Sazerac

well, if you do moan (as we all do about the weather), y'all do it so poetically and with such charming accents .

There are some powerful testimonials here, I invite you to add yours. Our collection of personal stories is so important, you never know what will encourage a quitter, what will inspire someone to quit, what will help someone keep their quit. When I was lurking, early in my quit, I thought, 'wow, these are regular folks like me and they quit, I betcha I can quit too'. Now, I know that in addition to being regular folks, we are also heroes to ourselves.

Any weather geeks in our new crop of quitters ?

Thanks so much J, I love watching weather...maybe too much. When I drag myself away from the picture window, I have a safe room, the guest bathroom, which is equipped with hurricane and emergency supplies. It's where I spent Katrina. Two months till the season of joy, this is serving as a reminder to update batteries etc. The rest of the country in this storm looks pretty raggedy. Hope everybody stays safe.

splash with olive oil and roast peeled garlic, onions and winter squash (is orange OK...what does red colour mean...red peppers or red drinks ?) Sweet potatoes ?oranges, satsumas ? the red thing has me flummoxed. make your own nut or seed butter you can have honey ! popcorn can you have nutritional yeast ? it tastes salty. great on popcorn and is a cousin of VMite, I think. Make a paste with Olive Oil I think you can have Kosher salt or that really good black salt from India or Hawaii. what ? no banana ? here is a receipt of 16 vegan and no banana pancakes 1-1/3 cups nondairy milk (e.g., cashew milk or almond milk) 1 tablespoon cider vinegar 1-1/2 tablespoons neutral vegetable oil (I used avocado oil) 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 cups rolled oats (certified GF, as needed) 2 teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon baking soda ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt Blend on high speed until smooth. Heat griddle over medium heat; lightly grease with oil . Drop ¼ cup per pancake on griddle There are tons of good vegan receipts online. Remember, it is only for a few weeks and not as bad as hell week....maybe close though....no VMite ? What new hell is this...

Watching a big ass rainstorm come through, seagulls singing coming in from the coast, mocking birds mocking, beloved crows cawing. Suddenly all quiet. Clouds moving fast, deep dark gray tinged palest pink. Getting darker. Eerie, no birds. Wind picking up. Where's the big splash ? House shutters creaking, it's the pressure drop. Feeling creaky in my bones too. Darker. Wait. Time to write haiku ? yep, I'm going to unplug...dig these lightening strikes. rain heavy drops, windy windy. see y'all later.

While I can't claim to be as gifted as a Hyena, my lady parts markedly appreciate their own increased blood flow. I will circle back when I find nosmojo's post to credit. It is three posts down on non smoking hyena thread (courtesy of mister titwank)

Six months and one day, congratulations Barry ! I am glad you are sharing your journey with us.

Addiction addled our bodies, our brains, our psyche, our trust in ourselves. Lots of quitters have similar dreams to you. These dreams can be frightening and disturbing, especially now when you really need some rest from it all. They will abate, the longer you distance yourself from Nicotine. Maybe, you would find some relief in YouTube guided meditations before sleep, or learn and practice guiding yourself into your safe place. Believe me, soon you won't be thinking or dreaming about smoking/not smoking as much. True delights will take their place, you are in the grunge of it right now. Pamper yourself, you are doing such important inner work.

Here is a vid from our friend, Joel Spitzer, that helped me understand addiction.

Thursday here so soon. Now, too tired to think much, Crow was back, now sleep.

Congratulations Nicotine Free beauty ! Reward yourself ! "Quit Train=Crazy Train. Or maybe it's just that one car on the train they reserve for the newbie quitters." Ha ! We are all in this together on this Quit Train=Crazy Train.

I am so glad you kept your quit, I know you must be ecstatic. You are garnering your power and will beat other bumps too, reward yourself ! Really reward yourself ! You are nicotine free ! You don't smoke anymore !

Congratulations, Seren. How are you feeling ? Protect your quit and have some fun rewarding yourself.

stay vigilant and celebrate wildly, bebe.

Hey Rose, You might appreciate these vids about the journey. Pardon me if you've seen them before. and a beautiful little short

Darling, You are not alone, your experience may be specific to you but, it won't be far from our human experience, You are dealing with nicotine addiction. Get smart., learn all you can, trust yourself. You needn't be a slave., you deserve better. and thank you for being here...your experience is invaluable.

For me, it took a full year to acknowledge a shit load of triggers. I am an addict. The second year, I was more confident. Time is important...use it to your advantage. You don't smoke.

You have the choice to smoke or not smoke. The power is in you hands. Love, S

Your experience is always helpful, and not just for you. You do not smoke, How much better can it get? Especially when you know what it takes to quit an addiction. I know, you know, anybody with any clarity knows, Love, S

Some of your fatigue/weakness can be attributed to quitting smoking. A bunch of us went through the 'fog' or rather, snoozed through the 'fog' for a while. It passes. Vitamins and your MD should sort you out. Just know, it is all part of the process, the healing. So glad you are posting and NOPE-ing and living your nicotine free life. It's good, innit !

Welcome Ren, Congratulations on your quit. You Don't Smoke anymore. Trust your decision and trust your commitment to yourself. You don't smoke anymore. You'll be strong enough to put down the nicotine too, when you decide. We'll help. s What a splendid collection of advice from Beaz, Sslip, Whisp, nosmojo, jillar and I see Doreen has replied too.