OK I don't have any real news but I had to tell you about my day yesterday. After waking up from a most wonderful night's sleep in my four-room Queen Esther suite at the Waldorf Astoria, I had a somewhat busy day. It started out by going to a meeting with the Pres and President Karzai of Afghanistan. The two had met for about an hour and my job was to take notes on what they said when they talked to the press and send it out to people at all five networks. Yesterday, my blackberry wasn't working properly and it felt like part of my arm had been removed!! But it ended up working out okay. We were only in the room for about five minutes and I actually had to take a lot of notes so I didn't get to take a picture of the moment. Anyway, after that meeting, we were escorted to another room to wait for the next event and then we were escorted to a hallway to again wait. We hurried up and waited quite a bit yesterday and in the process I can say that I've seen the bowels of the Waldorf=Astoria! We were taking the freight elevators, going down back staircases and at one point, I was literally running through the kitchen with my suitcase, making sure I didn't miss the motorcade! It's actually amazing at all the logistics/security things it takes to move the president from one room to another.
After leaving the Waldorf, we motorcaded through NY to go to a fundraiser at an apartment overlooking Central Park. I'm sure it wasn't just any NY apartment! But we didn't go in. Instead, we went to a nearby restaurant and had lunch for an hour! Then we went back to the apartment building to pick the Pres up. The coolest part of my day yesterday was when we were leaving NYC, we took a helicopter from Wall Street to JFK. That is definitely by far the best way to get around town!! It took no time at all and the sights were beautiful! The photos didn't come out on my camera because I was on the wrong side of the chopper but it was very very cool nonetheless!
If I could replicate my accommodations from my trip- the suite and the helicopter- I might just consider living in New York City! Somehow, I don't think that's a real possibility so I think I'll remain content living in the DC area!
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Movin' On Up!!
I've enjoyed the past two days in New York- it's been a good trip and there's only one more day to go! We're here because of the United Nations General Assembly, although I personally didn't make it over to the UN this year. I had my co-worker go since I went a couple of years ago. It's such a surreal scene- leaders of 180 nations all in their native clothing, all in the same room. It's just like the movies! Especially those crazy earphones/translation headset things!! I wanted Shawna to get to experience it! So I hung out at the NY bureau with my correspondent- Suzanne. We had an extremely busy day which made the long hours and no sleep doable. That and the NY bureau is so nice to work from. Our liveshot location was overlooking Central Park on the balcony on the 9th floor. And the food options at the bureau are amazing!! We have nothing like that in DC. We don't even have a window in the basement of the White House!
Ok but for sure the highlight so far this trip would be my hotel room tonight. Last night I stayed at the W on Lexington Ave. which was really nice. Small but nice. But tonight, I had to switch hotels so I could stay at the same hotel as the pres since I am in travel pool tomorrow. I'm movin' on up!! The hotel happens to be the Waldorf Astoria! And I happen to be in a suite on the 20th floor! My colleagues just have plain rooms but my room is amazing!! It's actually several rooms! You know it must be nice when the suite has a name- mine is the Queen Esther Suite! Who knows how many famous people have stayed here since 1929 when this building was built. I learned a few tidbits about the hotel like this is where Diana Ross and Frank Sinatra got their start. It was also the first hotel to ever off room service!! And it was the largest hotel in the world when it was built! I love staying in a piece of history!! Maybe someone famous is in the room next door!!
Ok but for sure the highlight so far this trip would be my hotel room tonight. Last night I stayed at the W on Lexington Ave. which was really nice. Small but nice. But tonight, I had to switch hotels so I could stay at the same hotel as the pres since I am in travel pool tomorrow. I'm movin' on up!! The hotel happens to be the Waldorf Astoria! And I happen to be in a suite on the 20th floor! My colleagues just have plain rooms but my room is amazing!! It's actually several rooms! You know it must be nice when the suite has a name- mine is the Queen Esther Suite! Who knows how many famous people have stayed here since 1929 when this building was built. I learned a few tidbits about the hotel like this is where Diana Ross and Frank Sinatra got their start. It was also the first hotel to ever off room service!! And it was the largest hotel in the world when it was built! I love staying in a piece of history!! Maybe someone famous is in the room next door!!
Monday, September 24, 2007
Weekend with the Parents
So last week was fairly dull so I didn't have anything to update. I did work on a piece on Wednesday that was a little bit out of the ordinary and sort of fun to edit. But other than that, I was in the bureau, not at the White House, and let's face it- there's not that much exciting happening there.
But my parents came up for a long weekend which was a lot of fun! My parents have visited me a hundred times so finding new and interesting things to do can be somewhat of a challenge. But we filled the weekend with fun times. We went to Mount Vernon (I've really gotten my money's worth for my season pass!) and toured the mansion and saw the Godspeed, which was visiting from Jamestown. Then we went to the Washington Monument which we hadn't done as a family since approximately 1986. I guess I've done quite a bunch of tourists activities in recent months because I actually remember the stuff they make up and tell you. Saturday night, we went to Vienna to hear my friend Mark's brass ensemble, Dominion Brass. Mark is a tuba player in the Marine Corps Band and a bunch of the members of the ensemble were also military musicians. It was such an awesome concert!! They ended the concert with a symphony that a 32-year-old wrote and it was incredible. I guess I have a lot of work to do to match such an accomplishment by that age!! Time is ticking away!!
Then Saturday my dad and I went to the final Nationals game at RFK. I couldn't believe how many people were there!! It was a beautiful day for a ball game and it was even better that the Nats actually won! Plus, our seats were in the shade so it worked out perfectly!
The time with my parents was wonderful! I wish it could have lasted longer but I had to come to the Big Apple with the pres for a few days!! I'll be sure to write more about that later!!
But my parents came up for a long weekend which was a lot of fun! My parents have visited me a hundred times so finding new and interesting things to do can be somewhat of a challenge. But we filled the weekend with fun times. We went to Mount Vernon (I've really gotten my money's worth for my season pass!) and toured the mansion and saw the Godspeed, which was visiting from Jamestown. Then we went to the Washington Monument which we hadn't done as a family since approximately 1986. I guess I've done quite a bunch of tourists activities in recent months because I actually remember the stuff they make up and tell you. Saturday night, we went to Vienna to hear my friend Mark's brass ensemble, Dominion Brass. Mark is a tuba player in the Marine Corps Band and a bunch of the members of the ensemble were also military musicians. It was such an awesome concert!! They ended the concert with a symphony that a 32-year-old wrote and it was incredible. I guess I have a lot of work to do to match such an accomplishment by that age!! Time is ticking away!!
Then Saturday my dad and I went to the final Nationals game at RFK. I couldn't believe how many people were there!! It was a beautiful day for a ball game and it was even better that the Nats actually won! Plus, our seats were in the shade so it worked out perfectly!
The time with my parents was wonderful! I wish it could have lasted longer but I had to come to the Big Apple with the pres for a few days!! I'll be sure to write more about that later!!
Friday, September 14, 2007
Highlights of a long week!
Sorry it's been several days since I've updated my blog. I don't really have a good reason except that I've actually had to work for five days in a row and they have all been extremely busy days! I wanted to pass along some of the highlights of this week, some happier than others, in somewhat chronological order.
1) GETTING TO SPEND TIME WITH LYRA!!
I spent last weekend with Lyra and her mom and dad, Catherine and Jason. Catherine and I have been great friends for 16 years. I had been meaning to get down to Raleigh to visit a long time ago but my schedule, travel, etc. prevented me from doing so. My goal was to make it down there before Lyra turned one and I achieved my goal with several weeks to spare! We had a great time playing and hanging out even if Lyra was slightly under the weather! Lyra is absolutely adorable and I think I'm officially on her friends list. She now knows how to give me five!! Right back at ya, Lyra!
2) SUCCESSFUL BABYSITTING GIG
I watched Ella the other afternoon for a couple of hours. I have to admit, I was a bit nervous but it was good! It's not hard when she is such a precious beautiful baby! I fed her a bottle and then we sat around and played. She was all smiles and coos for almost the entire time. Of course about ten minutes before Katie got home, it became necessary to change her diaper. I don't normally have a problem changing diapers but I was just ever so slightly concerned I wouldn't do it right. And apparently I didn't because she screamed when I had snapped the cloth diaper into place. Luckily Katie came a few minutes later and did it. For the record, Katie did exactly what I had done and Ella still cried a lot so I didn't feel so bad. And Ella smiled at me so I think that was her way of apologizing for screaming. I'm back on her friends list now.
3) REMEMBERING AN ANNIVERSARY
This one was not so happy but it was a good experience. I was travel pool on Tuesday, the anniversary of 9/11 so I spent the morning with the President in church and then on the South Lawn remembering that day six years ago. While I was not personally at the WH or with the Pres six years ago, several of the people I was with have much different memories. Since my network was pool, that meant for a lot of extra logistics to deal with for the coverage for all the networks. I went to the church service at St. John's across the street from the WH and it was pretty moving. Then on the lawn of the WH, the Bushes and Cheneys walked out and bowed their heads for a moment of silence. I did have a chance to stop and reflect for a couple of seconds. I was standing at the exact location that had been a target six years earlier and it kind of gave me chills. I also thought about all those feelings that we all had in 2001. I remembered trying to get to work when the plane hit the Pentagon and then feeling the vibrations of the wall of the Pentagon collapse a little later. I remembered all the emotions of watching the coverage for 24 hours a day at work and being completely sleep deprived. I remembered the patriotic feeling that came across America in the days that followed and on Tuesday, I had that same patriotic feeling standing on the South Lawn.
4) WORKING A LONG DAY
On Thursday, I had to work until about 11pm. POTUS was giving a speech and I had to work the late shift. It was such a busy day planning liveshots, helping my correspondent with scripts, etc. so at least the time went by quickly. Even though he was about 50 yards away from me, I never saw the President and watched it on TV just like the rest of America.
5) BAD HAIR DAY
I knew when I woke up this morning that it was going to be a bad hair day. I looked at POTUS's sked and saw that there were three Marine One departures and arrivals (two of which I had to go to.) So I knew there was no point in actually trying to have a good hair day because it's all down the tubes once the blades of the helicopter start spinning. Everything on the ground is picked up and thrown directly at you due to the force of the wind. I've been to quite a few departures/arrivals so I now can critique the pilots' performance. Today's pilot was not the best because he came in at a different angle and hovered for a lot longer than normal. Both times I was there. I give him a 4 out of 10 on the first one and maybe a 5 on the second one. Maybe the Marines will give me a try! I think I can do it!
1) GETTING TO SPEND TIME WITH LYRA!!
I spent last weekend with Lyra and her mom and dad, Catherine and Jason. Catherine and I have been great friends for 16 years. I had been meaning to get down to Raleigh to visit a long time ago but my schedule, travel, etc. prevented me from doing so. My goal was to make it down there before Lyra turned one and I achieved my goal with several weeks to spare! We had a great time playing and hanging out even if Lyra was slightly under the weather! Lyra is absolutely adorable and I think I'm officially on her friends list. She now knows how to give me five!! Right back at ya, Lyra!
2) SUCCESSFUL BABYSITTING GIG
I watched Ella the other afternoon for a couple of hours. I have to admit, I was a bit nervous but it was good! It's not hard when she is such a precious beautiful baby! I fed her a bottle and then we sat around and played. She was all smiles and coos for almost the entire time. Of course about ten minutes before Katie got home, it became necessary to change her diaper. I don't normally have a problem changing diapers but I was just ever so slightly concerned I wouldn't do it right. And apparently I didn't because she screamed when I had snapped the cloth diaper into place. Luckily Katie came a few minutes later and did it. For the record, Katie did exactly what I had done and Ella still cried a lot so I didn't feel so bad. And Ella smiled at me so I think that was her way of apologizing for screaming. I'm back on her friends list now.
3) REMEMBERING AN ANNIVERSARY
This one was not so happy but it was a good experience. I was travel pool on Tuesday, the anniversary of 9/11 so I spent the morning with the President in church and then on the South Lawn remembering that day six years ago. While I was not personally at the WH or with the Pres six years ago, several of the people I was with have much different memories. Since my network was pool, that meant for a lot of extra logistics to deal with for the coverage for all the networks. I went to the church service at St. John's across the street from the WH and it was pretty moving. Then on the lawn of the WH, the Bushes and Cheneys walked out and bowed their heads for a moment of silence. I did have a chance to stop and reflect for a couple of seconds. I was standing at the exact location that had been a target six years earlier and it kind of gave me chills. I also thought about all those feelings that we all had in 2001. I remembered trying to get to work when the plane hit the Pentagon and then feeling the vibrations of the wall of the Pentagon collapse a little later. I remembered all the emotions of watching the coverage for 24 hours a day at work and being completely sleep deprived. I remembered the patriotic feeling that came across America in the days that followed and on Tuesday, I had that same patriotic feeling standing on the South Lawn.
4) WORKING A LONG DAY
On Thursday, I had to work until about 11pm. POTUS was giving a speech and I had to work the late shift. It was such a busy day planning liveshots, helping my correspondent with scripts, etc. so at least the time went by quickly. Even though he was about 50 yards away from me, I never saw the President and watched it on TV just like the rest of America.
5) BAD HAIR DAY
I knew when I woke up this morning that it was going to be a bad hair day. I looked at POTUS's sked and saw that there were three Marine One departures and arrivals (two of which I had to go to.) So I knew there was no point in actually trying to have a good hair day because it's all down the tubes once the blades of the helicopter start spinning. Everything on the ground is picked up and thrown directly at you due to the force of the wind. I've been to quite a few departures/arrivals so I now can critique the pilots' performance. Today's pilot was not the best because he came in at a different angle and hovered for a lot longer than normal. Both times I was there. I give him a 4 out of 10 on the first one and maybe a 5 on the second one. Maybe the Marines will give me a try! I think I can do it!
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Becky get your gun!!
I just returned from a fabulous trip to Brookhaven, MS to see the Doremi (other folks might refer to them as the Doremuses but I have called them the Doremi for years and years.) I have known them for 18 years! Jeff was one of the ministers at my church in Roanoke and Terry was a youth choir leader. And I used to babysit Katie and Kelly when they were really little. The girls are now 22 and almost 25 which makes me feel incredibly old!! I hadn't seen them in three or four years so I enjoyed my time with all four Doremi tremendously! I loved their town they live in- Brookhaven. Jeff grew up there and Terry's family all lives there now and it's the kind of place where everyone knows everyone else and a lot of them are related! Everywhere we went, we ran into people they knew! And the shops in Brookhaven are just so cute! I think I bought too much! Each stop included a 20 minute visit with the owner!
Two of the highlights of my time with the Doremi were experiences I have never had anywhere else. The first was that I was the guest speaker at this week's Kiwanis Club. Terry and I got a "Sound Off" for being visitors. I kept looking around for Fred Flintstone and Barry Rubble and their moose hats! I talked a few minutes about my job and took some questions. I guess it went okay but you'll have to ask other people in the room. Jeff said that it was good and that it took him to the uppermost parts of the Kiwanis popularity stratosphere but that could be a slight overstatement! At least I didn't ruin the Doremus family name in Brookhaven!
The other highlight was going to their cabin in real rural Mississippi! It was so pretty out there and the cabin was really nice. But the real high moment was when Jeff put a gun in my hand to shoot at a bucket that was the target he set up. It was a Colt 45 (and something about a special issued one at that) and I have never had that much power in my hand at one time. When I shot it the first time, I was sure that as I jumped back (the natural reaction), I had shot myself in the foot but apparently I actually hit the target!! It may not have been a bullseye but I did hit the bucket and I didn't injure myself or anyone else so I count it as a success! I actually hit the bucket a couple of times! Since everyone else who had killed a deer had it mounted in the cabin, I suggested mounting the bucket but no one took me up on that offer!! I think after a few days, my hand has finally stopped shaking from all the adrenaline from having something that powerful in my hands! Watch out FBI!!
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I have to give a major shout-out to the Doremi for being such cool people. I'm so thankful we've stayed in touch through the years and that our paths crossed so many years ago in Roanoke. They are extremely important to me- I rank their family right up there behind my immediate family as one of the most special to me. I have always held Jeff and Terry's opinions/example/advice very close and now it's a really cool thing to be friends with Katie and Kelly! Not only that, they are just fun, cool people. Heck, Katie hooked me up with a Facebook account which I am ready to master! :)
Oh and my two new favorite words which I'm stealing from them are "Heller" (when you answer the phone) and "Praisealleuia"!
I can't wait for my next visit down there! I promise it won't be another four years!
*****UPDATE: I do realize his name is BARNEY, not Barry. Barry could have also been a member of the club though... maybe he was in one of the lost episodes of the Flintstones!
Two of the highlights of my time with the Doremi were experiences I have never had anywhere else. The first was that I was the guest speaker at this week's Kiwanis Club. Terry and I got a "Sound Off" for being visitors. I kept looking around for Fred Flintstone and Barry Rubble and their moose hats! I talked a few minutes about my job and took some questions. I guess it went okay but you'll have to ask other people in the room. Jeff said that it was good and that it took him to the uppermost parts of the Kiwanis popularity stratosphere but that could be a slight overstatement! At least I didn't ruin the Doremus family name in Brookhaven!
The other highlight was going to their cabin in real rural Mississippi! It was so pretty out there and the cabin was really nice. But the real high moment was when Jeff put a gun in my hand to shoot at a bucket that was the target he set up. It was a Colt 45 (and something about a special issued one at that) and I have never had that much power in my hand at one time. When I shot it the first time, I was sure that as I jumped back (the natural reaction), I had shot myself in the foot but apparently I actually hit the target!! It may not have been a bullseye but I did hit the bucket and I didn't injure myself or anyone else so I count it as a success! I actually hit the bucket a couple of times! Since everyone else who had killed a deer had it mounted in the cabin, I suggested mounting the bucket but no one took me up on that offer!! I think after a few days, my hand has finally stopped shaking from all the adrenaline from having something that powerful in my hands! Watch out FBI!!
I have to give a major shout-out to the Doremi for being such cool people. I'm so thankful we've stayed in touch through the years and that our paths crossed so many years ago in Roanoke. They are extremely important to me- I rank their family right up there behind my immediate family as one of the most special to me. I have always held Jeff and Terry's opinions/example/advice very close and now it's a really cool thing to be friends with Katie and Kelly! Not only that, they are just fun, cool people. Heck, Katie hooked me up with a Facebook account which I am ready to master! :)
Oh and my two new favorite words which I'm stealing from them are "Heller" (when you answer the phone) and "Praisealleuia"!
I can't wait for my next visit down there! I promise it won't be another four years!
*****UPDATE: I do realize his name is BARNEY, not Barry. Barry could have also been a member of the club though... maybe he was in one of the lost episodes of the Flintstones!
Monday, September 3, 2007
Noooo I'm not in Baghdad!
Several of you have e-mailed me today asking if I was in Baghdad with the President and I wanted to assure you that I'm not in a war zone. I'm on vacation since I didn't have to go to Australia. Even my colleagues who are on this trip didn't go. They're still on the their way to Sydney, Australia and didn't know until late this morning that he wasn't right behind them. So the way it works is that the travel pool (today is NBC's day) went with him on Air Force One and they will shoot everything and share it with all the networks like any other travel pool day. Many in the press corps just don't like it when there are surprises like this but what can you do? It happens. He's the POTUS and I do understand the security concerns.
In other news, I'm in Brookhaven, MS visiting the Doremus family that I've known for the past 18 years. I will blog more about my trip later but one of the highlights is that I shot a Colt 45 pistol today!!! Don't worry! There are pictures and you'll get to see them in a matter of a few days!
In other news, I'm in Brookhaven, MS visiting the Doremus family that I've known for the past 18 years. I will blog more about my trip later but one of the highlights is that I shot a Colt 45 pistol today!!! Don't worry! There are pictures and you'll get to see them in a matter of a few days!
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