Roll Call - Week of December 7, 2009

[Flo]

Good morning everyone! Ccccccold and sunny over this way. I took advantage of this dry weather to give my car a wash on the weekend. I figured if I didn't do it on Saturday, I may not get another chance until mid January! Once it gets really cold, the ice starts...

While I was getting it washed (at this "spa for autos" - hand wash - $20.00), one of the car wash fellows (a young man about 20 something) asked if I had ever smoked and if so, did I quit and if so, how did I do it...well, I gave him a 20 minute pep talk - basically telling him how it came about for me - and my motto which kept my quit - I said that the road he was on led to cancer. I said he could quit now and battle the urges or wait 20 years and find himself in front of his doctor being told he had cancer. I told him that the road he was on only led to an oxygen tank. I told him to watch his complex carbohydrates and to wait out each crave and that one cigarette equals a carton...that much like fad dieting, you only lost muscle and when you fell off the diet, the food became fat instead of muscle - that is, instead of the pack he might have smoked before the quit, he would end up smoking more! That it might be ages before he was able to muster up enough will power to try to quit again. I told him that I used to get depressed when I smoked, worrying about it, hating myself, being ashamed, feeling like an outcast...that now I feel ever so hopeful and healthy and that anything is possible. He could become a champion now. I told him that the extra money which is the last thing that motivates when you are in the throes of the crave allowed me to get this car.

He said he would not be having another cigarette from that point.

I said I would not be asking him about his quit becuase there was nothing worse than a nag but that I hoped it worked for him and to remember that he could do anything as long as he didn't smoke.

Well, keep the quit everyone and pass on the tips! Have a great smokeless week everyone.

p.s. Can you believe that Christmas is just around the corner? I've got to get my cards under way right away at least!

[Don]

Here for the count!
Got all of the decorations up and yet there always seems to be something else to add to the array.
We're looking to get a good snowfall this week which will get me to use the new snowblower.
But...I'd rather have a snowless Christmas with palm trees.

Flo...well done with the mentoring. You Get It!

cigless cince 10-27-99

[Ann]

It has been very cold here the past couple of days and there may be snow on the way too. All the Christmas stuff is up then heaven, now to put all the boxes away until we need them to put everything in again. Never ending, but I'm still quit.

Jan. 20, 2000

[Flo]

I hear what you're saying Ann. Christmas seems to sneak up on me earlier and earlier each year. This year I decided I'd better apply the same energy I do to my job and so I've put my job second and Christmas first. I started last night and got two things out of the way already! Today, my out of town Christmas cards. It seems such a bother sometimes, but it is sooo worth it. It is the one time of year that everyone (nearly everyone) is on the same page.

[dorothyl]

Late again.
We got snow last night.
It quit for awhile today.
Now It's snowin again.
KTQ GUYS!!
Dorothy been smokefree since 1/7/2004.
Roger 12/18/2001.

[ncpops]

Gee ... got some thunderstorms and 71 degrees. Cold front going thru, means 48 tomorrow. We've yet to have a freeze this season. Setting a new record! Darn global warming!

Jimpoops

[countryblocks]

Here on this cold and windy day. Got married 42 years ago today, and we had alot more snow then. I don't like these cold winters anymore.
One year, ten months, two weeks, 21 hours, 21 minutes and 55 seconds. 13697 cigarettes not smoked, saving $3,595.67. Life saved: 6 weeks, 5 days, 13 hours, 25 minutes.

[Flo]

Happy Anniversary Countryblocks. What an achievement - 42 years of married bliss....all that and a non-smoker to boot. Well done Countryblocks. You are my inspiration.

p.s. My cousin, the one that was diagnosed with terminal cancer a few months back, passed away at 6:08 this morning. She was only 4'10" or so but was a very courageous woman. She passed away, surrounded by her loved ones.

[countryblocks]

Flo I'm so sorry to hear about your cousin.

[Flo]

Thanks very much Countryblocs. She was a real character. From a very young age, she knew exactly what she wanted to do - work at the race track with horses - so she got herself an old mare upon graduating from high school, jumped in her old car and headed to Florida and started working the tracks. She eventually became a trainer and was quite respected. She played it straight with everyone and got a reputation as a no nonsense woman (in a very chauvinistic world). She married late in life and indeed they were only married for a few years when she was diagnosed. They had just sold their home in Montana and bought a trailer and had planned on doing the track circuit around the US - working, visiting old friends, sight seeing. When she learned she only had two weeks to two months to live, she headed home. She was the anchor for everyone, even during her last days. She did one last thing before she died, and that was to bring her sister back in the fold. Her sister had been a drug addict and was not invovled with the family much and was indeed even disliked but she was always close to her sister and was at her side when she died. She was a brave unusual woman who showed us how to live and die.

[slim]

Flo...may your cuz rest in peace.

I made it in, just a tad bit late...Having a 10 yr old b-day party for my son tomorrow...now what else is on my long list.........not enough time in the day.....glad i don't smoke....so long

8 Years 5 Months 4 Weeks 1 Day 20 Hours 1 Minute 41 Seconds.
Cigarettes not smoked: 93145.
Money saved: $18,629.01.
1 Yr 9 Mos 6 Days 20 Hrs 10 Mins 21 Secs