Last night I was a volunteer at the White House again. This time I was assisting with the postcard station where people could pledge to do community service in honor of the military. At the end of my shift I was allowed to do the tour but the crowds were still pretty heavy. Therefore, I did not get as many pictures as I had wanted. By the time I made it upstairs the lines were so slow that I mostly just wanted to get home. I'll be back in a couple of weeks.
There were a couple of amusing moments. A little girl who filled out a pledge postcard couldn't think of any community service that she wanted to do so instead she pledged to "wash the dishes".
Also, as a secret service member exited to the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden from the room I was in (the Garden Room), he broke the door. I watched him fumble with his keys and attempt to latch the door over and over again. After a while it seemed like he'd finally got it to work and then left. Not so. The door kept blowing open, which is BAD when you have hundreds of visitors flowing through the building in any given hour. At one point I walked across the room and slammed the door, catching the eye of one of the guards, who came over to investigate. There was quite a bit of commotion as various staff members and supervisors showed up to investigate and shake their heads. As they inspected the lock a piece of metal fell off. I can only assume that someone was sent over to do repairs later in the evening or first thing this morning.
Other than that, it was exciting to see how the decorations turned out this year!
East Wing Entrance
East Colonnade and a view of the sleigh and trees in the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden
Visitor's Foyer, with piles of books transforming into trees!
(the books are going to be donated to local schools after the holidays)
tree detail
Vermeil Room
China Room and Library
The East Room
More East Room. The nativity scene is made of wood and terra-cotta figurines from Italy.
Some are over 300 years old.
Green Room, Blue Room
(sorry I didn't get a lot of pics here, the crowds were kind of bad)
Red Room, State Dining Room and gingerbread White House with a real working fountain!
Front Hall
Exiting through the Front Portico!
Like I said, I'll be back in a few weeks. Stay tuned!