Lent...

I have a great camera! I'm VERY happy with my camera...

But I keep forgetting it!!! Fortunately, I had it when Casey had her piano recital on Saturday night. I remembered to get it out when the kids were trying out our lung model that we made yesterday. However, I forgot to take pictures of the TWO king cakes I made last night. I forgot to bring my camera to Nonnie's birthday party tonight. I keep forgetting...

I don't know if I should chalk it up to stress at work, three children at home, or all the chaotic messes swirling about me all of the time.

Tomorrow is Lent. I've decided what to give up - hopefully that will help me clear my mind and tend to the swirling chaos. Hopefully I will be able to adjust and prioritize. Hopefully I'll be able to focus more on the spiritual me - and all of the sacrifices made for me.

On the first day any given new year, I start working on my resolutions. I mentally establish them, then write them down, then start off on the new me for the year. Amazingly enough, so far, I've kept my 2009 resolutions! (I'm quite proud of that - although, I didn't make resolutions that were impossible or even extremely difficult to keep - they do require some effort, though.)

Lent seems to me to be the time of setting spiritual goals: focusing on Jesus's sacrifices for me, setting Lenten sacrifices for myself and working (not struggling) to uphold those sacrifices, strengthening my religious/spiritual self. A time for Lenten resolutions - if an analogy is to be drawn to the New Year, then working on the inside as the New Year forced me to work on the outside. [I find it interesting that some use Lent as an opportunity to lose weight by giving up certain food groups, i.e. sweets, with the goal that their Lenten fast from sweets is nothing more than a 40-day diet. Not judging; just commenting. And, no, I did not give up any sort of food or food-like group.]

As the new year is passing to recent memory (but not my resolutions), and camera-remembering doesn't seem appropriate for a Lenten sacrifice, maybe remembering to take my Nikon will be a mid-year goal!