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Ash Wednesday

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, which means a few things for a Catholic girl like me.

1) Today was Mardi Gras!! I did absolutely nothing ridiculous for the occasion and I didn't even eat a ton of meat or candy. Fail. I was also shocked to find out that not a SINGLE one of my students had any idea what the heck Mardi Gras even was. "Um. A party?" YES. Yes, my child, one of the biggest worldwide parties in existence. So we listened to Iko Iko in the background and some Louis Armstrong, When the Saints Go Marching In, and I felt like I'd fulfilled a moral duty to the future leaders of America.

2) I need to come up with a penance for Lent. I didn't have one last year. I tried giving up coffee, but that didn't get very far. This year I'd like to come back to my faith. I feel like I've been wandering alone for a long time and maybe if I can rekindle my love for my faith, I'll start to feel more like myself again. I'll get back my energy and my desire to work and live and love, and the merely surviving will turn into thriving. That's the hope anyway.

3) I'll have to fast. Which I pretty much do anyway because I don't have time for all that "three balanced meals a day" baloney. 

Maybe I'll take up my rosary again. My last year teaching at the rural school, I prayed the rosary every day on my way to school for Lent. It brought me so much peace, I remember. Call me crazy, but there's something about intimately connecting, not just with God, but with Christ and His mother, that fills up the empty spaces. It's like being a little child again and curling up next to your mother when you're afraid and knowing everything is going to be alright; that you're safe and loved. 

I have so much laundry to do. But I'm tired. So I'm going to procrastinate because I'm excellent at it, and why do something unless you can be the best at it, amirite? 

Good night, room. Good night bed. 
Good night pillow, where I rest my head.
Good night babies. Good night, moon.
Good night, sweetheart, I'll see you soon.


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