I'll be heading up to the Northland tomorrow and I'll be posting from the road; please forgive any typos and shit. The iPhone over-corrects my pselling. I'm not bringing the laptop this time, as the battery has tanked.
Me, my PT Cruiser convertible, and the road.
Oh, and two little kids and suitcases and whines for slurpees bathroom breaks, and video game strategy. Yeah, that too.
A couple of stops, and then I'll be assisting in yet another re-roofing. This one's a bigger undertaking. Much bigger. Oh my.
The Jesus of Cheese will be joining us later, as will BeerHound, DuffMan, and Portia. These last attendees are a surprise to my parents, so DON'T TELL THEM!
Speak to the American Gods* for me, willya? I'll need it.
*It's a book. Read it.
Monday, June 16, 2008
14? Wow.
It's day 14 and I haven't had a cigarette. Um. I didn't think I'd make it this far. Really. It's just...not too bad.
You know what I miss? The garage. Not smoking in the garage, necessarily, but going into the garage to read or surf my e-mail and crap on my iPhone, and it was MY spot. No where else in the house is just "mine."
So I'm fine. I'm good. But I need a new "Mine."
You know what I miss? The garage. Not smoking in the garage, necessarily, but going into the garage to read or surf my e-mail and crap on my iPhone, and it was MY spot. No where else in the house is just "mine."
So I'm fine. I'm good. But I need a new "Mine."
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Day 5!
Warning: This post is not funny. And for once, I didn't blatantly lie about anything. Just so's you know.
I'm just now starting day 5, cigarette free.
It's not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. Perhaps it's just because I went about it differently this time. The other times I seem to remember barely making it past 24 hours before "quitting my quit." And I remember the horrible torture of the craving. I remember bumming smokes from strangers.
Let's just credit Nicoderm CQ© and Wellbutrin©.
This time? No craving. NONE.
The behavior, though, is a hard habit to break. I find myself confused in the morning because I've got my coffee in my hand and no chair in the garage to sit on. Someone calls and I immediately go to the garage to light up. I tried to do that four times in a 10-minute conversation with my Dad.
People have been asking me, "Why now?" Good question, but I can't really answer it. I literally woke up Monday morning and thought, "I think I'll quit smoking today." No long planning session, no discussions with anyone, no major life changes. Monday morning, I had the choice of spending my money on another carton of smokes (over $40) or on a package of nicotine patches (I admit I didn't even look at the price.) I did a little research on what type of nicotine replacement works best, but it was always fairly clear to me since I'm not supposed to chew gum, ever (see all my previous posts about jaw surgery). And they have those inhaler sticks, but quite honestly they look stupid. Even more stupid than smoking.
So cost was really a factor. When it comes to buying gas or cigs, quite honestly the gas is a leeetle bit more important. Also, my kids have asked me to quit, or more accurately they express total confusion as to why I smoke. I can't give them a good reason.
And of course, there's my Dad. He has COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). An easier way to describe it is, you know when people say someone has a "heart condition?" Well, Dad has a "lung condition." He would get tired easily, he slept too much, but he didn't sleep well. It would take him nearly an hour every morning to cough enough in order to breathe okay.
Yeah, he's 82 and he's allowed to slow down. But if he hadn't quit smoking, he would be dead now. And he isn't.
So why? So I can live past 82, like my Dad. You know, barring any alien-landing induced armageddon type scenarios, worldwide plagues, nuclear winters, or greenhouse gas suffocation, I'll live past 82.
There's hope for me yet.
I'm just now starting day 5, cigarette free.
It's not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. Perhaps it's just because I went about it differently this time. The other times I seem to remember barely making it past 24 hours before "quitting my quit." And I remember the horrible torture of the craving. I remember bumming smokes from strangers.
Let's just credit Nicoderm CQ© and Wellbutrin©.
This time? No craving. NONE.
The behavior, though, is a hard habit to break. I find myself confused in the morning because I've got my coffee in my hand and no chair in the garage to sit on. Someone calls and I immediately go to the garage to light up. I tried to do that four times in a 10-minute conversation with my Dad.
People have been asking me, "Why now?" Good question, but I can't really answer it. I literally woke up Monday morning and thought, "I think I'll quit smoking today." No long planning session, no discussions with anyone, no major life changes. Monday morning, I had the choice of spending my money on another carton of smokes (over $40) or on a package of nicotine patches (I admit I didn't even look at the price.) I did a little research on what type of nicotine replacement works best, but it was always fairly clear to me since I'm not supposed to chew gum, ever (see all my previous posts about jaw surgery). And they have those inhaler sticks, but quite honestly they look stupid. Even more stupid than smoking.
So cost was really a factor. When it comes to buying gas or cigs, quite honestly the gas is a leeetle bit more important. Also, my kids have asked me to quit, or more accurately they express total confusion as to why I smoke. I can't give them a good reason.
And of course, there's my Dad. He has COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). An easier way to describe it is, you know when people say someone has a "heart condition?" Well, Dad has a "lung condition." He would get tired easily, he slept too much, but he didn't sleep well. It would take him nearly an hour every morning to cough enough in order to breathe okay.
Yeah, he's 82 and he's allowed to slow down. But if he hadn't quit smoking, he would be dead now. And he isn't.
So why? So I can live past 82, like my Dad. You know, barring any alien-landing induced armageddon type scenarios, worldwide plagues, nuclear winters, or greenhouse gas suffocation, I'll live past 82.
There's hope for me yet.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Short Attention Span Theater
I am trying to quit smoking. I have now gone 27 hours without a cigarette.
Since having kids, I've had to learn to multi-task even better than before.
Before having kids, worked really hard and practiced typing and talking at the same time. Try it. It's not easy. Oh, and it freaks people out. They won't talk if you're typing. They will not believe you can actually hear what they're saying. Conversely, I've had people for whom I'm typing something--usually a student paper--insist on DICTATING the paper to me. Um, no. I can type faster than you can talk. Give me the damn rough draft!
This program I'm on to quit smoking, which is Nicoderm CQ plus the Wellbutrin I'm already on, has me a little on edge. Not on edge bad, on edge good. I'm not cranky or irrational yet. I've asked The Dave. Repeatedly. And he said "No" the first time and now he just glares at me.
So, on edge. The Dave thinks it might be because I'm following the program for someone who smokes more than 15 cigarettes a day. He didn't think I smoked that much. I do, but because of the kids, I rarely smoke a whole one at a time: sit down, light up, take two drags, and then one of the kids comes into the garage to ask me for something so I put it out (both because there's a kid in the room, and because they need something.) Then later I'll go out and smoke the other half. Sometimes I would light a cigarette four times before I finished it.
Yes, they taste like ass if you put them out and then light them again, but they're expensive.
Oh, hey! I'm not paying for them any more!
Anyway, the patch I'm on, The Dave thinks they're too strong for me. Maybe he's right. Maybe I should switch to the mid-level strength.
The most amazing thing is how much time I have now! It's really cool. Maybe soon, I'll actually clean my house.
Right now the only thing clean is the garage. I had to get rid of my own personal "smoking section" in the garage, so it's gone. I threw out the ash tray, the stool the ash tray was on, the cigarettes, and the lighters. I saved the chair, but it's a folding chair so I just put it away. I also saved the flask of Glenfiddich.
Which reminds me--I need more Glenfiddich.
So right now I'm a little distracted. I start doing things, and then I'll see something sparkly. I can do things for 15 minutes at a time, if I try hard and set a timer. For instance, I just shredded my billing statements from 2003 for 15 minutes.
And now I've been sitting here for 10 minutes trying to figure out what to do next.
Um, post this. Yeah. That's what I'll do.
Since having kids, I've had to learn to multi-task even better than before.
Before having kids, worked really hard and practiced typing and talking at the same time. Try it. It's not easy. Oh, and it freaks people out. They won't talk if you're typing. They will not believe you can actually hear what they're saying. Conversely, I've had people for whom I'm typing something--usually a student paper--insist on DICTATING the paper to me. Um, no. I can type faster than you can talk. Give me the damn rough draft!
This program I'm on to quit smoking, which is Nicoderm CQ plus the Wellbutrin I'm already on, has me a little on edge. Not on edge bad, on edge good. I'm not cranky or irrational yet. I've asked The Dave. Repeatedly. And he said "No" the first time and now he just glares at me.
So, on edge. The Dave thinks it might be because I'm following the program for someone who smokes more than 15 cigarettes a day. He didn't think I smoked that much. I do, but because of the kids, I rarely smoke a whole one at a time: sit down, light up, take two drags, and then one of the kids comes into the garage to ask me for something so I put it out (both because there's a kid in the room, and because they need something.) Then later I'll go out and smoke the other half. Sometimes I would light a cigarette four times before I finished it.
Yes, they taste like ass if you put them out and then light them again, but they're expensive.
Oh, hey! I'm not paying for them any more!
Anyway, the patch I'm on, The Dave thinks they're too strong for me. Maybe he's right. Maybe I should switch to the mid-level strength.
The most amazing thing is how much time I have now! It's really cool. Maybe soon, I'll actually clean my house.
Right now the only thing clean is the garage. I had to get rid of my own personal "smoking section" in the garage, so it's gone. I threw out the ash tray, the stool the ash tray was on, the cigarettes, and the lighters. I saved the chair, but it's a folding chair so I just put it away. I also saved the flask of Glenfiddich.
Which reminds me--I need more Glenfiddich.
So right now I'm a little distracted. I start doing things, and then I'll see something sparkly. I can do things for 15 minutes at a time, if I try hard and set a timer. For instance, I just shredded my billing statements from 2003 for 15 minutes.
And now I've been sitting here for 10 minutes trying to figure out what to do next.
Um, post this. Yeah. That's what I'll do.
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