SNOW DAY

Snow is gently falling here in Northern Virginia, coating everything with fluffy, white flakes.
What is it about snow that makes it so peaceful, so calming, so centering? Whenever it snows, it makes me feel like I am at the beach, where I always feel closer to God. It's that whole "nature" thing, when you can look around and know deep in your soul that there is something more out there, something calling us to become our best selves. Wish that feeling would last longer than the fleeting few seconds it does.

What an ouch

I have been a little out of commission this past week. Pulled some serious muscles in my rib cage last Sunday in an unbelievable way.
It all began innocently enough -- I was watching the football game last Sunday and decided to put Casey's new snowboots on her paws. Santa brought the boots at Christmas time, because Casey simply hates getting her feet wet in any way shape or form. So, to make a long story short, I bent down and twisted in a real weird way, heard a pop, felt a snap and had my breath taken for a nanosecond.
Trip to the doctors a couple of days later found that I had strained/sprained muscles. Got a prescription for muscle relaxers and pain killers. Heaven.
So a week later, I am still a little sore, but am getting much better.

Big doings on Sunday

I was up way too early yesterday -- but for a good cause -- watching local Marines from Quantico rehearse for next week's inaugural parade.
The alarm went off at 5:15 a.m., and it was about 27 degrees outside when I headed out the door at 6 a.m. to make the trek to D.C. and the Freedom Plaza near Pennsylvania Avenue.
There was plenty of media on hand by the time I arrived at 7:15 a.m. The service members who were portraying President-elect Obama and his family, and Vice President-elect Biden and his family, were already rehearsing the swearing in ceremony. The Army Staff Sergeant who was standing in for Obama gave the shortest inaugural address in history: "Thank you and God Bless America," which drew applause from the audience.
Then it was time to practice the parade. About 3,000 members of the Armed Forces and some civilian groups marched down Pennsylvania Avenue for their only dress rehearsal in advance of next Tuesday. Having only watched inaugurals on television it was quite a rush to follow the marchers along the route, which passed by the White House. It drove home one of the many things that makes our country great: Every 4 or 8 years, we have a peaceful change of power. And that's what was on display Sunday.

TGIF

Yahoo, it's Friday and not just any Friday. It's the first Friday of the first full work week of 2009. And it didn't get here fast enough for me!
The first week back after the Christmas holidays always seems so long. I've spent the whole week catching up with folks who've been off for a couple of weeks and scheduling interviews for upcoming stories. It's all worked out, but man, what it challenging.
Seemed like everyone really didn't want to be back at work and needed until Thursday to get their groove back on. I know I did.
Pretty exciting weekend coming up. Heading to D.C. on Sunday to cover the inaugural rehearsal.

Getting hot in D.C.

Since I live and work in the shadow of the nation's capitol, I'm always interested in what our elected representatives are up to -- and the doings on the Hill have been very interesting today.
The Senate -- in the form of Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) refused to seat embattled Illnois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's (D-Il) (hey, notice a pattern here? They all have D's behind their name) pick to fill Barry Hussein Obama's senate seat. By all accounts, Roland Burris is qualified to fill the seat, but the Illinois Secretary of State gave the Senate some wiggle room by refusing to certify Blago's selection.
How interesting -- a bunch of ahem, white democrats refusing to seat a black man. And yet, black Americans vote overwhelmingly democratic.

Recessionary spending?

Worked my part-time gig last night. You would never know there was a recession going on by the number of people that were snatching up clothes on a FRIDAY night -- after Christmas.
All my co-workers said the same thing -- "I thought we were in a recession."
Grocery shopping this morning and more evidence that people are spending -- long lines! But even in a recession, I guess people have to eat.
I hope all this means that we're beginning (or have) turned the corner and the economy is on its way to bouncing back.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Had a great time last night ringing in 2009. The evening began with dinner out with my favorite friends from work Courtney and Lynn at Applebees.
The celebration was a combined New Years and 21st birthday party for Courtney, who actually turned "legal" back in November. Court and I had Cosmopolitans. T
Courtney's mom, great aunt and grandmother, who retired from the paper where we work in 2007, joined us, along with my mom, so all and all it was a nice dinner.
After that, headed home and waited for the ball to drop from the safety of my couch -- those folks in NYC looked like they were freezing!
Went to Mass this morning, so 2009 got off to a good start! Now, off to cook dinner for the family!