Tomorrow is the day

So I made a very vague facebook post: "I think tomorrow might be the day." My sister (she's great) picked up on my intent within seconds. Now there's no going back. Tomorrow is the day I quit smoking.

I've smoked for a while now.

The first time was probably back in middle school. I didn't smoke much back then mind you. Like one cigarette a week, usually on the weekend, while out wandering in the night. That was how it was for a while. Then late in high school I'd have people buy packs of cigarettes for me. There were even a few places that I knew wouldn't card me so I'd just go there and buy cigarettes for everyone.

Then I turned 18 and there were no barriers. When I first moved out I started smoking all of the time. One of the more memorable quotes of mine during this time was, "We can all smoke tobacco." And we did.

Now I could tell you all kinds of memorable smoking experiences here. I'm not going to do that. I might reminiscent about them later.

The first time I really considered quiting wasn't until I was 26. I was going on a road trip with my dad and I tried to never smoked in his presence. It was a week long trip, you might remember the first Memorial Day Madness, all over CA and NV. I lasted about 4 hours after I got home before I bought a pack of smokes. I told myself, "it's okay, you'll just have them in case, and now is the case." I hadn't smoked in a week. Needless to say, one in extremes led to one a day to the previous status quo real quick. FAIL.

I have to hope this time is different.

One of the major factors was actually the recent increase in tobacco taxes. Paying over $8 a pack isn't economically viable. For those of you running the dollars that's about $3,000 a year. There are a lot better things I could spend $3,000 a year doing. Like going to Japan. Or Ireland. Maybe India. I'm sure I could do any one of those for that price.

I also haven't been feeling terribly "healthy" lately. I need to step up the scene so that an 11 mile hike doesn't destroy me the way it did. I'm also tired of feeling like there's always something lodged in my throat. I'm not looking forward to getting sick though. Everyone I know that's quit gets really sick like 2 months into it. But going through it once isn't as bad as the steady lethargic feeling.

I'm trying to come up with all kinds of ways to keep my mind busy, be it at home or at work. And I've come up with some decent stuff. I'm going to try to use unoccupied time at work to make some progress on my writing project. Hopefully that goes well.

As for when I'm at home. I've decided the best thing to couple it with would be getting outside! Basketball. Hiking. Random urban stroll. Hit me up. I'll probably be down.

I have two cigarettes left. I scoured the house to make sure there weren't any hidden. I give any of you who see me smoking in the future full right to kick my ass. I deserve it. Just be gentle around the face. I need my good looks.

Here's to a life going up in smoke:



Hope I won't be seeing ya again.