Flat Stanley Adventures

This past week or so has been a bit busy. Apparently this healthcare story is kind of a big deal! :) It's amazing how many times my work schedule has changed in the past week or so because of POTUS's plans or change of plans. I was anticipating having to work overnights next week while he was in Asia so I can't say that I'm disappointed to be able to sleep at night next week! In the mean time, there have been plenty of events at the WH on health care and other issues. But mainly health care. I am not here to make any political statements on the topic but at this point, the topic makes my head hurt. I don't know if you've tried to read the bill but if you suffer from insomnia, I suggest trying to read it and understand it. Anyway, last week I had a visitor with me to the WH. Before you get too excited, I have very, very little pull to get anyone into the WH with me so no need to ask me! Unless you are a laminated piece of paper. And your name is Flat Stanley.

Let me stop right here and say that if you have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, please check out this link. Also, after reading this, I really don't want to have a billion Flat Stanley projects show up at my door on one day. I would gladly help but I need to space them out. I suggest studying the Flat Stanley above and coloring him the exact same way and then just using these pictures! :)

About eight years ago, I did a Flat Stanley (FS from here on out) project for a student of one of my friends in Atlanta. And it pretty much rocked, if I do say so myself. He went everywhere, including along for the ride with a friend of mine to the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. I took FS every where with me (although that was before my time in the WH) and made a fool of myself taking pictures in front of all the monuments. I'm usually fairly modest but that kid's project had to be the best in the class. (Elizabeth, I really, really hope we got an A!) And then right after that, another friend sent me a FS from someone. I was really hoping that FS had a uniformed colored outfit so I could just send the same pictures. But of course not. FS from the projects of Nashville looked NOTHING like FS from suburban Atlanta. And I admittedly failed at FS Project #2. I sent a few pictures in but I couldn't re-create the efforts of FS #1, especially going to the opening ceremony of the Olympics! But FS is something I've enjoyed helping out with occasionally through the years.

Well, it had been a while since FS had come to visit me. Enough time had passed to get over the personal defeat of doing a less than spectacular FS #2. My friend Katie asked if I would let FS hang out with me for a few days. This FS is for a student in Casper, WY. No offense to any friends from Casper because one of my closest friends is from Casper. But automatically, this kid's FS being sent to DC is going to be the best in the class. At least in my humble opinion. I picked him up from Katie's house and took him with me to the WH. It's quite easy to get him in the WH since he was stuffed in an envelope in my bag. Secret Service didn't even see him! Unfortunately this FS #3 did not look anything like the first two FSs so I couldn't re-use any previous pictures. But the good thing was that I was only helping out and not responsible for the overall FS project. My thinking was that if I could produce just one or two cool pictures, then I would be able to count my part as a success. And as luck would have it, the day I brought FS with me to the WH, POTUS hooked me up.

No, I didn't get close enough to POTUS to ask him to hold FS for a picture but the chances of that EVER happening are slim to none. But he did have several events open to the press which honestly, doesn't happen all that often. So FS started his day off at an event with the NCAA Football Champions, the University of Alabama in the East Room:

Then later in the day, he went back to the East Room, again, for another event. Sorry FS and kid from Casper that my camera batteries died and I had to take pictures with my friend's blackberry for this event. But if you look closely, you'll see FLOTUS and POTUS at the podium making remarks and then with former American Idol contestant Katherine McPhee singing at an event celebrating International Women's Day:

After that, I handed FS off to my colleague from CBS who was going into the Oval Office for a meeting with the President of El Salvador. It's kind of hard to actually do your job and take silly pictures of FS at the same time. And this is one of those times where FS picture taking might not have been fully appropriate but Thomas took one for the team! Thanks Thomas! Here is FS waiting in the Colonnade with the rest of the WH press corps to go into the Oval Office. The second one is where FS is in the Oval Office and if you look carefully, you'll see POTUS making comments:

A couple of days later, FS hit the road with me to go to St. Louis for a healthcare speech. FS got to be in the gym at the high school where POTUS make his remarks and then helped my WH correspondent with a liveshot. Ok, he wasn't really on TV but if you look closely, FS is definitely there.

To be completely honest, FS wasn't my focus while we were in St. Louis. It just so happen to work out that my sister and nephew were able to come to our workspace and I got to hang out with them for a few hours. It NEVER works out for things like that to happen. The last time I was in St. Louis with POTUS, I think I saw my sister for approximately 15 minutes. But this time, thanks to some fundraisers, I was able to play with my adorable nephew (and see my sister) for THREE hours! Nolan was the total hit of the workspace! I know I'm biased but he is the cutest baby boy ever!

See, I told you he was cute. And I'm not just saying that because I think he looks just like I did as a baby.