Happy Saturday, everybody!

This feels more like it. I have a perfectly eloquent post trapped in my computer at work, that I forgot to forward to myself at home before shutting down the popsicle stand for the weekend. I’ll see if I can remember to do that on Monday.

After a Thursday that felt like “this is supposed to be an improvement?”, I had a terrific day yesterday. And last night I got eight hours of sleep, in two installments. I woke at 4:00 [can’t seem to get away from that somehow] and have begun the process of re-hydrating myself. I think that a cup of milk and a handful of gingersnaps is a lovely way to start the weekend.

I’ve already worked three rows on MS3 but needed to get up and stretch a little. I’m trying to figure out reasonable goals for the weekend. The most important and time-consuming items to factor in are the four broadcasts from Salt Lake, which I discovered last time that I can access on my computer, so I do not have to get dressed up and head over to the meetinghouse. This is General Conference weekend, one of my favorite times of the year, when the leaders of our church address us on what I think of as practical Christianity.

We have the scriptures to read on a daily basis, and I love them. I particularly enjoy listening to my Book of Mormon on CD as I drive to and from work; it’s almost impossible to feel road rage when your mind and heart are occupied by “yea, verily” and “inasmuch as” and “it came to pass that”.

For me, as an adult convert to the church, General Conference and other specialized meetings are like spiritual vitamins or booster shots. They help me translate theory into actual behavior. I have particular favorites among the General Authorities of the church, and I always hope that we’ll hear a talk from them. I will miss President Faust, who died in August. A lot of his talks recently have been addressed to the singles in the church, and they have been comforting as well as thought-provoking. I’m sure that in the business portion of Conference they will announce [and we will sustain] his successor as Second Counselor to President Hinckley.

We had the annual Women’s Broadcast last weekend, and when the Conference issue of the Ensign comes out in November, all the talks from both General Conference and the Women’s Broadcast will be published. The church also hosts Women’s Conference at BYU every spring and publishes selections from those addresses the following year. Which reminds me that I haven’t picked up the latest volume; that would be a good incentive to get my room in order.

We are also celebrating Lark’s birthday tomorrow after the final session of Conference. I will need to remember to stop unpacking and puttering long enough to put a salad together.

In terms of mundane goals, I know that the kitchen cabinets need my attention. I haven’t really cooked since we started moving, just fired up a couple of packages of ramen noodles here and there. Mostly it’s been eating out and eating leftovers from eating out, and making sandwiches. I was fantasizing about wild rice as I drove home last night. Hey, you have your fantasies, and I’ll have mine, OK? And I can’t do much in the way of cooking until I figure out where the measuring cups have gotten to.

The other area would be my room. The “tower” bookcase is marooned in a sea of boxes. The under-bed boxes are not particularly near the bed, and I can’t get to the closet to hang up the clean clothes that I washed earlier this week. I’ve just been pulling them out of the bag and shaking them out and throwing them on. And the second “mid-sized” bookcase predictably came apart during the move last week, so I need to clear enough floor space that I can lay it down and staple-gun the cardboard backing in place. [Yes, I do know where the staple gun is. Same place as the staples: in the toolbox on the couch, and easily in reach.]

I also want to put up the curtain rods for the drapes that are at the cleaners, and I can’t get to those windows yet.

If I were to get the kitchen more or less in shape, enough that I can cook up what’s in the pantry, well that would be great. And if I were to get all the books stowed in my room, and the windows prepared, and only the dirty clothes in bags so I wouldn’t have to remember which bag is which, that would be even better.

The Sabbath Scarf is unlikely to see any action, as the only time I hope to need to leave the apartment is to take LittleBit to work, and to go to the kids’ for Lark’s birthday. But I hope to finish Clue 6 on MS3 before bedtime tomorrow night. I can’t believe that the Harlot has not only caught up, but passed me by. She went from Clue 5 to Clue 7 almost overnight. She must sleep less than I do, or have bionic fingers!