Good on ya! I did that during Advent, and it was *tough*!
Mardi Gras
After the devastating Hurricane Katrina of 2005, many people wondered if Mardi Gras would return to New Orleans six months later. With more than 80 percent of the city flooded by the hurricane, was it too soon to don a party hat?
Yet Mardi Gras could mean a financial boost to the strapped city (pre-Katrina, Mardi Gras would provide up to $300 million in revenue.) Many residents also saw Mardi Gras as an opportunity to show the nation that New Orleans wasn’t giving up.
City officials opted to go ahead. While attendance was down and the schedule was abbreviated (eight days, instead of two weeks of parades), participants gamely carried on, some even dressing as sandbags, or wearing blue tarps.
The French word for “Tuesday” is mardi, and the French word for “fat”, “rich” is gras. Thus today is Mardi Gras with its feasting and carnivals – a final celebration before the penitential Lenten practices that begin tomorrow.
Lent begins tomorrow. Spend some time on the plans you wrote February 18th.