What a Good Sport

My husband is such a good sport. I am lucky to be married to a man who would indulge me to the point that he would dress like this and take me to a masquerade ball. Colin Firth has nothin' on this guy: I got tickets for a ball sponsored by the Caldwell Center for the Arts, and I asked Brent if he would take me. He hemmed and hawed and never really gave a definitive answer, mainly because he was planning on waterskiing that day and didn't want to cut it short to get dressed in Renaissance clothes and mingle with a bunch of artsy people he didn't know. I must have thrown a big enough fit, though, because he relented and rented a costume, and since the boat broke down early in the boating trip (fate, maybe?), he decided he would escort me to the ball. (I couldn't convince him to wear a mask, though. But I didn't push too hard. One has to pick one's battles.)

We arrived and found that most of the people there had gone all out, so we weren't the only ones dressed up. There were four rooms with fine art displays--paintings, pottery, thrown glass, photography, beadwork--and the halls were lined with paintings. Most of them were pretty good, although I have to say that I wouldn't pay $3,400 for a huge painting of a chrysallis (a cocoon that large is really very scary). We did have to avert our eyes a few times, however, since one of the artists (we met her--an older lady who reminds me of the "dorm mom" on the sitcom The Facts of Life) seems to "specialize" in nudes, at least nude rear-ends. The event organizers had arranged for a couple of chamber orchestras to be playing most of the time, there were a couple of classical ballet performances, a couple of classical vocal performances, and a Renaissance ballroom dance lesson. I felt very Pride and Prejudice-like, and Brent participated in everything. He is so great!

All of this might have been even more enjoyable if we could have sat and sipped a soda or ice water or something, but alas, there was nothing to drink but alcoholic beverages, so my wonderful husband went to Albertsons in his get-up and bought some bottles of water for us and our friends Jared and Christy Nye (pictured above). He claims to have gotten a lot of compliments on his waistcot. I don't imagine the cashiers at Albertsons in Caldwell see too many guys with lace hanging out of their golden sleeves. . . . .Overall, it was a terrific date and nice change from dinner and/or a movie.

And speaking of good-looking Gunnell men, here is Dalin in his tux for prom. I don't have a picture of him with his date because I gave birth to a male child. Explanation: he didn't want to look dumb taking pictures with the camera I sent with him. After all, the other guys weren't taking pictures--geez! Evidently the girls took lots of pictures, so as soon as I can get my digital hands on some of them, I'll get them posted.

And as a postscript for those who are interested, Cassie's choir got a superior rating at festival last week, earning the third highest score from the judges. She auditioned for the advanced upperclass choirs last week. Shaina took first in the 100m and second in the 200m and 400m this week, which is pretty great considering it's the first time she has ever run the 400 and she beat her teammate's fastest time by 5 seconds. She suffered a pretty severe muscle strain in the 200, though, so she is resting it this week. Her coach is panicked and is praying she will be able to compete in the district meet this week.