Mommy of Many Goes to the Ball

When people ask me what my website and show are about, I always say that it’s the combination of being a Mommy of Many and a military spouse and how that combination works.  Well, no single event has put all of that into focus better than the Coronado Salutes the Military Ball, this past Saturday!  

So, it’s Saturday at the Lang house.  There are usually several things that happen on Saturday and they all involve running kiddos here and there.  This Saturday was no different.  I did several drop-offs and pick-ups in the morning and then got my head around scrubbing the house.  Clay was also in work-mode and was helping get everything out of one of the bedrooms so that it could be rearranged and cleaned out.  Big job!  I was standing on a step ladder at 4:30, when Clay’s phone rang.  I could hear him greet the person on the other end and knew it was an old friend who he had flown with and who had moved away.  He finished his conversation, hung up and approached me with this, “The Sandberg’s have extra tickets to the Ball.  Can we make it?  Cocktails start at 6 and we have to be seated by 7″.  My first thought was, “The Sandberg’s are back”.  Then I looked at the clock, said, “I don’t have a dress!” and ran to my closet.  Nope, no dress!  We made the decision that we could do it and that I would run to Macy’s and go straight to the Del (Hotel Del Coronado).  So, within 10 minutes, I was in my car with my make-up bag, a brush, hairspray, my good, black pumps and my evening clutch, ready to storm Macy’s for a dress.  I felt like an episode of Instant Beauty Pageant!  But I had less time and no free credit card!  I arrived at the mall and ran straight to Macy’s 3rd floor and to the check out desk (imagine what I looked like with a huge bag over my shoulder, pumps in my hand and a wild, “I need a dress!” look in my eye).  I quickly explained that I needed to be at a ball in about an hour and needed help finding a dress.  I showed them the shoes I’d be wearing and we got to work!  Seriously, the girl that helped me is getting a letter of thanks sent to her department because she was on it!  I told her my size, grabbed a couple of dresses and ran to a fitting room.  She continued bringing me dresses and within 1/2 hour, I had what I needed!  I left the dress on, got rung up, was pointed in the direction of the bathroom and ran to do hair and make-up.  Whew!  Seriously, where was the camera crew?!

Clay had to go out to the squadron to get the proper uniform (I’m still not sure why it was there) and then rush to the exchange to grab a new pair of wings for his jacket.  

By 6:15 we were on the phone with each other agreeing to meet in the lobby.  By 6:30 I had valeted the car and was standing in the lobby, fully dressed, composed and ready for an evening of fun.  

We spotted our friends who had the tickets and followed them into the Grand Ballroom at the Hotel Del Coronado.  Beautiful!  

This was the 24th year of this event.  The Chamber of Commerce of Coronado puts this together to salute their military neighbors on the island.  Various businesses around the island host tables and various invites go out to the military community.  This is the second time we’ve been invited and it’s truly an amazing night!  This year we were at a table hosted by Business Products Express.  They hosted 5 tables and we were fortunate enough to be at the table with Matt Bartell and his wife, Jody who own the company.  They were so much fun!  The Marine Corps Band performed and the speakers were great.  We ran into several people we knew, had a wonderful dinner, danced a little and called it a night.  Wow!

While we pulled it off in only 2 hours, make no mistake that we did get some complaining phone calls from the kids.  They were caught in the whirlwind of watching us make the decision to go, shout some orders for dinner and run out the door.  When I walked through the door that night, I could see the result of  their unhappiness that we dashed off.  I decided that crushed cereal would be better off swept up in the morning.  Back to reality, Cinderella!  

Matt Bartell, standing on a chair to compensate for the tallness of the Sandbergs, the Sandbergs, me and Clay

Me and Clay with Matt Bartell, owner of Business Products Express and our host for the night.

Well, there you have it!  The crazy combination of being a Mommy of Many and a military spouse and how that combination works.  Sometimes I’m Doing the Dance of the Children and sometimes I just get to dance!

Thank you to Brian and Kris for thinking of us.  Thank you to the Coronado Chamber of Commerce for putting this together every year and thank you to Matt Bartell for hosting the tables that he did. 

Have a great day!

This entry was posted on March 25, 2009 at 8:50 am and is filed under Uncategorized, attitude, children, fun, kids, military, miltary spouse, mom, sharing, thanks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.