Inauguration Hangover

I was drunk with patriotism yesterday- giddily and all-consuming drunk! No, I did not imbibe any spirits, not even a sip of anything harder than my beloved diet coke, it was the power, the magnitude of the day that did me in. And today, my brain and my body hurt like it hasn't since college.


I felt compelled to take in every aspect of the Inauguration. I woke up at an hour before Spencer so I get myself together and before she commanded my attention. CNN stayed on all day, and I rewound the more poignant moments over and over again. It was one of those moments that I knew Spencer would ask me about when she was older, and I wanted to be able to tell her everything that wanted to know.
She happened to be taking her mid-morning nap when President Obama was getting ready to take the Oath of Office. Against my better judgment, I woke her up out of a deep slumber so that she could witness this historic event. I could just hear her now saying to me down the road, "You let me sleep through it? What were you thinking?"

Because that's exactly what I would have said to my mom. Unfortunately, this did not go well and she cried for the next 15 minutes, but still, she watched it!

While trying to entertain her for the rest of the day, I diligently took notes and wrote down my feelings on particular aspects of the day, my favorite quotations, etc. You would have thought I was going to be given a test on it. When night came, it was onto the Balls! I love seeing the dresses and the pageantry of it all. Around 12:30am my eyes began to droop and I dozed off listening to the 100th version of "At Last" by Etta James.

Oh, the agony of this morning! My brain hurts, my eyes hurt, and I never want to hear At Last again. I'm hoping by tonight or tomorrow this "ennui" will be gone and I will be able to watch CNN without feeling like my head is going to explode. But what a great day it was, a truly great day. One that I will never forget as long as I live, one that has renewed my faith and given me hope about what a great nation we can be.
 
I wouldn't trade this patriotic hangover for anything! I am so glad that my inner government-o-phile returned, especially since I thought it was long gone. While I would have loved to have been in D.C. with my friends, there was something really special about being able to share this moment with my daughter, even if she won't remember it and she screamed through many of the important parts.

So, yes my head hurts, but just like in college, the 24 hours of pain is well worth the lifetime of good memories!