Lent.

I don't consider myself to be Catholic (or even religious really), although I technically am. Because it was important to my grandparents, my parents had both my brother and I go to Sunday school at a Catholic Church until we made it to First Communion. Somehow, I have managed to retain almost no knowledge from those years. Every Easter I get confused by Pontius Pilate's role and have to google Lent. It is probably no surprise that I rarely give anything up for Lent. But, last week, one of the nicest partners invited me to a Mardi Gras/pre-Lent lunch which got me thinking about Lent and giving something up.

That made me realize that I NEED to give something up: candy. I love candy. I actually think about Twizzlers. I generally try to exercise restraint but lately, I have slipped down the Twizzler-paved slope into harder candy. Apparently, Twizzlers are my gateway candy.
So,I am giving up candy for Lent. Forty-six days. The only reasonable thing -- to me -- to do was to mainline sugar for all of Tuesday. I had Twizzlers for breakfast, a mid-morning Skittles snack and maintained a high blood sugar with Werther's Originals all day. Thankfully, for my blood sugar and avoiding a day of diabetes, the Mardi Gras lunch that started it all was a delicious cup of split pea soup and steak salad. However, my mouth still feels the sugary effects of my last pre-Lent day this morning.