Last Saturday there was a big Christmas party for all military and their families that live in the Hampton Roads area. This is a LOT of people. There are 4 bases that I know of, including the largest Naval base in the world (NAS Norfolk) in the area and we all squeezed into a gym the size of two basketball courts. It started at 10am and went until 2pm. I had vaguely heard from a emailed newsletter that I receive about the party and I mentioned to Sean that I would probably go. On Saturday, I just didn't feel like packing up William and going anywhere. But I know I would have felt guilty after telling Sean I would so I ended up going.
It was in Virginia Beach at the Little Creek Amphibious Base (where the SEALS are trained). I get there and the gym is crammed with people, mostly kids. There are vendor booths lining the walls handing out freebies, mostly cheap crap with advertising on it, and a couple of food booths with free hot dogs or pizza. Every booth had a very long line in front. In fact the whole place seemed to be one long line that everyone was standing in. I wheeled my stroller around, unsure what exactly I was to do there. I saw many families with moms and dads and I started to miss Sean and wanted to leave.
I found an information booth and a nice lady told me that there would be a Christmas party for my ship at 1pm in a designated curtained off room. I decided to stick around for that and the video shoot at 2pm. I made a poster to hold up during the video so Sean could see us. Then at one I went to the small room where our party was to be. There was no one there. I thought, "How sad." Especially when the room next door had cookies, and carols, and gift exchanges going on. I almost joined with them when a few moms came in with their kids. They decided to make posters for our allotted time. I had already done this so I just stood around. I made friends with Beth Hedrick, another officer's wife. Her husband and Sean are the only LDS officers on board so we have a lot in common.
We finished up and went to make our video. There were only about 15 of us so our video Christmas greeting should have a good close up on all of us. I didn't need the poster. Good thing, because William chose that time to start acting out and I had to hold him on my lap, instead of the poster.
Overall, I had a pretty good time. It was craziness, but then I realized that there were lots and lots of people who are going through the same thing that I am. I got out of the house, made a good friend, and said, "Merry Christmas!" to my husband. It was a pretty good day.
It was in Virginia Beach at the Little Creek Amphibious Base (where the SEALS are trained). I get there and the gym is crammed with people, mostly kids. There are vendor booths lining the walls handing out freebies, mostly cheap crap with advertising on it, and a couple of food booths with free hot dogs or pizza. Every booth had a very long line in front. In fact the whole place seemed to be one long line that everyone was standing in. I wheeled my stroller around, unsure what exactly I was to do there. I saw many families with moms and dads and I started to miss Sean and wanted to leave.
I found an information booth and a nice lady told me that there would be a Christmas party for my ship at 1pm in a designated curtained off room. I decided to stick around for that and the video shoot at 2pm. I made a poster to hold up during the video so Sean could see us. Then at one I went to the small room where our party was to be. There was no one there. I thought, "How sad." Especially when the room next door had cookies, and carols, and gift exchanges going on. I almost joined with them when a few moms came in with their kids. They decided to make posters for our allotted time. I had already done this so I just stood around. I made friends with Beth Hedrick, another officer's wife. Her husband and Sean are the only LDS officers on board so we have a lot in common.
We finished up and went to make our video. There were only about 15 of us so our video Christmas greeting should have a good close up on all of us. I didn't need the poster. Good thing, because William chose that time to start acting out and I had to hold him on my lap, instead of the poster.
Overall, I had a pretty good time. It was craziness, but then I realized that there were lots and lots of people who are going through the same thing that I am. I got out of the house, made a good friend, and said, "Merry Christmas!" to my husband. It was a pretty good day.
2 comments:
Good for you, The Bee, for stepping out and stepping up! I'm glad to hear you're not being a hermit.
Those pics of William are darling. I'm glad you made a friend that you have some things in common with. Even though the party was kind of a bummer, I'm sure Sean will really, really appreciate being able to see you and William!
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