Can you imagine how busy Michelle is right now?

[monmouth]

Moving, again, into Blair House, getting clothes, etc. ready for the girls for school. Granted it was only for today but they had to be packed, then unpacked. Appointments for fittings for she and the girls. The phone non-stop ringing from White House people asking for her opinion(s) on everything from soup to nuts.

I know she has plenty of assistance on these matters, most likely the girls are being put to work in some capacity but still, whether you have the best husband in the world, the best help and assistance in the world, the final last minute detail is left up to you. We've all moved before and I've always stated whether it's two floors or two-thousand miles, it is a royal pain.

God bless you Michelle, I'm sure you're sleeping well at night after exhausting days of hundreds of things to take care of. Of course she is young, full of energy and someone else is shopping and cooking the meals (for me that would be the ultimate gift)... In a matter of a week or so you will have a routine and order back in your life. I'm just so thankful it isn't me. I'm exhausted just thinking about it..

[ColbertWatcher]

1. Don't forget she has help: Marian Robinson is movin' in! n/t

[monmouth]

4. Yes, but I don't think Marian is there yet. I'm talking about those god

awful details that are popping up between now and Tuesday. I'm sure PE Obama is the best and all of that but men...when it comes to this stuff, I dunno...Haha, I'm just so not envious of her right now.

[ColbertWatcher]

8. Oh. I thought she was still around thed girls. n/t

[Captain Hilts]

2. She has my full sympathy.

Hang tough, Michelle!

[shanti]

11. sure does..

i don't envy her in the least, but she seems to be up for it. her life will never be the same.

[Phred42]

3. She dosen't have to buy dishes

[movonne]

6. Always find the positive side....

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

5. They're all probably really stressed out right about now. nt

[Captain Hilts]

7. I imagine the adrenalin has kicked in.

ER: Hang in there, Michelle!

[MADem]

9. I don't think she had to schlep to her appointments on the METRO.

I also don't think she's answering her own phone at this stage.

She's going through the same issues that any wife (can't say spouse at this stage of the game) of any President has had to deal with right before they move in to the WH. Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton, Barbara Bush, Nancy Reagan, Rosalynn Carter, Betty Ford, Pat Nixon, Lady Bird Johnson, Jackie Kennedy...they all had to deal with it. The good news is, the White House staff has had experience doing this, so they'll make the transition as seamless as possible. She's not struggling with packing tape or wrapping china in newspapers. It's not as though she's schlepping boxes to the curb for the recycling.

In fact, they're packed. Their stuff is in transit. They're living in "temporary housing" (Blair House, some of the best temporary housing in the world) out of suitcases and trunks. At eleven o'clock on inauguration day, the Bush boxes will have been loaded on a van and trundled off to TX, and the Obama stuff will be offloaded from their van while the inauguration is going on. By the time they get home, all their crap will be unpacked and placed where it needs to be. There won't be any crap or mess to deal with--the staff does that.

I suspect her "busy business" is more mental than physical at this stage. She has to "be" places....like on that train from Philly waving and smiling. After awhile, simply being "present" can be exhausting. It's good that she has her mother to talk to....odds are good her mother won't write a betraying "tell all" book, as so often happens.

I think she's got a lot of strength and will do fine in the oddball "role" of "First Lady." It's a thankless job--lots of criticism, incessant scrutiny, and no paycheck, at least not at the outset (one can get a "payday" later by writing a book, if one would like). I also think she'd rather be doing this, and dealing with all these changes, than not.

[Skittles]

10. my mum moved six kids every year when I was growing up

and we moved back and forth between England and America

[Pharlo]

12. Former military brat here.

If she didn't issue the obligatory "IF YOU ABSOLUTELY DO NOT NEED IT, DO NOT UNPACK IT!!" lecture for anything the family brought with them (clothes, etc) then, she's not as smart as my mother was. And, yeah, as stated earlier, most of their stuff is 'in transit or storage'. Anyplace you're at for 3 weeks or less, you allow two suitcases per 4 children. But then, she is new to this. I've seen my mother get a phone call, have a household packed, three kids removed from school and an infant all on the road inside of two hours from the phone call. As a kid, I thought it was normal. As an adult, I have NO friggen clue how she did it. And, unfortunately, she's no longer here to ask.

edit to add: Spouse serving in Southeast Asia and of NO help at all.

[Lex]

13. I sincerely hope she knows how to delegate!

nt