Last weekend my Senator and I went to a Mardi Gras party at a friend’s house, and it was some Mardi Gras party. In fact, it was the real deal as these friends herald from “the deep South”. They had imported food, cups, king’s cake and of course tons of Mardi Gras beads.

In speaking with our host and hostess we learned all about the history of Mardi Gras. She had even printed up a copy of it which she gave to all the guests as party favors. You learn something new every day.

My favorite tidbit however, was the cape hanging in the corner. This was her cape that she wore in a Mardi Gras parade. It was homemade and had a colorful applique of a giant catfish sewn on the back. Our hostess explained that one was supposed to choose items that represented their interests to adorn the back of their queen’s cape with and she liked to fish. Hence the catfish. Not real “queen” like, she went on to explain, but then that was half the fun of it! We like her…a lot!

Here is what else we learned from our Southern friends: Mardi Gras, translated from the French means “Fat Tuesday.” Fat Tuesday falls on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, the solemn forty days prior to Easter. Since Easter is a movable feast day, Mardi Gras changes every year and can be as early as February or as late as March 9th.

Carnival is a period of feasting and celebrating before the fasting days of Lent. Carnival starts January 6th, the Feast of the Epiphany and ends at midnight on Fat Tuesday. Carnival is a Catholic celebration and is licensed by the Catholic Church. Carnival means “farewell to flesh.”

King cake is only eaten during the carnival season. King cake is a French pastry made traditionally with cinnamon and colored sugar and is oval or ringed shaped. Now they are made in several flavors. King cakes have a bean or a baby doll hidden in them. The person who finds it buys the next cake or throws the next party. King cake is always decorated with sugar in the colors of carnival which are purple, gold and green. Purple symbolizes justice, gold symbolizes power and green symbolizes faith.

More than you wanted to know… but you can”t say you didn’t learn anything today!

I need to get out more often!

Yesterday I went to a luncheon benefiting the Girl Scouts of Western Oklahoma. I thought I lived in central Oklahoma, but they call themselves the Girl Scouts of Western Oklahoma and I can live with that. It was extremely well attended, not just because their speaker was the former gymnast and Olympic Gold medalist, Dominique Dawes , but these former Girl Scouts have a bond with one another, referring often to this luncheon as a family reunion.

One of the highlights was listening to three current Girl Scouts speak about their gold award winning projects. One made designer fanny packs for diabetic youth. Another scout, who confessed to a love of cooking, catered dinners for her friends, raised over $13,000 and opened an English school in Cambodia. Excuse me, did I hear that correctly? And, she is how old?

The most impressive moment for me though was when they asked everyone to stand and recite the Girl Scout Promise and Girl Scout Law (which was conveniently printed inside the program for such non-girl scouts like me).

THE GIRL SCOUT PROMISE

On my honor, I will try:
To serve God and my country,
To help people at all times,
And to live by the Girl Scout Law.

THE GIRL SCOUT LAW

I will do my best to be:
Honest and Fair,
Friendly and helpful,
Considerate and caring,
Courageous and strong, and
Responsible for what I say and do,
And to respect myself and others,
Respect authority,
Use resources wisely,
Make the world a better place, and
Be a sister to every Girl Scout.

Do you think it’s too late for me to join?

The Senator’s Wife