It's a little early for Christmas 2009 greetings, but

I am DYING to know what the Obama holiday card will say. Granted, much could happen in this year, but let me give it a try:

Barack, Malia, Sasha and I wish you all Happy Holidays, be it Winter Solstice, Ramadan, Channukah, Christmas, and the New Year. We've certainly had a busy year. As you may have heard, we moved from Chicago to Washington, D.C. We are enjoying our new digs. I have to say it's much easier to handle with the staff.

There was a little party for the start of Barack's new job. The girls hosted Miley Sirus and the Jonas Brothers for themselves and a few others of their age. A few people came to witness his taking of the oath. OK, possibly a couple of million. Clearly, this wasn't going to be an indoor ceremony and it was frigid out, but there's nothing like starting a new job with a few good friends! In the event that we even briefly missed Chicago, it is clear that we brought the weather with us.

Joe and Jill have been invaluable to helping our transition here, even after Jill blabbed to Oprah about Joe's choice for VP or Secretary of State in the new administration. Watch out when the Biden's get excited!

Barack is exhausted and hoping for a couple of days off around Christmas. I have to say that it's really challenging for him to work from home because the job is always there. I have enjoyed working on behalf of military families and seeing to the girls' transition to their new school and city. I have to say that they've handled this in stride. Of course the new dog is a big hit with them. I even think that they understand the level of responsibility they have to take for it. I also must confess that it's about time Barack has brought in an income higher than mine!

We wish you the best for the new year!

With much love,

The Obama family

Inauguration - Underreported

I was fortunate enough to drag my son and partner to Washington, D.C. to witness the inauguration of Barack Obama. I must say that I still have to pinch myself when I hear President Obama. I still have to wonder why he wanted this job at this time. I must admit that I can't think of a single other person who would be better at this job at this time.

However, I do want to clarify a couple of things that seem to have been underreported in the press. The first was the ENORMOUS number of Black people who attended the inauguration. We know that Washington, D.C. has the reputation of being Chocolate City because of its large Black population (and I certainly was one of them for many years). However, outside of being in Jamaica, I have to say that in the United States, I have NEVER seen so many Black people in one place in my life. Really. There were definitely people of other races, but overwhelmingly, the crowd was Black.

Secondly, the crowd booed, very loudly to boot, whenever the images of either of the former Bush presidents and Dick Cheney appeared on the jumbotron. There is no doubt that many American people were ready for the Bush era to end. It wasn't a mere rumble. It was loud and clear.

Finally, I LOVED Aretha Franklin's hat. It rocked! And with that, know that I'm still smoking on the bong of hope!