Actually, I forgot that it was Hallmark’s second biggest holiday until someone randomly wished me a Happy Valentine’s Day in the elevator. My second thought was, “Oh no! I forgot to mail McGuyver Dad’s birthday card!”

Sorry Dad. You should have one arriving later this week.

No, I’m not a bad daughter. Dad is the hardest person that I know to shop for. He only likes practical gifts like socks or new blades for his table saw. It just feels wrong to wrap a package of socks and pay postage to mail them.

This year, I though ahead. Maven Mom and I went in together and bought Dad some LSU National Championship gear. He would have never bought it for himself, but it’s something that we knew he would love.

Now the Vols need to just win the 2008 National Championship, so I have something to get him next year.

In case you didn’t notice it, yesterday was Ash Wednesday and the Lenten season officially began.

As a protestant, I didn’t grow up observing Lent. Due to the extended familial wars of religion, I was strongly encouraged to avoid all forms of Catholicism. No offense to my Catholic friends and readers, but the extended fam is militantly Catholic, which has made family relationships extremely challenging at times.

I didn’t even realize that protestants observed Lent until Beka observed it while I was in college. I was shocked. Why was a Pentecostal Christian observing something that I connected with Catholicism? As I ventured outside my Presbyterian/Baptist bubble, I encountered more and more protestants who chose to observe Lent even though their respective churches didn’t emphasize it.

After hearing Pastor Joel’s sermon at Ebz this weekend (love the “How” series), I decided to observe it this year. Fasting of all types is certainly a biblical principle, and I’ve never fasted for 40 days before.

What to fast? I sat there praying and thinking for a few minutes. It seemed wrong to fast something like sugar just to have a “Lent diet.” Politics, Facebook and the web really aren’t options since I need those things for work. Blogging was a possibility, but I can’t even take a voluntary break from it. I gave up Diet Coke and caffeine a while back, and I’m not a fan of chocolate. I hardly ever drink anymore. Lost is the only show I watch on TV, and I’ve cut back on shopping to be a better financial steward. Then I had an idea. My iPod. I should give my iPod up for Lent.

Outside of DC, that may sound insignificant. However, iPods are a necessity of life here. When you spend up to 2 hours a day commuting, the majority of Washingtonians survive with music. Furthermore, it’s how I cope in a cubefarm environment. When it’s noisy or I have a huge writing project, my iPod is pulled out. There are days when I spend 5 or 6 hours zoned out to the addypod. A while ago, I realized that using my morning and evening commute would be a good opportunity to pray, read my Bible or read a book on Christian living. Until now, I’ve never really had a motivation to do that. Maybe I’ll be finally finish Mere Christianity.

If this morning’s commute is any indication, the next 39 days are going to be a challenge. It’s hard to focus without music drowning out the distractions.

As usual, NCC has resources. Check out the daily prayer journal and tell your 40 days story.

Are you observing Lent? If so, what are you fasting?

It’s my first day back in DC after a wonderful fortnight in Chattanooga. Honestly, it gets harder to leave Tennessee each time I go back. The cost of living is cheaper, people are nicer and the pace is slower. Not to mention that I miss seeing mountains every day.

Saturday, I drove up to Knoxville for a short visit with Mrs. M on the way back to the District. It’s always pleasant to visit her domestic bliss. Not only was she married at 24, but the Ms own a house! A house with 4 bedrooms and yard! Those things are unheard of in DC. She lives in an alternate universe.

I also met up with John Brown and Piho for dinner. Of course John wasted no time at all in calling me a “cosmopolitan conservative.” (Thanks Kleinheider. John didn’t have enough dirt on me from college to fuel his mockery. He needed new material. Although that is a good idea for a blog name.) It’s also sad how our group in Knoxville gets smaller each year as we spread out around the world. Soon there aren’t going to be any College Republican veterans from my era at UT.

The rest of the trip is a blur of shopping with mom, visiting friends, driving around the Scenic City and enjoying the holidays. On Christmas Eve, I sprained my ankle. The next week was primarily spent watching a lot of TLC since I could barely stand up. TLC’s programming now only consists of gastric bypasses and documentaries of families with lots of kids. It’s the same themes over and over, but they suck you in.

During my convalescence, I noted how the commercials changed from Christmas-oriented, buy this car/diamond ring, and they’ll love you forever” ads to weight-loss programs. Around the 28th, Nutri-System alone must have taken out several million in ad buys. There seemed to be a lot more quick fix products than exercise programs, which is sad. If people are going to start exercising, it seems like the new year would be the time to advertise.

I heart my Honda! I drove the new car up here yesterday on ONE tank of gas. How awesome is that? Seeing that it took me over 10 hours to fly home before Christmas, it’s much better to drive. $45 spent on gas versus $300 for a plane ticket is a strong argument for driving. Having a working vehicle will make life so much better here. Plus, I can take off for long weekends now. This means that the Girl from the South will get to be in the South much more often!

Usually, it’s strange to see a new year in print, but thanks to the election we’ve stared at 2008 for a while.

Hope your holidays were fabulous. Good luck on the resolution keeping.

Pardon me, boy
Is that the TSA checkpoint?
Cab from home was late.
Now I’m running to the gate.
I can barely afford
To board the flight to Chattanooga
I booked my fare.
My Visa screaming, “how dare!”

You leave the Rockville Metro Station ’bout a quarter after nine.
Read a chick lit book along the yellow line
Dinner in Atlanta
Must be avoided
Due to small problem with a rodent invasion.

When you hear the boarding call in Concourse C
Then you know that Tennessee is not very far
Throw all the bags in
Gotta keep it rollin’
Woo, woo, Chattanooga there you are

There’s gonna be
A group of friends at Amigos.
Chips and special cheese
I’ve been dreaming of these.
The fam’s going to hug
When I arrive at the airport
So Chattanooga choo choo
Won’t you choo-choo me home?
Chattanooga choo choo
Won’t you choo-choo me home?

Editors note: 2.5 hour layover in Atlanta. Screaming children. Overbooked flights. Departure Delayed. Left iPod and headphones at apartment. Thinking that it’s only 1.5 hour drive home from here. Hate ASA.

What happens to the angels that aren’t adopted from the Salvation Army or other charitable organizations?

Yesterday Maven Mom called me in tears. She and a neighbor had volunteered to hand out presents at a senior center and found out. Due to a shortage of adoptions this year, she had to tell 2/3 of them that they didn’t have any presents for Christmas. It was especially hard when most of them only asked for slippers, crock pots, socks or lip gloss.

Read Maven Mom’s editorial on Chattanoogan here. That iPod Nano on the Christmas list? It would buy a lot of Crock Pots.

The family from the South has Christmas traditions in troves to the point that we spend most of the holidays trying to fulfill those traditions.

Every year, we get a live tree for the den and showcase a lifetime of GFTS craft projects. Maven Mom starts out with strings of cranberries and popcorn, and every year tries to outsmart Coco, the dog from the South, from eating the popcorn off the strings and leaving the cranberries.

This year Coco got an added bonus. Mom found a craft project that turned Little Debbie gingerbread men into ornaments:

Maven Mom:I made the gingerbread boys this morning for the tree. I tied ribbons on them and put hooks and hung them on the tree. They are getting too much moisture in the house for some reason and keep dropping off of the tree. The dog is standing watch by the tree and not moving so that he can catch them when they fall.
GFTS: [Mentally pictures the Gingerbread Man from Shrek falling off the tree and a greedy Border Collie running over, gobbling the cookie while the Gingerbread man shrieks in his little Gingerbread Man voice.] LOL. That’s so funny!
MM: I carefully hung them above Coco height too.
GFTS: I can so imagine that. Coco’s just standing there, looking up, and it’s raining gingerbread men.
MM: Yes.
GFTS: It’s raining (gingerbread) men. Hallelujah! It’s raining men. [Yeah, I’ve watched Bridget Jones too many times.]
MM: A miracle. LOL. The whole Christmas is a disaster.
GFTS: Why?
MM: The popcorn is gone from the bottom of the tree.
GFTS: But it is every year.
MM: He is eating all of my decorations.
GFTS: Don’t complain. Be happy that at 15, he’s still mischievous enough to wait for gingerbread men to fall.
MM: They are all dropping one at a time. I don’t know what to do to stop it.
GFTS: At least he’s not binging then.
MM: They are dropping about 10 minutes apart. I think that is binging.
GFTS: Do you have any left on the tree?
MM: I put over 32 on there.
GFTS: That’s a lot of Little Debbie’s for one border collie.
MM: He will refuse to sleep upstairs tonight. Should I take them all off of the tree?
GFTS: Not before you record this.
MM: He is grabbing them and running outside now. I’m afraid he will be sick.
GFTS: He eats aluminum cans.
MM: A total Little Debbie diet isn’t good for an old dog.
GFTS: It isn’t good for anyone.

This morning, I got an update:
MM: Dad blocked off the den, and and Coco is trying nervously to get in.
GFTS: No more snack tree?
MM: He is going back and forth trying to find a way to the tree.
GFTS: LOL.
MM: Dad said that the first thing that Coco did this morning was try and get to the tree, and it was blocked. He said Coco looked up at him confused.
GFTS: Poor Coco. Probably confused and betrayed.
MM: He is a strong-willed dog because he is pacing back and forth trying to find an opening.
GFTS: How many gingerbread men did he eat?
MM: I think around 12. Or maybe more. I don’t know how he didn’t get a stomach ache.
GFTS: He eats metal!
MM: I can’t believe a dog ate a can. Only the rim was left.

Enjoy the ornaments. Some of them date back to GFTS’s preschool days.

Sigh. I miss my family. Laughing at Coco is more interesting than pondering Huckabee’s rise in the polls, which is actually what I did last night. Judging by the posts in my reader, I’m not the only one.

Lots of things to be thankful for this holiday–family, friends, visiting Chattanooga, my faith, my country, our brave troops, my new(er) car…

Now, get off the computer, text a few troops and spend time with your family and friends. Enjoy the day!

Today, I arrived home to find a care package from the parentals. Since Mom from the South wasn’t able to fit everything in her suitcase last week, I was expecting a box from her with my remaining candy. After going to great lengths to protect Coco from the tainted dog food, he got into all my chocolate. Somehow the furry glutton didn’t even get sick, and chocolate is poisonous to dogs.

I opened the box to find my rabbit and not one or two, but FIVE boxes of Peeps. All in different colors–pink, purple, green, yellow and blue. I sat there for a minute contemplating the sheer volume of sugar that had entered my apartment and realized, “Mom couldn’t decide what color to get me, so she got one of each.”

Peeps have a special significance in my family. For some reason, they fascinate all of us. McGuyver Dad regularly visits the Peep experiment page, and I’ve been given other Peep merchandise. Unlike a lot of people, I actually like Peeps. However, five boxes is quite a lot. That’s 75 Peeps if my math is correct.

What can you do with that many Peeps? Sadly, the WaPo Peep diorama contest is over, so that idea is nixed. (It would have been a huge diorama. I would have needed a refrigerator box!) Peep jousting came to mind, but that’s still jousting with 37 pairs of Peeps.

So a visit to the Peeps web site was in order. Peeps recipes are rather interesting. However, I have 75 ducks. I’m thinking that the party dips might be the best route. The idea of Peeps fondue makes me laugh.

It’s weird to see the cult following that this candy has.

This site has really interesting recipes. I was thinking about making Waldorf salad anyway. I might make the Peep version. The Blue Danube Peep Bavarian Cream Pie sounds odd. The idea of Curacao and marshmallow Peeps is rather gross.

 Any other ideas of what to do with my stash?