Lenten observance?

I don't even know where to begin.
Facebook and its immediacy and consequent, constant novelty took some of the luster away from blogging, as did Elizabeth. She's now 3 and decided, after much coaxing on my part and contrariness on hers, that she'll use the toilet.
She has not had an accident, and has had very few false alarms. I suppose waiting the additional year was worth it if she's going to make it that easy.

Since I was regularly blogging, we've added Thomas to the mix. As you, Gentle Reader, probably read my husband's blog as well, you know he's 16 months old and just a riot. He's a sweet kid who if we're not careful will end up quite spoiled; with 5 older siblings, some of whom dote on him, it's a wonder he walks and talks. He knows the easy mark, that's for sure. Elizabeth being closest to his age is immune to his tricks. She's no fool.

I'm not sure what to do for Lent this year. I can't bear to give up Facebook. Yeah, yeah, it's supposed to be a time of sacrifice and penance and I did survive for most of my life without it, but now that it's there, it's akin to giving up flush toilets. It's just too useful, too practical. I use it to keep in touch with friends who are far away, those I don't see often enough, or those whose children get along with my own. I would not be the only one making a sacrifice, so it just doesn't seem fair to them.

So instead, I'm going to try to limit how much time I spend on it. I tried last to have a cleaner, more organized house. From Ash Wednesday until the first Sunday I did pretty well. Then the kids got sick, five trips to the pediatrician in six days, several on antibiotics, one on a nebulizer, really nice weather giving the recovering a healthy dose of spring fever... That would take a week or two to recover from, and then we were at Palm Sunday and it was over.

I'm going to try to get back to blogging instead. Longer thoughts, revisions of writing process, opinions on the state of things on the micro (read: my own kids) and the macro level. I have some thoughts on the books I'm reading, what I see in modern society, my own personal understanding of things.

So I'm still here, and I'm going to try to be more so. I'm interested in participating more in what's been called the Great Conversation.