Dear family and friends,
Yesterday we received a picture by email from the Christmas party that we attended last weekend. We had a great time and really were able to relax and enjoy ourselves.
The party was given by General Chandler and his lovely wife, Eva Marie. It was in their historic home that stood while Pearl Harbor was being bombed so many years ago. There were several things that were unique:
1) Ed really enjoyed himself and by God's grace was able to come out of work mode. Not only was the party at his boss's house, but it was attended by many community leaders which is right up Ed's Public Affairs alley.
2) I wore a sleeveless dress and did not freeze! You know all of those Christmas dresses that your limiting options are: 1) You are willing to catch pneumonia 2) You have to cover up with a coat/shawl in order to not catch pneumonia 3) You always hunt diligently for Christmas dresses with long sleeves and bypass the beautiful ones that you are sure will be risking getting pneumonia by purchasing.
3) The best part about the dress is that Caroline came running up to me just as I was finally in the front of the line at Ross's with this dress. She talked me into buying it knowing I could return it if it didn't fit as there was no way we were getting out of that long line. How fun to have my 14 year old choose a dress for me!
4) The last several weeks have been filled with unusual amounts of rain so keeping my hair dry all day was quite the challenge. The girls and I had just had our bimonthly hair cuts that morning and the dear lady who cuts it fixed it for special without charging me. When I came out from running from the Commissary Caroline willingly sacrificed her own hair in order to keep mine dry. She was so sweet to become a drowned rat in about 20 seconds flat.
5) We ran out of the house to drive a street away in order to stay dry.
6) This is the first Christmas party ever that I have left my shoes outside at the front door and remained barefoot the rest of the evening. Coming from Texas I had never heard to taking your shoes off at someones house and was quite surprised when we moved to New Jersey and found that this was common practice. It makes perfect sense when you live somewhere where your dripping feet will damage carpets. The four star comfortably donned his house shoes for the duration of the party.
7) I got quite tickled as we were in between round one and round two. This party was given in two shifts. We were asked to stay for both due the Ed's relationships with the community leaders. It started promptly at 4:30 and at 6:00, without being asked, everyone promptly left. 30 minutes to reset and the next party proceeded. At 6:30 they came, and with a little lea way due to knowing it was the last party, without being asked, by 8:10 everyone had left. It was a wonderful evening and no one had to worry about leaving to early.
I love Christmas parties, even when they are advertised as "holiday parties" which they are the majority of the time now in the politically correct military world. The Christmas tree was a light blue decorated with Air Force emblems and lights. Silent Night and The First Noel played from the top of the stairs by the Air Force band. Many people said, "Merry Christmas!" I love these moments, the moments that the world honors and acknowledges my Jesus whether they know it or not.
Love in Christ,
Dinah for The Troops
