Dining Out with Nick's Wardroom

This past Saturday, Nicholas and I attended a Dining Out with his new squadron. 

While Nick has attended Dining Outs at the Naval Academy, this was my very first one.  

I decided I wanted to get my hair done.  Big mistake.  I have never had my hair done for such an event since living in Jax and therefore I was shooting in the dark by choosing a stylist, which never ends well.  I wanted simple soft wavy curls.  Instead, she gave me huge tight curls.  Unfortunately, there wasn't too much I could do because I had worked that day and was very limited on time.  I just had to say "oh well" and head to the Dining Out with less than attractive hair.  It wasn't awful, but it definitely wasn't cute!

The Dining Out is a formal event, consisting of dinner, a guest of honor speech, toasts, and mingling and usually some form of entertainment.

Our Dining Out began with a cocktail hour, followed by a few {hilarious} skits, a dance-off contest among some of the senior officers, dinner, a speech by the Guest of Honor, toasts, and more dancing and mingling.

The Guest of Honor was a 91 year old man (who had to sit halfway through his story due to a hip injury from playing tennis the day before!!!!).  He enlisted in the Army Air Corps the day after Pearl Harbor was attacked back in 1941 and he shared his story of being captured in Germany and being a POW for 19 months!  It was an amazing story!

University Club - 27th Floor

The event, while formal, was also a very laid back atmosphere.  We were laughing throughout most of the event, whether it be from the skits, the dance off, or people being sent to The Grog.

What's The Grog?  This is The Grog

The toilet was filled with far too many clear liquors and sweet and sour mix, to make it appear yellow.  The kiddie potty was filled with other random drinks, all non-alcoholic.  Don't worry, they hadn't been previously used (of this fact, I am not certain but I'm truly hoping it's true).

Prior to coming to the event, the wardroom (the officers within the squadron) were given rules for the dining out.  Any violation of the rules would result in you being called out and sent to The Grog.  And yes, significant others could be sent there as well.  If you were sent there, you had to fill your cup, toast "To the mess", drink the cup, then 'dump' it over your head proving you emptied the cup.  

Some of the rules were things such as no sitting before the XO, no eating before the XO, no talking over the XO, no foul or inappropriate language, no getting up and leaving your table during the meal, talks, etc without permission.  Of course, they can send you to The Grog for anything.  The point is just to keep the night fun and entertaining.  Thankfully for Nick and I, we were both able to avoid The Grog.  

The night ended with everyone just socializing, dancing, and having a good time.
Actually, the night ended with Nick and I (stone sober) and his CO, singing into the mic, completely unassisted by any music (I actually think a Miley song was playing) "The Devil Went Down to Georgia."  It was pretty epic!

I'll be honest, I was really dreading this event.  Normally I'm all about getting all fancy and seeing my husband in his whites.  But we're the newbies in the squadron.  I only knew one wife prior to going to this event.  I had very briefly met a few others the previous weekend at a soccer game, and while they were nice, the conversations were limited.
We showed up and Nick paraded me around, introducing me to the guys he works with.   Meanwhile, all the wives were standing in a circle talking.  I felt so out of place, being the only girl in the group of guys.  While I am extroverted, I'm not one to just start talking to people I don't know.  It takes me a while to warm up.  Being around Nick's coworkers, I wanted to make a good impression as well so I was pretty nervous.  I just kept standing there with Nick thinking, "I wish I knew the women.  It sucks to be this outsider."  Finally, I decided to grow a pair and said to Nick "I'm going to go over and talk with the wives."  And I did.  I began walking over and thankfully two of the girls remembered me from the soccer game, gave me a giant smile and a welcome.  I then was honest and just simply said "I decided to come join you all.  I was tired of the guys' work talk and figured I can't get to know you all if I stay over there."  I met a few new women and we all had a really great time.  While it was really uncomfortable, I'm happy I approached and put myself in their circle.  It definitely helped to make the night much more enjoyable.

Nick and I had a great time that night and it was nice for both of us to hang out with people from his squadron.  Although the newbies, we felt very welcome and I'm looking forward to the next three years with this squadron.