40 days and 40 nights

This is not a post about running or cooking. It's a little out of character, but during Lent I will share my experiences dealing with what I decided to give up, something I decided to take on and once a week, a no meat recipe for you Lenten participants, abstaining from meat on Fridays.


For any of you who "celebrate" Lent, you're in the beginning stages of dealing with whatever you gave up. Perhaps experiencing a headache from no morning coffee, maybe wanting to kill that annoying intern at your office because you decided you need to cleanse yourself of getting mad at the little things, so you're holding it all in. Or maybe you've taken on a new habit, like biting your nails, to ignore the withdrawals you face caused by no late night dessert.
If you're me, you're finding ways to fill your time without going on


I have a sweet job that allows me to work in a house all day. For someone who likes to be on the go, this can get boring, draining, monotenous, unmotivationg, and about 12 other "omg how do people sit around and do nothing all day?!" type reactions. But when your boss is a baby and that baby sleeps, you need to do thinsg to fill time. Often I fill it with reading, homework, emails. some hulu and lots of blog reading. (Check this Lenten post- it rocks my socks.) In any case, A LOT, too much, mountains-I could keep going- of that time is dedicated to facebook. Much of the time I believe I am using it for good instead of evil- dropping a little note to a dear friend far away, leaving sweet words on a pic of a family member, or sharing links, articles, news and laughs for the good of the order. There is an evil side though That which fills me with procrastination, pettiness and general brain cell killing moments. I decided to give up facebook as a little experiment. Could I really do it? yes, I really CAN. How much time do I actually waste on there? You don't wanna know. I can't tell you how many times, in the past 24 hours, I've been bored and immediately thought to jump on facebook.com. And for the sociologist in me- what is it like to live in facebook's world? WITHOUT facebook?! I'm excited to see what it's like to live in facebook's world and not have an invitiation to their daily party. I actually hope fb takes the time to change their site (as they do ever other week) so I can experience what it's like to be out of the loop.
It seems silly, but I've become cognizant of how many times facebook is dropped into regular conversation, and it makes me slightly sick. As humans, we are nosy. Some of us more than others (points finger to self). I actually enjoy that self character trait, but I also think it breeds gossip, anxiety, self loathing, preoccupation and some other not so hot stuff.
My intent for Lent (I have no facebook, I'm bored, let me rhyme) is too document how it is to be one of the few people who don't have fb. I'm also hoping I will go without it for so long that I will end up not "needing" it, in the way I did up until Tuesday night. (Sidenote, I was never ever one of those people who played farmville, mafia wars, that game with the colored balls- I don't even know what that's about, and all that other nonsense.)
There are so many worse things to give up. Immediately I'm thinking soy capps, shopping, blogs, oh, the list goes on. Everyone has been super supportive of the idea. (Even those who play practical jokes on me, which I will address next week in another facebook post.) Still, I never pretend this will be easy. I know I will miss seeing pictures of my friends' adventures, I'm bound to forget someone's bday, as it isn't conveniently displayed on the right hand side of whatever website I'm on, and I'm already letting out an "ugh" at the fact that I can't go on fb and display the link to this blog post.
Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to more time to write, post blogs, read blogs, read, do homework, avoid gossip and deliver baked goods to food shelters- be on the lookout for posts about that.
If you're participating in Lent, PLEASE leave a comment with what you gave up, how you're doing and any general thoughts about this season.

For the record, because I know you're wondering...I tried to rid myself of all possible temptation. I thought I would find it too easy to semi-accidentally happen upon the website in a moment of weakness, so I gave the boyf my account and told him to give it a new password. Now I'll look like a complete crack addict if I ever try to get the password.

Author note: If any of you get engaged, have a child, or solve world hunger before Easter, you better let me know via text, email or phone call, so I don't miss out (the real me lives on, even without a facebook page.)