Adding 27 Hours to My Life So Far by These 11 Days of Not Smoking

Now that I've rejoined the human race, no longer having the face of a cheeky chipmunk, I'm assuming that the massive doses of penicillin have begun to do their job. Not a moment too soon, as far as I'm concerned- it was awful to look so ridiculous, be a little grumpy still from having quit smoking, be in that much pain, and have the resentment towards Dr. Jerk for screwing my mouth up to begin with. However, I've tried very hard these days to eliminate needless resentment from my life- like the saying goes, Resenting someone is like swallowing poison yourself and waiting for the other person to die. Well, I've poisoned myself enough over the years, and these days I'd rather work on healing instead of falling into the same ole patterns. Especially since the guy's a jerk, why should I waste my thoughts and emotion on him? If I was a better Christian, I'd devote some more time on praying for the idiot, but instead I've managed to only pray for his other patients- both past and future. But I'm sure that as well as drunks and small children, God pays special attention to unwitting patients under the drill- or the knife- of the not-so-skilled practicioners of medicine. Perhaps they're the ones who're the reason for the term practicing, as they haven't quite gotten the hang of it yet.

Hey, how 'bout some good news... I've now been smoke-free for eleven days! My lungs are already feeling better, I've gone on a couple afternoon strolls (walks, actually, pushing Jameson in his stroller) and my usual route, which is around a mile and a half, hasn't made me feel winded at all, even when I've purposely picked up the pace a bit. I know it's probably too soon to really be reaping all the benefits, but I'm pretty proud of myself just the same.

Some of the tools I've been using are the Idaho QuitNet website, which is pretty cool- they have all kinds of little support groups, chats, options to calculate how much money you've saved so far by quitting, how much time you've added to your life, stuff like that. But mainly I just read the emails they send me, which have all the little snippets of congratulatory inspiration, mediocre comics, and comments from other quitters. It really does help me to reaffirm what I'm up to every day, not lose sight of how important this is to me. I intend to watch my son grow up, and not while I wheel an oxygen tank behind me.

Other stuff which has helped have been stocking up on an industrial size canister of Red Vines licorice, which I dip into regularly, as does Tony. He quit too, I'm not sure if I mentioned that previously, but also deserves major kudos as he smoked WAY more than I did and is also on Day 11, with the help of the patch. We both have been chewing lots of gum, too (not Nicorette, just regular old Trident) and I carry a dozen or so Dum-Dum suckers around with me in my purse for when I get the urge while I'm out and about. I hate smelling other people puffing- for some sick reason, it smells SO good! Talk about a trigger.

I've also been cleaning house like a madwoman. Not that it really needed it, but mainly just to stay occupied. The not smoking thing, coupled with my banishment from public view due to my horrible facial disfigurement, led to me attacking kitchen, foyer and bathroom floors- on my hands and knees, no less!- with hot buckets of water redolent with the smells of Pine-Sol and my old- fashioned scrub brush. Next were the carpets and rugs, vacuumed and beat within an inch of their lives, respectively. Hanging the latest (and possibly cutest!) pictures on The Wall of Jameson followed (with no help from the tall member of our family- that lazy bum just sat on the recliner and said stuff like, "A little to the left, babe. Oops, I mean my left." Laundry, plant-watering, cat and fish and son feeding, then homemade french bread pizza for us grownups finished off the afternoon. A few hours of interweb, both work-related and surfing thru my favorite sites, was next. I'm savoring these last few days? weeks? before Jameson is actually crawling- right now I can just plop him down on his blankie on the floor of my office and scatter some toys around him and he's happy. He may roll around the room, but I only have to rescue him when he gets stuck between a bookcase or something and wails. But I know that all too soon I'll be having to follow him everywhere, as he tries to explore, eat, or topple over anything he can find. Ah, the joys of parenthood- I wouldn't trade it for anything.

So, it's late, I'm tired, and have rambled long enough. This was a day in the life of a newly non-smoking mommy and wife who is grateful for what health she has and the many, many blessings she all too often takes for granted. Are we all not guilty of such at times? If you think you may have been overlooking the blessings in your life lately, take a moment and compile a mental gratitude list. You'll be surprised at how it puts all your petty gripes and bickerings in perspective when you weigh out how rich you are in what truly matters.