Just a note

I was just offered an interview for a job on the Hill starting in May! I will be interviewing on Thursday afternoon. Prayers please!!

Week 5: Believe it Or Not

Today starts my fifth week at work! I can't believe how fast the time has gone by!

My highlight of last week was going to a performance at the Kennedy Center. The Kennedy Center has a free performance everyday at 6. Tuesday they were featuring the music department at Catholic University of America so I went to see the show with Emily Weber and some fellow interns. It was a fantastic performance and the Kennedy Center is very impressive.

I spent this weekend finishing up my 'mom' duties and hanging out with friends. Pam flew back from Atlanta on Saturday and we picked her, and our new puppy, Lily, up from the airport. Lily is a 10 week old Weimaraner with LOTS of energy. She's been super fun to have around.

I spent Sunday and Monday hanging out with my friends Caitlin, Laura and Katie. Caitlin is from Alaska, is working in the foreign policy department and wants to work for a non-profit organization doing international development and traveling the world. Laura just graduated from Union University in Tennessee and is from Connecticut. She is working in coalition relations and would love to get a research job at a think tank in DC. Katie is a native of the area and so is our resident expert when we're lost, or hungry, or bored, etc. She's working in energy policy and maybe wants to teach after this.

We had a lovely weekend. Saturday Caitlin, Laura and I went to the Air and Space Museum. We walked through less than half of this monstrosity of a museum. There is so much to see! Airplanes...lots of airplanes...spaceships, missiles, telescopes, a little of everything. Then we walked up to Chinatown to explore and get some dinner. Laura and I wandered to a bookstore and on the way found President Lincoln!

Chinatown is a fun neighborhood with a lot of shops and restaurants and not so much of the typical DC touristy things.

Monday was a day off for us...for which we were all very thankful! We spent the day in Old Town Alexandria. Old Town is what you would expect of a smallish New England Town a lot of local shops and restaurants that have a little bit of everything. While wandering we ran into the local President's Day Parade, we were all reminded that Virginia is the South. There were several floats in the parade sporting the bars and stars and several regiments of Confederate troops.

After that encounter we walked down to the Potomac and sat down on the dock for a while.

Old Town has several historic sites that were jam packed with people because of the holiday. (We definitely plan on going back.) We walked by the tavern where Thomas Jefferson celebrated his inauguration and saw the church where the Washington's frequented.

After a day of exploring we were treated to a wonderful home-cooked meal by Katie's parents. It was fun to meet her family and see her beautiful house. It was even nice enough to sit outside and enjoy their outdoor fireplace.

I'll put up pictures as soon as I can!

CPAC

I spent the last three days attending CPAC--a huge conference for conservatives. I was able to see a lot of people and check out some job opportunities in DC (sorry Dad). I heard Sen. Marco Rubio (by far the best speaker), Mitch McConnell, Gov. Rick Perry Rep. John Boehner, and Rick Santorum speak. I also went to a workshop on resume writing and the job fair. I gave out a couple of resumes to think-tanks in DC and to the Santorum team if they are still around in May. The highlight on Saturday was seeing people flock to a Sarah Palin impersonator. Apparently she does this for a living...crazy that people actually pay here to pretend to be Sarah Palin! Overall, I had a great time!
I've also been nannying this week while Pam is in Atlanta. Kate and Taylor have been great; we've been managing just fine, but I've developed a new appreciation for working moms! I definitively went to bed tired every night this week!
Funny story of the week: (Michael and Andy will appreciate this) Last night Taylor (8th grader) had 4 friends over (so we have 5 8th grade boys). Pam ordered pizza for them, but apparently they got hungry before the pizza arrived, so they made their own. They ate 4 personal pan pizzas and then 2 large pizzas when the pizza did arrive! I don't understand where it all goes! Needless to say we have a stack of pizza boxes in the kitchen almost a mile high.
Its currently snowing here and feels like winter for the first time since I got here. I'm spending the night with fellow interns Caitlin and Laura tonight and avoiding driving on slippery roads with inexperienced winter drivers :)
In other news...I just filed my taxes myself for the first time and I think I'll be getting a substantial check from the federal government. Thank-you President Obama...this is definitely the best thing you've done for me all week!

The Metro Ride from Hell and Other Adventures

Yesterday was my first "First Fridays" experience. First Fridays is a happy hour at the bar across the street from work for conservatives in DC. It's celebrated on the first Friday of every month and is an opportunity to hang out and network. I had a great time hanging out with my fellow interns and getting to know them better. Afterwards, though, I had to ride the Metro home. Up to this point I've had a great experience with public transportation in DC, but last night was a little crazy. I left Union Station at 9:30 and didn't get home until 11:30. In that two hours, I waited for 15 minutes for the first train to show up, then they were doing track maintenance between stops on my route home, so I had to get on a bus and shuttle to the next working station. Then I waited another 15 minutes for another train. I'm pretty sure I could have walked the eight miles home faster. My new rule...no more riding the metro after 10 pm :)
Today I spent the day sightseeing with Theresa. We took in two Smithsonian museums. The first was the Postal Museum all about the Post Office. Though it may not sound like it, it was awesome! We made cards to send to the troops, then we learned all about the Pony Express, how they used to manually sort the mail (we both decided that job was not for us), and about all different kinds of stamps! The best part was a video of a little girl walking up to the post office and dropping off a letter to, "the South Pole." The postal worker asks, "Don't you mean the North Pole?"
"No, this is my brother's letter!" the little girl responds! :)
After that we walked, in the rain, over to the American Indian Museum. Another great Smithsonian! They have an exhibit right now on how horses impacted the lives of different tribes. They had a lot of saddles, blankets and bridles from South Dakota! Theresa and I both thought they could have beefed up the Lakota portion of the museum though!
It was a great day. We decided that we're going to have make sight seeing together a tradition.
Tomorrow I'm headed in to watch the Giants beat, I mean play, the Patriots with some of the interns!

The beginning of the Postal Museum.

Benjamin Franklin (the Father of the Postal Service)

We ventured out even though it was raining.

Work Update: Paid Vacation?

I know I haven't talk too much about what I'm actually doing at work, so I'll elaborate a little bit. I have spent a considerable amount of time at work reading about a variety of topics to get a feel for what my department does. I believe I will be helping Dr. Stuart Butler out in researching how to lower the cost of college to make it more affordable for more people. So far the reading has been fascinating and I've been enjoying being paid to read and think.
The intern program has also been great about getting us around DC and meeting people. I've been to two talks by Sen. DeMint about school choice and the economy. We also took a trip to the Library of Congress yesterday. I thought it was going to be tour of the Library...not so much. We spent two hours learning how to research at the Library of Congress. It's a very complex system. We also go to weekly lunches that features speakers on the founding principles of our nation. Today we engaged in a conversation of the fundamental principles found in the Declaration of Independence and how they relate to modern policy problems. One of the things that struck me the most, was the discussion we had on rights. We contrasted different ideas about where rights come from and how that impacts how we view rights. The two schools of thought seem to be either there are certain rights (natural rights) that are ours simply because we are human (these are the rights enumerated in the Declaration, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness), or the idea of rights is evolving and rights are added by society (or government) as we progress, grow and become more enlightened. It was fantastic discussion.
So far, this internship has seemed very much like a paid vacation (except for when my alarm goes off in the morning). I've had the opportunity to see and and learn so much!