My Lenten Challenge

I've got a headache. I'm pretty sure it was the Quarter Pounder w/cheese (no onions) I ate for dinner. Last night was Beef Stroganoff, and the night before--Chicken Pot Pie. I'm getting all my fat and calories in because a.) it's Fat Tuesday and b.) tomorrow I'm going healthy all the way.

Tomorrow is the beginning of Lent, and ever since I was a girl, I haven't missed one yet. Usually I give up stuff like Coke or candy. When I was 16, I gave up looking at the lyrics sheet of my new "Darkness on the Edge of Town" record. That one was hard! I don't observe much else as far as church-y things go, but somehow Lent is my time. I even look forward to it, which is, admittedly, weird.

In sixth grade, my best friend Susan and I used to make each other Lenten Calendars with good deeds on each of the days, like "say something kind to your brother/sister" or "help your mom with dinner." (I know, corny--but sweet!) We'd decorate them with Peanuts stickers and pictures of Easter lilies and crucifixes.

This Lent, I'm giving up junk food for 40 days. Not just chocolate like last year, but all things c-r-a-p. I'm hoping I'll feel peppier, more awake. I don't know, something. And I'm hoping this headache will go away. Tomorrow it's Kashi Go-Lean (Crunch!) and baby carrots. Yay! Oh, and I'm going to the gym as much as possible. I go early in the morning before Curt leaves for work. I enjoy it once I'm there, but getting out of bed is awful. Once I do get up and take one look at my Tower of Pisa hair and raccoon eyes, I say to myself, "No, you can't go out like this!" Oh, but I do! Short-haired gals like me are at a definite disadvantage. All the other women put their hair up in a ponytail, but not me. I tried on a ball cap this morning just to see, but no. It was worse.

Also on my mind: Curt and I are trying to buy a little beach property in Sunset Beach, North Carolina. It's a modest double-wide mobile home. But oh, the pain in our asses it has become. We've got bank woes. We've got too much dirt here, not enough dirt there. We've got water standing where it should be running away. We've electrical wires dangling--outside in the standing water. We've had to postpone closing twice. If we don't get things all worked out (i.e., a fat check from the bank) by Friday, we'll lose the house. I wonder if it's the gods trying to tell us something. I prefer to see it as just another Lenten challenge. In 40 days, I hope to be relaxing on my new deck, drinking a Coke and eating Whoppers (both the burger and the chocolate kind). Wish me luck.