Easter Eggs and Puppy Dogs

I hope everyone had a great Easter. As you can probably guess, I LOVE Easter. Even though the Easter Bunny didn't stop by my house, I woke up on Sunday with an automatic smile. I look forward to Easter Sunday at my church with a child-like anticipation. It didn't disappoint. Our service was awesome celebrating the risen Lord! It's humbling to know what Jesus went through for me on the cross but to celebrate his resurrection is a truly awesome thing! I also love seeing all the kids in their Easter outfits. My church has a flower cross outside that many families have their picture taken by. I was thankful I didn't have to organize it this year and could just appreciate it! I also thoroughly enjoyed lunch with my friend Mary Jane and her family at "the club". The last time I was there, I saw Willard Scott but this time the most famous person I saw was the Easter Bunny. I ended my afternoon with a stop at the Wingards, one of the precious families in my church that has taken me under their wing over the years. Alydia even gave me an Easter basket which had Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs in it. Life doesn't get better than that!

Then the next day, reality set in. It was time for the White House Easter Egg Roll. As you might recall, last year I took the day off and went as a participant with my sister and niece Cayton. It was a long eggshausting (I couldn't resist the pun) day but one of many happy memories. This year, I had to work and on top of that, I was the travel pool. That meant I was coordinating coverage for all five TV networks. It seems that I've been pool for this event every year (except for last year when my co-worker had to do it.) I have no idea why we are soooo unlucky considering that Easter is never on the same date. But anyway, I think being pool for the Easter Egg Roll is my lot in life. Anyway, let's just say there were not many happy memories this year. It's miserable. I always forget and block out the experience so every year, I forget what it was like the year before. I actually needed a couple of days to decompress before I blogged about it. It's just a zoo and this year it seemed worse. My friends in the Obama administration really tried but it was still a mess. Our coverage plans changed every few minutes and I ended up having to get some help with another producer and crew because logistically I wasn't going to be able to get into the motorcade after the last event.

Once it actually started, the egg roll itself was cute with Sasha and Malia participating. I'm not here to make any political statements but it was just so neat to see POTUS as a goofy father. He was cheering the kids along and helping a tiny kid finish and lots of high-fives etc. After the egg roll, he went to read "Where the Wild Things Are" to a group of kids. His story-telling was quite dramatic He was inside a fence with kids seated quietly in chairs. I was a few feet away on the other side of the fence with MOBS of people. It was like a total mosh pit. Except that everyone around me was between 10-12 who had no idea what personal space means. They were screaming and literally stepping on me. Manners were not really present at all. As I was trying to escape so I could get to the next stop, one lady screamed at me for almost touching her baby. Notice the almost part. The baby was in a stroller with a blanket over his face and a diaper bag on his legs. I didn't even see the baby and oh yeah, I didn't actually touch the baby! I have never been so excited to get out of an area in my life! It was definitely a rough crowd!! Let's just say that I will definitely wait at least 4 years until Raygan is old enough to appreciate it and the Egg Roll has calmed down a bit.

Of course, the only thing to outdo the excitement of the Egg Roll is that the #1 story of the year happened yesterday. Thank God I was not at the WH. I'm not sure why it's such an incredibly popular topic, but the First Pooch made his grand debut yesterday. The scheduling gods knew what they were doing when they didn't put me at the WH at that time. I can honestly care less. As many of you know, I am not a dog-lover, or an animal-lover for that matter. Sure Bo is cute but seriously, we had THREE cameras outside when the First Family (FF from now on) came outside yesterday. I'm just glad it's over!! Now I'm sure that we'll have to be on the lookout for where we step on the South Lawn now!!