ahhh chariots of fire. i've been watching it and now i'm watching "the making of the film". eric, inspiring and majestic as usual. "so where does the power come from, to see the race to the end? --it comes from within."

yesterday we spent mostly on moving. randy came over and we took five car loads over to the new house. most of the boxes were karey's stuff, excluding five very heavy boxes of mine--filled with books. i knew when i was packing them that they'd be heavy, and i tried to pack them in the smallest boxes we had, but the smallest boxes we had were not what you would call book boxes and that was betrayed in the heft of the finished product. i was sitting on the floor packing my last box of books of the day-- mostly church manual types and missionary manuals, and they were so dusty, i was wearing the dust everywhere and despising it. then randy says "how come you're filling the boxes up with pure books?" and karey says to him "i know!" like she'd been thinking it all along. and of course the thought had never occured to me. when you pack books, you pack books only. there's no mixing of apples and oranges! anyways my consequence was having to lug my boxes myself. and i was happy to do it. it's not the end of the world to lift a heavy box. so, you strain you muscles just holding on long enough, and each step up the stairs feels like you'll plummet right through, and you have to stop and rest to calm your shaking arms and heaving breath. you get it to the car and that burden is over and you go to the next one. if you accept the hard work of it, the fact that it will be horribly heavy, it's very easy to bear. randy brought my last box out to the car for me. when i went to lift it, he protested. i think he thought that must have been the heaviest one, but it wasn't. the worst was box number one, i believe. he went to stop me, but i already had it in the car and was pushing it over the surface of the folded forward back seat. i know women aren't supposed to be strong and brutish, but i can be brutish at times and i can't help but feel a little proud of myself, proud to be the owner of a bruise on each inner arm just above the elbow where the boxes dug in and settled. it means i worked hard, i endured and i conquered.

as i huffed and puffed the boxes into the new house randy said "so have you learned anything or do you think your way is just fine?" i smiled stubbornly and said "well i know i should have put them in smaller boxes, but we didn't have any." he laughed and said "that's not what i asked." i just went out for another box. after our first trip, karey started putting together my new armoire, and i gave randy a tour, ordered us some pizza and then randy and i went back for a second load. by the time we were done we were grimy and tired and ready for a nap. we went back home, sat around for a while and then i forced myself up and had a shower, but i had no clothes to change into, because my track pants were dusty and dirty, and all my jeans are now ruined (within the time frame of one week). so i did the only thing i could do, and wore my sleeping bottoms. i then got elicia to blowdry my hair as i lay with my head hanging off her bed and then cleaned the kitchen because it was my job and duty.

it was linda's going away party last night and we had it at our house. yesterday was also the first day of my sugar fast. i was tempted all day, by randy's jo louis, the thought of a slurpee, and the cookies and cake at the party, not to mention the taunts and the suggestions to start tomorrow, but i made it. i did, however, eat my fair share of the lime tortilla chips and the veggie platter. i was probably largely successful last night because karey had expressed doubt in me earlier in the day, thereby compelling me to prove her wrong. linda's party was fun. we had lots of laughs and that's all i feel like saying about it. nikki and randy were the last to leave at about one. and then only when i opened the door and said "allright, time to go." now don't think i was being rude or inhospitable. randy asked me to help him leave (he has problems getting going at times) i had tried saying "randy get the H out of my house!" but he just laughed and said "i've never heard you say get the H out of here before. it has to be believable." i was just trying to be forceful, but i guess that's not the style that works for me. (i really did say "H" and not hell. that would have been too harsh.) :)

taught rs today i'm really glad i get to teach because i have to go through a spiritual process in preparation, each time, or i'm not ready. high council man from south africa talked about conversion in sacrament meeting today. it was a pretty good talk, but i found myself caught up in a prayer in the middle of it. it was strange. before i knew it, i was praying and i was answered and the answer made me glad. it was what i was waiting for. today was also bree's farewell and open house. the open house was at the kennedy's and was well attended, but i didn't stay for long. about an hour only. enough for a little food, a little socializing, and a little food. on the way home we stopped by the new house so linda could see it. she was very positive about everything. even sarita's room which does require some imagination in order to see it in a positve light. i can't believe that linda will be gone on friday. things happens so fast sometimes.