El Bandito

Don't opposites attract?

Fighting the good fight Marti! Keep it going.

Colleen is a lady of taste when it comes to cheese..... The US of A has given the world many great things Cheese in a can for example was not one of them. Just sayin'

Mon Dieu! Do not grill ze cheese you Transatlantic peeeeepole.. Ze cheese eats with the vin rouge and the baguette! Zut alors!

It surely is TAC. A great place to get support if you want to Quit Smoking.. C'mon ride the QuitTrain

Well....I don't carry cash....

Aine - Jo Nesbo sounds right up your street for books. Cheese...well now we are onto something... Try Port Salut after your Edam. Creamy, tasty without being overpowering!

Fantastic post and fantastic advice Lisa. If we having a bet - my money is on you achieving whatever you set out to do.

Stealing and paraphrasing from Braveheart (I do that a lot ;) ) "In order to find his equal, a Scotsman is forced to converse with the Allmighty, as the Allmighty is tied up at the moment, I am forced to talk to myself" "A cigarette? What good would that be? I don't smoke." "Enjoy smoking? Oh yes, particularly the choking sensation and overpowering stink. It's a real hit with girls" "Addicted - of course not. You want to stand outside the pub in the freezing horizontal rain while your friends are laughing in the warm inside" Quite a lot of irony in my inner voice... As somebody once said to me "My inner child is a mean little cuss" Great thread!

Hey Tiffany! Good to hear from you again. Welcome Back. What a fantastic post! There is not a single person who read that who didn't have at least a fleeting romantic thought.."Spring is here, sitting on the back porch, relaxing with a cigarette - recounting the triumphs of the day...ahhhhh".....I can taste it.... Do me a favour. Go sit on the Porch. Get comfy. Take some tea, or a beer or a lemonade. Take a deep breath. Look around you. Let your eyes drink in the signs of Spring. TASTE the air. The clean fresh air. Think about all the reasons that you are a better you without a cigarette. Smile. No - I mean it, just smile. Just have 5 minutes to smell, taste, enjoy the world around you. Tiff - have you read The Easyway to Stop Smoking by Allen Carr? If you have not - I think that maybe it will help. If you have. Read it again. I think that we all romanticised the cigarette. It is essential. After all - we are smart people. We would not intentionally kill ourselves by smoking UNLESS we enjoyed it would we? We had to convince ourselves that we enjoyed it, otherwise we were just plain stooooopid. The truth is; We are not stupid. We never enjoyed a cigarette. We are addicted The addiction NEEDS us to pretend we enjoyed a cigarette - 'COS that how it gets more nicotine! You are a hard-working Mom, with a busy stressful life. You need a time out, you need a reward for everything you do. You should have all of those things. Quitting smoking will put money in your pocket. Quitting smoking will put time into your day. Quitting smoking will free you to reward yourself how you want to reward yourself - not how some addiction wants to. But Tiffany please get your head around this.. You enjoy removing the withdrawal pangs that you suffer as a smoker. These pangs will only go forever if you quit smoking. You enjoy taking time for yourself, you enjoy relaxing, you enjoy a chat - YOU WILL ENJOY these things MORE without a cigarette. You never really enjoyed rolling up some leaves, sticking them in your mouth and lighting them...you enjoyed relieving the withdrawal pangs and you enjoyed the things that you associated with 'having a smoke'. You are right. You should make the commitment and just do it. - But I strongly suspect that you need to truly understand that you never really enjoyed a cigarette, by quitting - you are not depriving yourself - you are freeing yourself. Trust me. It is a well known fact that men in skirts do not tell lies.

I couldn't find anyone that was prepared to pay me enough, give me enough holiday or let me choose my own job title...so have to work for myself. B) Hats off to all you guys doing shifts. Hard hard work.

I guess that's positive? I'm guessing she has smoked 40 years plus? She was terrified - but is now expecting each day to get better? Passport photos as part of a reward structure? She is listening to you? She says the craves are not as bad as she feared? Hmmmm....not sure that s positive Marti. That is straight up, on the level flipping FANTASTIC! Through you she is beginning to understand a little, she is beginning to see - that a crave didn't kill her... Huge Pats on the Back for both of you (and indeed for Hubby). One day at a time is the only way - and if she is expecting things to get better - well, she is half way to making things better. Made my morning Marti! Thanks

Morning Marti! Chin up girl! How is her crankiness this morning, bless her?

Upsidedown people!

0737 here - about to take the hound for a walk!

3 months! Congratulations! You may need to give your ticker a bit of a kick....

Hi Becca - It's good to see you here. Welcome!

SkillfullAbott - great to see you here. Welcome!

Hey Chip - Welcome Aboard!

Beacon - I'm so sorry to hear about your friend. So very frustrating!

Morning Everybody! NOPE from me!

Yup - that and the natural listing stuff the guys are doing. newbies showing up means its working :D

Hey Evelyn - "Cracking song" is a compliment! Cracking means good! (I know - we Islanders speak funny as Bakon would say!)