Day 7

I did it! I went to the bar last night and had two very strong drinks (thanks to my favorite bartender, Margie) and did not have one cigarette. There was one moment that I wanted one, but I let it pass. Margie said if I can go 21 days then I'll be in the clear. I hope she is right. I also sat next to people who don't smoke. Larry the leg man has never smoked, Mike said he had been smoke free for 5 years (after 30 years of smoking) and Big Joe I know he hasn't smoked for over a year and a half. So that helped out as well.

I wish I could say the same for the old hubby. The doctor prescribed him a medicine to help with his cravings.

Day 6

I have not have one cigarette! Cold turkey, baby! Last night was a test. I asked my hubby straight faced and calm if he had been smoking. He told me that he had purchased a pack on Monday and has only been having 3 cigarettes a day. Damn. I thought he was doing so well, and although I know that three a day isn't much, it is still something. He then went into the garage for his third for yesterday and asked me if I wanted one. After a long pause the answer was (drum roll) HELL NO!

Tonight will be even a bigger test as I plan on stopping by the bar on the way home. My plan - to be able to drink a few drinks without smoking. Well, this is my plan. Worse case - if I get such a strong urge to smoke, so much so that I'm about to ask someone for a cig, I will tab out and leave. How does that sound? Hopefully I can stick with it. You may feel that it is too early for this plan, as it is only day 6, well, there's only one way to find out.

Other news - we're fixing up an old computer - upgrades, more memory and a new video card, purchasing a flat screen and new keyboard and mouse for my son. It should be completed and ready to go by Friday! He had a computer given to him by his grandfather, but his step-mother took it for herself. It's all about her.

Also, the other day I was a few pages away from finishing a 750 page book, my hubby wanted to turn off the light and go to sleep. I told him I had just a few pages to go and looked at the back of the book for the exact page count. Let me state for the record, that when my parents sold their house in Houston they gave us all of their old paper backs - three huge boxes of paper backs. So, this was one old one of my Mom's that I was reading. The very last page (page 750) ends in a comma! The page is all filled with words, there is no blank last pages and at the bottom of the page is a comma! WTF! It didn't look like there were pages missing, but there are! I hope the local library has a copy - because I'm hanging in limbo over here.

I've been eating very low fat and all. My days have been filled with fresh strawberries, melba toast, bran cereal w/ low fat milk (to help me shit), yogurt, carrot sticks, Swiss cheese slices (no more than one a day), salads with fat free dressing. Last night my hubby made dinner from a recipe he got out of a healthy heart cookbook his mom gave him years ago. It was wonderful! A chicken, broccoli and mushroom dish….I loved it. He's gotta make it again real soon. He used both regular and portabella mushrooms. So Yummy! It felt like the first real meal I've had in ages - well, it seems like ages after eating what feels like rabbit food for several days. And why is it when I'm trying to be good, as in eating right, no drinking or smoking, I can't go to the bathroom, I feel stopped up. Thank goodness this time I bought the bran cereal….the stuff is a working.

Day 5

My lungs are slowly recovering from the cold that continues to hang around. Tonight I will be having a couple of glasses of red wine and a Vicodin to help with the cramping. And that ain't no camping. It was so bad today I felt like calling my hubby to bring me one at work. Next week will be better.

I'm dying over here and you're taking pictures

and this is the machine that goes PING

how bad is the pain?

old man arm w/ 2 IVs

not happy

Day 4

So far so good. It hasn't been too bad, probably because I'm still getting over a cold I got last week. Who can think of smoking when coughing up a lung?

There is one thing that is bothering me. Geno! He is acting like my Mom, hanging out in the kitchen eating so that no one else will know about the extra food consumption. My Mom does this when she is trying to hide the fact that she is eating from my Dad. I hate this. Why are you hiding - I don't care what you eat or how much. There isn't that much stuff in my kitchen that is bad - just a few left over Cheetos - and they're probably stale. Why does he feel he has to hide in the kitchen? I know why my Mom does this, 'cause my Dad is such a ass with her about her eating. My Mom is overweight (Dad is not at all) and when it comes to food sometimes she can't seem to stop herself…..she has to eat it till it's all gone. But Geno isn't like this - so why? I've asked him and I just haven't gotten a straight answer. He didn't do this last week before the attack - so why now?

Day three of no smoking.

bald cypress

It would have been day five for me if we haven't found 1/2 a pack Friday evening in my husband's truck. That was 5 cigs for each of us and we polished off a bottle of red wine. Nothing since. In fact, because of Geno's nervous energy our backyard now actually looks like a back yard. We purchased this past weekend a bald cypress tree (which I am now calling it our "Love Fern" based on that movie "How to lose a guy in 10 days") and a lime tree (more like a bush). The bald cypress is about 10 feet high and the lime tree has two limes on it already. I'm excited. We will be watering the love fern every other day for a month, but I'm going to keep it up all summer long in case we have another dry summer.

Heart Attack

My husband had a mild, minor, slight heart attack Tuesday night. While scary at the time, he is all better now, and all the doctors and all the doctors men have now instilled a much improved lifestyle for him. No smoking, no drinking, no fat, no salt and eat more fresh fruit and veggies and exercise for goodness sakes.

Pictures to follow later.

What Tarot Card are You?

You Are The Moon

You represent the unconscious side of life, what happens in dreams. You are capable of great genius - but also of great madness. Emotions tend to be primal for you, both your fears and your fantasies. Your intuition is always right, listening to it is the difficult part. Your fortune: You are about to embark on a very important journey - and a very difficult one. Some of your deepest dreams will be realized, as well as some of your deepest nightmares. Follow your creativity and visions; stay away from your weaknesses. You are taking a voyage to the center of yourself, and you may be pleasantly surprised by what you discover.

What Tarot Card Are You?

Saturday Night

Lamb Chops


This weekend we had some friends over for dinner and a riveting game of Pimps and Hos. I went to Central Market to get some of the ingredients. I love Central Market and this Saturday the experience was extremely nice, a couple of older gentleman taking to me about my purchase and wanting to come to dinner at my house. Helping me at the check out. I've never had this happening before. From now on I'm going to go shopping there alone (with husband or son) - but maybe because it was a beautiful spring day.

Dinner Menu:
Marinated lamp chops grilled with a raspberry balsamic vinegar glaze
Three cheese tortelloni with a tomato basil sauce
Grilled asparagus
A nice salad with balsamic dressing
And a tiramisu cake

I'm full just thinking of all the food we had.

Martini

Martini Time!

We got to this place called the Davenport which has the best martini's in town (in my opinion). They have this chocolate martini that is to die for. My husband is friends with the owners, and use to be part owner with them at another club a long time ago.

Disco anyone?

TGIF

Boogie Down People! Cause it's Friday! 'Member this movie? If you do it 'cause you old! It came out in 1978.

Play that Funky Music White Boy!

Do I need to host a Chef Aid?

Chef

Dear Isaac Hayes,
I'm sorry that your fucked up religion of choice will not allow you to continue being Chef on "South Park". I'm sorry that your congregation takes everything so seriously that one little cartoon show forces them to pressure you into quitting a voice over job that I know in interviews you stated you loved. I wish you the best in your future endeavors; however, I feel that when you are on your deathbed looking back on what you did in the name of Scientology you will regret your decision. Maybe not. Even though, Scientology may own you, "South Park" will always have a little bit of your soul.
Thank you and best wishes,
South Park fan Diedre

Hockey Pucks

My Father's mother, my Grandmother, used to (when she was alive) send us in the mail every so often a cookie bar type sweet that although it has a different name, my Father named them "hockey Pucks". These treats were - as you can guess - very hard, hence the given name. Even though this cookie bar thing was almost as hard as a baseball they never lasted long in the kitchen. My Mom was not known for her baking abilities, so we all eat them up like a miner digs for gold.

On Saturday I made a batch of these cookie things using my Grandma's recipe to send some to my Dad as a nice reminder of his mother. Well, they didn't turn out as hard as a rock and now that I remember Grandma always use to over cook very thing anyway. Guess I should have left them in the oven about 10 or 15 minutes longer than called for - just so that I could send that exact Grandma touch. Oh, well maybe next time. My Dad should be expecting them to arrive on Tuesday and I hope that they are all broken up.

Sending flowers to a computer

death

The poor, poor thing never had a chance - not with me behind the wheel. I messed up a co-worker's computer and now will be sending the flowers of death to the laptop. I feel really, really bad. Actually, I'm leaning more towards sending some "Get Well Soon" cookies versus flowers. That would be better I think. Everybody like cookies, right?

Suspect considered UNC attack for two years

How come I had to learn about this from AM radio and that no one else is covering this stroy. It's about a Muslim who ran down 9 people with a rented Jeep. He was attempting to avenage the mistreatment of fellow Muslims. He rented the Jeep because he "could run things over and keep going". Great, just great. And when you die there will be 70 virgins waiting for you. Thank goodness there weren't any serious injuries.

Suspect considered UNC attack for two years

how the taste buds have changed

soup

I use to dislike soup. My sister loves the stuff and use to eat it for breakfast as a little child, while I would not touch the stuff if I could help. Well, lately I have been craving the soup bowl. That's what I want when going to lunch and everyday too. I don't order it everyday, but I've been wanting it everyday. And I've been getting soup receips off the internet - so not me. I've also notice other changes. When I was younger (much younger) I loved scallops and now can not stand them - have they changed or me?

Dallas Storm Walker

May you rest in peace. Little guy never got a chance. My nephew died of ??? They are calling it SIDS. He was less than 3 month old. The viewing was last night. I DO NOT recommend going to a baby viewing. IT IS THE SADDEST THING.

Blue for you sweet thing.

Wednesday Meeting

More phone talk.

In our meeting yesterday Kody mentioned that in the movie Firewall at the beginning they showed a Mitel 5220 phone and that later in the movie it was a Mitel 5224, but with the same designation strip that the 5220 used - so that it was too small the the top 4 buttons were not covered. Funny! We all had a good laugh.

God, I need a life.

Pirate Pickup line # 2

Well blow me down?

Are your windows open?

window

Yesterday the weather was soooooo nice that we decided to sleep with the windows open last night. Spring is in the air! Warm weather here we come! So refreshing! Thank goodness.

I can't get this outta my head

Warriors Come out to plaaaay

Don't Do Drugs. Drugs are bad.

MMM Kay