Jordan7

Horny toads never age, they just ferment. Belated Happy, Happy Birthday to the Quit Queen!

Can't tell you how many times I decided at work that I would definitely stop at the gas station on the way home, then as soon as I hit the road started to turn in to the nearest station, but never completed the turn. I know you're not going -- it's the middle of the night! Hide under the covers until it passes, and know that you are already "there" and would not have posted if you weren't the boss of this nasty crave. Great job MLMR, and we'll mix up a mojo cocktail for you.

Is this the asshole check-in page? If so, present!

Agree overall, but to offer a little hope and comaradarie to others who may not be flying out of the gate full of grit, glee, and determination -- I was/am the world's crappiest quitter -- I was always romancing, always looking back, often whining my way through the day during the first year, and would have voted for myself as the least likely to succeed. I did not want to quit. I smoked everywhere, openly, and never reached the point where I didn't enjoy the act of smoking (although I did get to where I hated almost everything else about it). I never would have quit if not for health concerns, but what could be more important than that? Over 3 1/2 years later I am still smoke free , so I must known deep down under all my often silent protests, and despite a less than stellar attitude, that having another cigarette was never really an option worth taking for me. So to any newbies who might also be gracelessly struggling through the early days, the only common denominator for successfully quitting smoking, is not to smoke. And it will be very much worth it, whatever your reasons for quitting may be.

I know, but that's no excuse. Work, shmork ...they're getting impatient on the dance floor.

Time to get this party started. Where's the guest of honor?

I'm all dressed up and ready to celebrate. Huge congratulations to you, Jo, on your spectacular first quit year!!!

Yay for you, BKP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You have always been an all-star quitter and here you are 3 years in. Congratulations and enjoy!

I'm on the fence doing the yo yo thing like jo, but either ban nicotine or don't. Picking and choosing the flavors allowed, as well as mostly taking a let's wait and see if it causes people to grow horns and extra toes while their lungs deflate attitude towards e-cigs and vaping, isn't likely to accomplish much.

That's really rough, Chris, but I'm so glad you got the warning shot while there is still time to correct the problem. Nothing fun about surgery, though, so I'll be cheering you on and wishing you a quick and full recovery.

If at only 18 days into your quit you hadn't had an issue for the past week until these recent craves hit, you are waaaayyyy ahead of where I was at that time (hell, you're ahead of where I was 6 months later). Start the celebration now and give yourself a toast for being the toughest quitter on the block. Enjoy any good days (or hours or minutes) that you have very early on and grind your way through the bad ones, keeping the end game in sight when things are rough. You really are doing beautifully, Wantsit, and now you've gotsit!

Congratulations on 6 months, and I'm with you all the way on running out of choices if I continued to smoke and finding it very mentally and physically challenging to quit. Since there's nothing good to go back to, you just have to keep going forward. The more active and involved in any nonsmoking activities you are, the faster your get up and go will come back to you. Great job on getting into the studio and back to work like a champ -- you've already exceeded and blown away your own expectations.

Hey, every little bit helps.

I'm not sure how I feel about this, but as a lifelong Kool smoker (w/a brief flirtation with Marlboros in my teens), I have always thought that Kools were more addictive than any other cigarettes. This is partly based on the fact that I was the only smoker I know of who would not smoke any other brand (not even one cigarette), including other menthols, if I ran out of Kools. I would walk/drive any distance to get more Kools, even if another brand was right at hand and offered to me. I did switch from Kools to Kool Milds, but that was about it. For me, banning Kools would have been about the same as banning cigarettes altogether.

Congratulations on one week down, Lily! It's like having a new puppy or baby -- it's all you can think or talk about and all of your real buddies and those who can relate will be thrilled for you and happy to go along for the ride. The rest will just smile politely, but that's okay, too.

Yep, as others have said, it's not too unusual to hit rough patches just when you're getting used to having some days of happily uneventful smooth sailing. 3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months -- you're at the last of the terrible threes, and it's just a temporary reminder of all those difficult early days that you don't ever want to have to go through again. It's also the beginning of the holidays and a new season, with a lifetime of memories competing for your brain's attention and some smoking memories are bound to sneak in and try to stir things up. Also, any emotional highs you may have gotten from the "newness" of your quit have probably worn off by now. So all in all, give yourself a big pat on the back, a gold medal, a bag of cookies, a couple of your favorite drinks, and a whole lot of credit for making it to 3 whole months(!!!) -- which probably sounded like an impossible dream about 3 months ago. You are doing fabulously!

Welcome Chosen, and yay for you! A huge shout out to you for turning away from cigarettes, rather than towards them, when things got really tough. With that kind of strength mixed with good sense, there's no doubt you are going to succeed and never regret this decision. As rough as life has been for you lately, you've done what you needed to do to move past each obstacle, and you will do the same with smoking. I'm sure many of us wish that we had made the decision to leave smoking behind forever by age 33, and by doing so you are giving yourself the gift of a lifetime. As hard as quitting may seem in the beginning, it always easier to stop when it's your choice rather than waiting until you "have to", and it seems as if the rewards are often much greater. I did have a final cig, but didn't really believe it was the last for quite some time and was very creative at thinking up with reasons to have another -- the trick for me was to not believe my own nonsense and just make it to the next day smoke free, then repeat.

Gorgeous pics, Shane, and congratulations on completing the charity trek.

Linda, I'm so sorry for the loss of your beautiful friend. What a wonderful and rare relationship you had, and I hope you can always cherish the reciprocal comfort, companionship, and joy, you gave to each other.

Jo, you have a gift for writing, for expressing complicated feelings in fairly simple, raw terms -- but more importantly you have a wonderful capacity for empathy and humanity, which both seem to be in much shorter supply in this world every day. Thank you for that, and for seeing the positives in the negatives, no matter how lopsided they may seem at times.

Congratulations, T4C, you're well on your way to one week down now! Don't stop plowing through and you'll be on the other side before long.

Great job, Lilly. Keep up the good cheer and keep reading, writing, snacking and napping! Napping was my go-to activity the first few days, which isn't as rewarding if you're an insomniac like me, but being able to sleep away even a few of the early minutes helped them add up a little faster. You'll be well rested for your big birthday celebration weekend. Early Happy Birthday to you!

Sending you an extra hug, Doreen.

Great job, great attitude, and keep enjoying the good moments.

Welcome to day 3, Parsley!!!!! What a huge accomplishment, and you're well on your way now so there's no turning back. Keep pushing through these sometimes crappy early days and enjoy all the small victories along the way.