nonsmoker title for 55 days. GO ROYALS!

I've been a bit preoccupied, lately. I've been planning birthday parties, and Halloween parties, and game nights (for the elementary school), book fairs, and teacher luncheon preparing, dish washing, and laundry doing, daughter's  room cleaning (omg! THAT made me want a cigarette, more than ANYTHING has), dinner cooking, grocery shopping, and best of all... NETFLIX WATCHING WHILE BUBBLE BATHING! ha.

But, seriously, The WORLD SERIES is going strong! 2-2.
Big Royals fan, here.
I want the Royals to come home, and win the thing.

Is that asking for too much?! Last night was hard to watch. Tonight is awful. Bumgarner is a beast, and that's not great, when he's playing for the opposing team. >':o

Shields is doing pretty good, tonight, aside from the two runs, that have been allowed. =/

Okay. So. The room that was cleaned, today. Sorry, no "before" picture. Just an "after".

So, the bed (from IKEA) and bedding set (Walmart) were my daughter's birthday present. She loves it. I'm jealous. ;)

And, the lovely little screen shot of my nonsmoking status. 

I really hate when Bumgarner is pitching. This gives me a headache.

Stay Royal!

53 days!!!

I've been very busy. Very very busy!! Still haven't smoked!! Yay!!

day 45

Step 2 has gotten a lot easier. I haven't had any cravings. I'm not as cranky, or irritable. Big plus for my family, especially my husband.

I'm working 4 nights, then I'll be on vacation!! By the time I'm back from vaca, I'll be done with my patches. Or very close to done.

Not much to say. I'm still a quitter.

Day 44

ROYALS sweep the O's!!! Kansas City is in the WORLD SERIES!!! HOLY SH*T! 


Nope, I till haven't smoked, either. 

days 42 & 43

Holy crap! For a couple of days after stepping down to step 2 of the patch, I was cranky.  And by "cranky" I mean a nasty, angry, b*tch. No joke. I'm glad I wasn't at work for that business. Everyone would have been thinking "Hot damn, Tabbie is a real b*tch!" 

I clipped some coupons on Sunday. I kinda laughed about it, because there are only about 2 or 3 that I'll actually use. I'm giving the rest away. 

I have figured out what I am going to be for Halloween. I'm going to be a punk rock prom queen. Fun!  I really wish u owned a pair of combat boots. That would perfect the costume.

That's all, really. 

day 41

Somewhere, I messed up my days. ha! 

It has been 41 days, since I last smoked. I just put my second step 2 patch on, today.

Last night, I dreamed that I was at my brother's house, and we all went outside, and I smoked a cigarette. I forgot that I quit, until I was putting the cigarette out. I was so pissed at myself. My goodness. 

My dreams aren't crazy, but they are very vivid. I'm thinking I might be getting sick, because I've been absolutely exhausted lately. But, then again, I was never sick when I was smoking, and I'm pretty sure my immune system should be kicking ass, even more now that it isn't being completely poisoned by thousands of chemicals. Right?! Maybe I should research that? Meh. 

Overall, quitting with the nicoderm patch has been easy. Like, too easy.  

To anyone who wants to quit, and has tried everything else, I recommend the Nicoderm CQ patch, for sure. (Walmart even has their own brand, called equate nicotine transdermal system) This has been, by far, the most  successful method for me. 

And I wish you luck, if you choose to become a quitter, as well. 

38 and 39 days

Well, it is officially busy season, for me. Birthdays, and class parties, and work, oh my!

Still not smoking. I find myself wondering when I ever found the time, before. It's pretty amazing how quickly you fill your time.

Yesterday was my birthday. Yay! Had breakfast with my little one, then we went to the movies, for the BoxTrolls. Pretty great message in that movie. I recommend. Then, spent the evening with some of my family, celebrating our birthdays. Good times. 

That's pretty much all for today. =)

Days 36 and 37

Agh! Okay. My goal was to make a blog, every day, as I am quitting. I am failing...

At blogging every day. ;) 

I am still not smoking, which is ahhhhmazing.  Yay ME! I feel great. Every now and then, (these last 2 days) I think, "hmm... I kind of want to smoke a cigarette." Just because. No reason behind it at all. I haven't given in.

That's a lot of money saved, and a lot of minutes added back to my life. ;) 

Other than that, nothing else to add, besides: 



days 34 & 35

It's less than a week until I step down to step 2 of the nicoderm CQ patches. So, in less than 5 weeks I will be weened from nicotine, completely!

I'm getting a little scared.

Thoughts run through my mind, like "What if I start having cravings again, when I'm not getting as much nicotine,  transdermally?" 

And many others like that. 

As of right now, I am determined to keep this up. I don't want to smoke anymore. I don't want to be nicotine's little bitch, ever again. 

Now, don't take that the wrong way. I'm not saying smokers are nicotine's bitches. I'm saying I was. It controlled everything I did. 

I would eat really fast, when my family and I would go out to dinner, just so I could smoke a cigarette before they were done eating, and before they were ready to leave. 

I would let Meg sleep an extra 10 minutes, so I could get in that morning smoke. 

We wouldn't leave for places on time, because I'd stand outside of the car, smoking a cigarette, just to get my fix.

Is that not the most sickening thing?

 I mean there are worse things in this world to become addicted to. Some people are alcoholics, and struggle with it every single day of their lives, whether they are still indulging, or fighting the good fight.

Some people are addicted to harsher, more frowned upon drugs, like meth, coke, crack, or heroin. 

Some are struggling with prescription medications, and that battle is one I was terrified of. I can see how easy it would be, to become addicted to muscle relaxers. This is the reason I always refused painkillers, anytime I was in the ER. No, Dr. Thank you though, aleve will work just fine. And anytime they did prescribe me painkillers, I would throw the scrip away, right in front of them. Ha! 

But, my addiction? It comes with multiple ways to quit. How lucky am I, to have so many options, to help me succeed? Where many of the options have failed, I am praying this one continues to work. I'm hoping the patch, along with my will and determination, can win this war. 

Btw, I keep having dreams that I am smoking. Sometimes, since I'm a very active sleeper, I want to tie a bell to my ankle, just to make sure I'm not sleep smoking. (I would go outside)

Anyway. That's all for this round. 

XOXO 

33 days!

This quitter is really quitting, everyone! Just in case you were wondering. 

Not smoking has left me with lots of time on my hands. I'm not complaining. I'm just trying to find fun things to do, to make that free time more fun. 

So far, I have:

Perfected the art of "bathroom selfies".

Yes, I totally taught my kid how to take bathroom selfies. Ha!

I have started going to stores, just to earn kicks. Have you ever heard of shopkick? You look crazy, walking through stores, just scanning items, with your phone, but, whatever. It's incredibly addictive! 

Then, there are these other two apps I downloaded, one is called Ibotta, and the other is called checkout51. Both pay you for scanning receipts, after you go shopping. Pretty crazy! I'm no good at couponing, so, these will suffice. 

And, when I'm feeling into it, I have yoga and workout apps, ON. MY. PHONE! (Both free!!)

As a matter of fact, all my apps are free. I'm too cheap to pay for an app. Haha! 

Oh yeah! And two other apps I have are for finding out if the food I buy is organic, nonGMO, and for skin products, to find out the health and  environmental risks! Such fun!

So, now you know what I've been up to. 

(Avoiding housework)

;)

day 31 and 32.

 So, on day 31, I put my nicotine patch back on. I wasn't sleeping well, so, I looked it up. Good ole Google. ;) I found that it was possibly a result of nicotine withdrawal. Yuck! Who knew? So, I have it on, and will be starting step two next week. 

I know, when I started this process, we kept thinking it was such a long process, and how expensive it was, and everything. Now, I know how much was saved by not buying cigarettes, and, we are still coming away on top. The patches  are only "more expensive" because you can't buy a single patch. You purchase your entire week's worth, or two weeks worth, so it sounds more pricey. I think, so far, we have only spent about $100 on the patches. That was the entire step one process. That's only a little more than half of what I would have spent on cigarettes. 

Pretty amazing, huh? 

$160.00/month can mean:

1. Better car. (Trade one in for a car that may cost a little more, in payments, but, will be more reliable. Like, I don't know, trading my Toyota corolla for a Jeep?)

2. Extracurriculars for Megan. 

3. Obstacle course races. (With that much extra money, if all I spent it on, was obstacle course races, I could get in 2-6 races a month! That's 2-6 NEW T-SHIRTS A MONTH! haha.)

4. Family nights AND date nights. (Probably 2 each per month. We are pretty cheap)

Now. Per year? 

If we took that money, and put it in a special bank account, and kept it around for a rainy day, (or a sunny, sunny, tropical vacation), it would build up to around $1,800/ year. That's rounding down to savings of $150/month. 

What could we do, for a family of 3, for $1,800??? 

I'll tell you.

A F-ing LOT!

I mean, we live in Kansas. There isn't much around here that is super expensive. Well, that I know of, anyway.  Again, we are pretty cheap. (Easily amused, I guess?)

Okay. So, things I consider expensive, that may not be too far fetched, now:

Great Wolf Lodge. Maybe a family staycation, in the winter months sometime. I don't know?! I'm still on the fence on this one. $279/night for 2 adults and 1 child, in a regular two bed, room. That's a month and a half of not smoking. 

How about a real vacation, for a family of 3. We'll stay in the US for our first "big" vacation. I really want to get an RV, and take a month off of work, during summer, and drive around the united States. I've always wanted to do this. 

How much is an RV (that runs!)? Nothing spectacular, but not like the one from that Robin Williams movie, either. 

  

This looks promising, yeah? 2 years, and something like this, could be mine! (Ours?)

http://kansascity.craigslist.org/rvs/4697963432.html

I'm leaning toward opening a separate savings account, now. Lol! 

Okay. You all get my point, right? 

I slept all day, of day 32. 

Nice, huh? Super interesting. I don't even remember my dream. =P

*Off to the bank, to open that vacation account*

29 days and 1 Month (30 days)

So, I am slowly not paying as much attention to what's going on differently, since I quit smoking, and started the Nicoderm CQ patches. I clear my throat less than before.

My ability to smell has become, almost annoying. I can smell when my husband is smoking a cigarette outside in our front yard. (when the windows are open.)

I can smell my dog, better than I could before. He really is smelly. blah!

I am breathing easier. I am sure it will get even better, as time goes by. I am looking forward to it! =D

A bit of information. Today (right now) it is Thursday, really early in the morning. I am not gone down to step 2 or step 3 of the patches. I took my patch off, Monday afternoon, around 3pm-ish, and have not put another one on. I have patches, leftover from step one, for just-in-case situations, but, I kept thinking, Gee Wiz guys... ha! I just kept thinking how badly I wanted to rid my body of the nicotine. be gone!

One thing I have noticed, since removing the patch, is that I am now UNABLE to sleep, soundly, during the day. Now, some of you may read this and think, "So what?!" but, I work NIGHTS.

UGH. So, I haven't slept well, Tues, or Wed, and that is not great. I need to sleep. I mean, I have slept, but, I woke up every hour, all day Wednesday, and same with my nap on Tuesday (about a 2-3 hour nap). I am hoping I nod off, after dropping Megan off at school, and not waking up, until it is time to pick her up. (It's the small things, in life, that really matter. You know, like.... uhmmmm... sleep!)

I figured I would include a little bit of information, about where I am according to my quit time app on my phone. I always post the one about cigarettes not smoked, money saved, and life saved, but I never really show any facts about not smoking. Crazy. I  might change things up, and include the name a description of one ingredient from a cigarette, with each post. Who knows??

There are over 4,000 ingredients in a single cigarette. Pretty crazy, huh? And, of those 4,000+ ingredients, 69 are KNOWN CARCINOGENS! Yikes!

Well, That's all for today, I guess.

Until next time, Good Morning, Good Afternoon, and Good Night. =)

PS. Nicotine withdrawal can cause insomnia, uh oh! *Putting patch on, like a good little girl*