Spacegoat’s Portal

As of today I have been smoke free for 90 days. I would like to say that I’m over it, that I’m no longer tempted by the lure of cigarette smoke, but I can’t. I still get the cravings as a fond memory emerges of the rush I would get from taking a nice deep drag off of a cigarette after a couple of hours of not being able to smoke. But then I take a deep breath and get over it. Of course the only rush I would get was from the relief of getting my fix. You never really get a high from smoking, at least not when you smoke regularly. All you’re doing is avoiding the low as the nicotine levels in your blood drop.

I’ve been eating really well this week. These salmon patties I got from Trader Joe’s are really good especially smothered in this lemon pepper seasoning I have. I eat it on a bun with tomato, spinach and may. Yesterday I had a nice pasta dish with poached chicken. For the last three nights I’ve been using my blender to make smoothies for desert. I have frozen fruit and mixed berries that I blend with plain yogurt or kefir. The frozen fruit gives turns the mix into the consistency of a milk shake. Tonight I used mango. It was delicious and very filling.

The exercise is going well. I was just checking my exercise log in Weight Watchers. I’ve exercised every day since January 12th. In fact, that was the only day I didn’t exercise so far this year. My walks at work have become something I look forward to. It’s good to get away from the desk and move around for an hour. I’m looking forward to some warm weather so I can walk outside. My range has increased dramatically since the cold weather drew me inside. I have been looking at google maps trying to figure out where I can walk on my lunch hour. It ends up I can walk all over the city. I can head up to the metrodome or across the river on the Hennepin bridge. But the skyway is doing just fine until then. I’ve been watching the Twins stadium grow up. It’s been a special privilege to see that progress day by day. I keep meaning to take pictures. It’s really a great view from the Target Center.

Alright, that’s about it. Ill probably drop in this weekend for a post. I have no big plans. I’ll keep a low profile after my last weekend shopping spree. Besides the arctic weather is returning with the -40 wind chills. I’ll just stay put and do some housework and maybe try out a recipe or two.

Hello all. Today marks my two month anniversary for my quit. I quit smoking on November 9th and today I got a inspiring form email from quitnet.com saying how wonderful I am. Well, I am pretty wonderful and I’ll take a compliment from a machine any day.

It was actually pretty nice to get a boost of confidence today since I was feeling kind of irritated lately by smokers. It’s not really a big deal, but some smokers have kind of been getting on my nerves. I don’t want to be one of those Nazi ex-smokers, but I can see where they develop their attitude. I mean life time non-smokers can be bad in that they think of second hand smoke is like mustard gas. But as an ex-smoker I feel like a former heroin user involuntarily being injected with a tiny little bit of heroin whenever I encounter another heroin user. Of course this is really over stated and I mustn’t let myself vilify smokers. Smokers are people. And like people, there are good smokers and bad smokers. The bad smokers are the ones that I’m going to complain about.

So I was at the bus stop today after work and there was this “lady” standing in line smoking. She lights up with other people inches away from her! I mean how inconsiderate is that? When I was smoking I would always try to keep myself clear of highly trafficked and crowded areas. It’s just common courtesy. This is the person that gives smokers a bad name and I felt completely justified in hating her for smoking in front of me. But that got me thinking about not wanting to be one of those ex-smoker Nazis, and it got me thinking about smoking. So when I got home and checked my email, it was good to be reminded of why I quit and how much of accomplishment it is to have kicked the habit.

Good evening everyone. I just got back from Des Moines where I visited Kim an John for the weekend.  We had fun shopping and playing video games and hanging out.  They did a great job of feeding me.  Kim was very conscientious about having good wholesome food around so that I didn’t fall off the wagon while away from home.  You’ll be happy to know Kim, that I didn’t go hungry and I managed to stay well within my points limit for the entire weekend.  Thank you both for having me over.  You were hospitable as always.

But I’m kind of bummed out now that I’m home because I have to go to work tomorrow.  Another week long vacation is over too soon.  Of course I’ll have a day off on Tuesday for New Years so I will have a short week.  Hopefully I got vacationing out of my system because I’m back to work for at least another three months without another one.  *sigh*  Did you ever wish that you were born into money and you never had to work a day in your life?  I do.  I think I would be really good at it too.

Anyway, I hit a sort of Quitting milestone yesterday.  I finished my 50th day of not smoking.  In the QuitNet world that makes me a Tweener because I’m half way to an Elder.  I get to show off my big boy pants now.  It’s best not to ask.  It’s a particularly big milestone for me because of my past almost success.  The last time I quit, I was back on the smokes after 6 weeks.  So I’m blazing new trails now!  I still think about smoking, and I do get cravings still, but it’s more of an afterthought.  Like my road trip was my first road trip without cigarettes.  I was aware that it was, and that it could be tempting to smoke since that’s “what you do” on road trips, but it wasn’t something I really bothered to fret about.  It’s just another one of the hundreds of things that I do now without smoking.  It’s no big deal now, and that’s pretty cool.