A year without a cigarette

If I sound like one of those pain in the ass ex-smokers who annoy the crap out of you because I constantly talk about the fact that I quit smoking and feel so much better now, well then, tough shit. For starters, it was hard. the actual time I quit wasn't that bad (thank you Chantix), but it took me at least 15 tries before I finally did it. My pride can't be contained because it's a huge accomplishment to me. (just as it was one of the dumbest things for me to ever do in the first place)

Also, it truly is a very healthful thing for me. Even after only a year I notice the differences. Just last Monday I got a cold. When I was smoking the congestion would linger up to 2-3 weeks. The major sniffles from my current cold subsided Thursday and by this morning the excess mucus is all but gone. Plus, it's really an awful thing when you are sick and you just have to grab a smoke. Nothing worse than having all sorts of congestion in your chest and adding the tar and smoke from a nasty habit. My sense of smell has improved and I'm able to breathe better when I exercise or do strenuous activity.

Lastly, I don't stink any more. I always knew that smokers have that smell, but never realized the full extent until after I quit and my sense of smell improved. It was in my clothes for months after I quit. I had no idea how much I reeked. It's nice to be neutral smelling these days and not offensive to some people.

July 5th 2007 was the last time I had a cigarette. It's been one year for me and hopefully I am never weak or dumb enough to smoke again. Please allow me this self-indulgence as I enjoy this moment.

I did it! I did it! I did it!

I'm becoming an internet superstar!!

Well, not me, but my ciggie bird is. She may not be as big as Chocolate Rain yet, but she's getting some love over at neatorama. A fellow poster at backshegoes.com recommend that I submit the pictures to them and they posted it. Soon I will rule the interwebs!!

Now, where do I collect my checks?

link to the story

Hatching a smoke

Just got back from my trip- don't have much time to tell you all about it yet, but a quick update- The baby birds are hatching!!

Who says smoking is bad for the environment?!

In some ways I'm embarrassed to show this picture but it's too funny to keep to myself.

Today is my son Gabriel's 7th birthday. He was out in the back yard playing with his friends and dinner time was approaching. Since it was his birthday I needed to ask him what he wanted to eat so he could choose his favorite. (He chose mac and cheese) I was in the bedroom at the time and we have a small upstairs patio that you can access thru a door from the bedroom. I opened the door and went onto the patio to ask Gabriel what he wanted. I haven't been out on this patio since I quit smoking (I would never smoke in the house). I guess I prefer my patio on the ground.

Now here's the embarrassing part. I used to dump my ash tray into a trash can that was on the patio. I guess since I haven't been on the patio in so long I've forgotten to empty the trash can which is filled about 2/5's of the way up with cigarette butts. Pretty gross, I know. I'm a slob, I admit it.

Just as I was about to shout down to Gabriel I noticed the trash can and a bird that made it's nest inside of it!! I can't tell if there's eggs in the nest of butts and twigs that the bird had made for itself, but I don't have the heart to chase the bird away.

Anyways, here's a picture that my wife took of the bird. You can click on it for a blown up view. I truly hope she doesn't get addicted to the butts.

I miss smoking today

Now before you call the anti-smoking police, I don't miss it enough to start up that stupid habit again.

It's been 9.5 months since my last ciggie. I certainly don't miss the constant hack that I had developed and I don't miss the wheezy gasps for air nor the lack of smell and the smell that perforated me and my clothes.

It's just that today is the first really super nice spring day of the year. I always used to love to go outside and enjoy the day and well, ....have a smoke. So, I guess it's not the smoking per se that I'm missing- It's the excuse to leave my desk or warehouse for a moment and go outside in the nice weather. Little 3 minute breaks while you're killing yourself with a cancerous inhalant are surprisingly refreshing. I suppose if I were to remove the latter part of the equation I still could enjoy myself, but I'd get strange looks from my brother.

Meh, who cares what he thinks?! I'm going to go take two 3-minute air breaks an hour today!

I must secretly desire yellow teeth

Today marks exactly one half of a year since I smoked my last cigarette. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I quit with the aid of Chantix and now I have no real desire to resume smoking again. Last night confirmed it for me. I met my buddy Mike at a bar last night to play for some cheap T-shirts in a trivia game. (did you know that Thomas Jefferson invented the swivel chair?) As I walked into the bar from the bitter and wicked cold weather the first thing I noticed was the thick cloud of smoke. It was nasty and smelled awful. The air was stale and rank. It wasn't pleasant and what I used to like smelling now repulsed me.

Don't get me wrong and think I'm going to become a anti-2nd hand smoke crusader and call for the ban of all public smoking, because I won't. It goes against my natural inclination of what freedom should be. If a private business wants to allow their patrons to smoke then that's their business. It's our choice as consumers to decide whether to patronize a place that's smoky. Thus the free market dictates to a business what the current morals are by profit incentive instead of making absurd laws that inhibit our rights.

But I digress....

Smoking disgusts me now and that's a good thing in my eyes. My 6 month abstinence calls for a celebration. Hopefully Lynn will think the same thing and reward me later tonight (wink, wink).

Of course, as I gave up one addiction I picked up another. When I smoked I lost my tolerence for caffeine. I could barely drink a 12 oz Diet Coke without having my heart rapidly aflutter. I actively avoided coffee, colas, Barq's root beer, Mountain Dew, Excedrin and binging on 5 pounds or more of chocolate. It's my understanding that nicotine is a stimulant, so I guess the extra jolt of caffeine would be a bit too much for me. (funny how a stimulant "calms you down" when you smoke, it's calming because you're in withdrawl) So when I quit I started drinking coffee to wake me up a bit as I was dragging somewhat from the lack of stimulants I got from smoking.

Yesterday, I decided to go without a cup of coffee.

I got a headache and felt tired. I drank a Diet Pepsi at lunch and felt better, guess I have a new monkey on my back.

Just my luck, coffee, like cigarettes, make your teeth yellow....

New Year's resolutions (a.k.a. empty promises)

The new year is upon us and as tradition dictates, we all make pledges to do something in our lives to make us better people. Why we need some sort of kick in the pants by a calendar change is beyond me. I suppose we all have some sort of weird group OCD and like round numbers.

The good news for me is after the last 12 years of making resolutions to quit smoking and never having any success is that I finally quit. I have not had a cigarette for 6 months and have no real desire to smoke again. Thank you, Pfizer for creating Chantix. (strangely enough it was a blue pill just like Viagra, I guess Pfizer likes that color?) It was a true miracle drug for me and after years and years of trying to quit through all sorts of means, Chantix made quitting easy.

The bad news is that I'm still a fatty and need to lose some weight. I was exercising and dieting right after quitting smoking but fell off the healthy wagon when vacation came. Maybe I took on too much at once in the self improvement department. But much more likely it's the fact that I like ice cream, cookies, cake and potato chips way too much. I've lost weight in the past and I know it's just a matter of sticking to a regimen. It's just that I need some sort of motivation to get going again....

Hey Look! The calendar is starting over again- maybe I should lose some weight!!