preping for the inaugration

the last week i have meant to take my camera to work. i finally did on thursday and friday, but it was so cold i didn't have the thought to pull it out and actually take some photos.

it was a big week. i said good-bye to the bulk of my office, as they were political appointees in the bush administration and had to resign on friday. it was really weird say good-bye to so many colleagues at once. it is always sad when work friends get new jobs, but this was a huge mass exodus. next week it will just be me and ben trying to figure out how to get our work done as we try to figure out what our work is.

until the bitter, ridiculous cold hit, i was running quite a bit on the mall in my new fancy shoes. it was getting more and more difficult because of all the inauguration prep. and it is clear that there are more tourists than a regular january.

on sunday i went for a tuesday i went jogging and had the hardest time because of the smell of all the port-a-potties.

i borrowed this photo from the NYT
it really doesn't do it justice.
you cannot imagine how many port-a-potties there are on the mall
i heard a worker say that every, unused, port-a-potty in a five state radius was on the mall and parade route

that's me
just kidding, but i was running in that exact spot recently, just not in the day

here is the view i've been passing on the way to my office
it looks awesome, and even tho people are driving like idiots and don't know how to handle a cyclist, i don't care because obama is about to stand on that podium and become our president!

in other good news, my friend amanda contacted me at work on friday and told me she had a "silver ticket" for me to get in to see the inauguration. that means i will be really close, but still standing (really close is relative)

it also means i am going to have to ditch my girl scouts...i feel kinda guilty
but i am totally sure they would ditch me if they had this opportunity
we don't even know each other

i just have to get the ticket from amanda!

yesterday after a good hearty swim with katie, elaine, and mike
cheryl and i headed out for a bunch of errands
we got burnt out and decided to end early
i was walking into my house
ladened with stuff when my neighbor told me that obama was going to be at union station in about 30 minutes and that there weren't very many people there
i was SUPER excited
cheryl and i popped over to union station
by the time we got there, it was obvious that other people had gotten that memo too




in retrospect it is obvious that we weren't really thinking
because why would obama try and make his way through union station.
it is a pain to make it through when it is crowded and you aren't so loved
we should have waited outside where the limo was picking him up

i scouted all around trying to figure out where he would end up and how we could best see him
cheryl planted herself at the ben and jerry's, which was a good move because eventually we got ice cream



today is the concert:
Musical performers scheduled for the event include Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Bono, Garth Brooks, Sheryl Crow, Renee Fleming, Josh Groban, Herbie Hancock, Heather Headley, John Legend, Jennifer Nettles, John Mellencamp, Usher Raymond IV, Shakira, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, will.i.am, and Stevie Wonder.

i am pretty excited