Inauguration!

Well, I'm back. Four whole days out of New York City...and you know what? When I came back I kind of assumed the city would be in ruins. I pictured dirty people, huddled in the streets, burning paper to keep warm, crying out 'Why Becky?! Why did you leave us?!'. I imagined that CNN would be reporting from the streets with questions like 'How did Becky's departure affect you? Did you even see it coming?'. I imaged zombies and a smell of pee and lots of gross things and sadness.


But I guess you were alright without me. I don't know HOW or WHY, but you were.


That being said, inauguration, overall, was great! I'm so glad that I got to go and be a part of history and other boring bla bla cliche sounding things.

Would you like to hear about my day, on Tuesday? NO? Well, you're a free person (I assume) so navigate elsewhere!

I woke up way too early on Tuesday. How early is too early on a day that you're not working? 5:40 am. That's right. 5. 4. 0. I don't know how I was able to get dressed, especially after a night of restless sleep (I was just so excited!), but somehow I managed. Julia drove me over to Michelle's and then...we were off!


Well, kind of. We got the metro quickly enough (Michelle lives around the corner), but then there were a few problems. The first problem was, all the other people there. STUPID people. Didn't they know that I a) have personal space issues and b) would be taking the metro? Furthermore, didn't they know I was TIRED and didn't want my 15 minute ride to take over an hour? I guess not.

That being said, we did get to chant 'O-BAM-A!' on the metro and sing someone happy birthday, so I think the ride itself averages out to neutral. OH, and if you could not tell the DC police that I took a picture of the metro that'd be great. I think it's against the law...


But then, we got off the metro. AND WAITED in the L'enfant Plaza metro station for 45 minutes. I'm not exxagerating or even exaggerating (you spell it with two 'g's apparently and not two 'x's) . Literally 45 minutes. I didn't bring a TV with me, or a gun, or a knife (they had strict regulations on the size of the bag that you could bring with you on the mall, and strict rules about WHAT you could bring with you, too)...but if I had...I probably would have gone ape shit and started a riot. I would have thrown my TV and shot someone. Really, I would have. It would have been like LA in the mid 90's.

Anyway...

Finally, we emerged onto the streets. I didn't notice the cold, at first, because I was so happy to be outside and have fresh oxygen. I was happy to be free! You can't be cold when you're free, right? There were people everywhere selling Obama buttons and Obama shirts (some of them were TACK-Y, with a capital 'T' and 'ACKY')...but we couldn't stop. We had to find our 'spot'. I'm not a runner, but had the streets been empty, I probably would have jogged along, all in a frenzy, tryind to stake out an area for Deb, Jason, Michelle and me. The music from 'Rocky' would have been playing. It would have been AWESOME.

But, since I'm basically a blob on little stick legs, and I HATE running, instead of taking to the mall triumphantly, american flag in hand, to the steps of the US Capitol, I waddled, slowly, hands in my pockets, to a spot right by the porta-potties in front of the Washington Monument.


Once we had our 'spot' Jason and I promptly decided we had to go to the bathroom...

We worried we might never see Debbie and Michelle again! But luckily, because of Michelle's enthusiasm and BRIGHT PINK coat, we spotted them quickly. We stood around for a while, making jokes and small talk. Slowly our feet got cold, and our faces. But our spirits? They stayed warm. Corny isn't it? But it's true.

So, we waited for a little bit. To ease the masses, they played Sunday night's inaugural concert on the jumbo screens. We were entertained until the inaugural ceremony started.

First there was a children's choir that sang mostly Christmas songs (um, didn't anyone tell them that a) Christmas is over? and b) CHRISTMAS is OVER! and c) even ADVENT is over, you idiots!). Then there was another choir, followed by a military band and then something else. Whatever, I wasn't really paying attention.

BUT THEN, all of the important people started to come in. First some committee members, then the Representatives, followed by the Senators and former Presidents. THEN...the Bidens! and FINALLY the Obamas!

I'm sure you all watched, so I won't go through the specifics but suffice it to say that I really enjoyed being on the mall and hearing Obama live! I thought his speech was great, and I was so happy to be able to be in DC and experience all of it in person.

It was also fun to spend time with Deb, Jason and Michelle and dance around to keep from freezing. I like dancing even when there's NO purpose involved so to dance around with an actual end goal (not dying) was great!

After the inaugural ceremony ended, we walked back to Michelle's. It was kind of like the movie 'The Day After Tomorrow' because all the road ways were clear and instead of cars, there were just people walking everywhere. We walked over this road bridge into VA and it felt like we were fleeing a massacre that had just taken place in DC. Well, except for the fact that no one was panicking and we were all happy and not incredibly depressed about the world ending. Because you know, the world didn't end on inauguration day. In fact, a NEW world began!

A world full of 'YES WE CAN!' and a non-waspy white house. A world of hypo-allergenic dogs in the white house and fairness in Washington. OHHH what a world we're living in!