Ash Wednesday

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday and not being a practicing Catholic, I've given only a little thought to what I should give up for Lent. There are several things I should, but I just don't know...

I remember when I was a kid (12/13 years old) going to Catholic school (wasn't Catholic at the time, converted later) and my friends would give up different things; sour foods, candy, etc. At the time, I thought that that was what it was about. Of course, I would always see them eating pickles or candy from the snack shack, they would go to confession and feel better, I guess. (shrug) Now that I'm older, I know that giving up something that trival is not what it's about. You are really supposed to sacrifice something you love (or at least like alot) to remind yourself of Christ's suffering.

As a "cafeteria Catholic" I like the symbolism of getting ashes, but I'm not real sure I can really give something up. Sure, I could say I'm going to give up sweets (have really cut back on those lately anyway) or sour foods (don't eat them...gave up Chinese candies after I made my self sick on them when I was pregnant with my oldest) or even smoking (rrrriiiiighttt! one glass of wine and that's all over with!). I could even give up wine...what and go straight back to beer?! OOO! I know! My cell phone! (eyeroll...that's NEVER going to happen!)

I guess what it comes down to is that I wish I had the strength of character to really give up something. The strength to put down a bad habit and leave it there. Maybe this Lentin Season I'll try to just be a better person. I'll try to listen more and talk less. I think the real problem is I carry around things that I can't put down (my anger at my sister comes to mind). I could say that I'm going to try to be more forgiving, but I just can't. (grr)

Now that I've gone on and on about this and have still come to no conclusion, I'll stop. Maybe, just maybe, I've made you think a bit tho???

Until next time.

Love,
Shoiley
34th Street
Above the Bakery
In the Bronx

At JuanDisimo's Request

For your birthday, your aunt gave you a maple syrup dispenser shaped like a rooster. Please write her a thank-you note:

Dear Aunt Suze, I can not begin to thank you enough for the lovely gift. I have found just the right place for it and I'm sure that it will be admired by all to see it. Of course since this is such a wonderful and precious thing, I have placed it where only a very few, very select group will ever have the privilage of experiencing such greatness. Love always, S

It's been too long

It's been way too long since I blogged. I know this, because I had to reset my password...I hate it when that happens!

Anyway, when I thought about doing this tonight, I thought I would wax on about my day (it was crappy) and my life (still crapy), but then, I figured out I couldn't log on and had to reset the password, and a new thought came to mind.

TOOO LOOONG! How long is too long? I mean, we go thru life thinking "I'll call/write/email/or other wise be in touch with ________" (fill in the blank for yourself) but the days go on and we don't do it. Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow. We go thru our lives with this Scarlett O'Hara attitude and guess what? Tomorrow never comes! You and I live in the real world, with real issues and real timelines. There never seems to be enough time in the day to get to everything that we want to. Hell, there is raley enough time in the day to get to everything we need to do!

Now that I've said all that, am I going to change anything? OF COURSE! Tomorrow, I'm going to get up, exercise, go to work, and in all my free time, I'm going to write the letters I've been meaning to write, make all the calls I've been meaning to make, and reach out to all the people I've been meaning to reach out to...NOT! Seriously, when am I going to do that? In all my free time? What free time????
The truth is, tomorrow I'm going to go to work, try to survive another day, and maybe carve out time for my friends, family, and self. By the time I fall into bed I'll be so tired (and/or will have just a little too much wine) I won't be able to keep my eyes open or my thoughts straigh enough to remember everything I forgot to do. :( grrr