MLK Day of Service

8:30 am:
Good Morning!
I woke up this morning not as tired as I usually am, which was surprising. I didn't expect to be; getting up at 8 am on the first day of my 'weekend' is not something I enjoy most of the time. I guess I am more excited about the events of today than I thought.
First things first: Yesterday. I spent the afternoon and onward with my best friend, who goes to college in NY. She wanted to get her nose pierced; it looked so cool! I couldn't watch the whole procedure, but the outcome was really cool! Her piercing is a little shiny green stud on one side of her nose. After that we goofed around at Sephora, where I may have developed an addiction to lipstick, and then ordered Chinese food, bought cookie dough, and watched a few Disney movies. It was quite fun, but I ate ALL of my Chinese food. They pack a TON in those little takeout boxes! It's really deceiving.
But today, as you may have guessed from the title, I am going to participate in some service work in honor of MLK. I am quite excited. I didn't realize just how much I miss doing service work. I won't even be doing much; I got assigned to do work at the Minnesota Literacy Council, where I will be sorting and labeling book donations that they have received. the books will be donating the book to schools, libraries, and community centers. I should probably head to the check-in place now. This blog post isn't quite finished; I will be back later to share what the service work was like (though it probably won't be much different from what I just described). Stay tuned!

6:30 pm:
So for the MLK day of service event, there was a long commemoration service. It was not my favorite part. I am not a fan of listening to a lot of people talk over a long period of time. But I loved the sections of the service in which the Gospel Choir performed! They are quite good, but I expected to hear the students do lead vocals, instead of the director. Some students did have solos, but I figured that all of the students would have equal parts. I guess I maybe just don't know gospel music so well.
Anyway, I liked the service work. we separated the books based on whether or not they were chapter books, books for K-3 grades, or small cardboard books, and stuck MN Literacy Council stickers on them and put them into boxes by type. We couldn't include religious or holiday themed books, and bilingual/non-English books were kept out to be included in the MN Literacy Council's personal library of those types of books. I rather liked it; it was fun to organize all of those books. When we came back, there was a lunch/wrap-up session, but I had to leave early.
After the event, I worked out with my roommate and a friend. We ran four laps around the track in the gym, then did weights, then ran a mile (11 laps) while being timed.
But we had to run that last mile without stopping. No walking breaks.
AND I DID IT. I REALLY DID IT!
It took me 10 minutes and 35 seconds. I ran a mile. With no breaks.
I am super proud of myself. My roommate and I went to Olive Garden for dinner just for fun. It was so good. And that is about it! Until next time!