So I'm in DC...

As many folks know by now, I'm in DC for the inauguration. I'm REALLY excited to be here! (Of course, part of that is that DC is one of my FAVORITE places on Earth.) Part of me wishes that I'd known before Tuesday that I was going to be able to make it (and that I had tickets for the standing area) and part of me is just grateful that I'm here in the first place. I have several friends in the area and colleagues that are up for the event. I'm a little jealous of some of them!

I started the drive up on Saturday, and stayed in Fredericksburg, VA. Getting up here was no problem...everybody and their mother told me about how it was going to be traffic, traffic, traffic...and it took me less time than it normally does, and I didn't even speed. (That much.) I got into the District around 11:00, and to my friend Jennifer's house (she works at the NEA, and is a colleague of mine) about half an hour later. Thanks to Jennifer, I have a place to stay inside the District, which is AWESOME. (As opposed to having to stay outside, and train my way in tomorrow...which would be grueling...)

Once I got settled into the hotel room yesterday, my friend Susan and I went down to the Washington Monument for the Inaugural Concert. We both wished that we'd gone earlier! We got there for the last 45 minutes or so. But let me tell you - singing 'This Land is Your Land" with 600,000 people is one amazing experience! It was awesome! Everybody was cordial, people held the chains for other people to go over or under...it was just amazing. (This, as opposed to what I'm used to - 'Get out of the way!')

After that, we came back to the hotel, and went over to the NEA Building for the reception there. Because I'm no longer a classroom teacher (and therefore an active fulltime member), I didn't know very many folks...so...it wasn't the greatest, but I had great food (and GREAT chocolate covered strawberries!). I came on back after about an hour, and had dinner. I didn't really have anything to do or anybody to do it with, so I just kinda stayed in the room. (Sad, I know. I was disappointed in myself. As many friends as I have in this area, and I didn't have contact info for about half of them. The ones I called were all busy.)

This morning turned out different, though. I was up and at 'em by 9:00. I went down to the Mall, and walked around. That's when I got on MSNBC! It ROCKED! Of course, nobody I sent a text message to was able to get themselves to a tv, so I don't know that anybody I know saw it, but I saw myself on the monitor! It rocked! And Morning Joe is actually a nice guy...

I wandered down to the Capitol, where the stage is ready and set. There were hundreds of people down there. I met a nice family from Bethesda who came in for the day to let their children (5 and 7) see it. The older one was all into it...the younger one was crying because she was bored. I can understand that.

I got lots of pictures of the Capitol. It's amazing! Tomorrow, I'll be standing about 1000 feet away, but I'll have a jumbotron to look at, which will make it just as good as being in the orange section. :) I need no seat. I just need to be able to be there while the candidate I voted for and supported makes history. I cannot wait.