Fat Tuesday

Here we go again. Every year for Lent I give up two things. One of them is always Pepsi. I LOVE Pepsi. On Easter morning I can't get to a can of Pepsi fast enough. The other one differs from year to year. I usually try to make it something that would mean something nice to someone else or better myself. A few years ago I gave up moving Brian's car keys. He always left them in a spot that annoyed me so I would put them where I thought they should go, and then each morning we would get into the "Where are my keys" tiff. And I knew it was going to happen each morning but I wanted the keys where I wanted them, not where he left them. So, I gave up moving his keys for Lent. This year, I am giving up useless needless SHOPPING. If you know me, this is pretty big. I have allowed myself cosmetic items, but only replacement items, not just new stuff I want to try. I am going to allow myself to buy stuff for the kids for spring break and I am going to be able to shop on spring break but not until then. I've kind of been on a practice run for this and the other day I needed laundry detergent. Now, I know that if I go to Target for detergent, I am going to leave the store somewhere between $50-$100 later. And I'm not going to have $50 worth of detergent but rather a few "must have" items from the dollar section, maybe some random clearance candle holder, a People magazine and who knows what else. So instead I went to CVS where I am not tempted at all and just bought the detergent. I can do this. I can do this. How about you? Do you give up anything for Lent or celebrate Mardi Gras?