Inauguration Day - January 20, 2009

What an amazing day! Yet another fun time on the national mall, witnessing history in the making. Here are some personal highlights from the day.

• How many layers do you need to stay warm while standing outside in 20 degree temperatures with wind chill factors below that for 6 hours? Not sure I would say I was warm exactly, but I ended up with 1 coolmax turtleneck, 1 smart wool cycling jersey, 1 fleece pullover, 1 wind blocking cycling jacket, 1 well insulated winter coat, 1 cashmere scarf, 1 pair of fleece lined wind blocking cycling tights, 1 pair of jeans, 2 pairs of smart wool socks, hiking shoes, 2 pairs of gloves, 1 fleece lined wool hat, a hood, and some "hotties" in my shoes and I managed.
  
• We scored a super nice metrobus driver (most of them are super nice on a regular basis actually) that picked us up on the walk to the Shirlington bus station. Next stop DC! From the time we left my house to the time we got off the bus on C St. SW took an amazing 15 minutes.
• The volunteers, today and all weekend, were so happy and cheerful they were just fun to be around.
• The energy on the mall was incredible - people from all over the country and the world talking, sharing stories of how far they had come, and how long they'd been standing in the cold (some since 4am).
• A fantastic inaugural address that captured the moment perfectly and gives me hope for the future. Having read Lincoln's second inaugural address the night before, I noticed some common themes with Obama's speech - specifically the need to work together to rebuild our country and the need to reach out to other nations with respect.
  
• Frauke, overcome by emotion as President Obama finished his inaugural address, thanking everyone for voting! She received several hugs from complete strangers.
• Celebratory cartwheels on the mall to celebrate a new President with a vision for a better tomorrow.
• Walking home over the 14th Street bridge and down 395 - a route typically only traversed in a car, and doing the Obama Dance along the way.
• Arriving at Carlyle in Shirlington, about 4 miles and 90 minutes later for heat, food, and a TV to watch the parade.

It was an amazing day.

More pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/ironjeh/Inauguration2009#.

MLK Day of Service - January 19, 2009

President-Elect Obama declared today a National Day of Service, in addition to it also being Martin Luther King day. Inspired after the phenomenal inaugural concert last night, Theresa and I decided to head back into DC today to volunteer at RFK stadium to assemble care packages for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.


We weren't the only ones! The real volunteers, who were organizing all of us, kept thanking us over and over again for coming, yet we felt like we barely did anything! They deserved the thanks! We showed up for our designated 1 hr. shift to make repeated passes through an assembly line like trick or treaters on Halloween, acquiring the designated contents from volunteers, sealing our bags shut, and returning to the end of the line to do it again. Our volunteer leaders asked us each to do at least 5 bags so that they could meet the goal of 75,000 bags by the end of the day. After we filled 5 bags, we headed over to the letter writing station to write thank you notes to the soldiers.

It was nice not only to be helping in a small way, but to be involved with a volunteer effort that recognizes the sacrifices our service men and women are making on behalf of all of us. These wars have been going on for years, and I'm ashamed to say that this is the first time I've done anything aside from donate money to help support the troops. It's nice to see the President-Elect calling for everyone to take responsibility and participate in making this country a better place. He may have Messiah status, but he can't do it alone.

The best part of the afternoon was our dance lesson! Yes, you read that right. Before we were allowed to fill a single bag, we had to learn the "Obama Dance." Our dedicated volunteer leaders led us in Obama cheers and coached us to Obama Dance move perfection. It got a little bit competitive with the other volunteer groups in the stadium, but fun was had by all. I captured it on video below.

There is a great spirit in Washington, DC right now. There are so many people in town, yet everyone is in a good mood, happy to help a stranger, and join together for the greater good. I just hope it lasts past inauguration day!

We Are One

I love living in America. I also love living in Washington, DC. (On non-working, non-rush hour days anyway!). I took the metro into the city today with Theresa and Frauke for the "We Are One" Inaugural concert for Barack Obama at the Lincoln Memorial. It was the experience of a lifetime, and one I won't soon forget.

The opportunity to stand on the mall, shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of thousands of my closest friends and be inspired by both the words and music of performers from around the world was electrifying. I can't adequately put it into words. The mere fact that there were so many people in once place and that everyone was polite and courteous was a monumental feat in and of itself. Obama has inspired people across the globe of all races and nationalities to join together and rise up to meet the daunting challenges ahead, and it was clear on the mall today that we were all there because we were all in some way inspired by our President-Elect. There were repeated chants of "O-bam-a...O-bam-a." I had to laugh when the opening speaker asked us to remember that Obama "is a human being, not the Messiah." But in the hearts of those there today, he has Messiah status for sure.



The performers were awesome. It was a rare opportunity to see performers together that likely never share the same stage, let alone the same song, but in the spirit of the event, they came together as one for some thrilling renditions of favorite tunes such as One Love, Lean on Me, The Rising, Shower The People, American Pie, Shout, We Shall Be Free, Pink Houses, In the Name of Love, This Land is Your Land, and many others. I really just cannot explain the experience. I feel like I was part of something magical, and just maybe caught a glimpse of what the 1963 March on Washington or Woodstock (minus the pot and the sex) were like. This year has seen the country come together, united behind arguably the most inspiring President-Elect ever, and at moments today, I was nearly moved to tears. I wish my dad was alive to see it. I think he'd be inspired too (even though Gloria Estefan was not among the performers). On our way back to the metro, Theresa and I did celebratory cartwheels on the mall - a tradition that started years ago at a 3rd of July concert. What an incredible day.

Girls Night

The great thing about the holidays is the people visiting from out of town that you don't see as often as you'd like to. Emily and Lisa - my former slacker lane mates from Tues/Thurs swim practices both moved away almost 2 years ago. Emily to Vienna, Austria and Lisa to San Francisco. But as luck would have it, they were both home visiting family for the holidays and we managed to have a slacker lane reunion - and NOT at the pool!

What started out as plans to just meet up for dinner on what was my last day of vacation, turned into dinner at a great Greek place near my house that I had no idea even existed, followed by a run through Blockbuster for a movie rental, a quick trip by Theresa's house to pick up a wetsuit she is generously giving Emily, and then back to my house for a crazy fun girls night!

I had a left over bottle of champagne from New Years Eve that the girls kindly agreed to kill for me. So we had drinks while trying to help Emily try on the wetsuit to make sure it fit. Then we decided that Emily, being out of the country for way too long, desperately needed a Facebook page so that we can keep better tabs on her! So after snapping the following quick picture of her in her new wetsuit, glass of champagne in hand, we set about the business of setting up her profile.

Once that mission was accomplished, we settled in with our bottle of champagne to watch Sex and the City. Love that movie! It was such a fun, random night. I'd forgotten just how much I missed having them around until I got to see them again. I think my new years resolution is to have more crazy times like this where you literally just laugh all night.

If only I had a picture...

While cleaning out my grandmother's house in Williamsburg on Friday, I came across several entertaining finds. I wish I'd had my camera with me to document them. My favorites include:

• The many packages of food, with cardboard packaging that likely pre-dates me. My Aunt Janet found one item with an expiration date of 1978.
  
• The box of cake flour that had been taped shut with brown packing tape, and clearly had made the move from Helmsdale Lane in Alexandria more than 12 years ago.
• My Aunt Janet's report card from the University of Richmond where she got a "D" in biology (and the reaction on her kids faces when I showed it to them).
  
• A disposable styrofoam coffee cup (with plastic lid) from the Holiday Inn that had been washed and put away in a cabinet with the coffee mugs.
  
• Countless bags of chex mix stashed in nearly every kitchen cabinet.
• The random food items placed in cabinets with pots and pans, glassware, etc. My favorite - tupperware containers with lids closed tight, containing unopened bags of chex mix, candy corn, etc. As if she ran out of places to store the chex mix so she had to start putting it inside the containers.
  
• An overwhelming number of half burned candles.
• A plastic bag containing every greeting card ever sent to my great grandfather while he was in the nursing home. (He died in 1996.)
  
• A sewing kit, still in its box, with packaging circa 1970 that declared "as seen on TV."
• Several plastic scoops from the powdered laundry detergent.
  
• A lacquerware box from Okinawa full of spare Christmas ornament hooks and a couple lost scrabble pieces.
  

And I'm sure this is only the beginning.

Christmas & New Years

My camera hasn't gotten much use lately. Not for lack of trying though! I had it ready at both Christmas and New Years parties, but barely picked it up.

(Frank Mom, Me)

I mostly took pictures of Maggie the devil dog on Christmas, though I must say, she was well behaved for the most part. The tranquilizers helped. :-) Jess and TJ came with their puppy Dixie, who at just 5 months old, is better behaved than Maggie could ever hope to be.

(Maggie thinking..."Ahh...it's a much better view of the counters from up here...let's see, what should I go after next...")


(Those people tell lies about me, I never get into trouble!)


(Jess & Dixie)

At New Years, I forgot all about my camera until the end of the night, when Emily showed me how to use the timer so that we could take a picture of the last remaining revelers at the end of the night. All in all, it was a fun holiday week.

(Brett, Matt, Emily, Marj, Me)