Swearing-In Day

Swearing-in day at last!  Lots of family, friends, and pictures.  We gathered in the office at the lovely reception prepared by Kathy Murray, Sandy Garvey, Nita and Rebecca Maddox, and Tiffany Noel.  We only had 2 tickets to the gallery, so family took turns sitting and watching the action on the floor.  Of course, we had TV’s set up in the office and could watch everything from there.  Mo took our three­-year-old granddaughter, Rebecca, onto the floor very briefly.  There were lots of kids down there, but Rebecca could only take a little bit of it!     Mo’s mom and I got to be in the gallery when all the Congressmen were sworn in at once.  After that, we got 25 passes to the gallery, so just about everyone who wanted to could go.  Unfortunately, not much happening on the floor by then 

            One really special thing was getting our pins.  Mo got his member’s pin and I got a spouse’s pin.  Those things are POWER! (At least around the Capitol!)

            Later in the afternoon we had a ceremonial swearing-in with John Boehner.  They were all set up in a large room with TONS of cameras.  We had to wait for a while for Speaker Boehner, who was taking a break.  When he came in the cameras started snapping!  It was like the paparazzi!  Crazy!

            Here’s our day in pictures:     

Doesn't the office look great?

Tiffany Noel, Rebecca Maddox, Martha, Mo, Sandy Garvey, Kathy Murray, Nita Maddox

 

                     

Mo and his parents, Betty and Jack Brooks

That's good cake!

Getting ready for the Ceremonial Swearing-In

The new Congressman and granddaughter Emma

Speaker John Boehner organizing us.

It's a masterpiece!

Speaker John Boehner, Congressman Mo Brooks and family

After the ceremonial swearing-in we all attended a reception held by the Alabama Delegation for the three new Alabama Congressmen, Mo, Martha Roby, and Terri Sewell.  It was held in a committee room in the Rayburn Office Building.  We got there a little late and the room was PACKED!  There was “speechifying” going on, and Mo and I were whisked to the podium.  The other two new people had already spoken and it was Robert Alderholt’s turn.  Spencer Bacchus introduced Mo and he said a few words.  It was really nice.

Congressman Robert Aderholt

Mo joking that Martha was going to make the remarks.

Mo just cracks himself up!

What a beautiful granddaughter!

Tuesday - One Day Until Swearing-In!

Several weeks ago, Mo got an e-mail from the “booker” for Diane Sawyer, the ABC News anchor.  He was trying to get a group of freshman Congressmen to join in a discussion with Diane of why they ran and what they hope to accomplish.  Mo e-mailed right back and said he would be interested.  Not all the freshmen were as anxious to do the show, however.  There were e-mails going around warning that Diane might try to “trap” the conservatives and make them look foolish by creative editing.  In the end eight new Congressmen and two new Senators agreed to appear.

            The booker was very appreciative of Mo responding so quickly, and he invited us to have breakfast with him last Friday.  His name is Polson and he is an Indian-American.  Very nice guy.  We enjoyed the breakfast a lot.  He kept mentioning how impressed he was that Mo personally answered his e-mail.

            So on Tuesday, the day before swearing-in, Mo, Chelsie, Grady and I went to a committee room in Rayburn that had been set up for TV.  There were about 5 cameras, booms, producers, directors, make-up artists, wires, cables, lights, etc.  The producer ushered us into a side room to watch the TV and to get some powder on Mo’s face.  Not only was the room for spectators and makeup, it was the control room, where the technicians and the director were set up. 

            The first shots were of the newly-elected Congressmen and Senators milling around talking to each other, film for what they call the B-roll that they can run as background.  Next, they took them into the hall and filmed them walking.  More B-roll.  So far, we haven’t seen Diane Sawyer!

            The most interesting thing is listening to the director.  We were warned to be very quiet so that the technicians could hear the director.  He was hilarious!  I would say he was definitely an “artiste”.  He would yell out, “Very good, very good!”, then turn around and chew someone out.  He would scream “If you don’t get that cord out of the shot, I just don’t know what I’ll say!!”  My favorite was when he said, “Go tell Bill to move that camera.”  His helper said, “Bill decided to try it this way once.”  Director:  “Repeat to me what I just said!!!!”  Helper: “You said to have Bill move the camera.”  Director:  “Then what are you going to do!?!?!”  Helper:  “I’m going to have Bill move the camera.”  He did not seem at all concerned about the spectators listening to him throw his hissy-fits.

            Finally, Diane Sawyer appeared.  She looked like a really beautiful and elegant woman even though I never saw her in person, just on the TV in the side room.  They all introduced themselves and chatted informally.  Diane seemed very familiar with Mo.  I think it was probably his name.  They then strolled down the hall again.  Finally, they got down to the questions and discussion.  If you would like to see what was aired, go here: http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/republicans-day-spent-preparation-democrats-congress-senate-tea-party-obama-politics-12541381 and http://abcnews.go.com/watch/world-news-with-diane-sawyer/SH5585921/VD55105096/world-news-105-112th-congress  starting at 5:07 

            I think Mo got more than his fair share of airtime, don’t you?  The ending shot of Mo moving in to his office (wearing a suit?!?!) was re-enacted that evening.  That’s showbiz for you!

            Well, this would be enough excitement for one day, but there were several other things going on as well.  The girls, along with Tiffany, took off to work their magic to decorate the office and turn it into Party Central.  People were swarming around the office installing computers, setting up internet and phones, hanging pictures and plaques, and dropping by to introduce themselves.  Friends and relatives were beginning to arrive.  Many people were flying on AirTran into Baltimore and since there are only two flights a day, they were meeting each other on the plane!

            In late afternoon the girls called and said they were on the way to the office with party supplies.  They had stuffed the trunk full, then they got inside and stuffed groceries all around them until they were totally buried!  Sandy’s job was to protect the cake, a job she took very seriously.  It took seven people two or three trips from the car to bring in all the loot.  On the first trip we had to send everything through the metal detector.  I remarked to the Capitol Policeman that it was probably the only time he had ever scanned a cabbage.  He said it was definitely the first one today!  After that I brought down my spouse I.D. and they let everyone walk around the scanner.

            That night, after another Capitol tour, we returned to our condo and began to get all eleven of us settled in for the night.  It was wall-to-wall blow-up mattresses.  It was wonderful!

Swearing-in week - Saturday, Sunday and Monday

     With Grady and Chelsie in town, Mo decided to test his member-elect super-powers.  On Saturday evening we drove to the Congressional office buildings.  Mo flashed his badge and they let us in!  Mo asked a Capitol Policewomen where he could go and she replied, "Anywhere you want!  This is YOUR place!"  We went through the tunnels to the Capitol.  We wandered around, only running into more Capitol Policemen and occasionally a custodian.  If we saw a sign "Authorized Personnel Only", we made a bee-line for there.  We couldn't get into too much trouble since many doors were locked.  The highlight had to be when we went to Mo's office and saw the plaque on the wall in the hall.  We couldn't get in, but it was another reminder that this was really happening!   It was so much fun, we went the next night, too!

Wow!  It's even spelled correctly!

     On Monday we got the keys to the new office.  It's beautiful!  We did a great job with the arrangement.  When Mo and I got there, the staff had already tweaked things to make it even better!   The girls (Kathy, Sandy, Nita, Rebecca) arrived shortly after.  Diane Pettitt was there, too!!  As you can imagine, the first day was very chaotic.  Mo and I met new staffers, there were all kinds of workers everywhere, and constituents were already calling in! 
     We had the girls over for dinner with Mark, Chelsie, and Grady.  That made nine people in our little space.  Very cozy!  Afterward, Mo and I took the girls to the Capitol for our third visit in as many days.  This time, things went a little differently, though!  In the Capitol Visitors Center we met up with a Capitol Policeman who said that Mo was not officially a Congressman yet, and said we needed to have an escort.  He called another officer on his walkie-talkie, while I rolled my eyes.  Boy, was I surprised!   It turned out to be a fabulous thing!  He and another officer took us on a fabulous tour!  They told us a whole lot about the history, architecture, and lore of the building.  They let us into the Old Senate Chamber, out on the Speaker's Balcony, and into the House Chamber!  They were wonderful!  

Moving to DC

          Since I last blogged we have had a very busy personal life.  We visited my parents during Thanksgiving about three weeks after my dad’s hip replacement surgery.  We had Chelsie and Grady’s wedding in Utah, and then hosted a reception for them in Huntsville.  Three days later we woke up to three inches of snow on Christmas morning!  It was absolutely beautiful!

            On the day after Christmas we loaded the pick-up with Chelsie and Grady’s wedding gifts and a few personal belongings and set out to DC.  There was snow on the ground, but the roads were dry.  It snowed on and off the whole way to Chelsie’s and Grady’s apartment.  We unloaded their “stuff” and spent the night there.  

Our children have nicknamed this "The Clampetts drive to Washington".  "Let me tell you a story 'bout a man named 'Mo'..."

            The next day (Monday) we jumped back in the pick-up and headed to the holy land – a.k.a. Durham, North Carolina, home of the Duke Blue Devils basketball team and the place where Mo and I met.  Being Christmas break, it was deserted, but we wandered around the campus a little.  We went to Cameron Indoor Stadium where there was another alumna showing his kids around.  A campus police officer came by and let us into the lobby, but couldn’t get us onto Coach K Court because they were having a closed practice.  

 We tried to go to the Pizza Hut where Mo and I used to go, but it is now a Chinese restaurant, so we opted instead for a Cracker Barrel.

            We spent the night in north Richmond and on Tuesday made our triumphant entrance into the Capitol City!!!!  Thank goodness for our GPS, which we nicknamed Polly and which got us to the closing office of our condo.  All went smoothly, so we made our way to our new DC home. 

            Life in a big city is not always as convenient as living in Huntsville.  Upon arrival at the condo, we found out that we had to make an appointment for the loading dock, where we had to unload the truck.  Also, the parking pass we were supposed to have for a week in the garage was not there.  We killed some time at McDonald’s until we could (fortunately) get the loading dock.  Then, we borrowed a cart like you find in hotels to make about four trips with all our stuff up to our condo. I carried Mo across the threshold (piggy-back style).  I had forgotten how tiny the rooms were!  We love the view, though!

The new pad.  Cozy by Huntsville standards!

But with great views!  The Washington Monument, the new Nationals Stadium, and the Anacostia River.

            At that point, the effort to single-handedly revive the Northern Virginia economy began!  We drove to Woodbridge, VA where there is a huge shopping area, including an IKEA.  Our goal: buy a TV so we would be ready for Comcast when they came the next morning, and visit a Walmart for needed supplies.  After visiting three electronics stores, supping on IKEA meatballs and perusing their wares, we found the Walmart (surprisingly NOT a Super Walmart).  Mo checked out with a cart load of stuff and left me to finish the shopping while he went to purchase the TV.  When I went to check out at Walmart, my credit card was rejected!  We called them and told them to prepare for many more purchases, and to make a note that we would be living in two places.

            Our first night in our new place was on a blow up mattress.  We were surprised at how light it is at night in the city, even with the blinds down.  Something else new to get used to!

            After the Comcast guys came the next day (on time, I might add!), we resumed the spending orgy through Friday.  Furniture, dishes, sheets, lamps, etc.  You don’t really think about all the things you need to set up a household.  We had a new iteration of “the list” every day.  Fortunately, we made enough trips that we were able to get almost everything we need.  Our condo is convenient to the Capitol, but NOT to shopping!  Furniture was delivered on Friday (New Year’s Eve), and we were dead asleep in our new bed by 10 p.m.

            On New Year’s Day we assembled, put away, unpacked and generally arranged our things.  We watched the Alabama game (49 – 7 romp against Michigan State). To our delight, the newly weds (Chelsie and Grady) arrived that evening.

Days 7 and 8 of Freshman Orientation

     Freshman Orientation officially ended today, with most members-elect going home.  We stayed, however, to attend the Heritage Foundation Orientation and to search for a place to live.  We moved to the Phoenix Park Hotel, right next to Union Station.  It is lovely.  Our room overlooks Union Station, which is decorated for Christmas with three HUGE lighted Christmas wreaths!

 

     We listened to several speakers from the Heritage Foundation in the morning, including Ed Meese, Reagan's adviser.  They were all terrific.  Then, we changed clothes and set out to find living arrangements.  We had to walk by Mo's new office :)

      Mark and Diane rented a very nice apartment in the Navy Yard area in a place called the Axiom.  They first visited a basement apartment going for $1,100 a month.  It was about 450 square feet, and there were pipes on the ceiling so low that Mark couldn't stand up straight.  Diane quipped that it was a good thing she was there, because Mark would have rented it!  Mo and I put down some very low offers on 3 condos in another building.  It's a very tough decision.
      On Sunday Mo and I listened to the end of the Heritage Foundation presentations, then walked around the Capitol Hill area and Eastern Market visiting open houses.  Most of the row houses, condos, basement apartments are from $450 - $550 per square foot!  We saw one row house about 2 blocks from the capitol that was going for $619,000.  It was an estate sale.  The carpet had been ripped out, but the stench of cat urine still blasted you when you walked in.  The hardwood floors underneath were stained.  The ceiling was falling down in places.  There was one bathroom on the opposite end of the hall from the master bedroom.  In short, an unlivable mess!
     Home looked very good when we at last stumbled in about 10 p.m.  Lots of work to do to get ready for January!



    

November 19, 2010 Day Six of Freshman Orientation

Mo got the class picture taken this morning.  There’s so many of them, it’s hard to see him, and also hard to get everyone looking good at the same time!

            Mark, Diane and I ate breakfast in the Rayburn cafeteria.  It was pretty good!  Antidotal evidence from staffers says that the Longworth cafeteria is the best.

            Drawing numbers for the office lottery started at 9 a.m. in the Science and Technology Committee room in Rayburn.  It was packed with members-elect and press.  I am surprised that, with all the important things going on in Washington, the press is fascinated by the office lottery!  There were cameras in the hall and cameras in the room.  Mo got to pick relatively early since his name starts with B.  He yelled out “Oh, no!” when he picked his number, and the guy in charged announced, “Mr. Brooks has number 81.”  Yes, 81 out of 85.  Bummer.

            New strategy- find all the least desirable offices and figure out which of those is most desirable!  Mark went off to interview more job applicants, so Mo, Diane and I decided to check out all the split offices (all offices have three rooms, in a split office one is not connected by a door to the other two) and the offices on the 5^th floor of Cannon (less desirable because not all the elevators go up there and it is somewhat isolated). 

            I really like the fifth floor of Cannon.  The offices are relatively large (965 sq. feet to 1085 sq. feet) and several of them have a view of the capitol dome.  The all have a rain gutter that has been turned into a balcony by most offices.  Some even have a step stool so they and constituents can go outside.  One has a large grill on the “balcony”!  They also have their storage units right across the hall.  They are called cages because each room has two storage facilities separated by wire fencing.  For fifth floor offices, they serve as places to put your refrigerator and, in one case, a table and chairs for staff meetings.

            We thought we would probably end up with one of the offices we looked at – in 2008, a fifth floor Cannon office was the last picked.

            At 1 p.m. the office picking started.  After about an hour we noticed a disturbing trend:  the split offices were being picked as were the fifth floor Cannon.  It became apparent that we would be in Longworth in a block of office we hadn’t even looked at!  Diane and I jumped up and ran out of the room to scope out these Longworth offices.

            There is a different style between the Cannon and Longworth offices.  Cannon has very high ceilings, being the first built.  It has a “cool” feeling because there is lots of marble and painted trim.  The members’ offices have a closet and a bathroom, but the other two rooms are pretty open.  Longworth, on the other hand, is newer and the ceilings are not as high.  It has stained wood trim and lots of built-in file cabinets, drawers, and shelves with glass doors.  It has several little spaces connected to the members’ offices and the leg shops (where the legislative staff works).  It is generally considered to be more centrally located, and therefore more convenient.

            Back to our story.  Diane and I looked at a few offices, then ran back to give our recommendations to Mo.  To make a long story short, the choice came down to 5 offices that we had never seen before.  We went with the one that was the largest, 874 sq. ft.  Our office is 1641 in the Longworth Office Building.

            Next, we were supposed to choose paint colors, meet with an architect, and make the rounds of about 9 different stations that gave us general info.  They were very backed up on the architects, so they gave us a buzzer like you get in a restaurant and told us to come back when it buzzed!  One good thing was that they had delicious food and drinks out for us, which was good because now it was after 3 p.m. and we hadn’t eaten lunch yet.  We went by the paint color place and got a sample of the existing carpet and drapes (that will stay) and paint samples.  Then off we went for our first glance at the new office!

            If first impressions are important, I would say this office failed!  Instead of entering through the middle room, which the vast majority of offices do, the entrance was through a side room.  They really didn’t have a reception area – just a couple of chairs smashed up against some desks.  The middle room was full of desks that you had to walk through and around to get to the member’s office.  It didn’t help that they were in the process of moving and there were boxes and papers everywhere!  The member’s office was nice enough, until we realized that it didn’t have a door to the hall!  No wonder nobody chose it!

            I was fairly distraught, but Mo seemed not to mind and Mark and Diane kept saying we would fix it up and it would be fabulous.  Hmmmm, I wasn’t buying it. 

            Finally about 5:30 we got in to see the architect and our project manager.  Together we came up with a plan that I think will make the office much better.  We are making the middle room the reception area.  We can’t put up a wall because there is nothing to attach it to, so we are making a divider by using three or four tall shelves.  This will make a private area for two senior staffers and give us a place to display cool things from the district.  We worked on the lay-out for the leg shop and we think we made a little more room.  The member’s office is pretty good as is, since they informed us they couldn’t knock a door in the wall!

         Looking back at it now, I realize we have a wonderful office and we will love working there.  We are so lucky to have this opportunity to make a difference in Washington, and it really doesn't matter where we hang our hats!

            We got back to the hotel at about 7 p.m., after a real roller coaster of a day!

November 18, 2010 Day Five of Freshman Orientation

Diane Pettitt (Mark’s wife) arrived last night to help transition and to find a place for them to live.  She and I spent all morning walking the halls of the Cannon and Longworth Office buildings looking at available offices.  This is how office selection goes:  All congressmen who want to change offices go into a lottery by seniority.  As of yesterday, everyone except freshman have chosen an office.  The remaining offices go to freshmen.  The offices numbers, floor plans, and some information about them is posted on the House website.  Rayburn is the most sought after building, so there are no offices left there.  Tomorrow at 9 a.m. the freshmen will line up alphabetically and pick a number out of a hat.  At 1 p.m. they will start to choose their offices, in order of their number.  We have to be prepared with our preferences for whatever number we get!  The offices where the congressman is moving or is not returning are generally very gracious in letting us look around and are very helpful in giving tips of things they like or don’t like.  Mo and Bruce Tucker also joined us for a while.

            At 4:00 Diane and I took the Metro to the Ford’s Theater for a tour and reception for spouses.  Surprisingly few showed up, which was a shame because it was FABULOUS!  There’s a new visitors’ center and museum which we went through.  Then we went into the theater and stood on the stage while the historian regaled us with stories of Lincoln, the night he was shot, and the history of the theater.  One thing that he said that I wasn’t aware of was that John Wilkes Booth was a very, very famous actor.  He compared the assassination to Johnny Depp assassinating Barack Obama.  People were very stunned!

            For about the last forty years it has been a working theater.  They always have a production of “The Christmas Carol” and 2 or 3 other plays or musicals in a year.  Then we went to their new reception room for hors d’oeuvres (delicious!).  On the way out they gave us bags with, among other things, a book about finding John Wilkes Booth called Manhunt The 12-day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson. 

            We went back to the hotel and our men arrived shortly thereafter. We had a light dinner from the Hospitality Suite and sat around and devised an evaluation strategy for picking an office.  I won’t bore you with the details, but suffice it to say it involves an Excel spreadsheet, 7 or 8 criteria, rankings, keen judgment, etc. 

            As for tomorrow, I have just one question for Mo – do you feel lucky?