Today I made blueberry muffins ("blooberry mubbins") with the cutest little two year old. It was extremely exciting for the both of us. He scampered around the kitchen pulling mixing bowls, a muffin pan and spoons out of the drawers before I could find them myself. And when I had to open the can of blueberries he ran to one corner of the kitchen and pointed up at the counter, "There, the right. No, that side!" Lo and behold, I found a can opener, among an assorted pile of kitchen utensils. He even explained how it works: "Daddy turn it and, and it open." I let him pour everything himself and when the muffin mix got on my hand, he said "Oh oh, getting on your hand, Gace!" He even told me to turn on the oven before we started. Uh, I don't think I ever realized to preheat the oven until I was in high school. When it was all done, he asked for a plate and blew on the hot mubbins for a good five minutes before he ate them. // I love babysitting.
Mubbin Top
Today I made blueberry muffins ("blooberry mubbins") with the cutest little two year old. It was extremely exciting for the both of us. He scampered around the kitchen pulling mixing bowls, a muffin pan and spoons out of the drawers before I could find them myself. And when I had to open the can of blueberries he ran to one corner of the kitchen and pointed up at the counter, "There, the right. No, that side!" Lo and behold, I found a can opener, among an assorted pile of kitchen utensils. He even explained how it works: "Daddy turn it and, and it open." I let him pour everything himself and when the muffin mix got on my hand, he said "Oh oh, getting on your hand, Gace!" He even told me to turn on the oven before we started. Uh, I don't think I ever realized to preheat the oven until I was in high school. When it was all done, he asked for a plate and blew on the hot mubbins for a good five minutes before he ate them. // I love babysitting.
DM Videos
I found these on youtube. They make me happy. Carpe DM!
Kate Flannery -- soo cute.
The morale dance that kept me going all night. Also the very last dance to end the 26 hours of craziness (which is why everyone starts screaming halfway and why we all collapse in the end!)
Kate Flannery -- soo cute.
The morale dance that kept me going all night. Also the very last dance to end the 26 hours of craziness (which is why everyone starts screaming halfway and why we all collapse in the end!)
Dance Marathon 2009: Love
This weekend I participated in UCLA's Dance Marathon, for which I raised $330 (Thank you donors!) and remained on my feet dancing for 26 hours. Sounds crazy, I know. I still can't believe I actually did it. I'm proud to say that DM is one of the largest student-run philanthropic events on the West Coast (yet another reason why I love UCLA so much). It started eight years ago and grew to involve almost 1000 students, I think. This year we raised over $300,000, all of which goes to three different organizations: Camp Kindle, Oneheartland and the Elizabeth Glaiser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, which all function to support children with Pediatric AIDS. I didn't realize how many people are affected by this and I'm truly grateful I was able to support it.
We didn't exactly dance for the entire 26 hours, but we were on our feet the whole time, starting Saturday at 11am until Sunday at 1pm. There were performers (America's Best Dance Crew's Supa Cr3w, Taiko drummers, Samahang Modern, American Idol's Kimberly Locke, Talib Kweli), speakers from the different organizations and different activities (button and key chain making) throughout the event. We were fed meals at the usual mealtimes, all of which we remained standing to eat. And yes, we were allowed to go to the bathroom and sit on the toilets, but only as long as needed.
The first few hours were a lot of fun, just dancing with all my friends. Twelve hours into the event, however, I really thought about giving up. It wasn't even halfway and already my legs were getting so sore and tired. There were a few things that kept me going:
1. The event was divided into three hour shifts, each with its own theme, eg. wild wild westwood, pirates, bruin spirit. We were encouraged to bring costumes so it was both exciting and relieving to change into clean clothes every shift.
2. Each shift also brought new moralers. These were people who danced with us for at least three hours at a time to help encourage us to keep going. Every time a shift started and the moralers entered, we'd all clear a pathway for them to run through. It was really, really exciting. Luckily, when I thought about quitting at 11pm, a bunch of my friends came for the midnight shift, and still more came for the 3am shift. They brought us cold fruit, smoothies and really badly needed energy.
3. The morale song: The theme song for the entire event was "What is Love" by Haddaway. They taught us a dance to the song so whenever they played it, everyone would get in lines and dance. It was really exciting and it REALLY pumped me up each time. I think it's because we all had to focus really hard on what the next dance moves were, so we forgot about the pain for those few minutes.
4. My InterVarsity Bruin Christian Fellowship team: There were about 30 of us on the team and once every three hours we'd meet outside by the bathrooms to pray for the different organizations as well as for ourselves. We also did a little bit of worship, which really lifted our spirits. I also couldn't have done it without my team members constantly encouraging each other and physically leaning on each other during the performances and speakers.
5. Each dancer got a box to keep all their things in and in each box there were also some free giveaways, one of which was a tennis ball. Oh my goodness, tennis balls are SO useful for massaging your feet. I never knew that! (So bring a tennis ball with you the next time you go to Disneyland)
6. And of course, text messages! I had my phone with me the entire time, so if you texted me during the event, I really, really appreciated it.
The hardest time was when my friends ended their morale shifts at 6am. I still had 7 hours to go and I really didn't think I'd make it. They fed us breakfast and that gave me a bit more energy. After awhile the soreness in my legs just became numbness. I was warned before that the only way to not feel the pain is to keep dancing. Completely true. They called the final hour "power hour" because it's when they played the most popular, pumped up songs like Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys so everyone got really into singing along and dancing. I started losing my voice because of it. At the very end they played a few of the past morale dance songs and finally ended the event with our morale dance. We counted down and then everyone collapsed on ground. I've never been so excited to lie on a dirty wooden floor before.
Afterwards I slept for four hours, went to an InterVarsity leaders meeting, then slept for another ten hours. I was sore and limping for the next two days. I'm guessing my body just crashed after all that physical stress because two days later and I was sick in bed all day. I still have a lingering cough, but I'm getting better.
A friend asked if I would still do dance marathon had I known the resulting pain and sickness and I replied "of course!" I'm really glad I was able to fundraise for Pediatric AIDS as well as experience all that suffering with community. I know it all sounds so painful, but it was a lot of fun and a really unique experience I'm glad I've had.
If any of you supporters/encouragers of mine are reading this, THANK YOU. You've helped me make a difference in this world. =)
We didn't exactly dance for the entire 26 hours, but we were on our feet the whole time, starting Saturday at 11am until Sunday at 1pm. There were performers (America's Best Dance Crew's Supa Cr3w, Taiko drummers, Samahang Modern, American Idol's Kimberly Locke, Talib Kweli), speakers from the different organizations and different activities (button and key chain making) throughout the event. We were fed meals at the usual mealtimes, all of which we remained standing to eat. And yes, we were allowed to go to the bathroom and sit on the toilets, but only as long as needed.
The first few hours were a lot of fun, just dancing with all my friends. Twelve hours into the event, however, I really thought about giving up. It wasn't even halfway and already my legs were getting so sore and tired. There were a few things that kept me going:
1. The event was divided into three hour shifts, each with its own theme, eg. wild wild westwood, pirates, bruin spirit. We were encouraged to bring costumes so it was both exciting and relieving to change into clean clothes every shift.
2. Each shift also brought new moralers. These were people who danced with us for at least three hours at a time to help encourage us to keep going. Every time a shift started and the moralers entered, we'd all clear a pathway for them to run through. It was really, really exciting. Luckily, when I thought about quitting at 11pm, a bunch of my friends came for the midnight shift, and still more came for the 3am shift. They brought us cold fruit, smoothies and really badly needed energy.
3. The morale song: The theme song for the entire event was "What is Love" by Haddaway. They taught us a dance to the song so whenever they played it, everyone would get in lines and dance. It was really exciting and it REALLY pumped me up each time. I think it's because we all had to focus really hard on what the next dance moves were, so we forgot about the pain for those few minutes.
4. My InterVarsity Bruin Christian Fellowship team: There were about 30 of us on the team and once every three hours we'd meet outside by the bathrooms to pray for the different organizations as well as for ourselves. We also did a little bit of worship, which really lifted our spirits. I also couldn't have done it without my team members constantly encouraging each other and physically leaning on each other during the performances and speakers.
5. Each dancer got a box to keep all their things in and in each box there were also some free giveaways, one of which was a tennis ball. Oh my goodness, tennis balls are SO useful for massaging your feet. I never knew that! (So bring a tennis ball with you the next time you go to Disneyland)
6. And of course, text messages! I had my phone with me the entire time, so if you texted me during the event, I really, really appreciated it.
The hardest time was when my friends ended their morale shifts at 6am. I still had 7 hours to go and I really didn't think I'd make it. They fed us breakfast and that gave me a bit more energy. After awhile the soreness in my legs just became numbness. I was warned before that the only way to not feel the pain is to keep dancing. Completely true. They called the final hour "power hour" because it's when they played the most popular, pumped up songs like Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys so everyone got really into singing along and dancing. I started losing my voice because of it. At the very end they played a few of the past morale dance songs and finally ended the event with our morale dance. We counted down and then everyone collapsed on ground. I've never been so excited to lie on a dirty wooden floor before.
Afterwards I slept for four hours, went to an InterVarsity leaders meeting, then slept for another ten hours. I was sore and limping for the next two days. I'm guessing my body just crashed after all that physical stress because two days later and I was sick in bed all day. I still have a lingering cough, but I'm getting better.
A friend asked if I would still do dance marathon had I known the resulting pain and sickness and I replied "of course!" I'm really glad I was able to fundraise for Pediatric AIDS as well as experience all that suffering with community. I know it all sounds so painful, but it was a lot of fun and a really unique experience I'm glad I've had.
If any of you supporters/encouragers of mine are reading this, THANK YOU. You've helped me make a difference in this world. =)
Friday the 13th
Three things I've realized I really appreciate:
Honesty, roommates, and fort building.
Honesty, roommates, and fort building.
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