I am not a Catholic (though I’m married to one) but I do like the idea of testing my resolve and creating better habits by focusing on one thing to give up. I am very drawn to the giving up complaining and shopping ideas – I’ll have to try one of those soon.

Ah, mint chocolate chip ice cream (the Breyers white kind) and Wendy’s! If you aren’t going to be eating them please feel free to send them to me because we sure as heck can’t get them here. And while you’re at it can you add in a large pizza (east coast style), some real potato chips and a burger from 5 Guys? I can see now that my first trip back to the States is gonna add 20 pounds back to my waistline.

Seriously though good luck on the Lenten observance. It will be good for your health if you succeed and good for your wallet too at $10 per screw up.

BTW – It was great to meet you at the Turbo Tax event! DC blogger HH needs to happen!

@Andrea Take A Smart Step – GOOD!!!! That’s a most wonderful idea to take on, I love it :) And I hear your son and the doughnuts – I forgot to eat my last two sitting on top of my fridge before jumping into this!!! Haha… it’s a good thing I now get penalized $10 or I’d have already messed up!
@Brian – Moist alcohol? Just when I thought I knew my beverages ;) Will def. be hard on St. Patty’s, esp if you’re going out and about!
@Lisa @ Cents To Save – Well that’s good! :)
@Emmy – It’s a damn good challenge for yourself, though, that’s for sure :) That was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do in my adult life – and now it’s a treat when I go shopping!
@lora kathleen – Wow, no kidding. That’s incredible!
@Nicole – HAH! That’s like when I gave up McDonalds for 4 years, but ended up just going to Wendy’s instead ;) It seems your husband and I have a lot in common just like you and me! Haha… you guys are cool though – I like how you say “pop.”
@Aldo D Notarandrea (unicorns, dinosaurs, & wolves oh my) – Agreed good sir! Adding something, or changing habits for the better, are all great things to do too – regardless of Lent or any other reasons to prompt us to change :) If you can add something positive to society, I say more power to ya! (And good additions there in your name field, haha… hope things are well, bro)
@Stephanie – I know, right??? I keep on messing up those words too, it’s frustrating! :) But yeah – going to church every week sounds like an excellent idea for sure. Maybe you can extend it by a week or two if it makes you feel better waiting a week too, haha… we can mess up our words together :)
@Laura Brown – WOW. I couldn’t even do that for FOUR days! :) Esp pizza??? Whew. Good for you, girl.
@daydream kate – “It’s Lent, dummy!” – HAH! I like that :) And def. a good goal for sure – it’s still my all-time best one I’ve ever done before, so hopefully it STICKS once Lent’s over too. Hope your husband has a great birthday!
@BrokeElizabeth – Haha, that’s awesome. I thought you were gonna say limit it to “10 check-ins” a day, haha… some people are hardcore about Facebook!
@Nick – DO IT! Do it! DO IT! Try for one week and see what happens – baby steps :)
@Nicole – Oooh cool! Two Greeks up in here! Shall I break out the ouzo? ;)
@AverageJoe – Haha.. you joke, but you should def. try it out ;) Though I’ll warn you that once you get good at it (aka around week 3), you’ll REALLY start getting annoyed at how much everyone ELSE is complaining around you! It’s really amazing how much we as humans do that. And even though it’s been a cple years now since I myself gave it up, I’m still hovering around the 80% non-complaining area. It’s a good one!
@Sarah – Ooooh there you go! I haven’t been to a mid-week mass in forever, I forgot about Ash Wednesday :( A no cursing/yelling/complaining time period would be great – give it a shot!
@Young Professional Finances – That’s great that it’s on your mind year-long over just a certain time period, keep it up :)
@Kathy – I LIKE IT!!!! A LOT!!! Oh man, I’m totally stealing that idea for next year :) GOOD ONE!!!
@Cathy – Oh yeah!! That would def. be hard. But I don’t think I could do meat. Even on Fridays is tough – esp when you go out to dinners/etc. You can do it though! :)
@Jennifer G. – GOOD one!! Let me know how it goes!
@ShesPrettyFrugal – Haha, there you go :) Are you allowed to drink beer/liquor in its place?
@KimmyQ – Hahahahaaaha… that’s a great one while it lasts ;) I’m surprised she gave it up so fast though!
@brooklyn money – That’s the toughest one out there! Besides maybe coffee! Hope you can do it! :)
@Camille – Good one! I think it’s a fantastic habit to get into if you can :)
@George – I’m right there with you on the deletion of FB, at least for my “real” account. I’m just waiting for them to force me to use Timeline and then it’s bye-bye we go! I do understand the beauty of it all though, esp. if you like keeping up with people from all over your life, but I rarely get on there anyways and never get much out of people’s updates… would be harder if I wasted a lot of time on it though, so good job if you can pull it off :)
@Brent Pittman – I can’t believe it!! Do you FEEL any different, or everything is life as normal? I think I’d go into withdrawal, haha…