FAT TUESDAY
For those non-Catholics out there (notice not "Recovering-Catholics"... that is me), today is Fat Tuesday. Today is the day before Lent begins, the day before Ash Wednesday. The way I have always understood Lent is that the 40 days of Lent represent the 40 days that Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness being tempted by the Devil... as such, we spend 40 days being tempted by whatever it is that we decide will tempt us best (that is, whatever we "give up").
Now the slight misnomer about Lent is that the Lent period is longer than 40 Days. Lent doesn't actually include the Sundays during Lent, and this Lenten period this year--from Ash Wednesday to Easter--is actually 47 days. Normally I continue to 'give up' whatever it is that I decide to 'give up' even over the Sundays in Lent.
Now, seeing as I have taken Fat Tuesday to mean Fat Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for the past two years... I'm going to give up "sweets" this year. If I could, I would love to give up eating altogether... but that's not going to work. Hopefully I can just give up the unnecessary fat from my diet and I'll start to slim down a bit. If this doesn't work, I'll stand in the sun until I melt like a candle. Doesn't work that way? I've never been smart.
Additionally, this Lent I will be finishing the novel I started last week. I bought a kit that supposes to help you finish writing a novel in one month. After a week of writing, I've already got about 9,000 words on 31 pages (roughly finishing up the 6th Chapter). I think this is a great idea for me... writing a novel or screenplay every Lent. It gives me clear starting and stopping points... and it's something constructive to do with that time period.
So I would like to wish everyone a Happy Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras! Eat as much as you possibly can today... do it for me.