Monday, May 18, 2009
Day 21 - 3 Week Mark!
Sorry it's been a few days since I updated. I had a very busy weekend. Saturday was the Tour de Cure ride for diabetes (55 miles) and Sunday was catch-up day on housework and laundry (yuck).
Still no smoking and getting easier every day. I actually had to look at my previous post to find out what day I'm on b/c it's becoming less and less important to me. This is a good thing in my opinion b/c at first I was like "3 days....25 minutes.....3 seconds since my last cigarette". That was starting to get annoying.
I've been on Chantix for 4 weeks, which means I have to fill my prescription today. I'm kind of grumpy about spending another $138, but I'm going to do it anyway. I know that it comes out to about the same cost as a month's worth of cigarettes, but I never bought $138 worth of cigarettes at one time, so it seems a little different. Bottom line is that I'll save money in the long run and be a much healthier person.
Congratulations to my Mom for making the decision to quit with Chantix. Good luck Mom and I love you.
God Bless,
The Quitter.
Still no smoking and getting easier every day. I actually had to look at my previous post to find out what day I'm on b/c it's becoming less and less important to me. This is a good thing in my opinion b/c at first I was like "3 days....25 minutes.....3 seconds since my last cigarette". That was starting to get annoying.
I've been on Chantix for 4 weeks, which means I have to fill my prescription today. I'm kind of grumpy about spending another $138, but I'm going to do it anyway. I know that it comes out to about the same cost as a month's worth of cigarettes, but I never bought $138 worth of cigarettes at one time, so it seems a little different. Bottom line is that I'll save money in the long run and be a much healthier person.
Congratulations to my Mom for making the decision to quit with Chantix. Good luck Mom and I love you.
God Bless,
The Quitter.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Day 17 - Glad to be home
Oh my goodness I hate flying. O'Hare is the world's worst airport (at least of the few dozen that I've been too anyway). I didn't have time for lunch yesterday b/c my flight to Richmond was delayed and I had to haul booty down the highway to meet the client on time. And then today, we got on the plane in Chicago to head back to Tulsa 20 minutes after we were supposed to take off. To make matters worse.........well, maybe I should back up a bit here.
My flight from Richmond landed at O'Hare at gate F9. My flight for Tulsa took off from gate B22. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the metropolis that is O'Hare, that's some serious ground to cover. Luckily, I had an hour to do it, but still! Anyway, so when I was finally approaching my gate (which is at the end of concourse B and somewhat secluded), I can hear this one woman's voice above all the rest. She sounded like she was from up north somewhere (I would soon find out she is from New York City). So I look around for somewhere to sit (fat chance) and finally settle on standing near the ticket counter b/c we were going to begin boarding in a few minutes (or so I thought). As I'm standing there, this woman is going on and on to some man sitting next to her, laughing really loud the whole time. Then out of nowhere, she smacks the guy and says "ball-cock-a**hole"! I tried my hardest not to react to this in the normal fashion, but could not help staring open-mouthed at this woman (she's probably around my age). After the initial shock of the blatant profanities streaming from her wide open mouth, I realized that she has tourettes syndrome. Boy did I feel like a butt for staring. Oh well, we all make mistakes right?
So a lady comes out and announces that we will soon begin boarding flight whatever to Tulsa. Apparently the word "Tulsa" triggered something in this woman's head, b/c she went absolutely ballistic. She grabbed her things and came over to stand next to me near the jet-way. Throughout this story, try to keep in mind that she apparenty was not blessed with an inside voice (coming from me....this means she talks frickin' loud people). She gets about two inches from my face (you can imagine my reaction to this) and starts this dialogue:
Her: "Are you going to Tulsa?"
Me: "Yes"
Her: "Do you live in Tulsa?"
Me: "Yes"
Her: "OH MY GOD....DO YOU KNOW HANSON.....I LOVE HANSON......I'M GOING TO TULSA TO SEE THEM......MY MOM AND DAD ARE COMING WITH ME.....MY MOM EVEN HAS THE POSTER THAT I MADE TO SHOW THEM WHEN I GET TO TULSA"
Me: "Good for you" (I really didn't know what else to say)
Her: "So have you ever seen Hanson?"
Me: "No, Tulsa is pretty big"
Her: "My Mom says that Tulsa is small compared to New York City and nasty b/c it's in the middle of the country"
Me: "Oh" (can't wait to meet her Mom at this point)
Her: "ball-cock"
Me: Complete silence - pretending to text message someone on my phone
Apparently something else caught her attention at that point, because she repeated the same conversation with another unfortunate soul standing nearby. Then her parents showed up to stand next to her (probably in their early sixties). They had just come from the bathroom. I know this because her Mom let everyone within earshot know that she had a really bad case of diarrhea and was really scared to get back on a plane. Great! I'm so glad these people are on my flight. Enter the ticket agent to save the day. I got on the plane in the first group of people, thankful that the family from Hades was not in pursuit, which means that they are at the front of the plane as opposed to the back with me. WRONG! After everyone had boarded the plane, these three come skipping down the aisle and plop themselves in row 18 (last row). Yours truly is in row 16. No freakin' way. It's a two hour flight! Someone please tell me this is not happening.
The flight attendant closed the cabin door and we pushed off. She's back there asking what every little noise is (extremely loudly) and saying all sorts of profanities that I can't even repeat on here. Just when I thought things couldn't get worse, the Mom gets up and yells at the flight attendant (who is in the very front doing the whole 'exits are here' thing) asking her how to open the bathroom door. The flight attendant comes back and politely asks her to please wait until we have reached our cruising altitude to use the facilities. Mom informs her that if she doesn't get to use the bathroom right that instant, she's going to crap all over her seat. The flight attendant let her into the bathroom, and phoned the cockpit to inform the pilots that we would have to wait to take-off. We sat on the tarmac for 30 minutes waiting for this woman to get done crapping while listening to her daughter say "Mom......stop pooping, we have to go to Tulsa to see Hanson". When she was finally done, we had lost our slot on the runway and had to wait another 20 minutes to take-off. We finally take-off, and the Mom starts totally wiggin' out. I mean, like white knuckle "what is that sound" wiggin' out. Every time the plane did anything, she freaked. When the pilot pulled the landing gear up, she screamed bloody murder. Seriously?
So I'm thinking that this flight can't get any worse, but again I was wrong. Between bouts of blurting profanity, the twenty-something lady with tourettes syndrome decided to serenade us with her rendition of 'Mmmmm Bop' repeatedly. Lovely. I didn't particularly enjoy that song when it first came out. I definitely do not like her version with the f-word thrown in for effect.
She kept looking out the window and asking which city we were flying over. Who cares!
Her Mom asked the guy right in front of her if Tulsa is as nasty as everyone says it is. He politely thanked her for insulting everyone on the plane, and then informed her that Tulsa is a lovely city. I happen to agree to him by the way.
Anyway, so the captain turns the fasten seat belt light back on, and the flight attendant informs everyone that we will be making our initial descent into Tulsa (this gets the expected reaction from you know who). So Mom decides that her butt is about to explode once again, and jumps up and goes to the bathroom. The flight attendant comes back and knocks on the door to let her know that she really needs to get back to her seat and fasten her seat belt. Mom tells her she can't b/c she's really sick and will probably be there for awhile. The flight attendant gets on the phone to the cockpit and informs the pilot that we have a crapper.....again. We circled the skies above Tulsa for 15 minutes waiting for poopy pants to finish b/c apparently the ride was going to be really bumpy (it was in fact) going through the clouds on the way down. Un-freakin'-real.
In closing, I would just like to say that I am in no way making fun of tourettes syndrome. I think it is a very unfortunate disease and truly feel for anyone that has been affected by it. But seriously, this was just too good not to share. I mean, you can't make this stuff up.
Oh yeah, and I didn't smoke today either. 17 days!
God Bless,
The Quitter.
My flight from Richmond landed at O'Hare at gate F9. My flight for Tulsa took off from gate B22. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the metropolis that is O'Hare, that's some serious ground to cover. Luckily, I had an hour to do it, but still! Anyway, so when I was finally approaching my gate (which is at the end of concourse B and somewhat secluded), I can hear this one woman's voice above all the rest. She sounded like she was from up north somewhere (I would soon find out she is from New York City). So I look around for somewhere to sit (fat chance) and finally settle on standing near the ticket counter b/c we were going to begin boarding in a few minutes (or so I thought). As I'm standing there, this woman is going on and on to some man sitting next to her, laughing really loud the whole time. Then out of nowhere, she smacks the guy and says "ball-cock-a**hole"! I tried my hardest not to react to this in the normal fashion, but could not help staring open-mouthed at this woman (she's probably around my age). After the initial shock of the blatant profanities streaming from her wide open mouth, I realized that she has tourettes syndrome. Boy did I feel like a butt for staring. Oh well, we all make mistakes right?
So a lady comes out and announces that we will soon begin boarding flight whatever to Tulsa. Apparently the word "Tulsa" triggered something in this woman's head, b/c she went absolutely ballistic. She grabbed her things and came over to stand next to me near the jet-way. Throughout this story, try to keep in mind that she apparenty was not blessed with an inside voice (coming from me....this means she talks frickin' loud people). She gets about two inches from my face (you can imagine my reaction to this) and starts this dialogue:
Her: "Are you going to Tulsa?"
Me: "Yes"
Her: "Do you live in Tulsa?"
Me: "Yes"
Her: "OH MY GOD....DO YOU KNOW HANSON.....I LOVE HANSON......I'M GOING TO TULSA TO SEE THEM......MY MOM AND DAD ARE COMING WITH ME.....MY MOM EVEN HAS THE POSTER THAT I MADE TO SHOW THEM WHEN I GET TO TULSA"
Me: "Good for you" (I really didn't know what else to say)
Her: "So have you ever seen Hanson?"
Me: "No, Tulsa is pretty big"
Her: "My Mom says that Tulsa is small compared to New York City and nasty b/c it's in the middle of the country"
Me: "Oh" (can't wait to meet her Mom at this point)
Her: "ball-cock"
Me: Complete silence - pretending to text message someone on my phone
Apparently something else caught her attention at that point, because she repeated the same conversation with another unfortunate soul standing nearby. Then her parents showed up to stand next to her (probably in their early sixties). They had just come from the bathroom. I know this because her Mom let everyone within earshot know that she had a really bad case of diarrhea and was really scared to get back on a plane. Great! I'm so glad these people are on my flight. Enter the ticket agent to save the day. I got on the plane in the first group of people, thankful that the family from Hades was not in pursuit, which means that they are at the front of the plane as opposed to the back with me. WRONG! After everyone had boarded the plane, these three come skipping down the aisle and plop themselves in row 18 (last row). Yours truly is in row 16. No freakin' way. It's a two hour flight! Someone please tell me this is not happening.
The flight attendant closed the cabin door and we pushed off. She's back there asking what every little noise is (extremely loudly) and saying all sorts of profanities that I can't even repeat on here. Just when I thought things couldn't get worse, the Mom gets up and yells at the flight attendant (who is in the very front doing the whole 'exits are here' thing) asking her how to open the bathroom door. The flight attendant comes back and politely asks her to please wait until we have reached our cruising altitude to use the facilities. Mom informs her that if she doesn't get to use the bathroom right that instant, she's going to crap all over her seat. The flight attendant let her into the bathroom, and phoned the cockpit to inform the pilots that we would have to wait to take-off. We sat on the tarmac for 30 minutes waiting for this woman to get done crapping while listening to her daughter say "Mom......stop pooping, we have to go to Tulsa to see Hanson". When she was finally done, we had lost our slot on the runway and had to wait another 20 minutes to take-off. We finally take-off, and the Mom starts totally wiggin' out. I mean, like white knuckle "what is that sound" wiggin' out. Every time the plane did anything, she freaked. When the pilot pulled the landing gear up, she screamed bloody murder. Seriously?
So I'm thinking that this flight can't get any worse, but again I was wrong. Between bouts of blurting profanity, the twenty-something lady with tourettes syndrome decided to serenade us with her rendition of 'Mmmmm Bop' repeatedly. Lovely. I didn't particularly enjoy that song when it first came out. I definitely do not like her version with the f-word thrown in for effect.
She kept looking out the window and asking which city we were flying over. Who cares!
Her Mom asked the guy right in front of her if Tulsa is as nasty as everyone says it is. He politely thanked her for insulting everyone on the plane, and then informed her that Tulsa is a lovely city. I happen to agree to him by the way.
Anyway, so the captain turns the fasten seat belt light back on, and the flight attendant informs everyone that we will be making our initial descent into Tulsa (this gets the expected reaction from you know who). So Mom decides that her butt is about to explode once again, and jumps up and goes to the bathroom. The flight attendant comes back and knocks on the door to let her know that she really needs to get back to her seat and fasten her seat belt. Mom tells her she can't b/c she's really sick and will probably be there for awhile. The flight attendant gets on the phone to the cockpit and informs the pilot that we have a crapper.....again. We circled the skies above Tulsa for 15 minutes waiting for poopy pants to finish b/c apparently the ride was going to be really bumpy (it was in fact) going through the clouds on the way down. Un-freakin'-real.
In closing, I would just like to say that I am in no way making fun of tourettes syndrome. I think it is a very unfortunate disease and truly feel for anyone that has been affected by it. But seriously, this was just too good not to share. I mean, you can't make this stuff up.
Oh yeah, and I didn't smoke today either. 17 days!
God Bless,
The Quitter.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Day 16 - Road Trip
So I'm on a business trip (flight left this morning at 6 o'clock) and I had to drive 4 hours total today. IN A CAR (like what else is there, I know). But seriously, it was difficult at times. When I found myself wanting a cigarette, I turned my iPod on and sang at the top of my lungs. It actually helped. I also noticed during this process that my singing voice from high school is back! I sound much better now than I did two weeks ago.
So I made it through the whole driving to the compressor station and back ordeal, checked into my hotel, and headed out in search of food because I didn't have time for lunch because my flight was delayed in Chicago (no shocker there).
I decided to go to Outback (my favorite)! I got directions to the nearest one, grabbed my book, and off I went in search of a good steak and single dining (bummer).
Here's where I get really mad. Apparently, you can still smoke in restaraunts in freaking Virginia. Granted, they have a non-smoking section (which I sat in even when I did smoke way back when you could smoke in restaraunts in Oklahoma - AKA, God's country)! The problem is that you walk in the front door and you're in the smoking section. The non-smoking section is through another door and in the back. Can anyone tell me how this makes any sense whatsoever? After paying my bill, I decided to walk around the restaraunt (whish is a little different than ours in Tulsa) to see if I had simply walked into an alternate door. Nope! The only door into the place was directly into the smoking section. Seriously!
Enough of my rant. I have made it through another successful day with no cigarettes and no crazy Chantix side effects. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take the oppurtunity to go to bed at a decent time tonight as my husband is busy with dishes, bathtime, and bedtime. HA!
God Bless,
The Quitter.
So I made it through the whole driving to the compressor station and back ordeal, checked into my hotel, and headed out in search of food because I didn't have time for lunch because my flight was delayed in Chicago (no shocker there).
I decided to go to Outback (my favorite)! I got directions to the nearest one, grabbed my book, and off I went in search of a good steak and single dining (bummer).
Here's where I get really mad. Apparently, you can still smoke in restaraunts in freaking Virginia. Granted, they have a non-smoking section (which I sat in even when I did smoke way back when you could smoke in restaraunts in Oklahoma - AKA, God's country)! The problem is that you walk in the front door and you're in the smoking section. The non-smoking section is through another door and in the back. Can anyone tell me how this makes any sense whatsoever? After paying my bill, I decided to walk around the restaraunt (whish is a little different than ours in Tulsa) to see if I had simply walked into an alternate door. Nope! The only door into the place was directly into the smoking section. Seriously!
Enough of my rant. I have made it through another successful day with no cigarettes and no crazy Chantix side effects. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take the oppurtunity to go to bed at a decent time tonight as my husband is busy with dishes, bathtime, and bedtime. HA!
God Bless,
The Quitter.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Day 15 - Lack of Nicotine Damaging My Brain
Well another successful day to mark two weeks yesterday. No smoking and I feel good about that.
So on to the explanation of my title for the day. I am flying to Richmond, VA tomorrow for work. I decided I would check-in online so I don't have to go to the ticket counter tomorrow at 5 o'clock in the morning because I won't be checking a bag. So I grab my itinerary and go to continental.com. I enter in my "airline confirmation" listed on the itinerary and get an error message. Okay, I entered it wrong....let's try this again. No dice! Fine stupid computer....I will try the eticket number (enter buzzer sound)........wrong again. Okay....what the heck is going on. I check the numbers again and try both the confirmation and eticket numbers several more times to no avail. At this point, I'm starting to get a little worried that the company travel agent has failed to book me on these flights and that they are just showing up on my itinerary by chance (I dunno). I decide it's time to call the 1-800 number for continental.com support, because surely there must be something going on with the website. So I call and get a live person right away (shocking, I know). This lady is super nice and asks me what she can help me with. I explain my dilemma to her and give her the various numbers. We then get into a back and forth about my destination, whether it's a non-stop flight, what city I am departing from, and what my flight numbers are. As I'm perusing my itinerary for this information, I look down and notice that there is a 'UA' before all of my flight numbers. I think "what in the world does that even mean and why does everything have to be so freakin' difficult at 7 o'clock in the morning"? Then as I scan the rest of the page, the words 'United Airlines' hits me like a ton of bricks. Apparently this has rendered me speechless because the nice lady on the phone has just informed me that she cannot find me in the system anywhere on any flights leaving tomorrow and I have nothing to say to that. I am startled back to life by her voice saying "Mrs. Stewart?....Mrs. Stewart?"
At this point, all I can do is laugh at myself and tell the nice lady on the phone what a bumbling idiot I am. Thankfully she thought I was just simply hilarious and is probably telling all of her co-workers about the moron that called her this morning.
So anyway, I guess my head is a little slow getting out of bed this morning. But no worries, my travel plans are intact. At least I called some stranger at Continental instead of our travel agent, who I will undoubtedly have contact with in the future. Now that would have been embarrassing.
Here's to pulling my head out of my rear!
God Bless,
The Quitter
So on to the explanation of my title for the day. I am flying to Richmond, VA tomorrow for work. I decided I would check-in online so I don't have to go to the ticket counter tomorrow at 5 o'clock in the morning because I won't be checking a bag. So I grab my itinerary and go to continental.com. I enter in my "airline confirmation" listed on the itinerary and get an error message. Okay, I entered it wrong....let's try this again. No dice! Fine stupid computer....I will try the eticket number (enter buzzer sound)........wrong again. Okay....what the heck is going on. I check the numbers again and try both the confirmation and eticket numbers several more times to no avail. At this point, I'm starting to get a little worried that the company travel agent has failed to book me on these flights and that they are just showing up on my itinerary by chance (I dunno). I decide it's time to call the 1-800 number for continental.com support, because surely there must be something going on with the website. So I call and get a live person right away (shocking, I know). This lady is super nice and asks me what she can help me with. I explain my dilemma to her and give her the various numbers. We then get into a back and forth about my destination, whether it's a non-stop flight, what city I am departing from, and what my flight numbers are. As I'm perusing my itinerary for this information, I look down and notice that there is a 'UA' before all of my flight numbers. I think "what in the world does that even mean and why does everything have to be so freakin' difficult at 7 o'clock in the morning"? Then as I scan the rest of the page, the words 'United Airlines' hits me like a ton of bricks. Apparently this has rendered me speechless because the nice lady on the phone has just informed me that she cannot find me in the system anywhere on any flights leaving tomorrow and I have nothing to say to that. I am startled back to life by her voice saying "Mrs. Stewart?....Mrs. Stewart?"
At this point, all I can do is laugh at myself and tell the nice lady on the phone what a bumbling idiot I am. Thankfully she thought I was just simply hilarious and is probably telling all of her co-workers about the moron that called her this morning.
So anyway, I guess my head is a little slow getting out of bed this morning. But no worries, my travel plans are intact. At least I called some stranger at Continental instead of our travel agent, who I will undoubtedly have contact with in the future. Now that would have been embarrassing.
Here's to pulling my head out of my rear!
God Bless,
The Quitter
Monday, May 11, 2009
Day 14 - Good Weekend
So at the end of today I will be smoke free for 2 weeks. That's so awesome!
One thing that has been driving me crazy all weekend is still the fact that it seems like my life revolves around "not smoking". I know that someday it will not take a conscious effort to fight off the urge for a cigarette, because it gets easier each day. But for the time being, it truly is annoying.
I don't really have much to say here. I had a great Mother's Day weekend spending time with family and riding my bike. Nothing much out of the ordinary happened, so it was a good weekend. I have a business trip coming up this week and will be getting really busy at work.
This morning, I almost cried when I dropped little man off before work. It's silly, I know. I haven't felt like crying over that in probably a year. Sometimes I just wish I was independently wealthy and could stay home until my child is in school. HA!
Here's to two more weeks!
God Bless,
The Quitter.
One thing that has been driving me crazy all weekend is still the fact that it seems like my life revolves around "not smoking". I know that someday it will not take a conscious effort to fight off the urge for a cigarette, because it gets easier each day. But for the time being, it truly is annoying.
I don't really have much to say here. I had a great Mother's Day weekend spending time with family and riding my bike. Nothing much out of the ordinary happened, so it was a good weekend. I have a business trip coming up this week and will be getting really busy at work.
This morning, I almost cried when I dropped little man off before work. It's silly, I know. I haven't felt like crying over that in probably a year. Sometimes I just wish I was independently wealthy and could stay home until my child is in school. HA!
Here's to two more weeks!
God Bless,
The Quitter.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Day 11 - Looking Forward
I have been thinking a lot about the upcoming summer activities and how hard it will be to not have my nasty little friend with me (no I'm not talking about you honey). Sometimes I wonder if it would have been easier to quit in the winter time since I've never smoked in my house. Oh well, what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. Unless you're talking about smoking, and if for some reason that doesn't contribute to your death, it certainly does not make you stronger in life. Okay, I'm rambling now. I guess what I'm trying to say is that even though I feel this getting easier with each passing day, I still look to the future and think "I won't be able to have a cigarette at the lake while camping" (a big trigger because there's nothing else to do). But I've come to realize that that's okay. My grandma has told me and several others in my family that you never quite get past the "want" to have a cigarette. And she would know. She's been quit for over 40 years now (I think.....a long time anyway). That statement truly bothers me. I mean, seriously, I'm going to be thinking about the fact that I can't have a cigarette when I'm 70? That truly stinks. But you know what.........I will be alive when I'm 70.......and that's all that matters.
In other news, I'm up a half pound this week, so I erased my miniscule weight loss from last week. I can deal with that! I'm going to be as big as a house again when we decide to have another baby anyway =)........kidding honey! I'm going to just have to work harder at this weight loss thing to get down to my goal weight before getting pregnant again. I'm sure the french fries, chicken tenders, and cheesy broccoli casserole I had at Cheddar's last night didn't help matters for my weigh-in this morning. But it sure was good!
Here's to the future!
God Bless,
The Quitter
In other news, I'm up a half pound this week, so I erased my miniscule weight loss from last week. I can deal with that! I'm going to be as big as a house again when we decide to have another baby anyway =)........kidding honey! I'm going to just have to work harder at this weight loss thing to get down to my goal weight before getting pregnant again. I'm sure the french fries, chicken tenders, and cheesy broccoli casserole I had at Cheddar's last night didn't help matters for my weigh-in this morning. But it sure was good!
Here's to the future!
God Bless,
The Quitter
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