Cowpies and Luncheons!

Hi folks! I have been having a crazy time the last few weeks. Things certainly move at a faster pace here than they do at home. Last weekend we had our big once a year Wyoming celebration called C.O.W.P.I.E. (The acronym stands for something I can’t remember), put on by the Wyoming State Society. It was so much fun, but made me pretty homesick. They rented out a place right by the Capitol and had live music (playing lots of Chris Ledoux), dancing, free beer, and a mechanical bull. All the Wyomingites from the various offices came, along with plenty of East Coast folks. I felt like I was back home for a night, honestly. It felt just like Frontier Days in the middle of DC, especially when they broke out the cigars, of which I am a fan. Everyone dressed in that wonderful, casual, Western-y way that I am so used to. I had a blast cavorting with the interns and Enzi staffers. I could tell you some very crazy stories, but I must follow the motto, “What happens at COWPIE, stays at COWPIE.” Work has been going very well, too. Today I finished up the Stennis Congressional Internship Program. It is an intensive, bicameral, bipartisan program you can get selected to participate in. I was picked as the candidate from my office, and had to submit an application and was fortunately accepted. It was one of, if not the most rewarding, part of my DC experience. I got a front row seat to listen and actually talk to major political and media figureheads, or as one intern put it, “The important people who never have time to talk to interns.” For example, we learned about the legislative process from the woman who teaches freshman Senators and Representatives how to make laws when they get elected. We worked in groups all semester on what we thought the model internship program is, and were able to present it to people who can actually implement our suggestions. At our concluding luncheon today, we also discovered they would be submitting all of our names as a Statement to the Congressional Record (which is presented on the floor and published and sent to all the offices). Also, our names and pictures should be up on Stennis’ website soon if you guys want to check it out (I can’t remember the specific site, but if you just put ‘Stennis Congressional internship program’ or something of that nature into Google, you’ll find it).
Oh, and I had to deliver a wedding present to one of Ted Stevens’(he is the longstanding Republican Senator that just got indicted for accepting illegal gifts!) staffers today. I actually had to dodge reporters that were camped out outside his office and told not to say anything, which I accomplished. It is so weird to be in the heart of the beast!