Weekend Recovery

For once, I had a pretty relaxing weekend at a VFW function. Well, except for Old Sarge's snoring being a seismic event, that is. We got in a little after 7 on Friday night, just late enough that I couldn't go to the dinner planned for the National President. Sorry, $30 for a so-so dinner, plus the expense for a new gown wasn't in my plans. So we met up with friends and went up to the Hospitality Rooms. It is such a switch when we are at these things- I become the voice of reason, rarely drink and am in bed early; Old Sarge, however, with no driving responsibility, hooks up with his buddies and is a real animal. We're up in the 10th District's room, Sarge has had several beers at this point, when our 6th District Commander comes in. He's an older man, very wealthy, but you would never know it from his appearance.
Now, remember Wayland and Madame? No?



My dear husband looks at our Commander and blurts out, "Where the hell are your teeth??" And I swear to God, without his dentures, he looked EXACTLY like Madame. Several us of were either snorting beer through our noses or pretending we had no idea who my husband was. The Commander, however, just grinned a little more and said he was all the way to Dixon (he lives in Rockford) by the time he realized he left his teeth at home and didn't want to go back. The rest of the weekend, every time I saw him I envisioned a plumed turban on his head.
Saturday was...strange. Politics runs rampant in the VFW. Add in visits from the National President and Commander, and everyone is on edge, trying to put on a good dog and pony show. My friend Sandy and I went to the Ladies meeting, hoping to be able to report on our respective chairmanships. An Illinois teacher had just won Teacher of the Year for National Citizenship Education, which is part of my program. A big deal, I thought. Sandy was having some problems with her program that she wanted to address. Well, I was told there wasn't time for my announcement. Sandy actually made it to the mike, but was cut off before she was done. We met at the hotel bar later, and wondered how two people who were District Presidents of the Year last year could fall so far out of favor with the changing of the guard. Eh. I already knew by choosing not to attend every event that's been scheduled so far this year, I was in the dog house. My family has come first this year. After two years of deployments, we have that coming.
Old Sarge and I opted to miss ANOTHER mediocre dinner event on Saturday night, and I took him out to eat. At Hooters! I figured there was something wrong that I had been there and he never had. I think he really enjoyed it, but said he felt like a pedophile. Well, those gals WERE young! We went back to the hotel bar and met up with friends who, like us, were playing hookie fron The Dinner. I left quite early, hoping to get a few hours of non-snore aggravated sleep, and Old Sarge did himself proud and closed the bar. At least this was one VFW event that he kept his clothes on, or was at least dressed like a man for a change.
So, I expect the next few days to be fairly quiet as my dear husband agonizes over cutting loose and having hisself some fun.