marble

'i'm not feeling alright today/ i'm not feeling that great'
so sings my computer as i begin to type.

i'm not feeling very lyrical or poetic right now, and certainly not in line with my muse enough to write. i was earlier, but i told myself i would get the downstairs cleaned and finish some reading, then i would write. i did those things, but now have lost the inner flow of prose, and so will remind myself that today has been a pretty awesome day.
i spent time before sunrise at the temple with good people from the ward and had a chocolate muffin afterward. somedays scripture study can sometimes feel like i am watching the clock until my time is up; other days i am racing to read as much as i can before i really do need to do other things--today was one of those days, and it is invigorating. pulling out all sorts of books, finding answers to questions i thought didn't have answers, i loved it. in the past 43 hours or so i have noticed two results of living in this lovely community, although i have no idea who maintains it: one, i was awaken at 5 a.m. yesterday to the sound of someone clearing the snow from our steps and sidewalk [while trying to get as much sleep as i could before getting up at 6 to shovel snow at church], and two, today is president's day and i have noticed that utahns are generally more celebratory of holidays that your average american, and so our entire neighborhood has a nice large american flag planted firmly in the ground in front of each house; no idea who put them there or how they're standing or when they'll be gone, but i think it's kind of neat. fhe is getting a little complicated tonight, as we have two groups of 10 tickets to go see the new 'joseph' movie in salt lake; that's enough for our group, but being the great and popular group that we are, we have other people wanting to come. it is getting a little tight. after a weekend of some good cooking [shame i didn't get the enchiladas to the fiesta; they are good], the kitchen was as dirty as i have ever seen it; there were very few dishes remaining. but it is amazing how much can be cleaned during one oingo boingo cd and how much can fit into one dishwasher. i remember the days when we had to wash the dishes before we put them in the dishwasher, and the commercials that promised dishwashers that could take off hardened egg seemed like a dream only for kings. the year 2000 is here, and while i haven't checked, i feel confident that all is clean [i did cut my thumb well enough on a cheese grater, so the future isn't perfect yet]. my room still looks like a jeff-bomb went off, with clothes lying everywhere, compounded by the boxes brought from my dad during his visit--all this time at college i left a furnished room at home, figuring that my mom liked having a room that she could look in and remember her son. recently at Christmas, becky and i came home to find that her room had been repainted, refurnished, and her personal things relocated to inside her closet. that's when i realized that mom is ready to move on to the progressive future. while there is still much at home, there is much out here, too, now, including hundreds of cds for me to somehow store in my room.