Is Anyone Doing Lent This Year?

You know, I've complained before about this nutty Gregorian calendar we follow but it didn't do one bit of good, did it?

The holidays are never on the same date. None of us can keep up. And the whole thing is so imprecise that we need a leap year just to get back on track. Julius Caesar (back in the BC's) and Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 gave it their best shot to work this calendar out. But it's still so messed up.

Last year Lent began on February 22, right? But this year really takes the cake!

It began on February 13, the day BEFORE Valentines! How messed up is that? What if you were planning to give up champagne and chocolates for Lent? The day before Valentines?

It's just too much!

I don't know about you but this year I don't have the heart to go through Lent anyhow. And to make matters worse Pope Benedict has announced he's going to bail and a new Pope has to be elected. So he won't even be around during the whole blessed event.

Have been toying with the idea of giving up Lent for Lent. It's a technicality, of course, but follows the letter if not the spirit of the law. Do you think that would work, or is it a sure-fire way to spend a little time in Purgatory?

My rich employers are not Catholics, so there's no pressure around here to participate. But they do get all done up for Easter Sunday services at their local rich-people church.

If you are doing Lent this year, remember it's only six days a week. In fact last year I brought this up in an essay entitled "The Truth About Lent".  On Sundays we can party down and briefly get back to business.

To my Protestant readers, I know you don't understand this or have to deal with Lent at all. But you're still obliged to get done up in your Eastern bonnets and go to church on Easter Sunday, the last day of Lent, right? So we're all in this mess together.

Just wanted to drop in and see if anyone's doing Lent this year or not. I'm reeling from guilt at not participating, but there's always next year. 

All the best,
Andrew

     

The Package from Bijan: Mystery Solved!

Last week I told you a package for the Mister had arrived from the House of Bijan and that no one was home to open it! Ester and I have waited quite impatiently for almost a week to find out what's inside, and finally our employers returned this morning, around ten-thirty.

Right next to the elevator there's a long narrow side table where things are placed that need to go upstairs, including the daily mail and packages.

In fact, it's my job to separate the mail each day into His and Her piles, further organized by their personal letters, cards and invitations on top, business mail underneath that, and overnight letters from Fed Ex and UPS underneath that. Next to these two stacks, magazines are separated into those the Mister has subscribed to, and those the Missus wants to receive. Department store magazines and other junk mail are next to that, which are usually ignored and destined for the recycle bin. And at the end of the table is where we place packages.

When they arrived this morning they left the luggage up to us, picked up their respective piles of His and Her mail and went straight upstairs to their separate offices.

Ester and I looked at each other with fallen faces. Apparently packages were the last thing on their minds at the moment. But then at one o'clock they came down for lunch. I was out running errands at the time, but Ester sent a text that said the Mister had taken the package upstairs right after lunch.

She is the Upstairs Maid after all, and as soon as appropriate she scooted upstairs to snoop around. By the time I got home she was full of news!

It seems the package was a gift from the Mister's sister - which was somewhat of a disappointment since we had hoped the old cheapskate had actually been shopping there himself. And while we had been hoping to see some exquisite accessories, it turned out to be just a shirt and tie.

Having said that, Bijan's shirts are limited editions, of course, and can cost anywhere from $350 on up! And the tie, also a limited edition, is signed and numbered. Only God knows the cost of that.

So the big mystery's over. And while we may have been disappointed, at least now we can say there are Bijan labels in the Mister's closet. And no one needs to know it's only two.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you're not as disappointed as we are.

Andrew