You can make money at an internship?

We got our first paychecks today.  What a sweet feeling--definitely a nice change from my last internship.  It's also very nice to see more than 20 bucks in my savings account.

Out every night...

Intern bowling night continues to be one of the highlights of the week.  We stayed out to midnight at Lariat Lanes, commandeering our usual spot for several hours.  There was a league tourney still going on, but luckily they kept to their side of the bowling alley.  

Next week we have to bowl on Wednesday instead of Thursday, but we already have a plan B for that night.  Jake, another intern, turns 23 on Thursday, and I turn 22 on Friday, so we're having a birthday party that night.  Should be fun--bowling and birthdays in the same week!

Budget woes

Session is getting very intense.  Not only is bill deadline two days away, but it's crunch time for coming up with a plan to balance the state's budget.  There are a lot of different ideas floating around, but it is truly time to start making decisions.  The governor's "revenue enhancers"--ie, tax and fee increases--keep coming up for action, one by one, and a lot of legislators are having trouble agreeing to them, even though they all know a "no" vote digs them deeper in debt.  A plan of action might help keep their eyes on the prize.

Working hard for the money

My list of duties grew drastically this week.  Now, I'm also in charge of coordinating with the Democrats on press conference times, answering constituent letters, emails, keeping track of the senator's schedule, RSVP-ing to his events, etc.  Either he was testing the waters for the first few days, or he finally got too busy for one person.  Doesn't matter--I'm just glad to be busy all the time.  The only downside--watching all the other interns leave earlier--sometimes hours earlier--than I do.  

Working out

I sort of feel like I'm getting a little slack on the workouts again.  I played intense basketball one night this week, and ran 2 miles/biked 10 the next, but last night I was an absolute bum before bowling night.  Now I'm home for the weekend, where I have no gym membership, and i don't foresee getting to a gym again until Tuesday.  Odds are, I'll probably make myself run outside tomorrow or I'll get out my Pilate's DVD.  At least I hope so--we'll see if I actually have the motivation.