notsmokinjo

First.... thank you for posting this. You are not the only one to feel like this. It's hard to stick your hand up publicly and say so this post is big... I mean, one you worry that it might put an early quitter off... then there is the whole wotif I am the only one thought process... what if people give me negative feed back.... but i think you should be proud of your post. So I think Boo explained it best, it's not the thought that's the issue but how your react and respond to it. I still get the occasional thought that I'd like a smoke... I know that's its just a remnant nicotine receptor trying it on... the thing is when for example I get a whiff of someone's smoke and that little voice goes "oh I'd like a smoke" I don't give the thought any realestate... my instant response is "yeah-nah" and I go on with my life. I don't analyse why I thought that, does that make my quit weak, Am I still battling this... why?... will I fail am I failing... no time for that.... had the thought, said nope and off I go with life. It hasn't always been like that... when I was about 18 months quit I'd psycho analyse every single occasional thought... made me feel like a weak/mad quitter and everyone else was doing it easy. It wasn't any hold smokes held over me just my own self doubt and yhought processes. When that self doubt crept in I'd re read my earliest posts.... and remember how far I have come and who I am now... which is not a slave to a chemical/drug. It just takes time...there is no perfect time table...we are all different... it's OK to have a shit day, just ok if you still get a crave or smoking thought.... remember your undoing years of conditioning....you will get to easy street in the time that's right for you and noone is going to think any less of you if you say... "oi support network feeling the pinch here at the moment, please remind me you got my back and it's normal to have off times"

3. My weight

Oh yay @Doreensfree have a great visit with Nicky.

So.... for that 20 pack of Malboro you would be up for £16.60 or US$18.86 or Can$25.88 ...for the 25 pack of B&H .... £30.44 or US$34.58 or Can$47.46. Most of that cost is taxes.... the Aussie government is trying to phase out smoking with a policy called prohibitive pricing so every September and March the tax goes up. It's a 12.5% increase each year.

Oright you mob... did me some research...thank fark I don't smoke anymore, I'd need a second job.... So meanwhile down under...

Send prayers to Kat's little battler. Speedy healing vibes to the little fella and best wishes to you all. Me...I'm wondering if this convo counts as a mummy pass or a mummy fail.... (Background, the kid us studying biology and they have been doing experiments involving growing plants) The Kid (16)... Mum I grew the best geraniums, my root systems were awesome. I also had the best succulents. I so should grow pot. Even my grass was the best and I was trying to kill that.

So if that link doesn't work... please take the time to google Shark Fin Blue by The Drones

Rest up Lady D and get better soon.

Oh I think we have a similar thing here...Passion Pop..... which when I went to school was called 2 buck chuck....it cost about $3 a bottle and was a sickly sweet passionfruit flavoured sparkling wine.

Oops... * you can use chocolate sprinkles, but then instead of fairy bread it is ant bread.

Fairy Bread. This Aussie delicacy is best prepared at least 3 hours before serving and it's just not a party without it. Ingredients Sliced white bread Margarine 100s n 1000s (or sprinkles*) 1. Butter white bread with a decent amount of marg. 2. Turn upside down onto a plate covered in 100s n 1000s (or sprinkles). 3. Cut into 4 triangles, arrange on plate and cover with wrap until ready to serve.

Eye-van-hoooooe.... we have a suburb in Melbourne named Ivanhoe, and I have to pronounce it that way every time. So yesterday I played a game with the children.... Are you smarter than a 16 month old.... saddly, 5 outa 5 failed. So my sis sent me footage of her genius baby identifying historically famous Aussies from their pictures.... Captain Cook ... first European to discover Australia and be bothered to claim it (both the Dutch and the French passed). Mary MacKillop ... a nun who became the first Australian Saint. Sir Don Bradman.... greatest cricket batsman, ever... retired with an average of 99.94 (so almost 100 runs every innings he batted, as an average) Weary Dunlop... WW2 army doctor who was a POW and well just Google him, pretty amazing what he and his other doctors did to keep other POWs alive on the Burma Thailand railway. Douglas Mawson... Arctic Explorer So anyway.... got pictures of each of them and asked the kids to see how many they could name. A couple got Mary MacKillop and young cobsie got the Don.... but that was it. So then I played the footage of Miss 16 months old naming them all...and then I named he other 10 in the chart she didn't name. This was primary school history. Best comment went to K... why wasn't Ned Kelly there I know that one... bit hard to miss the bloke with a metal bin on his head.

Oright, so due to a seating reshuffle at work I now sit downstairs (yep that's my knees cheering) in a dark little corner surround by colleges young enough to be my kids... so the play pen... it's a daily reminder of how old I am and how vast the generation gap is.. So to give you an idea we are a culturally diverse group and the kids were talking about what natos they get mistaken for when they go out... J1.. (Anglo-Indian) I get mistaken for a Leb (Lebanese) all the time. J2.. (Turkish)... yeah I get that and Greek and Italian. K.. (Serb) ... I get Greek or Turkish. Me.. (very white Australian)...I know what you mean when I go out people mistake me for a Skip all the time. (So back in the day Skip was slang for a white European Aussie) J1, J2, K ... huh?? .... wots a Skip Me... (in shock)... um a Skip, you know Skippy the Bush kangaroo? J1... wots skippy the bush Kangaroo Me... wot you talkin bout Willace? (Which illicitly more blank stares as it flew right over their heads... Skippy was an old TV show, it was like the Aussie version of Lassie...except Skippy was a kangaroo. So the children all look at each other blankly then I get.. J2.. um Jo, wots Lassie. Me... just google it... it'll be on you tube.

There was that 1 time I drank a bottle of vodka and thought I was the reincarnation of Bob Marley and serenaded the entire motel complex from the pool at 3am in the morning....and now we mention the pool was a) outside and b) not heated and it was the middle of winter and about 1deg C.... I know someone has photos showing me with smurf blue toes. No idea what Boones Farm is.

CONGRATS Well done on a decade of smoke free life and also for hanging up the badge. Thanks for all you've done here to get our window lickin arses over the smoke free line.

5. Chicken & Champagne (breakfast) for the horse races, especially Melbourne Cup.

7. Rub on the inside of your dress pants/shirts when ironing to make sure you get parade quality razor seams.

Oh would you look at that....just got s fizzchick message in from good old Lord Slippy Dippy Doodah.... 2. Four n twenty meat pies .... with tomato sauce.... for the Footy (ausdie rules)

Oright, oright, oright.... what's 8 foods you associate with watching sport.... 1. Strawberries and cream ... for tennis, well namely Wimbeldon.

This is a guilty pleasure because it's the club song for the team that's not my club.... For any of you Northern mob wondering wot you just listened to, that is the theme song for Carlton Footy Club (Aussie Rules Football)... each club has their own song and the players sing if after a win.

So this one really is a guilty pleasure....I only listen to it in the car..and only when I'm alone because it's a bit cringe to confess I like this....

So this one's for @Boo to add to his annoying songs list...give it some Aussie flavour...and here's a confession...I went to see this band gig live cos of this song....evidence that my youth was indeed misspent .. I apologise now for the ear worm.

Having a cuppa in the car for some peace n quiet. I hate shopping. I really hate cloths shopping with my teenage daughter. Argh...and the shop chick who just had to say "your doing so well mum" while I was counting to ten and contemplating the merits of punching said daughter in the face.

Yep bechamel is easy and so very adaptable.... use coconut oil (the solid type) and add some ginger, curry and garlic to a bechemal for a quick curry base add to use up (left over) chicken meat and steamed veggies...quick easy meal.

Wouldn't that mean it's just a bechamel sauce?