Lent.

If you had seen Brooke & I on Wednesday, there'd have been no doubt in your mind that Lent started this week. Brooke got her first ashes (I think...she went to mass with me last year, too, but I don't remember them putting ashes on my 8-week-old.) She wasn't so sure about it, but why would she be? A weird, old man she didn't know was trying to touch her with his very dirty finger? I mean, c'mon, that's strange. My ashes were so dark, I could have distributed some to the rest of the Church straight off my head.

The point of all this? Oh, yeah: Lenten promises. I pulled the pregnant card and decided I didn't have to give something up this year. And I know people always say "You don't have to give something up, you can just do something," but I think this is crap. How much of a sacrifice is that? But this year...wait for it...I'm doing something. 3 things, actually, all of which (if I stick to them) should greatly benefit my family.

 1. Eat more fruits & veggies. I'm making sure I eat at least 1 fruit and 1 veggie a day. I know, lame. This should not be that hard. But it's been really hard lately, what with my aversion to all things healthy, so I'm making a conscientious effort to make this happen. I'm pregnant, so this is kinda necessary.

2. Make it to Church every week. We've been lacking in this department lately. If you looked in my check book, you wouldn't see very many donations for 2011. And it has bothered me; I want our kids to grow up with a strong sense of faith and, to me, that includes weekly trips to Church. I've been using the excuse that Brooke's naps coincide with all the mass times....which they do. But since we're hit-and-miss with morning naps anyway, we're purposefully skipping at least one a weekend so we can adjust the other nap time and make it to church. So far we're 1 for 1.

3. Try to be on time for things. And I do say try. This was the husband's request suggestion. He hates to be late for things, and it's typically my fault if we are. However, and this is a big however, I don't think I'm really all that bad. My problem is twofold. First of all, I’m a really bad judge of how long it takes to get somewhere, like driving time. So I often don’t plan to leave home early enough. And second, as the only purse-carrying member of the family, I am the keeper/bringer of all of the munchkin’s things. So it’s my job to gather those things before we leave. Plus make sure she’s put together enough to go out in public. Plus make sure I’m put together enough to go out in public. That’s a lot of jobs, each of which can delay me on even my most-organized days. So for these 40 days, I’m going to try to plan ahead and keep our family punctual.

We’ll see how this goes... Number 2 should be easy, number 3 is doable, but number 1 – that’s going to require some extra effort. But I owe it to Baby Reeder to get back on the healthy train.