MAJ Marshall

Well, it's official. Jason went from being "an old Captain to a young Major". He had his promotion and party on Monday, and there was much celebrating in the Marshall Family. It was wonderful hearing such heartfelt things said about my husband during his ceremony. A great turnout, for sure. His parents and I were so proud.

The Marshall Family: Tracy, Steve, Faith (with much less hair than she walked in with), Megs (aka Vise Grip Marshall) and Proud Karen

Tracy, and Jason's dad Steve made the l o n g trip down from Parsons to help with the festivities. Thank goodness, since Tracy was instrumental in pulling off Jason's party. She and I stayed up late, then got up early to cook up a feast. (Jason's dad provided "mood music" in terms of his snoring in the background.) I've never had so much fun cooking while being so exhausted!

My gift to Jason was this surprise Cigar Box Cake. The cake artist did a WONDERFUL job, despite my best efforts to destroy the cake before even leaving her house. My biggest nightmare was tripping while carrying the cake. Well, that didn't happen, thank God. What did happen was a big gust of wind which blew the "banner" out of my carrying box and onto the ground, where it promptly cracked in half! Determined not to panic (okay, I was way panicked and trying not to scream, hyperventilate, or faint), I picked the banner up (it had landed on the paper towel it was drying on) and Angel was able to fix it. Crisis averted. For the time being.

And then Meggie decided she needed her time to shine, too. During the ceremony, Faith was a little antsy. She so wanted to be up with her Daddy. What happened next was so grotesque, it is almost funny. Megs decides that Faith's hair was oh so lovely to play with. She grabs a fistful of it at the same time Faith decides to take a large step back. The clump of hair looked much bigger in Meg's little fist than it actually was... at least, that is what I am telling myself. The bald spot on Faith's head isn't too bad, either. I am left with two revelations: One- a five month old baby has a grip stronger than a vise. Two: Nana and buttons on a digital camera can distract any two-year-old survivor of a near scalping from screaming during a promotion.

The (repaired) cake sits on the table by Jason's Basic Training photo and the roses he gave me.

Imagine moist, double fudge cake with a cream filling, all covered in tootsie-roll flavored fondant. The cigars were edible as well, and a BIG hit with the soldiers Jason (ahem- I mean Major Marshall) works with.

The buffet line: we dined on Yankee Brisket, Shrimp Tortellini Salad, Kielbasa, Green Beans, and rolls.

Jason's boss, Colonel Honore, laughs while Jason cuts into his cake. Why the laughter? I had just asked Jason to "Bend over so I can get you." Men and their dirty minds!

Can you tell I'm pleased with the cake?