No Chocolate

Today marks the start of Lent. For me as a Catholic it also means giving something up until Easter. The priest at Mass on base today said that we didn't necessarily have to give anything up, but it was important to do something we don't normally do. I'm going to try and to do a little bit of that too. Where I live there is an organization called Arkansas Rice Depot that through the help of volunteers helps distribute food to those in need. About a year ago I met a gal who works for ARD when she came to speak to the Spouses Club on base. I've still wanted to go down there and volunteer some of my time doing whatever they need done. Hopefully I'll be able to make some time to do that. Not always easy when you're a student, mother and wife trying to balance all of that.

Back to my point...I am giving up chocolate for Lent. I have gotten into the habit of having either a small piece of chocolate or something chocolaty every day. I love brownies and chocolate ice cream. I think you get the point. I had thought about giving up all sweets but then where do I draw the line? I am trying to lose weight and one of the big things that helps me is my sugar-free Jell-o with a dollop of fat-free Cool Whip or a few Twizzlers. Granted I'm not going to go out of my way to have coconut-creme pie or other sweet stuff, I have decided that it would be worse if I gave up sweets all together sugar-free or not. I'm going to avoid sweets bug give up chocolate until I can bite off the head of a chocolate bunny on Easter!

It was an interesting morning with a few frustrations. Just to give a little background, we have a double towel hook outside our shower door. Lane hangs his towel on one and I hang my towel on the other. However, recently he has consistently been getting out of the shower and just putting his towel on top of mine. This means that when I go shower, my towel is damp from his soaking wet towel. This morning I showered and immediately upon dressing sent him an email at work saying if I have to step out of the shower and use a "wet" towel because he fails to hang his towel back where he found it, he'll owe me a dollar. I'm so not kidding either. His little bit of "blow" money will be in my pocket if he keeps it up.

After showering Eriks was driving me nuts and pretty much running around the house like a wild man I decided it was time for him to occupy himself with getting dressed while I tried to finish taking care of myself. So off to his bedroom I went to turn the hall and see a closed bedroom door. Eriks was behind me so I was trying to figure out why he had closed the door. Then I heard the dog collar jingling behind the door. The chocolate lab was in his room. Turned the door handle and it wouldn't budge. He had locked the dog in his room. So of course I had to figure out why so here's the short exchange:

Me: Eriks, why did you lock Gabby in your room?
E: Because she was trying to eat my bouncy ball.
Me: We don't lock Gabby in your room because now I can't get her out.
E: Well she was BOTHERING ME!

I spent the next 5 minutes running back and forth between his bedroom door and the garage trying to find the right screwdriver that would turn the lock so I could release the hound. I was not a happy camper. Children can put a big thorn in your side on mornings when you're trying to get out the door on time.