Well, We Did It!

I got to work early to put on WQUN to listen to the Inauguration. In a surprising turn of events, my boss, who was out of town until today, will not be back until tomorrow. With only half a file left, tissues in hand, I took the headphones out of my transcription machine and plugged them into my computer. Then I went to CNN.

CNN had a brain fart, so I F5'd. I got kicked out: too many people were on CNN, and I had to "wait for a spot." I went to NBC/MSNBC. By this time I was already crying and coughing in a most unladylike manner.

Unfortunately, MSNBC kept stuttering when Vice President Joe Biden was sworn in, and I finally went back to the radio to hear President Barack Obama sworn in.

When he gave his speech to us, I moved from my desk and stood in the sunlight.

I kept the video on, with my radio in the background, and saw the sea of people covered in lavender.

Lavender is what you get when you swing a red, white, and blue flag with glee. (Is glee something like peanut butter?)

And when you've got a camera focused on a section of half a million Americans with half a million American flags, you've got a sea of lavender.

It sure looked pretty. I was glad I'd worn red, white, and blue today.


Lee Greenwood's "Proud To Be An American" was on the radio when I drove to work. I'd have stood if I could. I cried when I stood for America. (And I loved Aretha Franklin's hat!!)

What a glorious day. I hope that President Obama has a good sleep, because we're sure gonna need him tomorrow.

The horrid story about the poor owl was the only bad thing all day. I hope it was like that for everyone else.

Last minute, my friend Cindy called with an extra ticket to see Lynard Skynard. We've been friends for something like fifteen years, and neither of us knew that the other LOVES Lynard Skynard. [We met for the first time at a Mentors show.]

We spent too much on dinner, blew too much in the slot machines, didn't do nearly enough window shopping [I wanted to wait until we won big], and had the most awesome time in the world at the show. It amazes me that these guys not only rock their asses off, but that they can do it so well after all these years.

I'd never seen them before. Even though I'm not nuts about Freebird [great song, musically, but I'm not nuts about its "It's not you, it's me, and I'm going" theme], I did hold my lighter up. It seemed as much a part of Americana [Cindy's word was perfect] as seeing Lynard Skynard themselves.

My feet ache from wearing my Docs and standing for the whole show, plus wandering around the casino for probably over an hour. My hands are still burning from clapping. [Given the fibromyalgia and the pain in my hands, anyway, clapping for two hours, almost solid, may not have been the best idea.] I wore earplugs. I may be too old for this shit.

And what a perfectly amazing way to bring in 2009.

Currently reading :
The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death: A Novel
By Charlie Huston
Release date: 2009-01-13