As many people know, Mardi Gras marks the last day of festivities before Ash Wednesday, which signifies the beginning of Lent.

Lent is a time of prayer and fasting and self-reflection for us Catholics. We're usually called upon during this time to give something up, as self-denial is good for us.

This year, I'm giving up several things for Lent. One of them is cursing.

You may laugh, but this will be quite a hardship for me.

I started cursing a lot when I first became a lawyer. Something about the high-pressure work environment just brings out the worst in me.

So because it's my last day of being able to do it for a while, I need to get the following out of my system:

This morning my %$#@ alarm didn't go off, but the %$#& construction next door to me was so ^%$* loud that I woke up at &$#!% 7 a.m. anyway. Then the &%$# subway was running late, making me 15 ^%$ minutes late for a &$#% meeting my *&%^#*% boss had called out of the blue without %$#%#& telling me about it. Then after another 3 hours spent calling #%^&# clients, I finally got to go home, but I just missed a (&^#!% subway and had to walk home in the @$&!!# rain and &^% 20 degree weather. What the ^$#@*?