Pope-a-palooza!!!

Today was one of those days that I realize that I really do have a pretty cool job. On Saturday afternoon, I was on the South Lawn with Ed Stetzer, a prominent Baptist leader. Today I was on the South Lawn with Pope Benedict XVI, a prominent Catholic leader. Ok, THE prominent Catholic leader.




I wasn't supposed to be in to work until after lunch today but I knew with the Popemobile and all of Pope-a-palooza going on that traffic and parking would be a nightmare. So I volunteered to come in early enough to go out on the South Lawn with 13,500 of my closest friends to greet the Pope for the official arrival ceremony at the White House.

Let me go back to say that since I'm not Catholic I was there for purely historic reasons. I wanted to be a part of the largest arrival ceremony on WH grounds during this administration. And I wanted to cross off "seeing the Pope" off the list of things to do in life. I know seeing him held a lot more meaning for other folks.

Anyway, I haven't been at the White House when it's been as busy as it was today. It was a zoo!!! When I got there, literally every Catholic leader in America was arriving on bus at the same gate as me. I figured since I have a WH hard pass I wouldn't need to wait in the insanely long line to get in. I think that didn't sit well with the many Catholic leaders. But the Secret Service went to amazing lengths to get all 13,500 people in the gate at the same time!

Today there were probably hundreds and hundreds of media who showed up. On a normal day at the WH, there are probably less than 50 of us that hang out there. EVERYONE and their brother were there! Literally! I ran into Matt Lauer! Along with other famous names that you probably haven't really heard of. I was glad that I had an office to hide in in the basement until it was time for the arrival ceremony.

During the ceremony itself, I was given the task of shooting video of the crowd and some behind-the-scenes stuff. The last thing I shot video of was probably my niece's birthday party a couple of years ago. I went straight from shooting the birthday party to video of the Pope's arrival ceremony for my network. Did I mention how I had NO IDEA how to really work the camera? I'm also really short so I couldn't see squat. And there were 13,500 people there. But I gave myself an A for effort and two points for trying. I'm fairly certain nothing I shot was usable but that just means they aren't likely to ask me to do that again anytime soon!!

So I did see the Pontiff and the President (that sounds like a movie title or something) from a distance. I did have a good vantage point of seeing the Girl Scouts who kept passing out. I think three of them went down and were carried off by Marines. I think the Pope waved at me (along with the rest of the crowd.) Here's one of my pictures from the event.... I did get to see more than most of the people there...it was from really far away and it's a little blurry.... the Pope is the one in the white outfit! :)


We also sang "Happy Birthday" to the Pope since it was his 81st birthday. I got a little confused of what you should sing. Is it "Happy Birthday Mr. Pontiff" or "Happy Birthday Holy Father" or maybe "Happy Birthday Pope Benny"?


By the way, I didn't get to see the Popemobile in person but it did drive past the White House while I was there. I had asked to drive it but that request was denied. Shocking.