Marti,
i love following your quit...our quit dates are very close...and you speak the words that I feel...I have never been much of a writer...but since my quit I have written more stuff in my life than ever before.
I too had this similar experience just a few weeks ago..I actually went into hiatus for a while...but I think that I have worked out that...well yes I am now a non smoker...and yep its fantastic....but I do not nor ever will have a non smokers brain...or thought process...I think that the two are separate in the way you feel about your quit.
I think that even though the times that I think about cigarettes are growing less and less by the month...I will always have to fight the thought of it whenever I think of it...sometimes harder than others...but never the less I will always have to fight to keep my quit...because my brain has been wired differently because of my actions of 30+ years....
I regret the day that I became addicted and wish I could turn back the clock...but that is fantasy. What I am doing right now is reality and sometimes the reality is a harsh one to face...but my brain is that of a nicotine addict and that is a hard one to face...but it can be overcome but with alot of faith and hardwork..It gets easier and then something will come along and sweep you off your feet...but with 8 months worth of education under your belt and the knowledge of what this addiction is doing to our bodies....we will no longer be its victim.
KTQ