Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.  It’s been quite a while since we uttered that opening line in a confessional—when we were young and practicing Catholics.  But, like Stephen Colbert of The Late Show, we admit we are guilty of some embarrassing things we keep secret.  Aren’t we all???  We reiterate Colbert’s standard disclaimer: “I don’t know if these are technically sins, but I do feel bad about them.”

Well, we don’t feel guilty enough about these secrets to actually go to Confession. And, admittedly, our “sins” may not fall into the venial category—a relatively slight sin—much less a mortal sin—a gravely sinful act that can lead to damnation if a person does not repent before death…or so we were taught.  However, like Colbert, we feel we will be better for confessing—even if we aren’t all that sorry.

So, here is our version of Colbert’s “Midnight Confessions” segment.  And we promise Stephen we won’t write a competing book.

• Sometimes we don’t use toilet seat covers in public restrooms. We just sit down.

• We drink directly from the juice container when no one is around though we spent years, nay, decades telling children and spouses it’s a no-no.

• Even though it’s not green, we sometimes run the dishwasher when it’s not full.

• We have mixed our darks and lights, overstuffed the washing machine, and generally abused it. Amazingly, it still works.

• Now that the phone or television announces who’s calling, we sometimes don’t answer—especially when we recognize certain names.

• We have arrived at parties with food we didn’t make, but put them in our own dishes and let people think we are talented cooks.

• We aren’t adamant fans of professional sports. We do like the cute players and their cute butts, and an excuse to order pizza.

• Sometimes we have candy or cake or cookies for breakfast. We just tell ourselves they are no more caloric than doughnuts.

• Sometimes we correct grammar on signs and menus—in ink. Sometimes we email the company and point out the grammatical error in their advertisement.  Sometimes we actually get a thank you!

• When we dropped the roast and the dog licked it, we wiped it off, put it on the table, and didn’t tell.

• We’ve removed a rock from a national park, carried agricultural products over states lines, and washed dry-clean-only clothes. (We do dry them flat.)

• Sometimes we pretend we took a shower, but we really just washed our armpits.

So our wisdom for today?  Confession is good for the soul, or so we were taught.  It generally makes you feel lighter—at least for a few minutes. And, we hope that our unburdening lets you know you are not alone.  However, honesty is not always the best policy.  Beware of collateral damage.  Think about listing your confessions on our comments section.  No names necessary.  We guarantee absolution!  And, hopefully, we’ll all have a giggle.