One Lovely Week

I am sorry I have not updated my blog this week. The last four days were fast, furious, and wore me out! This week Congressman Conaway was in session, so I worked from 8:30 to 6:30 all week. We were busy catching up from our snow week, as well as everyone being out of the office for a trip back to the Texas district.

Tuesday:
When I arrived in the office, there was a ton a mail already waiting for me to sort. I was surprised with a tour that morning too. It was a group of two. The tour went very smooth and I enjoyed visiting with them.

That afternoon, I went to the second broadband briefing. Memom, there might be hope-maybe you will eventually get to upgrade from dial-up to get on the internet! Speaking of Memom, I was able to confirm my mom and grandmother’s White House and Capitol tour for when their visit. That got me really excited! To make things better, I get to go with Mom and Memom on the White House tour! That is the one thing that I have not ever been able to do while visiting DC.

Our Tech dinner with Dr. Hopper, the dean of CASNR (College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources) students, was postponed until Wednesday because the weather in Lubbock. So for dinner, a little group of us went to Tortilla Coast for their Taco Tuesdays and queso. Their taco specials are definitely not like Rosas’ Taco Tuesdays.

Wednesday:
The office was again very busy and we were all still catching up. I got to train Matthew, the other intern, for Capitol tours. I had to make sure that he understood everything because he had his own first tour the next day.

Dr. Hopper came to my office and visited with Rae-Lynn and me for about thirty minutes. He was just checking up on things, and we all enjoyed a little break and getting to visit with Dr. Hopper.

At 10:00 a.m., I gave another tour. I am getting pretty good at those things. I haven’t gotten lost in a long time. I even was told by a security guard at the metal detector, “Nice to see you again.” That’s right, I am finally becoming a usual.
By mid-afternoon, Matthew and I were officially done with entering surveys in the computer. We celebrated by having a Dr.Pepper.

That evening, all the Tech interns enjoyed a nice meal with Dr. Hopper at Buca de Bepo’s. There was SO much food! We had tons of leftovers! I appreciated his hospitality, and enjoyed our dinner. The two pictures from that night.

Thursday:
That day was full of meetings and phone calls. With Obama’s Health Care Summit and Conaway’s speech over Intel, people were calling like crazy. That day went by so fast that I basically went home and crashed.

I spent all morning sorting mail, working with phone calls, taking meetings, mailing flags out, and printing pictures of people who visited the office. I barely left my desk.

At 3:00, I finally got up from my desk and went a briefing discussing Turkey. It was an all day one, but my LA and I went to the last hour, hour and a half. It was a very interesting briefing and a kind that I have never experienced.

I do remember one special thing. Congressman Conaway and I talked for quite a bit. I really enjoyed talking with him. It was really nice to just visit with him, and not just talking about office work.

Friday:
Yesterday was the calmest it has ever been in the office. We were almost caught up.
I met one of the former interns from Conaway’s office. She was really nice. She wants to come back up here and work when she graduates this May because she enjoyed her internship so much.

After work, four of us went to a Jodi Arnold fashion show. It was all very expensive, but it was really fun experiencing it. Then we grabbed a bite to eat at Chipotle. It was the first spicy food I have eaten in a really long time. The third picture is from the fashion show. From left to right, it is Abby, me, Juliet, and Lauren. They are all Tech interns as well.

Today:
This morning I woke up and went for a run to the Lincoln Memorial and back. The weather today is so pretty and the sun is out and shining.

Today we all are just going shopping around to Georgetown and the Pentagon City Mall.
Tonight, Angie and I are going to Angie’s Staff Assistant little get-together at her house. It is to celebrate Texas’ up and coming Independence Day. I think it will be really fun.

Until next time,
madelon

Smooth Days

These last few days have been going very smoothly. Ice is finally starting to melt, making the metros run normally, and making my walks around the city safer. My work week is also starting to have a routine.

Friday I was alone in the office again. The day went by fast because my to-do list was non-ending. After work, I relaxed at the Tech house with everyone else. A few went to see Shutter Island, but I enjoyed staying home and watching old movies at the house.

Saturday was a relaxing day, nothing out of the ordinary. That afternoon a group of us went to watch Valentine’s Day. We were all a little disappointed with the movie. The cinaplex was three stories tall! The theater we watched the movie in was also different than Texas movies. Instead of the rows of seats going up, the room just went back with a little incline. It was a great experience.

Sunday was a long day. I did my online class all….day…long. Though it was a very long process, I was productive and proud of myself for getting four full lessons done. Hopefully I can have it finished by the time I get back!

Today was a normal Monday. Things are starting to become second nature for me. More people were in the office today and Congressman Conaway was back, so I stayed at work until 6:30 today. This whole week we are in session, so I will be working from 8:30-6:30 for the rest of the week.

Tonight I will be doing some Zumba with Angie- working our dancing skills. We will see how it goes.

Hopefully the week gets more exciting with a good story or two soon!

Until next time,
madelon

Work Update

It feels different being back at work. Having a nine day weekend can really mess up routines! This has probably been one of the busiest weeks I have had while working in this office.

Since Congress is in recess this week, the majority of our office, as well as Congressman Conaway, are out in the district. This includes Rae-Lynn, my main boss and the office staff assistant. With her gone, I have to step up my game and it gets a little hectic.

Tuesday was a big catch up day. We were working on all of the things we were unable to get to because of the snow. I had two tours, both an hour and a half each. I do love giving tours. It is fun meeting new people and hearing their stories. When I got home I rested up because I was not feeling well.

Yesterday, Wednesday, was much easier. Several of the things on our to-do list were completed, and all the other intern and I had to do was enter survey responses in the computer. My eyes hurt by the end of the day because I just got in this zone and stared at the computer all day. With only three staff workers in the office, things were very quiet, making the data entry easier. When I got home, I did some exercising and lifted homemade weights (Tide laundry bottles). Our whole floor got together to watch the Olympics. We had fun watching the ski racing and the snowboard half pipe competitions. Everyone was yelling for the USA. We had so much fun.

Today, there were only two of us in the office, the press secretary and me. It was very quiet all day. I had several responsibilities: checking emails, printing out faxes, taking phone calls, sorting mail, entering survey data, mailing letters, and fixing the printer when it would mess up. The days just fly by! Today, all the Tech interns had a luncheon with a Tech graduate; she was in the first ever group of Tech interns. She now works for the Ag Committee. The lunch was very informative and I enjoyed the lunch. We had Chick-fil-a…the only fast food we ever get because DC does not have any fast food joints around. This evening I went to the grocery store and now I will attempt to do some more of my online class.

I am sorry I do not have any pictures, but as soon as I do something picture worthy I will put them up!

Until next time,

madelon

New York!

I had a great adventure this weekend - a trip to New York, New York. The place was fast, loud, and full of life. I loved it all!

I went with Angie and her family for a weekend trip. We were scheduled to leave Friday on the Amtrak at 1:05 pm. When it was time to load, we found out that our departure was delayed. An hour and a half later we were off! We all prayed that the rest of the trip was successful and smooth so we could make it to the Broadway play, Mamma Mia at eight o’clock. But there was trouble in store for us in Philly. We stopped in Philadelphia to let passengers off, and when it was time to leave we found out that our engine had broken down. The Amtrak people had to replace the engine before we could leave again. So we sat in the dark and waited, finally leaving about an hour later.

When we took off again, we decided that we would not have time to go to the hotel room, change clothes, and get to the play all before 8:00 pm. To save time, we changed in the Amtrak bathrooms. Boy, was that a challenge!

We were just a few minutes away from our destination. Everyone that was getting off at New York was getting their luggage and lining up by the door. This one lady got in between our group and said, “I will let you all go in front of me because I know ya’ll are in a group.” We thanked her and continued to talk. Come to find out, her name is Celine, she lives around New York, and she had what we needed to get to the play on time. I really don’t know what we would have done without her. Angie’s mom called our hotel before we got in and told the front desk that we will be dropping off our luggage, picking up the play tickets, and will not check in until later that night. The hotel said they would be waiting for us.

When the Amtrak arrived, we flew off and darted out, with Celine leading our pack. We went to a random street that Celine said would be the easiest to get a taxi. We all stood on the side of the street, holding her bag while she hailed a cab for us. Celine found one, gave the taxi to us and said, “Good Luck!” We zoomed off to the hotel, when we got there everyone in our group had a plan. I stayed in the taxi so the driver wouldn’t leave us; Angie ran to get our play tickets; and Angie’s parents basically threw our luggage at the hotel doormen. It was fast and efficient. We then zoomed off to the play. We ended up arriving ten minutes before the curtain went up. God was truly looking out for us, and as Angie’s mom would put it- Hello New York!! We truly felt the big city rush.

The play was AMAZING!! I loved every minute of it! The cast was great, the music was perfect, and I felt like I was right there on stage with them. I would really love to do that someday….too bad I can’t sing.

After Mamma Mia, we went and ate dinner at Roxy’s. The diner was established in 1946 and is still going strong. The food servings were huge! I ordered a grilled chicken club sandwich and got this monstrous creature (I posted a picture of it on here). I could only eat ¼ of it, but it was one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever eaten! We also all split a piece of original New York Cheesecake. That too was enormous and the four of us couldn’t eat it all, but it was delicious!

With our stomachs full, we looked around Times Square. It was unreal! There were so many lights! I don’t think that part of town ever sleeps. We then went back to the hotel and rested up for the next day.

The next day we got up and walked around town, going in and out of different stores. We ate lunch at Hard Rock Café. I learned something very interesting there. It is a New York law that the calories must be printed for every menu item. It sure does make you think twice before ordering something!

We headed out to Chinatown after lunch to do more shopping- and we shopped till we dropped!

By the time we were done with Chinatown, we were all worn out. On our taxi ride back to the hotel was a scary. It felt like the driver was using both feet on the steering wheel. When we got back to the hotel, Angie’s dad and I went and got Chinese take-out.

We ordered out at this place called Ollie’s. Angie’s dad ordered sweet and sour chicken for Angie’s mom, and then he ordered another for himself. The cashier said, “You want two? Are you sure?” We both looked at each other and laughed and he said yes. I then ordered the same thing. Our wait was fifteen minutes, so we went next door to this enormous Apple store while we waited. The store was so neat! There were two stories, the ground level was the iPods and the basement was computers. So organized and so simple, but it sure was exciting to go to.

When we picked up our Chinese food, both of our bags were extremely heavy. I was thinking that I got more food than I ordered. We got back to the hotel room and opened everything up. My one order of sweet and sour chicken with rice was huge!! When I finished eating, it didn’t look like I touched it.

The next day, Sunday, we got up and headed back to DC. I had so much fun and I cannot wait to go back! There is still so much I want to see!!

I am back in DC. I unpacked, did laundry, and now I am preparing myself for work tomorrow. It has been so long since I have gone to work; I am hoping that I remember how to do everything. Our office is in recess this week so hopefully it won’t be too stressful. It will be a little harder because Rae-Lynn, my staff assistant, will be in the district with Congressman Conaway. We will see how it goes!

I hope all of you enjoy my pictures! Some of my pictures are on Angie’s mom’s camera, so those will come later.

until next time,

madelon

Snow Week!

Sorry I have not blogged in a while. All federal buildings have been closed this week and not much has been happening.

After my long weekend of playing in the snow, I am starting to get tired of it. Not having the right type of footwear is making it hard for me to go outside. The town literally shut down after all of this snow. No Smithsonians, no theatres, and very few restaurants have been open all week

Angie’s family had to change their plans and come on Monday so they could beat the snow. They were supposed to come mid-week, but they knew they wouldn’t make it if they came that late, and they were right!

Monday and Tuesday all of the interns relaxed around the Tech house, watched movies, and worked out indoors. I delivered valentine packages in the snow to make sure they got to people in time. That was probably the most adventurous thing I did.

Wednesday, Angie invited me to hang out with her family and Becky. Becky is one of Angie’s mom’s close friends that came with them. We were going to go see the city and all of the monuments, but everything was still closed because it snowed again Monday night. So instead, we ate lunch, went back to the hotel and hung out for a bit, ate dinner, and then the day was already gone. I felt badly that we couldn’t do anything, but we sure tried.

Today, Thursday, was an amazing day. I went with Angie and her family. We woke up early, got some breakfast at their hotel, and then went off to see all we could. Most of the sidewalks were clear and we didn’t have to walk in the street today. Paths had been cleared closer to monuments. The Smithsonians and The Hill were still closed, but we still walked to the National Mall. From that spot, you can also see the Capitol and the White House. It is a place that all visitors must see.

After going to National Mall, we went to Georgetown. Georgetown is one of my new favorite places! There are great stores and amazing places to eat. All of the pictures on this blog are from Georgetown. I compare Georgetown a northeastern version of Fredericksburg, Texas. All the stores are really close together. There are tons of little eateries and sweet shops too. We visited the college, and it was one of the coolest (and oldest) campuses established in 1789, and is an all gated area. The architecture resembles castles and was very interesting.

We ate lunch at the “college hang out” restaurant. It was called The Tombs. The food was amazing!! Most of the entrees were vegetarian. Definitely not a place for meat-lovin’ Texans.

We ended the day at Union Station. Everyone just wanted to see what it looked like. We also got some chocolate at this amazing French chocolate shop.

We ate dinner at Tortilla Coast, and now I am home packing because I GET TO GO TO NEW YORK CITY TOMORROW! I am so excited and can’t wait! We are going to explore, shop, and go to “Mamma Mia” the Broadway play tomorrow.

I will not be able to blog until I get back, so get ready for a ton of pictures!

Until next time,
madelon

One Wild Weekend in the Snow

Washington, D.C. had a giant snow storm this weekend. It was crazy!
Friday went by real quick. We got out at 2:00 pm because the snow was starting to stick and the roads were rapidly getting bad. Grocery stores were crazy because they wouldn’t be open all weekend. People were ridiculous, and every place was so crowded.

A few of us stayed up until the snow got deep enough to play in. At about 11 o’ clock, the snow was already blocking the door enough to make it hard to get out. It was so fun! None of the snow had been touched yet and it all looked so fresh! We met up with some of the street workers who were plowing the snow while we were taking pictures in the middle of the street. They told us where some good hills were for sledding. That was definitely a must for the next day.

Saturday was amazing! The snow was sooo deep! It ended up snowing about three feet. It went higher than my knees when we were walking. Annalyse (another tech intern who is also my roommate) bought a sled earlier this week. We all shared it and walked down the street to a giant hill. It was the first time I have ever been sledding. It was so fun! What was even more comical was that the five of us girls were laughing and looked like we were having more fun than all of the little children around us.

Tree branches were breaking left and right because there was so much snow on them. Some trees were blocking the middle of the street and sidewalks because they were hanging so low. In one of the pictures I took, you can see how much snow is piled up everywhere. There are cars on the side of the street, that from a distant look like little hills of snow. After going out in the snow all morning, the rest of the day we were stuck inside. Nothing was open at all. DC literally shut down. To stay entertained, we had a Glee marathon and watched the whole season on DVDs. The guys on our floor didn’t it like it so much though.

Lori, Juliet and I also walked to the Capitol to see what it looked like covered in snow. It was so pretty and peaceful. Everyone that we saw outside were mostly over at the Capitol. Though the walk was definitely hard in the deep snow, it was sure worth it.

Today, everyone is getting chores done, getting more groceries because some stores opened back up, and are getting ready for the Superbowl. Our floor is having our own Superbowl party. We are having enchiladas, pepper poppers, queso, and much more. Everyone is pitching in so we can have a great time tonight.

To add to the very fun weekend, I don’t have to work tomorrow because of the snow! I hope you enjoyed all of the pictures in the very deep snow!

Until next time,

madelon

Wintry Wednesday and Thursday

Wednesday a long one, and one of the reasons I did not post my blog. This is the third full day in a row for me and tomorrow is looking to be very busy, too. I now understand why my mom goes to sleep so early…waking up early and working all day. I think my body and routine have just not caught up with each other yet.

This morning, I went to a long briefing. It was almost two and a half hours long! There were nine speakers, and Congresswoman Sutton was one of the main speakers. The topic was corrosion and every member had very similar things to say. I really enjoyed listening to a few talk because they had funny accents. One had a French accent, and another had a northern accent.

After an amazing lunch (Angie made homemade taco soup- yum!), I found out that tomorrow DC is expecting over sixteen inches of snow – 16”!! That is crazy! When I saw the announcement, I first thought – good thing I don’t have a car up here! Maybe if it snows a lot we will have a snow day. That would be fun!

Though the afternoon was calm and the errands were the same, some of the other Tech interns had a very different day. Lori (who is seen with me in several pictures and talked about in previous posts) spoke with Nancy Pelosi for a few minutes today while giving her tour. I don’t care if you like Pelosi or not, getting to speak with and meet someone with such a high position is pretty exciting! Another Tech intern also met a famous person. He was walking down the hall and met up with Tim Tebow, the quarterback for the Florida Gators. Tim Tebow is here right now working with a pro-life group. I will be bringing my camera to work for a while.

After work, the cold weather made me stay inside. I will be going to bed early tonight so I’ll be re-energized in the morning. I am sorry I don’t have a picture for today’s blog. I wished it was one with me and Tim Tebow, but maybe another day.

Thursday was also very eventful. When I got in the office, I saw a gentleman sitting in a chair and reading the newspaper. I didn’t say anything because I thought he had already been waited on. I just said a mere “Good morning.” I did the usual- coffee and sorting mail, and then Rae-Lynn (the staff assistant) came in and spoke to the gentleman. “Hello Matthew! You are the new intern right?” A new intern! Now all my duties are split in half! This will now make my life much easier during work. Matthew seems nice and has a good work ethic, hopefully that stays up haha.

I also gave an unexpected tour this morning. A man came in, spoke with a LA (Legislative Assistant), and then requested a tour. So he and I toured the Capitol and hopefully I taught him several new things. Tours are always nice surprises. I get to meet new people, walk around and stretch my legs, and the day passes faster.

After lunch, I attended a briefing over conserving the Southwestern area of Africa. Yes, I have already attending a briefing over Africa, but that one was Central Africa. By the way, they both had cupcakes, and those things are delicious! I found out today, that if I were to buy them at the bakery, they are $5 a piece.

The rest of the afternoon I spent my time logging surveys. I did catch Scott Brown being sworn into his office too. The picture is of him signing and the Vice President is beside him.

With two crazy and full days in a row, my feet are telling me to slow down. I know that they will eventually stop hurting, and the days will continue on. The rest of the evening I will be preparing for yet another big day, aka- sleeping.

Until next time,
madelon

TUESDAY!

Tuesday was very busy! With more mail than usual, lots of meetings, getting supplies, going to the storage room, briefings and tours, things have been crazy.

This morning an important constituent came in and had a meeting with the Congressman. After the meeting, I gave her a tour of the Capitol. She was a very pleasant woman and I enjoyed speaking with her throughout the tour.

As soon as I returned from the tour, I headed over to a briefing. It was over Broadband, and how this organization wants to make is more affordable, more accessible, and more adaptable. Who knows? Maybe my grandmother will be able to switch from dial-up to broadband in a few years!

After the briefing, I got to eat another amazing meal of leftover Matchbox pizza, and then I started on the mail. The whole afternoon, I ran around doing errands, delivering and picking up things.

When work ended at 6:30, I went with Angie to CVS, Target, and the grocery store. We wanted to get it all done before the snow started getting really bad. It is suppose to snow 3-6 inches tonight, and the weather said that it probably won’t stop snowing until Friday! Yikes! I bet that darn groundhog new this was coming when he saw his shadow this morning.

Tomorrow we are in session again, so I will have another fun and full day!

Oh, and giving you an update with what is going on with the Tech House: we started a calendar collection. Yes, I know it may sound weird, but all of our offices get so many calendars every day, that instead of throwing them away, we just take them home and add them to our wall. The picture I added is of our fabulous calendar wall in the Tech House. Because of the bad weather, we are pretty much stuck inside. As entertainment, we started having a flag war with the first floor. The first floor’s walls are decorated with five or six different Tech flags. Our walls on the 3rd floor are bare. So we have been going back and forth stealing flags. It does sound immature, but no one has the key to the other’s floor, so it creates a very challenging game. The other picture I added is of the flags we had for a few days.

Until next time,
madelon

Manic Mondays

Monday’s are always a little crazy on the Hill. Every office is trying to catch up on the weekend happenings, and everyone trying to get back into routine. Today was filled with walking and mail today for me.

My morning activities included picking up things from the supply office, delivering things to the Cannon building, answering phone calls, and sorting through mail. In no time it was afternoon. I was starting to get a little droopy and ready for a nap, when Suzanne, Mike Conaway’s wife, brought chocolate chip cookies to the office. They were amazing!

After work, I changed into my comfy clothes and waited for Angie to get back from work. I usually get off about thirty minutes earlier than she. When Angie got home, we went to the mall to get a few things, and then headed over to a great pizza place called Matchbox. The food was amazing! I will definitely have to go again.

We arrived back home, and now it is time to relax until bedtime. Tomorrow is going to be a fun one! I have a tour and a briefing to attend. I can’t wait to see how everything goes!

Until next time,
madelon