Monday evening

Today's image brought to you in honor of the Mardi Gras season. It show Carnivale in Venice in 2003.

Last evening, I went to my very first ever Enlisted Spouse's Club meeting. At our very first duty assignment 27 or so years ago, I was discouraged from joining the ESC (then called the Enlisted WIVE'S Club) by women who were members. They said the club was having problems and they just weren't comfortable recommending joining to anyone. After that, I had children or a job and just never got involved. Now that it's just Tom and me, I have more time, so I gave it a try. They seemed like a nice group of people. Discussion included a fundraising golf tournament and a fundraising crafts fair. Apparently a lot of fundraising is done. The group also talked about providing cakes for promotion ceremonies. The time of day has changed and now the ceremonies take place first thing in the morning. Cake seemed inappropriate that time of day, so they looked into muffins or bagels. Unfortunately, that type of food would have to be ordered from the (All Ranks) Club where the ceremonies are held and would cost much more than budgeted for the cakes. I guess I understand the need to prevent direct competition with their own products. It was decided to continue to serve cake since it is permitted by the Club and still gets eaten. There was also discussion about the Scholarship Program. Applications are available from several venues -- but they say they are from the Officer's and Civilians Spouse's Club (OCSC). It's too late to fix that this year, but it has been agreed to change it to include the names of BOTH groups that contribute. The ESC actually contributes more to the fund, and their name has not been included in the past.

After the business portion of the meeting, we adjourned for refreshments (baked potatoes and all the fixings, soft drinks and birthday cake) and drinks followed by a several games of bingo. I didn't win anything, but it was fun to play and chat with other spouses.

After the ESC Meetging, Tom and I went over to the gym to watch Intramural Basketball. Tom's squadron team won handily and thanked him for his presence. He and I were the only supporters for CE present. I think part of that is the 9:00pm start time. It's easier for us since we have no kids at home. Last night, there was even a shortage of players. The coach asked Tom if he brought his shorts. Then thought to ask if he plays basketball. Tom said grade school was his last time on a court...then thought about it and realized THAT was before any of the players on the court had been born! I'm not sure it was a happy realization.

There is another basketball game tonight. We'll be going after dinner. Last night we learned there are four games scheduled this week. Since we have two dinners this week, I imagine we will miss at least one of them.

Any big plans for YOU this week?