It's Pajama Day!

Are you still in your jammies and feeling down about it?

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Well don't!

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Today is (un)officially Pajama Day!!

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Look! Gary and I are still in our Pajamas!

And so are those two models I found on google. :)

S0 what's the big deal?

Today is my good friends birthday and she said that she could use a day for her so she thinks she will spend her day in jammies. Several of us wanted to join her and she said, and I quote, "Just tell everyone you meet that it's ALL ABOUT ME!!"

JoNell is a friend of 5 years that I met from an online support group.

Last year I participated in Lent with her.

I posted about it on my old blog and it was my first ever blog entry that was featured in VOX's main page.

So in honor of her birthday I am wearing PJ's (but really, I am wearing yoga pants and a T) and I am sharing with you all an interview I had with her on Lent a year ago.

Here is the post in full.

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I am Mormon.

I've decided to take part in Lent.

:-D

I have heard about it and thought it neat and this year my friend on the OT said she was giving up the OT for Lent and I decided to jump in there with her. I think it will be a good thing. And believe it or not, it IS a sacrifice.

(psst, in case you don't know, the OT is my online support group for parents of children with diabetes, which I have been a part for over 4 years)

So I decided to ask my dear Catholic OT friend JoNell some questions about Lent. JoNell and I have asked each other a lot about the others religion, all the while making sure that the other knows we aren't converting to the others religion, we are staying where we are, just asking for curiosity sake. :)

So here it is... JoNell learnin' LoW on Lent.

(meet JoNell- and her puppies)

JoNell- can you give me a brief summary of Lent? Lent is the 40 day period {excluding Sundays} before Easter. It is a commemoration of the 40 days that Christ spent fasting and praying in the desert. It is an opportunity for us to have a spiritual retreat of sorts -- it is a period of repentence, of offering sacrifices to in some way join with Christ in His sacrifice and to atone for our sins. Most people are familiar with the idea of "giving something up", but that's not all we do. We DO give up things that we enjoy, as a way of detaching from the material world and re-focusing on the spiritual, but we also are expected to DO things also. Those things can be as simple as added prayer time, spiritual readings, or volunteer work. We exclude Sundays from our sacrificial time because we view EVERY Sunday as a commemoration of the Resurrection, and therefore a time of joyful celebration of that event.
We are encouraged to fast throughout Lent, and it is required of us on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. ALL Fridays of Lent are "no meat" days -- days in which we must abstain from eating meat. That is a sacrifice that all make together. {Actually, we are supposed to refrain from eating meat on ALL Fridays of the year, but if we choose to eat meat we are required to do some other form of penitential act. This fact is overlooked by many Catholics today. Friday is special day of penance for us because Friday is the day that Christ was crucified.} Typically in our home, I cook all meatless meals during Lent. We also do the "Stations of the Cross" during Lent; most parishes offer it as a service on Fridays but people can also do it alone. Every Catholic Church has plaques or paintings of some sort that depict the 14 events of Christ's Passion. You walk from Station to Station {if it's a large group, then usually the priest and servers walk. The people remain in their pews. Smaller groups walk together} At each station there are particular prayers that are said. It's really cool...

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How long have you been participating in Lent? My entire life. I'm a cradle Catholic -- it's just what we do. :-)

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Can Mormons participate? Anyone can participate. Actually, it used to be a primarily Catholic thing, but more and more Protestant churches are having Lenten services and activities also. The Lenten Experience, in terms of the sacrificial part, is a personal journey toward God. Anybody can do that! Are the things that are given up usually kept to oneself or do you talk about it openly? Oh no, we talk about it openly. The sharing allows others to help us in our sacrifice. For example, you know that I have given up OT list for Lent. So... if you see me there, you can give me a gentle reminder, "Um JoNell, what are you doing here????". It is also helpful to know what others are doing as it can give you good ideas for your own sacrifices.

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Have you ever given up chocolate? Oh sure. LOL I think when I was a kid, we all gave up candy every year. As an adult, that's not a big deal for me. I don't eat a lot of candy anyway and am not the chocoholic that so many women are. As an adult, and as a minor part of my Lenten sacrifice, I have given up coffee before. That was hard at first,but as the days went by it got easier.

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Can you tell me what has been the hardest thing you have given up? Coffee was tough at first, like I said. I've also given up TV, which was hard for two reasons -- DH still watched it, so I had to find things to do in other rooms, and when I am home alone I use it for company.

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Have you ever given something up and then decided you never needed it and never returned? Hmmm, no, I don't think so. But like I said, I don't give up candy any more because I can live quite nicely without it. So I can't say I "never returned", but I don't eat it much any more any way.

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So you told the OT list you were giving up the OT and I said that I would join you on that, is that cool to do, take someone else's idea? Sure. Misery loves company. LOL Like I said before, you get good ideas from other people. If their idea works for you, go for it!

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Is it lame if I only give up one thing? No. Like I said, it's a time for personal penitence and growth. One thing is fine. And if it's a difficult one thing to give up, then really, isn't that better than giving up three easy things?

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Would you ever consider giving up your dogs for Lent? ;-) BITE YOUR TONGUE, WOMAN!!!!! LOL Hmm, well, since I don't know what else I'd do with them for that 40 day period, then No. BUT, I would give them up for Christ if He asked me too. Does that count? {Oh, please, Jesus, don't ever ask me to!!! } ;-)

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Any funny Lent stories? Not off the top of my head. But you might enjoy knowing that during the Stations of the Cross we do a lot of genuflecting {you know, bending down on one knee [as before a King]}, and all that upping and downing is hard on my old out of shape legs. Every Saturday after I've done Stations, I can barely walk; my legs are so achey. LOL

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Wouldn't it be funny if the whole OT gave up the OT for Lent? Ha! That would be funny. What an explosion of chatter there'd be when it was over!

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Random question- Your hopes for Pres 2008? Oh boy. At this moment I am sooo confused. I liked Duncan Hunter,but he got no press so he is gone. I think Hillary is evil, pure and simple. I think Obama means well, but seems to have no real plan other than to say "we need change". And I can't support anyone who wants to tax us to death to fund social programs that the Feds have no business in anyway. Huckabee says off the wall things sometimes that make me wonder about him. Ron Paul,while I like a lot of what he says -- he's big on that document the others seem to forget exists: The Constitution -- but he comes across like a nutjob in a panic. McCain, I don't trust -- and I believe recently made a comment along the lines of, "The economy is not my strong point." Hello????? I don't know enough about Romney, really... I think he'll be a taxer, but he does seem to have a clue about finance. So, ugh. Given the choices we have, I am hopeful that Romney will be on the ballot, but have a sad feeling it'll be McCain. In my primary, I'm voting Romney.

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I'll miss you and see you after Easter! :-) Oh, we can still chat here! Just not on the OT list.

Happy Birthday JoNell!!!