In your face, self-denial.

This is what I had for dinner tonight.

What??
Don't shake your head, Judgey McJudgeface.

Lent ended yesterday and took with it all the hurt and pain and awfulness that it brought: I can eat fast food again (I wrote about Lent here, in case you missed it and needed just a little bit more of my sad little life). Oh my stars, how I've missed fast food (sad, really). Sometimes, I missed it because cheeseburgers are amazing, life changing items. Sometimes, I missed it because of the convenience. Sometimes, I just missed it.

Don't judge me.

Tonight was FastFood-A-Palooza. A welcome back to my natural habitat. A blessed sampler. FastFood-A-Palooza took a surprising (and sad) amount of planning and coordination. I'm reasonably sure our wedding was easier to pull off. Chuck and I needed seperate cars, routes, plans, and our A-Games to accumulate my bounty. I also ate nothing but yogurt today in preperation.

It was a bounty.

In your face 46 days of self-denial (which, for the record, I actually did it. No slip ups. No accidents. Sounds like I was potty training? Pretty close, actually).
I undid all the good that may have come from it in one fell swoop.

The menu was taken into careful consideration.
I've spent 45 days crafting it.
It rocked.
I rocked it.

I lined up my little army of calories and reintroduced myself to each of them with a song, a poem, and a hearty embrace. A few bites of each, down the line and then back again. Chuck played papa,paparazzi.
Ohmygosh. McDonald's Fries. I selected them as my first bite back because these guys are a classic and a fast food catch all. I felt like they really opitimized all I'd given up.
This may be a shocker, but I went for a JR Whopper instead of a McD's burger. Here's why (trust me, no decision here was made lightly): I feel like McD is in one of their pepper kicks -- they go through these movements every 5 years or so -- and I HATE pepper more than life itself and I HATE when they do this. Is this TMI on my fast food knowledge? Sad or pathetic? Lemme know. Plus, I think my last pre-Lent burger romp was at BK so the taste...it just lingered with me. Now that last sentence. Sad or pathetic? Lemme know on that one too.
The joy. Chuck said he hasn't seen joy this pure since Lucy in the Johnny Jump-up. This is my favorite candid of me, ever. I'm such a wierd-o. The taste. The Taco Bell Chicken Soft Taco. Culinary masterpiece.
Tater tots are morsels from heaven. Little droplets of angel dust. I really believe this.
The Quizno's Classic Italian Torpedo. A taste sensation.
I've missed you all so much.
So much.
It was a painful Lent.

I'm gonna need elastic pants, a glass of water, and an EKG. Stat.

As for my take away, well. I did learn a few things. I learned I don't need fast food and it doesn't need to be one of my basic food groups. I can survive without it. I can live. It was nice to not be a slave to it. Limiting my love might be a good thing. Might.

About this. Shelley couldn't be here tonight with me so I had to pour one out for my home girl. I promised her I would.