My mouth hurts, my head hurts, and my shoulders hurt...

I had a tooth removed last Thursday and my mouth is swollen and sore. I've been living on ibuprofen. I really REALLY should have had the doc give me the painkiller he said he could give me. Oh well. Anyway that is what is making my head hurt. And stress and tiredness is making my shoulders hurt. Oh well. Hopefully my mouth will feel better soon.

I just realized that tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. People are talking about what they are giving up and I am not even joking, I'd give anything to be able to give up about 10 hours of work-time at this point. Ok, not really a possibility, I know. The last few years I've been hearing about people adding something for Lent, actually. Something that is challenging for them to do, something that will be enriching and hopefully a way to grow over the next 6 weeks.

I've been wanting to make myself take more time for me lately. I NEED to. I need to do something that is feeding my mine and soul. It's interesting when working in a place that you are caring for people. . .you end up in a place where for just a little while you have to think about only yourself and can't feel like you're being selfish. I do take some time every once in awhile but it's not always necessarily "good" for me. I need something besides watching some TV or a movie, or going out to dinner.

I was thinking I would like to find a good book to read and just commit to reading it everyday. Or do something that would definitely be challenging: read my Bible. Eek! I haven't read it on a regular basis in a very long time. Or I was thinking about making myself write each day. I haven't journaled in quite awhile either. I'll have to think about it. Quite honestly, like everything else my spiritual life has been in the dumps lately; it would probably be good for me to just take more time out to focus on it more.

We'll see. Maybe this Lenten season won't just be like another 6 weeks.