Nice Bomb-Sniffing Doggie....

I have to switch gears every morning from surburban beltway Mommy-mode into Washington, DC commuter mode. But it's getting more interesting as the Inauguration is only 6 days away. This morning I faced 5 security guards, 1 bomb-sniffing dog, overstuffed metro cars, and my standard security sweeps just to get to work this morning. Now I have to work on media coverage, safety plans, and making sure the stars are aligned (or at least the weather will be decent) for the 6000 students my program is hosting for the Presidential Inauguration. Sure, my kid can't say her own name, but she can say "Obama". I can't wait for all of this to be over.


This is how I usually see the U.S. Capitol on my way to work (when they started construction on September 22, 2008):

















This is what it looked like for the 2005 Presidential Inauguration:

















We've heard estimates from 1 million to 4 million people planning on attending the Inauguration, and it keeps changing. Check out this commentary showing DC's take on this. It comes off as "Uh, we have no idea what is going to happen with this Inauguration thing." The fact is: we don't. No idea. I love the part where they say this is not like putting your family in a van and going to Air & Space. Even that can be a pain in the butt on a regular day in Washington, DC. In case you want to attend, here's the Senate site with all the info (plus some fun historical facts). But I plan on watching all of this at home, away from the city.