Chrysalis

Oh, gosh! I LOVE French Onion Soup! It's the main attraction of Quebec City, in my opinion. :) Can we have the recipe?

And pray tell, Tracey, just how many rattle snake eggs did you eat?? :)

Tonight made Thai Coconut Shrimp Soup. Wow! Was that good! If you are at all interested I highly recommend you try it. The important part is the hot/sour/spicy broth. Once you have that, you can throw in any meat and veggies you like. This time, in addition to the shrimp, I used green peppers, mushrooms, butternut squash and bean sprouts then garnished with sliced green onions and chopped cilantro. Since I wanted this to be a complete meal, I added Hokkien (wheat) noodles. My recipe is a modification of this: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/spicy-chicken-thai-soup/

I understand why Joel is uncomfortable with the term "Nicodemon." Some people could use such a personification to claim that they are helpless to quit smoking (as in, "The devil made me do it!"). It's better to accept personal responsibility over your choices. But I agree with Babs-- viewing the source of these off-the-wall urges and ridiculous excuses to smoke as coming from an evil demon helped me to visualize someone or something I could fight against and triumph over. I liked using the term "Nicodemon" and found it helpful. As always with quitting smoking, everybody's quit is unique.

Thanks, everybody. Based on your suggestions I decided to try oil of cloves first, since I had a lot of cloves in my cupboard and i love the smell. Next time I'm grocery shopping I'll pick up some cinnamon bark and try that. Meanwhile, I ordered some yling yling oil because I never heard of that before. Thank you all for the suggestions!

A lot of us go through a rough patch somewhere around 4-6 months after quitting. I know I did. Everything that Joel mentioned in this blog happened to me plus one other thing-- impatience. As Joel said, in the beginning you are mentally prepared to do battle with Nicodemon and battle you do! But as the weeks go by, the cravings and the obsessing about smoking gradually fade and your confidence in your ability to keep your quit grows. And, really, you can pretty much just start enjoying your new smoke-free life. Wonderful. But very often, something happens about 4-6 months after your quit that starts to trigger the cravings all over again. These new cravings are not nearly as bad as the original ones and not nearly as frequent. But you have LOST PATIENCE with them! Even if they are only happening for 5 minutes once every 2 or 3 hours, you tend to think, "These cravings never stop! I can't stand it any more! It's not fair that I have to keep dealing with this sh*t!" That is when you start to think of having "just one" cigarette to relieve the cravings and you start to fantasize about that "one perfect cigarette" that only exists in your fantasies. In other words, we mentally exaggerate the frequency and severity of the cravings and minimize our progress not because the cravings really are worse, but because we're out of patience with the process. That was most assuredly my problem-- out of patience! And I almost smoked as a result. Fortunately, a fellow quitter at about the same point in his quit as me pointed out that my problem was not the sporadic cravings themselves, the problem was my lack of patience with the process. I realized that he was absolutely right. So I resolved to muster up more patience and to view the frequency and intensity of my cravings with more objectivity-- yes, they were annoying but they were not NEARLY as frequent or as intense as at the beginning of my quit. I was going to remain patient and committed and out-last Nicodemon no matter what! And I did.

Marti, dog, yes; wolf, NO! Wolves are not appropriate for pets. They are not domesticated. Their "fun" is to chase and kill other animals including cats and dogs. They don't bond to humans the way dogs do. Instead, they establish and respect territories-- yours and his. By nature, they do not obey, they mark (i.e. piss) all over the house, they get bored and rip up the sofa and the drapes and the pillows, they growl and could even bite when you try to take anything away from them (your sandwich, your best shoes, anything). If your child tries to grab her favorite toy away from the wolf, the wolf is likely to bite her-- wolves are very possessive. In most cases the humans eventually give up and take the wolf-dog to an animal shelter where they are euthanized. Just for being true to their wolf nature. Cesar Millan, The Dog Whisperer, warns people NOT to adopt wolves or wolf-dog hybrids. Here is his Youtube video about that subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfpQVjYFcSE There a quite a few Youtube videos warning against adopting a wolf or a wolf-dog hybrid. Don't do it!

Help! My computer crashed and I lost my recipes! Does anyone know where I can find the recipe for spicy chick pea soup? I've been looking all over the site but I can't find it.

I have this neat reed diffuser that I like to keep on my art table. I was using sandalwood oil and I like it but I'm curious to try another scent. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what would be good aroma therapy scent to stimulate creativity?

Really great post, Marti! You describe your struggles and your journey with such clarity and insight! And I feel carried along with you to your final victory and your realization that as long as we remain vigilant we will remain free. I just love your post! Congratulations and many happy returns to one of my favorite fellow travelers. (((HUGS!! :wub: )))

You know, I think that an awful lot of us finally quit smoking because we were facing some serious life issues. It could be the illness or death of a close friend or family member. It could be a health scare of our own. It could be the start (or end) of a relationship or a job or a new home. Maybe we just graduated from college or are about to retire. It just seems that very often something happens in our life to shake us up and make us decide "That's it! I don't want to live this way any more. I need to make some changes in my life and the first one is I am going to quit smoking!" For sure, that's what happened to me. My older brother was diagnosed with stage IV cancer from out of the blue. I quit my job and eventually took early retirement to help care for him. Then he died, leaving my 92 year old mother living alone. And my sister had some type of emotional melt-down and is no longer speaking to me. So I lost both of my siblings and my job (and my income) and took on more care of my mother all within one year. Then I quit smoking. Quitting smoking was something concrete that I could do to improve my life and my health. It was something that was totally in my control. I quit to help me transition to a new phase in my life-- retired. I didn't have to be afraid of retirement--I was going to quit smoking and get healthier and more vigorous and have a wonderful time in my senior years! I wasn't going to die young like my brother did! Well, I did quit smoking but I didn't do anything else to improve my life. I didn't get fit (I am less fit because I gained weight this past year). I haven't figured out how to have a happy and meaningful existence in retirement. It turns out that quitting smoking alone-- while very important, difficult and laudatory-- is not enough. I think that I figured out that it's now time for me to turn my attention and my efforts away from quitting smoking and towards other things I need to do to "get back to where I once belonged" (as the song goes). As I said, waking up my creative side will be a helpful step for me. Getting back to regular exercise is imperative. Probably getting a part time job would be a good thing, too. I'm glad that my "confession" helped other people realize that in addition to quitting smoking, there are some other things they want to do to enhance the quality of their lives. When you are feeling relatively confident in your quit, do try to implement some of the other life-enhancing plans you have been thinking about. Just the fact that you quit smoking means that you really want to have a happier, healthier more fulfilling life. So go for it! The time is now!

Thanks for the update, Marti. I'm so proud of you that you managed to hold it together and keep your quit during a very upsetting episode. I'm also glad that your mother is going to recover. Life is a pisser sometimes, isn't it? But for your sake and especially for your daughters' sakes, quitting smoking is THE most important thing! Good for you!

Leanna, save this photo for your first cookbook. Your chili looks SO enticing! :)

Honey roasted parsnips sounds good. How do you make them?

Colleen, I'm delighted that the wrist splint is helping. Hopefully, your symptoms will soon disappear entirely. But please be aware that to prevent this from happening again you need to make some changes to your work environment. If possible, consult with an ergonomic specialist. I was fortunate to be able to do that. She got my employer to buy me a new, higher chair so that my wrist was not flexed when I used my computer mouse. Of course, then my feet wouldn't reach the floor so my employer had to buy me a foot rest, too (I chose a massaging foot rest-- that was great! :) ) And she told me to switch to a trackball mouse. All those things combined resulted in me never again having carpal tunnel problems. I think that there is a federal disability law that requires employers to provide such ergonomic aids when medically necessary. You should look into that. But whether you talk to a specialist or decide on your own what to do, please do change how your work station is set up.

Oh, Marti, you are so brave for expressing all this! I understand completely what you are saying! Adult children, especially daughters, so often feel badly when they just can't love an abusive or aloof mother. But I find it ironic that the abusive or aloof mothers have no such feeling or consideration for their adult children. Why is that, do you think? If sharing some DNA is the basis for a parent/child relationship, shouldn't it work in both directions? And if it doesn't work in both directions (which it so often does not) maybe DNA really has no relationship to love, warmth and caring. Of course you don't wish your mother ill; you just don't want to live with her any more. Why should that make you a bad person??!! Heck, she doesn't want to live with you anymore, either, right? So fair's fair. This incident with your mother's health (what was it? a stroke? a diabetic coma?) is NOT a trigger for you to smoke. You were looking for a trigger at about this date and so you decided to attach a smoking trigger to your mother's hospitalization. But if this date did not have so much significance for your quit, I bet that you would see your mother's hospitalization not as a stressor, but as a relief. At least she will be out of your house for a few days. Hallelujah! So stop inappropriately attaching smoking significance to your mother's illness. Wish her well and be glad she is out of your house for a while. Don't feel guilty about your honest emotions and Keep Your (f*ckin) Quit!! You CAN do this! C

I know that I sound like I'm trying to sell you something, but I'm not. We've been getting more and more computer-generated telemarketing calls (aka "robocalls") this past year and it's driving me crazy! We've been on the Do Not Call List since it's inception but more and more companies are violating the law. And the political parties!!! Egad!!! Well, the Federal Trade Commission is also frustrated with these (mostly foreign) robocallers. They sponsored a contest 2 years ago for the best solution. A company called Nomorobo won. I downloaded and tried their app a few weeks ago and IT WORKS! If the caller is a robocall, my phone rings once and then it stops ringing. It doesn't work with all telephone companies (we have AT&T and it works) but it's worth looking into. Check out: Stop robocalls and telemarketers with Nomorobo ( https://www.nomorobo.com/ )

Hooray, MQ! Ditto this: http://www.quittrain.com/topic/4683-smooth-move-mq/?p=128116

I have a shameful secret that I never shared with anybody... I find staying quit harder than the original quitting. This has bothered me for months. To this day, I feel that I could easily and happily go right back to smoking 2 packs a day with no problem. The weird thing is that I am NOT romancing the cigarette. My rational brain knows perfectly well that there are an endless number of reasons NOT to smoke and zero reasons TO smoke. But here I am 11 months quit and I don't feel any better. I don't feel FREE (as some people claim)! I don't have more energy. I don't revel in my non-smoker status. Plus I gained a significant amount of weight and can't get rid of it. I won't smoke, but I am not a happy camper. And my life in general has been stuck in a boring, unfulfilling rut for the last year or more. I don't think that's because I quit smoking. But never-the-less, I have been feeling bored and boring and useless and adrift and disappointed and the fact that I quit smoking doesn't cheer me up at all. But Babs started a thread the other day that really got me to thinking. It's titled "Nicotine Replacement Therapy" . In it, she explains that she is not referring to alternative sources of nicotine like gum or patches. She is referring to replacing smoking's role in your life. As she said: "Most people who have an addiction--whether it's to smoking, food, drugs, alcohol, people, sex...whatever it is...they can't just "put it down" without a replacement. There has to be a plan...there has to be an alternative." She went on to suggest several things that people can do to replace smoking. But those things didn't work for me. I mean, yes, when I was suffering from strong nicotine cravings and had to distract myself, exercise, music, yoga breathing and things like that were life savers. But to just fill the "emptiness" I'm feeling since quitting? Not so much. I am happy to report that I think I finally figured out what I've been missing-- I'm missing my right brain. Meaning being in touch with the creative, emotional, imaginative, "big picture" side of my brain. I have read many, many posts from people who get very emotional when they first quit smoking. They rage, they cry, they get their feelings hurt. They pick arguments with spouses and yell at the kids and they NEVER used to behave that way! I believe that smoking helps to tamp down our emotions. Somehow, the nicotine itself is biochemically soothing. And the act of stepping away from a stressful situation (like the constant bickering between your kids) for a few minutes to smoke and clear your mind and collect your wits really helps keep your emotions in check. Without the chemical nicotine and the smoking ritual, our emotions get totally out of whack unless and until we can find some other way to deal with them. Or, as Babs said, until we find a "nicotine replacement". For me, I realized that rather than continuing to try to tamp down my emotions the way I used to do with cigarettes, I need to bring them out into the light and defang them. To do that I need to get in touch with my right brain by being creative. For me, cooking, gardening, and art are my favorite forms of creative expression. I still cook sometimes (after all, one has to eat, right?) but I have let my gardening and my art work go for a couple of years now. That was a mistake. I miss those pursuits. I need those pursuits. So I am going to resurrect them. As a first step in the right direction I cleaned up my "artist's nook" this weekend. As with any disused room it got filled up with junk and dust and cob webs. So I got in there and cleaned it up and set up my easel again. That felt good. And today I read some of my "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" book and then painted a picture. Note that I am NOT an artist and I don't try to be one. I just mess around with paint or charcoal to relax and let my mind wander and to get in touch with my emotions. My main inspiration for this approach is called the "Point Zero" method. It's very freeing! Check it out on . And finally, I uploaded some images of my artist's nook and my "emotive art :D " for you to see. Remember, these paintings are not meant to be "good" or "bad". They're just meant to wake up the right side of my brain and be fun. You can view them here I hope that if I get back to regular exercising and back to regular creative pursuits I can finally climb out of this rut I have dug for myself in the last year. Obviously, what I have been experiencing is not just related to quitting smoking-- there have been some other major changes in my life lately that have also had an impact-- but I am tired of being where I am and I'm ready to make some changes. As Babs said, I need to find my own, personal "nicotine replacement therapy." Thanks, Babs!

Bette Davis Eyes Best place to live?

I did find crepes in my local supermarket! They were at room temperature in the produce department and these are not gluten free. The brand is Melissas. Now... what to do with these crepes??

That looks delicious, Petra. Lining the pan with hash brown potatoes was an inspiration. I'm sure all the volleyball girls (and their parents) will love it!

Over the River and Through the Woods What is your favorite kind of music?

Wow, Leanna, everything looks SO good! I LOVE peanut sauce but I never tried to make my own. I wish I could help you move and get rewarded with some of your cookies (or the stir-fry or the meatloaf or the... :) )

Well, I made the balsamic chicken tonight. It was delicious! I've never really tasted anything quite like it. I never had balsamic vinegar before and based on the way the dish smelled I thought it would be too "vinegar-y". But it wasn't. The balsamic vinegar (I got the Modena type) was actually quite mild. The whole thing was very European-- I could picture myself eating this dish at a sidewalk cafe in Italy. My husband loved it, too, and asked that I make it again soon. Thanks, Petra! That was fun!