the room and went to bed!

Sunday was another early morning for the drill haul.  I stuck close to the hotel until it was check out time.  Thankfully Cassie got out of drill early on Sunday so we were back to Madison by 5:15.  We had pizza for dinner and then I drove back to Menomonee Falls.

It was a crazy weekend but it was a wonderful weekend also!!!