When I was younger I had a habit of overcommitting to events and projects. I lived by my datebook. Sometimes it would get me into trouble and things would come crashing down around my ears. I never said no, and wanting to be popular, I would agree to any club, activity or social engagement.
In recent years I have gotten much better at saying no and protecting personal time. So good in fact that I am generally a slug on weekends. My couch owns my ass on many weekends.
Not this weekend though. I headed up to PDX Friday night after work to look out for 2 dogs and 4 cats my daughter's mom's house. Then Saturday I bebopped over to Oceanside for an early Thanksgiving dinner with my daughter's family. I am not sure there was a better place to be on the planet Saturday afternoon than the Oregon Coast. It was sunny and in the 60s. Perfect for a nice little cat nap on a deck overlooking the Pacific.
In traditional holiday grazing form, there was way too much nibbling on a variety of food all afternoon and a big dinner that night, before some game playing and family time. Somehow I got suckered into helping with dishes, but I didn't even mind.
Then it was back to Portland to check on the critters. I kept them (or they kept me) company until the family got back home. After some more visiting I headed out to meet a former SoCal friend for dinner in the 'burbs before heading back to Salem.
In there I got to spend some time chatting with my friend Brat and petting any 4-legged critter that came within arm's length all weekend.
And the only dipping involved all weekend involved chips and spicy ranch dressing. So far, I'm nearly 5 days into the no chewing tobacco campaign. And over the last few days I've only been averaging about 6 pieces of nicotine gum a day.
However, in the interest of full disclosure, I have had a few cigarettes on the various road trips while traveling more than 300 miles over the weekend. And no, I'm not taking up smoking instead of chewing. I've been known to light up once in a while on road trips or sometimes in a bar. But I have no desire to trade one bad habit for another.
Surprisingly the nicotine cravings have not been as bad as I feared. Although I concede that I am still taking in nicotine, but I'm not chomping on the Nicorette as much as I thought. I'm averaging much less than a piece every 2 hours and often substitute a piece of regular gum or hard candy for more nicotine. I can't say I have this thing beat yet, but so far I'm ahead of my program schedule.
Fingers crossed.
Weekend
Quitting nicotine
2 comments:
Congratulations! You're doing great.
secret word: gsjum - special gum for people who are quitting smoking
Congratulations on quitting! Get some cough drops, they really help.
I also love the view of the beaches there! Canon Beach is the best. Next time you go there, think of old Lois trying to climbg Haystack Rock and falling to the wet ground and getting scared by some teeny tiny sea creature.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Lois Lane
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