Here’s the first of my Blue Screened Posts, from Feb 22.

Photo by jamiesrabbits
It is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent.
I did not start off on the right foot. I got ready early to leave for Mass but got frustrated with my family for not being ready to go on time. I got stuck in traffic and threw a bit of a fit. We didn’t make it halfway to church before it was apparent that we would miss most of Mass by the time we got there. I threw a fit about that, pulled the car over, jumped out to catch a fast-approaching bus, and made a snarky remark about how I would be going to Mass at lunch, downtown. I came into work grumpy and stayed grumpy for quite a while.
Ugh. I am not proud of myself, to say the least. You may not be surprised to hear that I have decided to give up “getting upset with my family” for Lent. I set a very poor example for them this morning. (I’m screaming mad because we are late for a chance to think and pray about our sinful nature! What a good object lesson!) I started thinking about all the upcoming stress of the trip and about how I tend to take my stress out on David and Q. This would not be a good way to start our family adventure!
Now… will I be able to do it? Will I just transfer my temper to other people? I hope not… that reminds me too much of the year I gave up “shopping for anything but food” for Lent and gained more than 20 pounds. Let us pray that I can become somewhat conscious of my emotions before they start boiling over. Wish me luck.
Daily Check-In:
- I’m grateful! that the downtown parish is only three blocks from my office. It’s very handy on Holy Days.
- I’m lighter! We had an amazing family Europe list discussion session when we all got home tonight. We know that Quinland always works better from a list, but David does, too. I just need to stop adding things to the list.