At lunch on Friday, Brent called me to ask if I would go to dinner with his dad that night. Pressed for time I said yes and that I’d talk to him about it in more detail when I got back from lunch. At that time, I found out that Brent’s mom couldn’t attend and his dad needed a replacement ‘date’ to the Vimy Award Gala Reception and Dinner. It’s a black tie event, he’d be wearing a tux…. I had nothing fancy enough.

I had enough banked time to take the afternoon off work and head over to the mall where I bought a dress, shoes, clutch and got my hair done in an updo.

As usual, my camera batteries died. This was the best shot I could get with my webcam.

These be the shoes

The even was held at the War Museum. Their staff has been on strike for some time now and that night they were in a picket line blocking the parking garage. There is limited street parking and pretty much nowhere else to park around there so there was a big line of cars waiting to get in. They were letting in about 5 cars every 5 minutes so it seemed we’d be in within about 25 minutes. When we were the 7th car away (and very close to the start time for the event) they started only letting in 1 car at a time and that’s when it got annoying. I was fine with the first one, we were advised of that, but the switch up just seemed malicious.

We shimmied out of the line up to try and find street parking and MIRACULOUSLY someone was just pulling out as we were driving along. I got out of the car only to be ATTACKED by wind and rain. My updo survived.

My father in law knew a lot of people and whenever he would talk to a couple, the woman would give me SEVERE EYE DARTS until he introduced me as his daughter in law, at which point they said something like "OOOOHHHHH! Nice to meet you"

Obviously they thought I was some gold digger or grave robber or something.

The event itself was pretty neat. I’ve never been to a military event/dinner. We started it off by singing the national anthem! There were a bunch of speeches with inside jokes I didn’t get, mostly about Mike Duffy (seriously, I don’t get it). I talked with the Navy Guy next to me and said such gems as "What are these all about?" pointing to his medals and when he explained that they are recognition for years of service or for certain tasks I said "Like girl scout badges!" It’s true. Why deny it?

I wish there was dancing. It seems like a celebration for someone should have some dancing, especially when everyone is dressed so fancy. There was no dancing to be had and some of the old timers mocked me, in a fun-not-mean way.

All in all it was a good life experience. I got to see Adrienne Clarkson at a not-as-prestigeous-as-mine table and I got to see photos from war zones unlike any I had seen before. They showed it from the aspect of the soldier, in a way that made it obvious that this is where they LIVE. Their home is right there on the side of the road as they take a nap in the sun using their pack as a pillow.

On this day:

In 2008 –
In 2007 – I had bowel problems
In 2006 –
In 2005 – The story of how I met Brent

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