"Head...Shoulders...Knees and...SOCKS!"

We all know that the upcoming inauguration is big news.  But I'm wondering if it's being covered as much around the country as it is here in DC.  Every major local news website has it's own section devoted to it - blogs, photos, updates, closings, etc.  It's all everyone around here is talking about.  What is Michelle going to wear?  What roads will be closed? What balls are now going on?  How fast did parade tickets sell out (1 minute)?  How many porta-potties will be on the Mall?  What does their hotel suite look like and what is the thread count of the sheets?  How are the girls adjusting to their new school (after all the hype about which school they would attend)? Obama went to lunch at DC landmark Ben's Chili Bowl - but WHAT DID HE ORDER FOR LUNCH??  DID HE HAVE TO PAY???  HOW MUCH DID HE TIP???  It's gotten mad crazy around here.

Now while most people around the country will watch all of this on TV on the 20th and move on.  We've been having to live through it.  As excited as I am, I'm certainly ready for all of this Change to be over. 

Lucky for me, as an employee of the Federal Government in the Washington, DC Metro Area, I have the day off on Tuesday.  Even more lucky, we also have off on Monday for MLK day (some of my colleagues are even lucky enough to have off the Friday before).  So my plan involves staying as far away from the Mall and downtown DC as possible.  Now we could have gone down to Pennsylvania Avenue early this morning to watch the parade rehearsal with a couple thousand of our closest friends, but we chose to stay indoors this cold morning.  Four years ago we were waiting in line to get into the United States Botanical Garden (on the west side of the Capitol) and were listening (and could see part of) the inaugural ceremony rehearsal.  Av had fun dancing to Hail to the Chief over and over.

All of the major roads leading from Virginia into the District are closed.  (I think its amusing that there are Virginians who think this is a slight against them because of the Civil War.)  I'd show you a map, but it's a 9 page PDF document listing all the closings and restrictions.  The two highways that lead from the Capital Beltway down into the District will be shut down, and all bridges going from Virginia into DC across the Potomac are closed as well.  Yesterday they opened them up to pedestrian traffic, but that was after a lot of complaints by locals & officials.  So even if I wanted to go to work that day, I couldn't, my office is in the zone.  Well I could, but it would take forever using only public transportation that will already be overwhelmed with the projected 2 million extra people that are expected to come in to town that day (down from the projected estimate of 4-5 mill).  One of my colleagues, who as an essential employee was expected to go in, was going to catch a cab to the Metro at 4:30AM, to go to a stop one away from our building (because the closed Metro stop will be closed) so that he then has to walk about a half mile to get to work.  A couple hundered Smithsonian employees will be camping out at the museums just so they can get to work.  Lord only knows what sort of special dispensation they will give to first responders, hospital personnell and service industry workers who are expected to be at work that day.  Oh...and they aren't even talking about the weather yet.  Luckily (?) it's still too far out to predict what it would be like that day.  We've had a mild winter so far, but I wouldn't be surprised if all of a sudden we get all the snow that has been avoiding us thus far.

As for the ShocKs family, we don't need to go into DC that day.  Or really any day that weekend.  Shiny does have to go to work, and the boy has school (yay private school! All the public school systems in the area are closed as well), but they are in the opposite direction of the city and outside the Beltway.  Shiny, out of concern for my well-being, suggested that maybe I'd want to go out to the outlet mall that's about 35 miles away - just so that in case there is a disaster or major emergency, I wouldn't be at home.  I thought that was incredibly sweet, but even if I wanted to go shopping that day, I'd still have to get back home at some point.  And as we learned in the rush of everyone trying to get out of the city on 9/11, in the case of extreme emergency, that's not going to be an easy thing to do. 

So what are my plans for 1/20/09?  Well... I'll get up before dawn and help the boys get out of the house like I do most mornings, and then I'm going back to bed.  I'll get up around 9:30, then wander downstairs to watch the swearing in starting at 10.  If I'm up earlier, and the weather isn't too bad, then I might go to the Starbucks around the corner.  I will then sit in front of the TV and witness history in the making.  Why stand outside in freezing cold gosh-knows-what weather on the Mall watching this on a jumbotron, when I can watch inside, in my jammies, in the comfort of my own home?  Obama has to be sworn in by noon, so that gives me time to pause the DVR and get lunch (an inaugural splurge!) before watching the parade.  Then I get the rest of the afternoon to myself, and I wait for my boys to get home at dinner time.

I went back to look at my journals to see how I spent the 2001 and 2005 inaugural days.  In 2001 it snowed, we went ice skating and hung out in our apartment playing board games.  In 2005, I was down in Florida on a business trip.  So I hung out with some old friends and took Av on a long walk.  Obviously I cared very deeply about the Bush inaugurals.  This time around though, I think I'll pay attention.