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Oh, Mark, I have no intentions of giving up the good fight...
Good for you, too, Jeff!
-------------------- Bruce Bowers
DrCAS Custom Lettering and Design Saint Cloud, Minnesota
"Things work out best for the people who make the best of the way things work out." - Art Linkletter Posts: 6451 | From: Saint Cloud, Minnesota | Registered: Jun 1999
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Oh, Mark, I have no intentions of giving up the good fight...
Good for you, too, Jeff!
-------------------- Bruce Bowers
DrCAS Custom Lettering and Design Saint Cloud, Minnesota
"Things work out best for the people who make the best of the way things work out." - Art Linkletter Posts: 6451 | From: Saint Cloud, Minnesota | Registered: Jun 1999
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Day 17! so there. Catch me if you can, Mark!
Honestly, I'm kinda surprised that I made it through yesterday. You'd have to have been here to know how ****ed off I was. But then, if you were here, I would've had help to move.
I've got one major thing that's helping me through the smoking adventure. I've got a wonderful woman whom I very very much love, and whom loves me. And I'd sure like to be with her for as long as possible. Even better if I can be with her for as long as possible without ever needing an oxygen tank or chemo treatments.
So, I guess I'm using the same method of quitting as Bruce is using, only with a little less drama involved.
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Don, I don't want to catch you! If I did, that means you blew it. This is one time I have nooo problem being in second place! I have no desire to beat you. I only want to keep the spread we have now CONSISTANT!
-------------------- Mark Neurohr "Ernest" Paintin' Place 141 Sunnyside Road Kittanning, PA 16201
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Don, I ment consistEnt (spelled it wrong anyway didn't I)!
Ya, day 5 is no big deal (besides, I know everybody is watching)!! Actually, this forum has been a big help to me. I haven't posted this much is the last few years. Gave me a place to vent. Thanks for listening everyone!
So,......
Bruce is on day 5 just as I am.....
Jane & Bill have been at it for over a month (good job)...
Jeff, I take it you HAVEN'T started to smoke yet..
I'm just waiting for 'ol Bobbie to jump on the band wagon!!
BTW, I was just funnin' ya Bruce, you're ahead of me (is it day 6 or 7)?? Can't remenber.....
-------------------- Mark Neurohr "Ernest" Paintin' Place 141 Sunnyside Road Kittanning, PA 16201
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Bobbie aint ol'. Jump right in though, gal! Hey, wonder if any merchants might wanna sweeten the purse a bit? Say, any of us that make it to July 4th get some kinda prize of some sort?
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I belong to an internet group that encourages each other with chosen goals over the course of 21 days. Some challenges we have a goal keeper and she distributes prizes to those who have achieved their chosen goals.
This is also easy to do amongst the quitting smokers only! Make a deal, and do'er!
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We're on the cutting edge Don. It gets easier every day. I've been taking off the patch 3 or 4 hours prior to retiring each evening and my sleep patterns have returned to normal.
Try smoke free for 87 days today. Seems to me you'ns are all chasing me... LOL!
-------------------- Bruce Bowers
DrCAS Custom Lettering and Design Saint Cloud, Minnesota
"Things work out best for the people who make the best of the way things work out." - Art Linkletter Posts: 6451 | From: Saint Cloud, Minnesota | Registered: Jun 1999
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ok i been smoke free for 18 years!!!!! does that count?and guess what i dont MISS IT, GRAVE IT or even want to be in the same room with it!!!!! but i will tell ya all....DID IT ONE DAY AT A TIME.....
-------------------- joe pribish-A SIGN MINT 2811 longleaf Dr. pensacola, fl 32526 850-637-1519 BEWARE THE TRUTH.....YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU FIND Posts: 11582 | From: pensacola, fl. usa | Registered: Nov 1998
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I quit 2/3 of the way through my first pack.
Bumming a cig on the walk home from junior high school was cool (or so the theory went)... but once I sprang 55 cents for my own pack... I realized I could have bought 3 or 4 snickers bars with that kind of money.
I remember I got my last bit of fun with that habit by lighting up all of the last 7 cancer sticks & I sat vigil watching them burn out. That was 35 years ago.
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It's helped me to not count the days! When you can smell the stench of cigarettes on others, it also helps, because you realize how you were smelling.
In our county we have a wellness clinic that costs $30 for a complete blood workup, consuling and height/weight check ($50 for protrate/blood check). It was money well spent, for me, Jane and son, Joe.
I found out I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol and was 1 point away from being diabetic which probably explains why I get so shakey when I letter and stripe. (I thought it was just age and tired muscles.) If that's not a wake up call I don't know what is. For a 55 year old human being this is a receipt for disaster.
I just put my dad in a nursing home after he had a couple of strokes and believe me I'm stressed. The demands during the holiday season with 2 sons having birthdays in December and a grandchild being born makes a guy really want to fire up a cigarette. I hunkered down and did it, because I generally felt like crap, I was coughing all the time and my shakes were getting worse. There is no good time to stop smoking and start living a healthy life style that includes eating right, drinking less and excercising. If you need incentive -- look in the mirror or smell your clothes.
I didn't need any fanfare or incentive other than the fact that if I didn't do something I might not be here tomorrow, or worse yet I might be here, but be a vegetable.
If you talk to Bruce Bower about his heart attack or anyone else who has taken on medical angst, you start to realize how fragile life is. I ain't ready to go just yet, and I'm already feeling much better and the shakes are leaving my hands. I hope to see some of you folks at letterhead events this year with a different body as well. ARRRGGHHH,ARRRGGHHH,ARRRGGHHH!!!!!!!!!!
If I can do it, so can you. Good luck and I hope you get to the point where you don't have to count anymore.
-------------------- Bill Diaz Diaz Sign Art Pontiac IL www.diazsignart.com Posts: 2107 | From: Pontiac, IL | Registered: Dec 2001
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quote: I hope to see some of you folks at letterhead events this year with a different body as well.
Okay, okay, I'm working on it.
-------------------- “Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?” -Winnie the Pooh & A.A. Milne
Kelly Thorson Kel-T-Grafix 801 Main St. Holdfast, SK S0G 2H0 ktg@sasktel.net Posts: 5496 | From: Penzance, Saskatchewan | Registered: May 2002
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posted
Yeah, Kelly. I noticed that one, too. Did he want a different body or was he wishing we all had different bodies? And if so, whose body did he want us to have?
So far as counting days, I'll quit counting days soon. But, for now, it's day 18. I'm not going to give in this time. I've quit several times in the past and have gone back to smoking each time. I always regretted starting again. So, screw that!!!
Smoking sucks. It's not enjoyable, it stinks, it's inconvenient, it's expensive, it's anti-social and last, but not least, it will kill me. About the only good thing that can come out of cigarettes is if you own tobacco company stocks. Because the tobacco companies and their stock owners are the only ones that benefit from their product.
posted
Its thread like this that make me thankful that my parents were as tough on me as they were when I was a kid. I got busted with a cigarette one time and that was all it took. They scared me too much to ever want to ever try it again.
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Glenn, my dad was tough, too. I would have been beaten if I'd been caught with a cigarette. I never tasted a beer or took a puff from a cigarette until I was 18 years old and 400 miles away. I may be dumb, but I'm not stupid!
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Ok, ok, ok, you guys, I am really getting close to "DOING IT". I have been thinking about all of you for the past few days, & your success, & I am NOT feeling good.
I think i am at that "change" a woman goes through, & have been getting hot flashes. I am 45 now, & my blood pressure keeps popping up, & my heart rate keeps shooting up real bad. Today, after running all over for the holidays, I am SO tired & feeling worn out, & every morning I wake up coughing up stuff, as I have for years now.
My doctor opens back up tomorrow, & I am going in for blood work, like you & Jane did, Bill. I am going to bring her in my Commit lozenges that Jon bought me for Christmas to make sure they will be ok, since my heart rate keeps going crazy.
I am afraid of getting fat, since I am already at least 20 lbs. overweight, but it is better than getting cancer or having a heart attack or stroke.
Guess me & 'ol Lucy Lou (our choc. lab) will have to start walking in the morning again!
That is another thing. Since the cold weather came, I quit walking, & I feel awful! I can't even get normal BMs anymore. I know that sounds yucky, but it is true! I always had trouble, but after I had begun to walk all summer, I "went" every day like clock work!
-------------------- The Word in Signs Bobbie Rochow Jamestown, PA 16134
724-927-6471
thewordinsigns@alltel.net Posts: 3485 | From: Jamestown, PA 16134 | Registered: Oct 2002
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Bill, Great post. You said pretty much all the things that I had been thinking prior to quitting. Couldn't have been two weeks ago I was getting my annual with the VA. Docs said my BP was high and he was putting me on a low dose of stuff to help lower it. I told him my plans to quit (right after Christmas) and got the 'ol ya, ya.. (Little does he know about this group I belong too that has giving me an opportunity make a $hit pile of posts to others that are either going thru the same thing as me, have already done it, or maybe even plan to in the future). I'll speak for myself, but I really appricate all of the input and stories from everyone here on the Board here! Realize this, it doesn't really matter if I agree with you or not, yur input has been important in helping me thry this last week! Thank all of you!
Today is day #6 (sorry Bill, but Don and I both can't quit the counting)!
For what it's worth, I feel great and without a doubt, this has been a very positive experience. Figured I had nothing to loose and I don't plan on lookin' back!
How 'bout you Bruce, did ya make it to day 9 yet??
-------------------- Mark Neurohr "Ernest" Paintin' Place 141 Sunnyside Road Kittanning, PA 16201
posted
Bobbie, just a suggestion, if you keep carrot and celery sticks in the fridge good and handy, those shouldn't have much calories in them, and you could snack till hell froze over without gaining weight.
Just a thought.
(you may want to begin a new thread for BMs. I've heard of threads getting hijacked in the past, but...geeesh)
posted
Bobbie, Just imagine all the damage that smoke would be doing to your computer. I had a computer tech take my computer to his house to work on for one night and the thing reeked for about a month after I got it back. I almost couldn't stand to use it.
-------------------- Kimberly Zanetti Purcell www.amethystProductivity.com Folsom, CA email: Kimberly@AmethystProductivity.com
“Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.” AA Milne Posts: 3722 | From: Folsom, CA | Registered: Dec 2001
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quote:Originally posted by Bobbie Rochow: Hey, what do you guys do at the computer without a cigarette? That seems it would be the hardest I think, isn't it?
The easiest is to not quit smoking at all, Bobbie. In this case, the easiest thing to do has the hardest consequences. There's people who have had heart attacks and/or respiratory problems that won't quit smoking, because it's easier to not quit and die.
[ January 02, 2006, 12:56 PM: Message edited by: Don Coplen ]
posted
Bobbie, I love having a coffee while on the computer. Would a fav hot bev you can sip on over time do it? Good for you on thinking in that direction!
New edit:
Doug, I frequented another board about kids Cody's age and we ourselves started our own challenge board through Yahoo, something anyone can do on any give topic! You have to sign in and then create. Another great idea for those wanting to stop smoking, lose weight, whatever.
posted
Lol! Don, no I am not hijacking the thread! Sorry 'bout that! I'd be afraid to start a thread on that topic anyway!
Jon & I have just talked. We have a 4hr. drive into Ohio tomorrow to pick up a saw he bought, & we are going to aim for the end of the week. I told him we need to quit smoking in the house NOW just to help smooth the way a bit. He is quitting right along with me! Yeay!
Edited to add.... Donna, I like a smoke with hot beverages, so that may not work. I do like carrots & celery, tho, & a local candy maker has some killer sugerless stuff to suck on.
posted
Don, we have talked about it, & we really think it is the best thing. We can help each other.
The last time we quit, Jon went & bought himself a pipe with some Captain something tobacco. he kicked it all, then I picked up his pipe & began to cheat with it. Well, I was smoking the pipe like I had smoked my pot years ago, & got worse!!!! No filter, deeper inhale, you know.
Anyway, Jon started smoking again when he went back to work in construction again, & me... well, after 3 months of quitting, I began to cheat & cave in. But I remember always thinking that someday I might have one more. I think my thinking defeated me.
-------------------- The Word in Signs Bobbie Rochow Jamestown, PA 16134
724-927-6471
thewordinsigns@alltel.net Posts: 3485 | From: Jamestown, PA 16134 | Registered: Oct 2002
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I have also cut way down on my beer drinkin'. That's got to be doubly impressive for those who know me.
Jane and I were just talking about how hard this has been for my beer-30 buds. I have shown up and played cards with them on Friday nights just like I have for over 20 years and they are pretty much amazed that I'm doing what I'm doing. Secretively I think they think I'll fail. This makes me want to do this all the more.
Also instead of having my usual 6 pack while playing cards. I've been showing up with 2. I have been holding it down to a 6 pack for the whole week. AAARRRGGGHHH!!!!!! It irritates the pee out of these buds, I know, and when the card room gets smokie, I'm out the door.
Last Friday I noticed the rest of them weren't smoking as much, almost as if they wanted me to stay longer. I saw 2 of them reach for their packs and then look at me and then put them back in their pockets. They may be playing the wait and see attitude and then try to quit themselves. Nobody really wants to get rid of an inspiration. Besides to really be successful quiting smoking you need to be around others who do and refuse to bum one. That's will power, and that's what it takes.
If you can quit and get somebody else to quit too, because you did, then you're in line for sainthood. I'm still trying to score points to get to those pearly gates. Believe you me, as ornery as I've been I'm needing a bushel full of points.
-------------------- Bill Diaz Diaz Sign Art Pontiac IL www.diazsignart.com Posts: 2107 | From: Pontiac, IL | Registered: Dec 2001
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We are doing good, Bobbie. And she and I get along fine. She's my girl, ya know. We do almost everything together, and we're going to drop some pounds too.
Hey how's your stripin' goin'?
-------------------- Bill Diaz Diaz Sign Art Pontiac IL www.diazsignart.com Posts: 2107 | From: Pontiac, IL | Registered: Dec 2001
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My striping is going, but I find that one day i will do real good, then the next time I can't do it right! I have trouble holding it the way you taught me, so I cheat sometimes & hold it anyway I can to do it.
I am about to buy some new brushes, I want a new scroller, but my friend that just passed has left me his sign things, & I think I will wait until I go down & visit his wife, to see what he has given to me. All but one of those brushes I was learning on from you were given to me by him, so it is very important that I learn on his brushes if possible. He would be so proud of me! He was tickled pink when I showed him what you & I did at Jill's!
I love hearing you say that..."She's my girl"! She is a wonderful girl! I am so glad you have BOTH quit!
Jon is a workaholic, always doing something, I have to walk, walk, walk so i don't get fat!
posted
We have been doing it together. Bill really decided to quit before I did but his quest to get healthy is only encouraging me to do the same. Seeing our new grandbaby yesterday made us both realize we need to be around to see him grow up and we are not going to do that if we don't change our habits! I will have to admit though, I have sinned! We went to our friends' for a New Year's Eve party and I walked into the garage with the smokers and bummed one! It was almost a month without smoking and I blew it! I will have to say though, after not having smoked for about a month now, I really didn't enjoy it like I thought I would. And the next day my chest hurt from ONE cigarette! It really did convinced me that I am on the right path and I am sure the next time I am around "the smokers" I will be able to lead by example and not succumb to temptation! I'm trying so hard and Bill has really been a great example for me. Together, we are going to get healthy!!
-------------------- Jane Diaz Diaz Sign Art 628 W. Lincoln Ave. Pontiac, Il. 61764 815-844-7024 www.diazsignart.com Posts: 4102 | From: Pontiac, IL USA | Registered: Feb 1999
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GO FOR IT GIRL!! Honestly, I was a grouchy for only a day or two (EXPECT IT, PLAN FOR IT)! Let's face it, we all need to quit "someday"... I can't possibly imagine it would be easier if I waited another year or two (Geeze, am I preaching or what)?
YOU WON'T BE ALONE!!!! Look around .... we're all in this together as well as for ourselves! I'm rootin' for ya! Call if you need a shoulder to cry on, I'm right around the corner.
-------------------- Mark Neurohr "Ernest" Paintin' Place 141 Sunnyside Road Kittanning, PA 16201
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