An early bird ... scores a spot at Obama's inauguration

WASHINGTON -- Janice Moreland, 52, of Las Vegas, is quite possibly the most prepared woman in the  nation's capital.

Barack Obama was declared the next president of the United States at 8 p.m. on election night, and by 10:15 -- while the rest of the world was still absorbing the magnitude of the moment -- Moreland had booked five nights at a hotel in Arlington, Va., e-mailed her senator, Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, for a ticket to the swearing-in, and was sizing up airlines.

Now she was in an Arlington Metro station, having spent Monday in a full-scale dry run for the Big Day: She took the Metro to her appointed stop, made her way to the Capitol reflecting pool where she has a ticket to stand and took pictures for a possible before-and-after montage.

Nothing was going to mess this up. After all, out of 240,000 requests to Reid's office, her name was one of 50 ''pulled out of a hat,'' suggesting some sort of divine providence.

By 6 p.m. Monday, her feet were killing her. "I think I might have made a mistake. I wore myself out. I need a hot bath and some relaxation," she said, pausing to wonder if there was such a thing as being too prepared.

Nah, she concluded.

-- Faye Fiore