Day Number 2

Hello everyone!

Karisma, Thank You!

Today is Day Number 2 without smoking!

And the Score Is

3 to 1 to 0

I have not smoked today!!!

Yesterday I smoked only 1 cigarette.

It's the Computers Fault

I have stayed away from the computer because that is where I used to sit and smoke. Breaking the smoking habit means much more than stopping smoking. It really means to change where and when you smoke so the urge to smoke will subside.

Not only have I had to just say no to the urge, I have had to stay away from my computer. In the morning when I wake up, I have to busy myself instead of smoke. After meals I take a walk instead of smoke. When I'm driving I have to chew gum. And the list goes on and on. Right now I am chewing on pumpkin seeds. That is the only thing that I can do when I am at the computer. I guess because I use the hand mouth motion to put one seed in my mouth and remove the hull once I get the goodie out of it. I guess once I break that hand to mouth habit, I will be able to move on to gum or something else.

Ok - so it really isn't the computers fault but darn it, I needed someone or something to blame it on. Just kiddin...

Thats a skinny cow!

Yesterday SB and Karisma went for a ride into the country. We were off to pick up some new stickers for Dinoboys bike as he is competing this weekend in the Junior Trials Interclub event. Some friendly members of our group offered to make the stickers and we just had to go and pick them up.

They live inland from where we are, about an hours drive or an hour and a half if you take the scenic route, which we did. One thing I love about cruising on the bike is the fact that you can see/feel and smell the trip, unlike in a car!

We saw horses and cows, a few dead kangaroos (you do not see many live ones near the road), and lots of beautiful scenery. As we were coming around the last bend before arriving at our destination. Something came out of the bush on one side of the road, we slowed down a little as SB knew it was about to run in front of us. I was thinking to myself, "Now thats a skinny cow!". Next thing you know it does run in front of us, and I was utterly amazed to see a huge deer (well a doe if you want to be precise). It gave us a filthy look and continue across the road and into the bush on the other side!

Wow, now thats something you do not see everyday in Australia! I did not even know that we had them here! Kangaroos and Koalas are more common you know! But it certainly made my day! Now if only the camera was in my hand instead of in the gear sack!

I told the guy when we arrived at our destination and he looked totally unimpressed. "Yeah, ya get that!" "You do?, that s news to me!"

Have a great day everyone!

Is it time for coffee yet?

Hi there Alta, Its Just Me...............

Just dropping by to bring you a cuppa, and a smile, thought you could use one right now.

Lets take it down from three to zero today....What do you say?
I believe in you!!!!!

Into My 3rd Week

As of today - I am into my 3rd week. I am doing really well but I do think that I could do much better. If you haven't been following along, I'm talking about me stopping smoking. I was smoking almost 2 packs a day. Today has been my best day - 3 cigarettes. Yippee for me!!! I don't have the craving very much but the habit is something else. Once I change the habit, then I will be home free.

Dreams - I have had some of the weirdest dreams in the past couple of weeks. I mean really off the chain stuff. Last night it was about one of our trucks being stolen and seen in Indiana being driven by someone. The night before I dreamed about taking the boys to the dentist. Not only did they get their teeth done but they all got a hair cut. Yeah - from the dentist. LOL The best part was that it only cost me $10. Imagine that!
And the list of off the chain dreams just goes on and on.

Sleep - I have noticed about 2 hours after I take my am pill that I get extremely sleepy and cold. I wonder what's up with that? If I move around there isn't a problem but if I sit still for just a few minutes, my eyes are closing and I am freezing.

Sick stomach - My first 10 or 11 days I was sick to my stomach. Almost to the point of up chucking. It's much better now and I don't really notice it.

The boys have been just awesome about the whole thing. I know that I have been in some odd moods and I really feel for them. I have to give them credit though, they are wonderful, as usual.

A quick little note...

Superman is quitting too. Sunday on our way to church he backed the car out of the driveway and made a comment about our habit. He said something like this - one day we aren't going to just wake up and not smoke anymore. We have to resist the urge. I agreed and all was fine. About 10 minutes later, right before we got to the church, he ask me where my smokes were. I said I didn't bring them with me. Oh my gosh - you would have thought that the earth just opened up and swallowed the whole car with us in it. No joke! It was so funny. He said that he has known me for 8 years and in that 8 years he has never seen me without my cigarettes and that day of all days and that moment of all moments, I didn't have them with me. It was just one of those priceless moments.

Your Easter Bunny Name

I thought this was so darn cute that I just had to share. Below is my Easter Bunny name. Leave a comment and let me know what yours is.

Your Easter Bunny Name is


Dandelion Fuzziwugs



Get your Easter Bunny Name at Quizopolis.com

How Many Days

I was going to be so good and keep a little journal of how my adventure to becoming a non-smoker is going.
Here's what I have to admit...
Not good!
My journal that is. Gotcha!!! Ha ha ha

I can hardly believe that I am on day 11 and I am doing so well. I started out taking 1 pill for the first 3 days. On the 4th day, I took 2 pills. I am still taking 2 pills a day. All just like my prescription advised me to do. 1 in the am and 1 in the pm.

I am still smoking but you would not believe how awful the cigarettes taste to me. I am not joking when I say this...I light up the cigarette and it taste just like I am licking the nastiest ashtray. Serious - it is so gross! But every now and then I have that little craving. Today I have smoked a total of 5 cigarettes. I was smoking 2 packs a day (40 cigarettes) and now 5 a day. Isn't that awesome?!

I am just so darn proud of myself. It seems to be getting easier and easier to say no to the cravings. It won't be long before I will announcing that I am a non-smoker.

Gas Prices

Gas prices are getting worse and worse. I'm not joking! I read an article today either on CNN or MSN or some well known website like that, that said that oil prices were at an all time record high. It said that the National average price is $3.22 a gallon.

Check this out. These are some prices that I found online from our area. They are listed in this order - Unleaded, Plus, Premium, Diesel. They are prices from different stores.

$3.279 03/10/08
$3.379 03/10/08
$3.479 03/10/08
$3.799 03/10/08

$3.299 03/11/08
$3.399 03/09/08
$3.499 03/09/08
$3.759 03/11/08

$3.319 03/11/08
$3.419 03/11/08
$3.529 03/10/08
$3.999 03/10/08

$3.359 03/11/08
$3.459 03/10/08
$3.559 03/10/08
$3.999 03/11/08

It is only going to keep going up. We have got to stop running here and there. Stop running to the store for one simple littel thing. In the past week our family car has been driven once and that was to go less than 10 miles round trip.

Let the Quitting Begin

Monday March 10th 2007 - I began an adventure like no other adventure I have ever tried.

Today is the second day of my adventure. I know it isn't going to be easy and I know it isn't going to be completed over night. I know that I must stick to this and see it to the end.

Let the Quitting Begin!

I'm quitting smoking!

I have finally got the money to pay for our prescriptions. That was an adventure in itself. The cost of the CHANTIX was - well let's just say it's expensive. Will it be worth it? I certainly hope so. If I see this quitting thing to the end then the answer will be yes.

For 26 years I have smoked cigarettes. Up until recently, I didn't even want to quit. I don't know what happened but at the beginning of this year I got the urge to quit. Off to the doctor Superman and I went and we walked out with the prescriptions in our hand. We went straight to the pharmacy to check on the price of filling the prescription. Ok, we had to go home and regroup and figure out how we were going to pay for the prescription. Income tax rebate! Oh yeah!

Our prescriptions are filled and sitting on each one of our desk. We took our first pill yesterday. I had gotten to the point that I was smoking over 2 packs a day. I opened a pack yesterday around 7pm. Today at 8pm, I have 4 cigarettes left in that pack. From 2 packs a day to 16 cigarettes in 24 hours. I already see progress.

I smoked my first cigarette about 1 hour after I took my first pill. It didn't taste any different. About 2 hours after my first pill I smoked my second cigarette. It tasted different. Almost like I wasn't smoking. More like I was just taking in air through a straw. Really kinda weird.

Today I haven't had the cravings like I usually do. The cigarettes taste a little different. They are actually kinda tasting weird. I have a little bag that has life savers and gum and tic tacks in it. I'm not much for hard candy but sometimes I think I want a cigarette, I just pop in a piece of gum.

I am pretty amazed that I am seeing a difference so soon. I'll keep you informed as the days go by.

Absurd Politic

I don't follow the election very close. I read a little hear and a little there but that's about it. I pretty much stay out of the whole political thing. But this I found to absurd not to pass on.

Tonight I read an article that one of the Presidential Candidates isn't saluting the United States of America flag.
I kid you not!
How in the world can anyone expect to be elected as President of a country that he or she won't even salute that countries flag?
Seriously, how can that be?

Here is what I found Barack Obama Failing to Salute the Flag

Don't just take my word for it, go and check it out for yourself.

And if that isn't enough to make you believe, then check this out

Criminalizing Home Schoolers

Do you live in California and home school your children? I would really enjoy hearing from you. It would really help all of us home schoolers if you would let us know your thoughts about this issue.

Parents of the approximately 200,000 home-schooled children in California are reeling from the possibility that they may have to shutter their classrooms — and go back to school themselves — if they want to continue teaching their own kids.

Be sure to read the rest of the article.

Schoolhouse Rock

I grew up with Schoolhouse Rock. I really did learn something from those little songs or jingles. They are so adorable. Back then I didn't think of them as adorable. But I did enjoy them. I think they used to come on the tv during Saturday morning cartoons. That sure was a lot of years ago.
I found a couple of those videos went we went to the library the last week. Finally, today I was able to show them to the boys. Funny thing was - I had to sit and watch the videos with the boys. I remember the darn songs. Once the video was over, the boys ask me if they could watch it again. That is just so cool!

I am on an adventure now to see how many more of the Schoolhouse Rock videos I can find.

Here is a video that you can watch that will give you a better idea.

Grocery Shopping

What a day! Yes - Grocery Shopping! I have put it off all week and finally today I had to do it. Grocery shopping really isn't that bad, it's just all the people. It always amazes me, no matter what time of day I go grocery shopping, it seems like everyone from everywhere is there.

My boys sure are a big help. They are always so willing to just jump in and do things at the grocery store. They pretty much know everything we buy and they just ask how many cans or bags or what have you.

This month they each have to fine a recipe and fix it. WW and JD has already found their recipe and yesterday they helped me with the grocery list. They made sure to have their recipes with them so they could add what they need to the grocery list. MJ just can't figure out what he wants to make. With WW and JD they have to make theirs from scratch. I think I will just have MJ do a box recipe such as a cake or cupcakes. I did buy a cake mix today that I want to use to make cupcakes for St. Patty's day. I think I will help MJ do that. I know that he will enjoy it and shoot, so will I.

I'm off to do a few things and enjoy the quiet of the house while everyone is asleep.

A Better Job

Yeppers - That's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna do a better job at keeping you all posted. I think it is horrible how I have all but abandoned my blog.

One place that I have been is here.
I have also been trying to get the boys on target with their school work. JD is still defiant but nothing like he used to be. He has come such a long way.

We are still very active with our home school group and we love it. We recently had a trip to the zoo and guess what - I even have pictures to prove it. LOL Finally, I remembered to drag the camera along with us. I'll tell you all about it before this week is over. I have lots to tell you!

Gotta run for now. The boys are watching the North and South series. It's really helping them with their history.