Almost didn't get the mardi gras meal in in time because the husband worked late. I turn into a pumpkin at midnight tonight, you know. It was pasta tossed with andouille sausage, but just some run-of-the-mill grocery shelf meat, not the "good stuff" from the specialty shop in Colts Neck.

It's been years since I've had to take serious notice of the Lenten observances. I was either pregnant or nursing. And the annual women's retreat will be a miss again this spring because of my commitment to the diocesan evangelization training in Brick every month: in April, the training is on the same weekend as the retreat.

Yes, I'll need to find me a confessor before Pentecost. I was a little weary of Ordinary Time - ready for some extraordinary time, yeah!

At the Cross her station keeping
Stood the mournful Mother weeping,
Close to Jesus to the last.

Stations of the Cross -- Catholic version -- Protestant version