I'm a crappy blogger, but I finally have another one!

Hello all!!! I know it's been a really long time since I have updated this so it might be long, but at least it's something new. I have been really busy since my last post and I can't really remember everything I've done but I'll try. With the health care vote it has been a crazy time in DC and I'm frankly glad it's over because that means less calls I have to answer about it. I had to work the day of the vote to help route mail and do basic stuff but I really didn't mind because it was nice just to be there for something as important as the health care vote. I am so surprised by how much misinformation is out there and I was glad I finally got to talk a little more with the staffer who handles health care and learn more about it. There were some tea party people protesting before the vote and most of those people are kind of crazy. I even saw kids that had signs and didn't even know how to read them much less what they meant or what they were protesting. Supposedly there is supposed to be some big pro-gun, anti-government rally here and people are bringing all sorts of guns and I am not ashamed to admit I am really freaked out! So many guns and people hating government and I will be thankful and glad if we make it through without any problems. I hope people don't give me crap because I am just an intern and I get really tired of people saying their tax dollars pay my salary..... IM NOT GETTING PAID!!! It's really hard for me to hold my tongue when people say that to me over the phone but I do because I'm a good little intern, but it's starting to get old. We have been in recess for two whole weeks and I was loving wearing jeans, but we are back in session and that means wearing work clothes again, ugh! It's only been two days back and already it's intense and we have a lot going on and while I'm glad to be busy again, I am also glad that I'm in the home stretch. Outside of work I have been trying to see and do more while I'm here. I went to Old Town Alexandria and walked around the shops and saw some really old buildings. There are some real cobblestone streets and I even saw the church that George Washington attended. I ate at a place called Austin Grill and it was pretty good Tex-Mex but still nowhere near as good as home. That is first on my list when I get back because people in the northeast do not know how to do Mexican food! When Mom and Dad were here we did a lot of touristy things and a ton of walking so I have been pretty low key since they left. I didn't make it to the Tidal Basin early enough to see the Cherry Blossoms at their peak but I did still see some while walking around but I could have kicked myself for missing the best part of Spring in DC. One of my roommates and I walked down there to see what we could and ended up going to the FDR Memorial and it is by far they best one I have seen. There is still more to tell but because it's pretty late I'm going to go to bed. I'll try to finish this week but if I don't, don't be surprised hehe!

I know, I know I need to post a new blog...

So I know it's been a long time since I posted anything but it's just the procrastinator in me. I don't have schoolwork to procrastinate with so I had to find something else hehe! I haven't really done much but go to work and come home. I feel myself getting more and more boring as time goes on and I'm starting to wonder if this is a side effect of working full time. I don't know how people do it but I think I'm going to try to quadruple major so I never have to get out of school. Perhaps I'm exaggerating a little bit but I thought I would be used to it after 2 full months but I'm not. I bet I'll just start getting used to it the day before my last day. Work has started to get better and better though luckily and I'm getting used to answering the phones and even getting to do more interesting things. I have been to two briefings in the last two weeks and written up memos and really enjoyed doing that. The first briefing I went to was about the recent Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. The briefing was about a bipartisan poll an organization did that found out that the majority of people from both parties opposed the decision which allowed corporations to be treated the same as people in campaign finance rules. It also showed that people wanted legislation to try to curb the effects of this ruling and would reward members who voted for it by voting for them in elections. I also went to a briefing about having computerized health care records in hospitals and clinics to make them more efficient and give better care. I realized I'm not very good at being tough because every person who comes in and has a meeting and is trying to push their organization's goals makes me want to support them. I haven't really done much interesting outside of work lately because I just get so tired but I know I need to start doing more because I only have 2 months left. I did go to Georgetown this past weekend and that was so much fun. They have so many shops and it's nice to just walk around looking even if you're not going to buy anything. Luckily, I was going to buy something and I got a couple of nice shirts for work hehe. We also walked to the university campus and it was so amazing and just being there made me feel so much smarter. A few of us went to see the movie Cop Out and I wasn't expecting it to be that good but it was actually really funny. A lot of people are here from Tech this week because I guess there is a delegation having meetings with Congress members and stuff so we are doing a lot with them. We at dinner with President Guy Bailey last night and I always love getting a meal on Texas Tech considering they get a bunch of money from me every semester. Tomorrow we have a big reception for Tech that we are supposed to work the entrance table for and then we get to go to it so hopefully we get more good free food. Also on Thursday we get to have lunch with President Bailey and Chancellor Hance so we are getting great opportunities to network and make some connections that will really help us out later. President Bailey even told us all that he would be happy to write letters of recommendation or make phone calls on our behalf so it's made me realize how this internship is an amazing opportunity. Anyways... that's all Ihave for today. I know I always say I'll try to update this more often but all you guys know me so you should know better ;)

New York City!

So we were pretty much snowed in for the whole week except Tuesday and Friday so not much happened there. Friday night I came home and got all packed up and ready to go but I didn't get to sleep until about 2 so I was really tired the next day when we had to be at the bus stop by 6:30 in the morning. I was kind of able to sleep on the bus but it wasn't exactly comfortable so I was already tired by the time we got there but I was going to have to just suck it up. We went to our hotel to drop our stuff off and I didn't realize at that time that it was in Queens, which is pretty sketchy but it was too late to do anything about it. We went to Times Square and went to theatres to look at getting tickets to a show but it was so expensive. My roommates got tickets to see Mama Mia! but I didn't really want to see that one and a friend from Tech that I was meeting there didn't want to see it either. We ended up getting really cheap tickets to see Chicago the next day. Then we went to the Hershey store which is huge and has everything Hershey you could possibly want; giant piggy banks that look like chocolate syrup bottles, the largest Hershey bar ever and a giant spinning kiss. Then we went across the street to M&M's world where they had every M&M color ever created and it was 3 stories of memoriabilia and random stuff. My friend Nikki met us there and everyone else wanted to leave but we were still looking around so we just went off on our own. We wandered around Times Square for a little while longer and then we got bought some cheap tickets to a comedy club show for that night. We walked through central park which was covered with snow and really pretty but also so much bigger than I thought. Next we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and it was amazing. We spent a whole hour in the Egyptian area and then realized we had to be quicker to see any other exhibits. We didn't see nearly as much as we wanted to because we were getting really hungry so we met up with my roommates to go get some food. We ended up at a restaurant called Serafina and it was so good but pretty expensive too. Me and Nikki went to the comedy club after that and had to wait for a long time because there were so many people but the show was great. A guy who doesn Live from Gotham on Comedy Central Sean Patton was introducing all of the acts and he was really funny. We saw about 10 comedians in all and there were a couple who weren't that funny but overall it was a great show. The next morning we went to pick up our tickets for Chicago because we had to wait in line for a little while to get the really cheap ones. The show was at 2:30 so we only had time to eat lunch before we had to head back to the theatre. Michelle Williams from Destiny's Child was Roxy and she did a great job. The whole show was amazing and I loved the whole experience of seeing Chicago on Broadway. We went to Chinatown and shopped a little bit but didn't get any fakes or anything. We ate at a really good chinese food restaurant and decided we were going to go out that night. We went back to her hostel and my hotel and got ready and then headed out. We were planning on going to this club and it was a lot longer walk than we thought it would be so it took forever to get there and when we finally did, we found out that it was 40 dollars cash only to get in. This is after they throroughly search our purses and take away her advil and there was no way we were going to pay that so we just left and found a nice pub to get a couple of drinks. The bartender had a really nice Irish accent and every time he started talking we would just stare. The next morning we ate at a really good bakery with so many good pasteries and then just walked around the Madison Square Garden area. We went to Macy's and it was huge, a total of 8 stories. There were so many clothes that I wanted to buy them all but unfortunately I walked out without buying anything. After that I had to catch the bus back and then head to work the next day.

Hey everybody! Sorry it has taken me so long to post this but it shouldn't be surprising because it's me, hehe. In the past two weeks work has been pretty tedious but I was able to go to a House Administration Committee hearing about the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. The decision made it so corporations could use any amount of money to make tv or radio commercials saying vote for whichever candidate and heavily influence elections. Two of the people on the panel said that they did not think it was as big of an issue as some people thought and the other 4 said that it would actually have a huge impact on campaign finance. I had to take notes and write up a memo for the legislative assistant in my office that deals with campaign finance issues and she had told me to go a little early because it would probably be a big hearing. When I got there to wait in line they said the hearing was pushed back an hour because the one before hand had run long but I had to stay because the line was already getting long. I stood there in my high heels for and hour and then when they let us in I wasn't able to get a seat so I had to stand by the wall and I ended up standing for 3 and a half hours straight. I guess that's the price of being an intern.

My Congressman is on the Ways and Means Committee and there were two hearings about the 2011 budget and one of them was with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. The legislative assistant who deals with budget issues was at the hearing with the Congressman and I had to go give her some papers she needed from the office. The other office people told me that she might be sitting behind the Congressman or she might be in the audience so I wasn't really sure where she was. When I got in the room I couldn't see her anywhere and I kept looking around which was annoying some of the press people I was standing behind. She is a pretty small lady and she was actually behind a column on the wall behind the Congressman, so when I finally saw her I went to give her the papers but I was so embarrassed. I was just glad my Congressman wasn't talking or they might have seen me on C-SPAN behind him.

On Friday we were supposed to get off early because of the snow storm that was going to be coming but I had my White House tour that my office had scheduled for me at noon. My scheduler told me that I didn't need to go back to the office after my tour so I only had to work 2 hours. The White House tour was pretty cool, a little short, but the rooms were amazing. I got to see the painting of George Washington, which was the only painting to survive the White House fire in the 1800's. Unfortunately you only get to see the east wing on regular tours so I didn't get to see as much as I was hoping but it was still really cool to see.

I went to Best Buy after I got done with my tour to stock up on some movies for the weekend because we were forecasted to get 24 or more inches of snow, which would shut down the whole city. We ended up getting about that much or more and were pretty much stuck at home. A bunch of us went out Friday night and again Saturday morning to play in the snow and I made a giant snowman we named Rupert. We went to a hill too because one of the girls had bought a disk sled thing and as we were walking one of my roommates came up beside me and pushed me into the snowbank beside me. It completely covered me up and when I was able to get to my feet I looked like the abominable snow man. We also went to a 7-11 a few blocks away on Saturday night and got some snacks and cokes and on the way back I was carrying the bag with a bunch of stuff in it. It kind of messed up my balance so I really struggled walking in the two foot high snow and even fell a couple of times while everyone else just laughed. I think there is a reason I don't normally live where it snows a lot, hehe.

One of my roommate's staff assistant let her borrow some movies and the first season of the show Glee for the weekend so we all (the girls anyways) watched the whole first season in two days. The boys were getting pretty tired of it though but they had the tv all day Sunday for the Super Bowl so they couldn't complain too much. It was an awesome show and I would highly recommend it to anyone who's looking for a really funny show to watch. We all watched the Super Bowl and a few roommates made enchiladas and jalapeno popppers and twice baked potatoes among other things so we had a great meal. It was about half and half for who was rooting for the Saints and who was rooting for the Colts and I was of the half going for the Saints so it turned out well for me. Only one intern out of all 19 of us had to go to work today and luckily it was not me. Federal buildings are also closed for tomorrow because we are supposed to get at least another 5 inches on top of what we still have. I'm waiting to hear if I have to go or not but even if I don't I'm going to have to find something to do to get out of the house. Hopefully any snow will be gone by this weekend though because on Saturday morining a group of us is heading to New York City for the weekend so I'm really excited. I can't wait to get there and I will update my blog as soon as I can to let everyone know how it went.

Executive compensation, Desperate Housewives and Rock Band

The four day week after a long weekend was nice but I was still exhausted by the end of it. I had a lot of busy work to do this week because there weren't any really big projects for interns to do. I spent most of my time deduping (making sure there aren't duplicate constituent records) or routing email which is really boring. However I did ask to go to a Financial Services Committee hearing about executive compensation. It was very interesting and exciting to watch but most of what they talked about what way over my head. Basically, I learned that big banks and corporations give ridiculous bonuses at a time when the average person is really struggling because of those corporations' greediness. I came in and couldn't find a seat so I was just going to stand by the door but a guy to the right moved some stuff so I could sit down. I didn't realized until later that I was sitting in a seat reserved for press. Oops! When they started giving me pieces of paper that said "For immediate release" I realized that I had made a bit of a mistake. When I got back to my office I told my scheduler what happened and she laughed but told me that the papers I got might be useful to the press secretary so I gave them to her and she laughed too when I told her what happened. I felt pretty good after that because I had done something interesting and gotten out of the office for a little while but then my chief of staff gave me a project and as I went to give it back to him he gave me a whole bunch of little changes to make and over and over again it was the same thing. I guess I wasn't looking closely enough at some of the littlest details so I understand but after a few times of this I was starting to get extremely discouraged. The last one was to capitalize a letter in the middle of an organization title so it would look the same as the others of that organization but the system we use is not even case sensitive. Hopefully this upcoming week goes better so I can make up for the one bad day I had. On Tuesday night I went to Best Buy to get a camera to replace the one I broke and to Target to get some groceries. My new camera is just a newer version of my old one and unfortunately I haven't really gotten to use it much yet. I have a roommate who watches Desperate Housewives and I have been trying to catch up online but it's just not available so I got the fifth season at Target and then I'll watch the sixth one online. I also went to Marshalls to get some bowls and silverware because there isn't enough in the house and found some really cute ones for really cheap. When I got home I decided to start watching Desperate Housewives which was the biggest mistake. I cannot stop watching and it's starting to effect my sleeping. I keep telling myself I'll just watch one more episode, and then one more, and then one more and the next thing I know it's two in the morning...eek! Yesterday we went to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum and American History Museum. I had forgotten to charge the battery for my new camera so I had to take my old one and hope I got some decent pictures. The lens is okay so it will take a picture but the screen is so messed up that I couldn't see if I actually got what I wanted to take a picture of in the screen. I haven't gotten them off the memory card yet so I'll have to just wait and see. I didn't get to see as much of the museum as I would have liked so I'll probably have to go another day to see the rest because it's huge. When we went to the American History Smithsonian the first thing I wanted to see was the American flag that Francis Scott Key had written the national anthem about. It is a huge flag (32 by 34 feet) but still smaller than it had been because in the 1900's people took pieces of it for keepsakes. It's missing a star too but it's still an amazing sight. The museum has done a great job preserving it since they got it but you aren't allowed to take pictures so I don't have any to show. After we left we got some food at the "tex-mex" place next door and then I headed to a party at a coworkers house. The other intern and I were going to meet at the metro stop and head over there and she said she knew a stop that might be easier than the stop I had looked up so I said ok. Unfortunately it took us through a sketchy part of town and we were a little freaked out but we made it there (after witnessing a drug deal). When we told them the way we had came they all said it was kind of shady over there and gave us a better way to get home. We played rock band the whole time and it was really nice to hang out with work people outside of the office. Today is pretty much a lazy day getting ready for another week of work so there isn't much going on in the house. Some roommates are going to see a movie but it's not one I'm interested in seeing so I think I'm going to try to catch up on Desperate Housewives so I might be able to make it to bed at a reasonable time this week.

First full week of work

I've been told I don't update this enough so I'll make sure this is a long post. The first full week of work was exhausting but I also enjoyed a lot of the work I did. The email routing and cleaning up of files is kind of tedious and mind numbing but I also got to do some interesting jobs. I ran around to 27 other offices and got to go to a what would MLK do forum discussion where the representative from D.C. spoke and she gave a great speech. Unfortunately my chief of staff needed me to leave early to brief him on it so I had to get up early and walk out which was so embarrassing but I had to do what he told me to. Answering the phones is probably the least fun part of my job and I really wonder how people can be so angry yet so dumb. Luckily this week I received a lot of calls about people supporting him and that they stand behind him and that was really nice to hear. I have to say I was ecstatic when it was finally the weekend though. Friday night we went to an Tech alumni's house who had done the internship and met a lot of people who had done the internship before and were currently working here so that was nice to hear. Hopefully any connections I make here will help me find a job here after I graduate. Then we went out with the first floor people to hang out which was a lot of fun. Normally the first and third floors are so separated and we don't really hang out with eachother so I really enjoyed getting to hang out with them. Yesterday we went to the National Art Gallery and the art there was amazing. Unfortunately we got there a little later than planned because everyone had slept in so we only had about an hour there and that was not enough time to see everything. We decided to go to the National Portrait Gallery so we walked down to Chinatown and luckily they were open until 7 so we had more time there. The portraits were great and I would have loved to spend more time in there reading about each person depicted but we started to get hungry and so we left to find some food. I think with some of these museums we're going to need a whole day there to see everything because they are so huge. We were walking around in Chinatown and ended up eating at this place we had seen before called Texas BBQ and it was actually really good. It made me think of home except the people working there certainly did not have the Texas hospitality you get at BBQ places in Texas. We came home and watched the Colts/Ravens game and played some games until we went to bed. For a Saturday night it was pretty relaxing but after the long week at work I think that's what everyone wanted. With the extra day tomorrow we are planning on going to Mt. Vernon and exploring that so I'm really excited about that. This city is so beautiful and there is so much to do so I am loving being here for an entire semester. Hopefully that was enough of an entry to make up for the fact that I haven't written in a week.

First weekend in DC

I had a good first few days at work but I'm definitely glad it's the weekend. Yesterday at work was great and made up for a bit of a bad day on Thursday. I got to go to other Congressman's offices and get signatures on a letter which meant going between Congressional office buildings in underground tunnels! I also got a pretty cool project to research a legislation topic that is probably going to be introduced fairly soon and formulate a letter responding to constituents on the Congressman's stance on the issue. I know they are going to have to revise it and it's just practice but it's still exciting to be given a better project than just sorting mail. We went out yesterday and spent way too much money the first night out, so I will have to work on finding better drink specials. I finally got a chance to go walking around today because I had been working all week while the other interns, who dont start until Monday, got to see some of the sights. We went and got groceries, which was exciting because it was my first ride on the metro, and of course I didn't know which one to get on and which way to go but luckily some of the other interns knew how to get there. The big grocery store here is Harris Teeter, and it was nice to be able to finally get groceries but it was kind of a confusing store. I was the only one in the house who still didn't have food so I had been living off of the ramen that had been stocked for use when we got here and that was getting old quickly. We also went to the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. It was amazing to see all of these landmarks in person rather than on TV or in pictures and it was a great time. The reflection pool was frozen over and one of the roommates stood on it to take a picture and we were all a little worried that the first thing we would have to tell our internship coordinator is that one of the interns was in the hospital bc they fell into the reflection pool. It was great to walk around but it was so cold! It was in the 20's but it felt like it was 10 degrees and the wind was blowing so bad. My legs were completely numb and I have no idea how I could still walk because I couldn't feel anything below my waist. I'm really looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow and hopefully getting well rested for my first full week of work.