Christensen Family: Senate Page

Monday, March 4, 2019

Senate Page

Katie got the chance to be a Senate Page. She turned in an application at the beginning of the school year and was chosen to be a page the week of March 4th. Katie and I drove over on Sunday morning and attended a tour of the Legislative building and an orientation for the page program. Then we went to our hotel. We are staying about 20 minutes south of Olympia in a Fairfield Marriott in Rochester (thank you to Linda, Michelle's step mom for getting us a deal). ON Monday morning, Katie woke up at 4:30 with a massive headache. About 45 minutes later, she started throwing up. She threw up 2 more times so I figured she had the stomach flu. I called the people in charge of the page program and told them that Katie wasn't feeling well and wouldn't be coming. By 9:00 Katie was feeling much better. She did some homework while I exercised and worked on the blog and talked to Tanner. Then in the afternoon, we went into Olympia and went to lunch and went shopping at the mall. We went to bed early hoping that Tuesday morning would be better. At 4:30 Katie woke up with another massive headache. Then about 45 minutes later she threw up again. She only threw up once. Since I figured this wasn't the stomach flu at this point, I told her to get ready. I dropped her off at 7:30 and told her I would stay close for a while to make sure she was doing ok. She texted me about 8:15 and told me that she was doing fine and that I could go back to the hotel which was about 25 minutes away. She survived the day and actually had a pretty good time. Some of the main things that she gets to do as a page is be on the Senate floor and hand things out, work in the "Leg" and run things from building to building, and go to page school. On Wednesday morning Katie didn't wake up with a headache!! She was feeling a little sick to her stomach, but she was feeling much better over all. I dropped her off at 7:30. I went back to the hotel and exercised. Then I packed up and drove to the airport and picked up Kirt. We went to lunch and then I flew home. (It took forever and I could have driven home faster, but oh well.) Kirt then stayed the rest of the week with Katie. Thursday and Friday were thankfully uneventful. Katie had a great time. She made some friends and got to have lunch with Senator Padden. (She said the food was gross though.) She had to do a mock bill and she did a bill on CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) education and her bill passed. One of her favorite things was the mock bill on outlawing plastic bags. The girl who sponsored it was not very informed. Kirt and Katie drove home Friday night after she finished paging on Friday. Overall it was a great success.

Temple of Justice where the Washington State Supreme Court meets

Legislative Building where the Senators and Representatives meet

View from the Capital complex

View back up the hill from down by Lake Washington

Ceiling in the Rotunda

Bust of George Washington

Drinking fountain

Bust of Martin Luther King Jr.

Flags of all the counties in Washington (there were flags displayed in each of the 4 corners of the Rotunda).

Seal of Washington State

Reception room in the Legislative Building

A 42 star flag. Washington state was the 42nd state let into the United States on November 11, 1889. There was actually never a 42 star flag. Every year on the 4th of July, the US would make a new flag that represented how many states were currently in the Union. On June 30, 1890, there were still only 42 states in the Union, so Washington had several 42 star flags made up. Then on July 3, 1890, Idaho joined the Union making it the 43 state. So on July 4, 1890, there was a 43 star flag that was flown.