"all this needs is some elbow grease." said mom. i had no idea what elbow grease was but it looked like too much work.

i just unleashed my cleaning fury on this place. it all started with the bathroom. no. it all started with ripping up cardboard boxes for recycling--then the bathroom. i cleaned it to an inch of it's life. shower scum, cracks and crannies, walls, floor, ceiling, sink, mirror, toilet. don't get me started on the toilet. like why didn't they measure anything properly in that bathroom? everything has gaps around it. i discovered that the back of the toilet, the part facing the wall, was completely black so i unleashed my fury on it. i made did a mudsy and made a vinegar and water spray bottle and it became my warrior friend. from the bathroom i moved on to the kitchen washing all the cupboards, walls, baseboards and floor. i would get to stubborn spots and i would say to myself "this kind cometh not out but with much scrubbing." then i felt clever.

in the kitchen i began to sing hymns. singing while working is the best. working can be a spiritual experience. elder christofferson said today that all honest work is of God and all honest work is holy. i think that's true.

so then i scrubbed the walls in my bedroom. none of the walls were clean when i moved in here and i found disturbing things dried on the closet doors in my bedroom. after that i unpacked my bathroom. it's amazing how much i could fit in there. then i tidied here and there. then i sat down at the computer and that's when i realized how tired i was. i was vigorously cleaning from 7pm to 12am. it felt good. this may not be a beautiful home but i can make it clean and neat and i can beautify it in small ways. i want my home to be a temple--that's my goal.

conference was so good today. my mind's full of ideas. i wish i always remembered the enlightening, uplifting thoughts, feelings and impressions--the promptings of improvements.

adventures of today:

1. brown knee-highs. i think bethany gave me these for christmas? i hadn't had a chance to wear them yet but today, getting ready for conference, i chose the brown dress and suddenly i thought of them. i pulled them on feeling quite smug and pleased with myself. the pleased-as-punch party was cut short when i realized that i was almost late. i rushed to the door and that's when it dawned on me that i had no shoes to wear with the socks and that outfit. i'm a stubborn woman--we all know that. rather than give up on my brown sock treasure (they were so silky and smooth with vertical stripes! they felt so good on my legs! they felt like fall.), i put on a pair of brown plaid casual shoes. it looked ridiculous. just inside the church doors, i took off my shoes and padded down the hall in my brown socks. no one noticed until i was leaving that session and passed amanda-hug-and-kiss standing with her mom and fiona. they said hi and i said hi and smiled and then as i was walking away fiona said "look! she has no shoes!" i turned and smiled coyly over my shoulder. at the back door i grabbed my shoes. old brother newton was there "oh so those are your shoes!" he exclaimed like a great mystery had been solved. "i wondered whose those were!" i smiled and mumbled something about not having any shoes to wear. but he wasn't concerned with fashion. he was concerned with the lost and found aspect.

2. grocery shopping. ok grocery shopping isn't quite an adventure but to be honest, i haven't done a true shop since before my move. ie. before august. sure i've purchased something here and there, but no full on shop. my fridge was always pretty empty. today i made up for lost time. i tried out a produce shop near by. they had lots of fruits and veggie varieties and i got a little carried away. then i went to save-on to get a few things and ended up getting quite a few things. i think i may not need to shop again until november. the cashier was a woman i'd never seen before but she greeted me like an old friend. i think from her accent she was a newfie. she had short cropped hair and a cheery attitude. i found out lots about her like, she had just had 4 days off and felt quite refreshed, she went through a bad spell a while back when her mom was dying and she read this book that helped her forgive herself--she wrote forgiving affirmations multiple times. we had quite a deep conversation for the check-out line. all the time i was in my brown and white dress, brown socks and shoes that should only be worn with jeans. i didn't care.

3. sparks and explosions. for lunch i had corn on the cob and i was going to bake a sweet potato. i was going to bake it in my toaster oven. so i wrapped it in tinfoil and popped in the oven and went about my business. after a while there was a small explosion and flying sparks coming from the toaster oven. at first i thought the potato exploded. but it hadn't been long enough and besides i had pierced it 3 times before wrapping it in tinfoil. maybe the toaster oven was toast. that's lame, i thought. i just bought it in january! but there was an electrical smell. after some time passed i investigated. i moved the toaster oven and saw that the extension cord was all wrapped up behind it. i pulled on it. more sparks flew. i unplugged it and yarded on it more. so what had happened was the toaster oven was right on top of the extension cord and melted it all the way through to the wires in two places. as a result bad things could have happened and i am out an extension cord.

i'm going to go have an adventure of the sleeping variety.