She doesn't even go here!

I still give things up for Lent, despite being pretty anti-Catholic Church as an organization, because I’m culturally Catholic and still get along with God.  Plus, I dunno, it sorta assuages my genetic guilt over being a terrible Catholic the other 10.5 months of the year.

Last year for Lent I gave up spending unnecessary money.  That was too broad.  I found loopholes.  It’s like Weight Watchers - I figured a way to game it to my advantage.  So this year, I’m saying goodbye to shopping (for myself) and soda.  I have two birthdays and probably a housewarming I’ll have to purchase gifts for during that time period, which is why I qualified shopping. 

Giving up soda’s going to suck, but the new word around town is that aspartame is bad for you*, so I’m gonna try to substitute unsweetened iced tea and water and see if my health improves.  And if I can take the money I spent this past month on clothes and put it into savings, I will feel so virtuous it’ll be ridiculous.

If I can stick to this, I’m letting myself eat seven Cadbury Eggs on Easter.  Mark my words.  (I will then, of course, collapse into a heap on the ground and fall asleep.)

* I’m kidding.  I know aspartame is terrible for me.  I like Diet Coke anyway.  I’ve read all the articles and seen all the nails disintegrating in a glass of Coke and I can’t be swayed against it.  I don’t want to say I don’t care… but I care very little.