Given that all week has been devoted to situations where we end up having to go to bed early, we look forward to a weekend where we can not only go to bed early, but sleep in. Seriously, getting the flu used to take me a day before I didn’t feel it anymore. Now, I get home from work and I think “dinner, then bed… you know what, heck with dinner.”
We will be gaming this weekend, however. Now that we’ve all finished the Harry Dresden book, we want to get back into our Harry Dresden storyline. (Mayor Bob, it turns out, is a Denarian. None of us know what that is.)
So… what’s on your docket?
Tobacco withdrawal.
Looking after the baby.
And whatever keeps me sane looking after the baby while going through tobacco withdrawal.
I’m trying to remember: “What helped me?”
I think I promised myself a cigar on my birthday.
My (stupid) thought is, “You know, if you are beyond miserable, maybe this means that you won’t pick one up again on Monday so that you’ll never have to go through it again.”
That’s what got me past it the one time I successfully quit for an extended period of time (six months)… the fear of having to go through the withdrawal all over again.
If it’s only kinda-sorta-pretty miserable, though, that might be the worst of all worlds.
Allow me to say what you already know:
The physical withdrawal is over after three days.
The mental and emotional withdrawal? I don’t know if I’ve thought about my momma every day for the last 5 years… but I’ve thought about smoking every day for the last 5 years.
I’m… not going to be helpful, here.
Are you going cold turkey Will? If not, maybe try snus to help you over the nicotine withdrawal.
I agree with Jaybird though. It’s been about 12 years for me and I still crave a cigarette sometimes after a good meal or with a beer. Somehow I can still have a dip on the weekends without triggering a relapse. I’m lucky my physiology works out that way.
I also think this is good post material.
Good luck!
Never pictured you as a smoker.
So… an update on this. I got by with three cigarettes on Saturday and five on Sunday. That’s not what I was aiming for, but it was managed without compromising the care of the baby, which of course was the ultimate goal.
Glad to hear Will! It’s a tough goal but worth it.
Okay. I was thinking about this and figured out something that might help.
There are generally five kinds of pleasure associated with the smoking thing:
1) Nicotine
2) The flavor of the cigarette
3) The Hand Thing
4) The Mouth Thing
5) Playing with fire
The next time you find yourself craving a cigarette, figure out which one of these things you’re most wanting and, if you know that, you can figure out how you can best divert yourself.
I switched to e-cigs, and it helped a lot. You get Jaybird’s 1, 3, and 4, and you can get a variety of his 2’s. The only thing you don’t get is the playing with fire.
I found it much easier to quit after the switch. I stepped down the nicotine level in the cartridges. And it’s not like the patch or the gum, which just takes the edge off the cravings. You can get as much nicotine with the e-cigs as you can with cigarettes, or more if you want.
Homework!
(and what Jaybird said.)
Ir I recall correctly, there are a couple football games on Sunday.
I’m glad I pay attention, or I might be freaking out that college bowl games are still going on.
The yard needs mowing. Maybe I will do that. I am going to try to start plotting and world-building for a book I want to write. This will be my first book.
Other than that? Not really sure. This weekend is pretty much wide open.
Wait, what? It’s January. Do you live in Australia or something?
I was wondering this myself 🙂
Florida. The grass is not high, but there are lots of weeds popping up everywhere. I will probably just do the front yard, because I hate mowing.
Hey RR, where in FL are you, if you don’t mind my asking?
And if you’d prefer not to post “out loud” but are otherwise OK with me knowing, I can shoot you a mail…
Central. Between Tampa and Orlando.
RR – Check your mail!
Xeriscape. Tell the neighbors “It’s Environmentally Friendly!”
You know. “A weed is just a flower that we don’t understand how pretty it is!”, that sort of thing.
*blink* there’s something wrong with xeriscaping in FLORIDA. And nobody likes natural florida weeds, because natural florida is a swamp, with attendant mosquitos.
When the weeds start to reach knee height, something must be done. I think dowsing the yard with gasoline and setting it on fire would not meet with much approval.
This sort of thing is why they had to make Taoism.
Got free tix to a show on Saturday. Don’t get out to see a ton at this point, what with the young’uns and all, so am looking forward.
Django with the oldest daughter tonight. Her Pan-African Studies professor asked them to go see it so that worked out for dad.
There’s a big cold front moving in early next week so this will probably be the last good weekend of waterfowl season. I’ve hunted about 20 mornings this year. Almost to the point where I am looking forward to it ending.
UFC on FX tomorrow night.
The house has been sorely neglected as of late. The Boss has already announced that the entire family will clean for a minimum of two hours on Sunday.
I’ve hunted about 20 mornings this year. Almost to the point where I am looking forward to it ending.
That’s life, isn’t it? You’ve been looking forward to something forever, but when you’ve actually been doing it long enough, you’d rather be back to looking forward to it.
Yep. I learned long ago with Christmas that the anticipation is usually the best part.
For holiday Monday it’s tobogganing at the Indiana state parks’ cool toboggan run. Was an annual tradition when I was a kid, but haven’t taken my kids in a few years.
1. Going to a winery tomorrow with my family (brother, sister-in-law, parental units)
2. Relaxing
3. Zero Dark Thirty with a Friend
Cooking dinner for a friend’s birthday tomorrow.
Sunday will be NFL day. With my Packers knocked out of contention, I’ll be more or less rooting for the 49ers, and not just because it was SF that knocked GB out.
Thinking about planning a vacation for later in the year. Leaguefest 2013, to be precise.
Hmm, nothing on the books. My sister decided to have twins boys so maybe I’ll bring Junior’s gently used crib to her house along with anything else he didn’t destroy.