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The Pom Pom

We've never been allowed to see Kerry's office.  You have to have security clearance up the wazoo in order to even enter the building.

So imagine our surprise and delight when the top dogs decided to hold a family tour day where we could go see where he works!

They had a HUGE response to the offer.  They had a lot more family members come for the tour than they had ever anticipated.  We all like to see where our spouses work, it gives us a picture in our minds about where they are during the day.  They provided pizza and coke for all of us and then we sat down and waited for the opening presentation.

As it just so happened there weren't enough seats for everyone and we found ourselves sitting in the very second row.  I usually prefer to sit a little further back.  The seats in front of us were still empty while we ate but another family came along and sat in them just before the colonel got up to speak.

Of course, the family in front of us had a ridiculously tall teen boy who sat right in front of Emily.  Not only was he very tall, but he also had on a loose knit stocking cap which he had pulled up so it was elongated and added a few inches to his height.  Not only was he very tall with an elongated stocking hat which made him even taller, but he had a fluffy pom pom on the hat which was the size of my fist.

Emily and I gave each other a "look" because we both knew that she wasn't going to be able to see the slideshow with Mr. Tall Teen and Pom Pom in front of her.

Jokingly, I leaned over to Emily and said, "I dare you to squeeze his pom pom."  I figured I'd get a good laugh out of her.

Quick as a flash, Emily's hand shot out and squeezed the pom pom on top of the hat.  Unfortunately, the teen's mother was sitting next to him and she saw Emily's quick hand movement out of the corner of her eye and she whipped around to look at her.

Also unfortunately, the teen felt Emily squeeze his pom pom and he whipped around as well but he apparently thought I did it because he stared at me and didn't look past me to see my guilty daughter sitting next to me.  We must have looked like two deer in the headlights for a second as mother and son stared at mother and daughter.

Then they turned back around and Emily and I started silently laughing because the colonel was getting up to give a speech and of course we couldn't laugh out loud.  We literally shook through the entire presentation, trying to be silent but absolutely filled to the brim with giggles.  And naturally we were right there up front where they colonel, his wife, and all the other people in charge could see us.  I didn't look up through most of the speech and definitely didn't make eye contact with anyone.

Even though he didn't turn around to look at us again, every so often the teen boy would reach up with both hands and clamp his hat more tightly onto his head as if he was afraid we were going to try to steal it.  Usually he would do it just as we had gotten our laughter under control and it would set us off into silent fits again.

I managed to get myself under control before the tour started but Emily was laughing in fits and starts through the entire evening.  Every so often she would see the teen boy and his family and it would set her off again.

Emily and pom poms do not mix!

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