Cindereller and Bond James Bond

The Marine Corps Birthday Ball was this past weekend, and Mr. Fancy Pants and I went.  John had a gorgeous tuxedo made.  It fits him perfectly and looks really handsome.  I had a formal skirt made and then topped it off with a shirt and sweater...I am just not girly enough to carry off the whole formal gown thing.  Even though John was rather skeptical, he even said it worked out okay.

What was really fun for me was having a pedicure and (my first!) manicure (did you read that Carroll and Holly?!?) and up-do.  The last time I got my hair done was for Holly's wedding 13 or 14 years ago...

The ball was very nice, and John and I had a lot of fun talking with folks.  There was an open bar.  I'm not going to elaborate beyond that.

Here are some pictures...

 This is Sheila, the angel with the mani, pedi, and hair skills.  She's from the Philippines but has been in Doha for 12 years.    She has three boys who returned to Manila two years ago because the schools here weren't very good and yet were very expensive.  The oldest boy is 18 or so, and he cares for his two younger brothers (one is maybe 10 and the other is 4, I think?  My sad memory is showing).  Their grandmother helps with cooking and cleaning, but otherwise the eldest brother looks after the other two while he is also in college full time.  Sheila gets to go home once per year, which is very very generous.  She and her husband are both in Doha but want to return home soon.  Can you imagine being that far away from your young children?  Their story is not unique, but it is heart-wrenching.   How can I ever whine about anything?
Here we are before we left. 
Yes, my pink toes matched the pink sweater. 

John's tux is really exceptional.  He looks so purty in it that I'm trying to find other events to attend.  In fact, the Army Ball is in June...

At the beginning of the evening, the color guard marched in, and they played the Star Spangled Banner.  That's the first time I've heard it here.  I think most people at our table got tears in their eyes.  It was a beautiful thing to hear.

I love this next scene of the color guard exiting in their handsome uniforms and the Qatari security service at the back in their handsome white thobes.


After the presentation of the flags, the Ambassador was introduced, we watched a video about the Marines' service and sacrifice, and then a fantastic gentleman (about our age) who had been in Afghanistan spoke about what it means to be in the service and what it means to be a Marine.  He did a great job speaking.

Dinner was a buffet of all sorts of yummy things.  Dessert was also a buffet.  This is John's dessert plate.  Yes, he has small servings of three different desserts (you know...the "sampling technique") and then a HUGE BEEF RIB.  Cause those huge beef ribs were good enough to merit being called dessert or main course or salad or aperitif.

This last picture is after dinner (so not too late into the evening).  No, we are not saturated. John is making his Bond James Bond face.  It was a really fun night with lots of great colleagues from TAMU-Q and a truly nice party put on by the Marines.  Speaking of that, only six young Marines are stationed at the embassy here.  This was a lot of work for only six guys who otherwise have jobs to do and who are all most likely under the age of 30.  They deserve a lot of praise.