Shrove Tuesday

In the United Kingdom, today is called Pancake Tuesday. The idea is we feast today and fast tomorrow on Ash Wednesday.
I hope we are also celebrating Valentine's Day earlier this year as it is such a fun day and cannot be celebrated very well on Ash Wednesday!
The Shrove Tuesday I remember best was when I was just a Freshman at college and a group of us decided to go to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. We were all night on the bus and then, while the others went to our convent to stay, my aunt and uncle met me and I stayed with them at night. The first night I just wanted to sleep so they went to a military costume ball without me. My Uncle Bob was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army and he went as a "shower" with a shower curtain arranged around him; he said he would never do that again as some thought they could pour their drinks over him! The next night we went to one of the balls as Bob was an escort and my aunt and I sat in the balcony and watched the gorgeous presentations to the King of the Ball and then the dancing. It was a week end to remember and we ended up riding in a truck during one of the parades through the streets of New Orleans. We came back in a drawing room on the train and I was the only one with any money as my aunt had pressed two dollars into my hands along with a "poor boy" sandwich when they left me at the station. The others fell on me as they were hungry and thirsty. When we arrived at Union Station early in the morning we piled into a cab and had the driver wait at Maryville while we borrowed money from the nuns to pay him. We could not miss class as it was a triple-cut day! Amazing how vivid some memories are still after so many years! 

Have a happy day and maybe have a few minutes to plan for Lent - we are given the next six weeks to deepen our faith and hope and love in so many ways. What are you going to do for Lent this year?