Well, alright. Last time I went into some of my Lenten challenges. The biggest lesson I learned: you must discuss your Lenten ideas with your wife.

V and I did. Sorta. We discussed what we were thinking of doing, but we didn’t have a definitive ”this is what we’re doing” talk. I didn’t plan on going vegan or give up red meat for Lent–those things would impact the house if our dinner menu has to change for 40 days–so I didn’t think much about it.

I gave up snacks. V gave up snacks that she didn’t make herself.

I didn’t think the difference would mean that much, but oh man. Instead of avoiding buying cookies or snacks, now she’s baked two batches of cookies since Lent started. The first batch, we were out of eggs, so she made some not-as-great-as-I’ve-had-before cookies. No biggie. I snuck some…

But, the second batch. Whoa. Now, these were cookies. I don’t even want to know what she calls them so I can’t ask for them in the future. They’re that good. They’re the type of cookies that you take a bite, slap yourself and try another to make sure your taste buds weren’t hijacked.

So needless to say, I fell off the wagon on that item.

In the 8th grade, I gave up sodas for Lent. It was a relatively easy task and, as far as I recall, I did it well, except for one Sprite early in Lent that I bought at a gas station with my sister.

Ever since then though, Lent hasn’t been as easy. What do to do? What to give up? I don’t really commit to any particular task and thus never execute it well. So, here we go.

Lent 2011:

• Cut out snacks.
• Only drink water when dining out (e.g. don’t pay for anything than what comes as part of the meal).
• Pray some part of the Liturgy of the Hours as a family

Now that a week of Lent is past us, how’s it going so far?

I’ve done fairly well on cutting out snacks. No major deviations. We haven’t had anything but water, except at the St. Ignatius fish fry since coffee/tea is part of the package. Most nights, we’ve prayed Night Prayer together except the couple of times we didn’t go to sleep at the same time.