My Awesome Inaugural View

Right now, I'm listening to Snow Patrol.  How appropriate, right?  Brrrrrr.  I totally almost busted my tail walking Brokaw after work today.  I need Scott Hamilton to come teach me how to ice skate because the sidewalks are like ice, ice, baby!

I can't sleep, for some reason.  Maybe because it's 3:00 in the afternoon and even though I've been doing this dreadful overnight schedule for 2+ YEARS NOW, I'm still not used to it.  Oh, I dream of the day this part is over.  Sometimes I think about that country song, "You're gonna miss this,"  I love that song, and I know it's probably true but on days like this, when I lay awake stressing about not being asleep and counting the hours of sleep I'm not getting, I wish it were over.

Oh, well.  I'm fortunate enough to have a job.  I am thankful for that.  And it's a job I do throughly enjoy.  Some days, like last Tuesday, I simply cannot believe I get paid for this stuff.  It's surreal.  Front row to history.  An amazing view of Barack Obama as he became our 44th President.

We went out the day before to get all of our equipment in place.

Totally dorking out....

The Capitol looks so pretty all dressed up, yes?

Watching the stand-ins during rehearsal.

I thought it was funny that the fake Obamas were all dressed up and the fake John Roberts was rocking a fleece..

Maybe he was just focused on learning the words to the oath... OH WAIT...

**I seriously just spent 40 minutes trying to work on this post and I just hit something and deleted a bunch of stuff... Now I'm actually feeling semi tired, so I'm going to seize upon this opportunity.  Perhaps I will have time again soon to update with pictures of the actual inauguration ceremony...

  Hi! It's me.  2 weeks after Inauguration, and I'm back.  Finally.

What I will remember most about the day is how cold it was.

Eric's water froze when he opened it.

 

We were out there for live shots starting at 5am.

This is clearly still early-on, since I am smiling.

The crowd on the Mall was insane!  I'm pretty sure I haven't ever seen that many people in one place in my life!!

 
We spotted several celebrities in the crowd, including BEYONCE! (can't get her song out of my head!) and Diddy.

The best thing about this picture is that it looks like Diddy is wearing that purple glove.

 

I've also never seen so many Presidents in one place!

41!

 

Bill & Hill.

Say what you want about Hillary Clinton, I am almost always impressed with her highlights.

 

And 43.  Georgie.  How I will miss you.

 

And the man of the hour.

 

Apparently when you're the incoming free leader of the world, they put a little blanket on your seat for you.

Barack didn't use it.  I wish they would have put these blankets up on the media risers because I assure you, they would have been used!

  

I thought Malia was so cute, taking pictures.

Joe went first.

Look in the back and you can see Mac!  Sportin' some shades!

  

And then it was President Obama's turn!

Funny thing about this:  I did not even notice that they messed the oath up!

I was too cold.  My ears had shut down way before this point.

  

I thought little Sasha was so cute afterwards, it was like she was saying, "Yesss!!"

  

Then Obama gave his inaugural speech.

I swear, it got colder and colder!

But, what an amazing experience!!

 Mac took the shades off for the speech.

My correspondent, Nikole, is under there somewhere!

 

And my photographer, Eric, is under there somewhere. (some people thought this was me on Facebook, Ha!)

We were joking that they looked like criminals.  Actually, we were calling them something else but I don't want to put that word and other words on this blog post at risk of coming up together on a Google search, and ending up in Guantanamo Bay or something!

 

See? There's Nikole...

 

And Eric.

 

And yours truly... this was after my 2nd pair of gloves unraveled and I turned my scarf and cell phone into a makeshift headset so I didn't have to take my hands out of my pockets!

Genus, I thought.

You know I was geeking out with all of the big name media around like David Gregory...

Truth be told, I was more excited to see his executive producer, Betsy Fischer, in action!!

(I know many of you don't know who she is, but trust me, she's awesome!)

 

And you know wherever there are a couple hundred television cameras around.. you're sure to see this guy!

Senator Schumer loves to be on TV and he's always a good soundbite.

 

All in all, it was one incredible day! 

The 20 hour day, even in the cold, even sleeping on an air mattress in my boss's office... TOTALLY WORTH IT!

I mean, who gets to be this close to this stuff?  Seriously.  I know I will never forget it.  And I am so thankful I got to have a front row seat to such an incredible, historical event.

Side note: That lady above President Obama there, trying to rock the Little Red Riding Hood look like I was, that's his mother-in-law and she's living in the White House with them... I keep meaning to look that up... how many MILs have lived in the White House?  It'd be a fun fact to know..

Finally, I finished this blog.  Now I can get over my guilt about it.  Sorry it took 2 weeks to post.  I haven't had the time, I've been crazy busy!