My Quit Smoking Journey Day 3

So, I have decided to quit smoking. Actually, I am on day 3 today. At 130am, it will officially be 72 hours since I have had any nicotine or smoke in my system. Its the point where all the nicotine is supposedly gone completely and I am no longer having physical withdrawals, but mental ones.

I was actually off work and that made it a little harder because I was not occupied doing something. We went to church today, and it was mostly calm and relaxing to sit inside. I did not think about smoking once while in there, although I did have some sort of panic attack. I was back to normal again after stepping outside for a few moments.

After church, we went and got a chai tea frapp to sip at the gypsy bazaar by the park. All the people smoking there made me want to smoke even more.

As I push on through the confusion, I realize that this is the first time in 17 years that I have gone this long without smoking, without being forced or pressured into it...I went 3 days while in the hospital, I also went a day once when I had no money, but 3 days..while I have money and can freely smoke as I choose? - That's different.

Why? While I'm not really that sure, It just is. I think because it means that I am consciously choosing not to smoke this time. I am not being forced..its just something I want to do. Like smoking in the first place, I just wanted to. Somehow, that makes it seem a little easier.

Anyhow, I am going to keep posting through my journey. I am sure there will be a lot to tell. Many ups and downs are coming, and many have already passed in the last three days, which feel like weeks....

BTW..There is a book I am reading..but, I am not going to talk about it just yet. Even though, it is the first book ever to have me nicotine free for 3 days so far, by choice!

Pucca has been entered into an adorable kid photo contest!

I am so excited that my daughter was chosen to enter into this photo contest! I put her picture into an online portfolio at CuteKid.com and they shared it with Parent Magazine who sent me an email to notify me that they were putting it into the contest this week! The winners are chosen based on reader votes though, and so naturally I am trying to promote views so she can win. She is really excited and has told me that if she wins, she will use her earnings, $250, to buy new clothes and books for school. I am so proud of her and even if she does not win, she is still my little ray of sunshine! You can vote for her by clicking the link. Voting ends on Feb 26th, 2012. Thanks!

http://photos.parents.com/category/vote/photo/1200554

Airspace, Landspace and now Virtual Space..

Is Your Stress Caused by Your Smart Phone?

In a video I watched recently, they stated that smartphones may be a factor for stress and anxiety. How is this possible? According to research, people use their smartphones way too much. They are used to send emails and text messages, for chatting or surfing online, for getting directions, for shopping.. Actually, they have almost completely replaced life as we know it. They do make things easier, and they are handy to have. The problem however, is that many people get too involved in their smartphone use and many use it for business, long after business hours are over. So what it comes down to is that those who are using them for business, never take a break. And those who use them socially, get stressed out because they feel that they must always use their smartphone in order to stay connected. The more they use it, the more stressed out they get, and it turns into a vicious cycle which never allows the phone owner a break.

Dr. Michael Dow is an addiction expert that has allot to say about smartphone use. He says “The more connected we are, the less we’re connecting.” In other words, we become so engaged in our smartphones, that we lose connection with reality. He also says that when and if we stop using our smartphones, we can become depressed, have panic attacks and suffer from insomnia “And it can actually create a lot of cortisone in the brain and in the body, that stress hormone is actually cardio-toxic. So it’s actually very bad not only for your mental health and your relationships but it can also be bad for your biological health as well.”

People who are really stressed out, tend to get what are called phantom vibrations, vibrations that are felt by the phone owner, but are not really there. I’ve never heard of these before, but I recall it happening to me with my iphone. Stress from a smartphone, Who knew? I think the picture says it all...

A game that is sure to keep your kids busy while riding in the car

I am sure you have all heard about the game called punch buggy. Well, I remember playing it as a kid, but I never really understood the true value of the game until I was an adult with kids of my own. For me, riding anywhere in the car with the kids, even just down the street, is typically a nerve racking experience. Kids just have no concept of time, they get bored even on the shortest of trips, and so they express their boredom in ways that drive us parents crazy. What I realized the other day though, was that my trips in the car are far less nerve racking when I engage the kids in something. For instance, the punch buggy game.


Now, I have tried all the other stuff, the tv, the radio, the game system, travel board games, puzzle books, none of it worked for long. To my amazement though, the punch buggy game actually works! I am not saying that you should go out and promote your kids to punch each other, however you can deviate from the rules a little bit and make up something a little less violent like perhaps a pat on the shoulder or whatever you can think of. You can even make a competition out of it, offer something to the winner and get them even more engaged. I tried this yesterday on our way to the grocery store and it worked like a charm. The kids were completely occupied during the entire trip while they searched for punch buggies. The only noise I heard was when one of them found a buggy and hollered out loud..PUNCH BUGGY!

It was a sweet score for the mom team!




Image Courtesy of http://rembrandt83.deviantart.com/

Here is a playlist I created containing ocean, nature, thunder, rain and other relaxing sounds..enjoy!

12 girls, all strangers, same strange illness?

To get things started, I just wanted to cover a story I found interesting on the news this week. Apparently, there were 12 girls from Le Roy Junior-Senior High School that all came down with the same strange illness. Even though the girls all went to the same high school, none of them knew each other according to the details. The symptoms? shaking uncontrollably, jerking and stuttering. All symptoms of tourette's. While the parents of all these teen girls believe it is some kind of disease, the doctors are saying something different. They are calling it conversion disorder or psychosomatic disorder. In short, mass hysteria. Its a disorder which basically causes the person to show symptoms with no real cause. 

What I found interesting about this was that this disorder is brought on by stress. Yup, we can get so stressed out that we cause our own demise without even knowing it. As to whether or not this is actually what the girls have or not is beyond me, but the disorder is real. And it can happen to anyone, of any age. So the moral of the story is, relax..the mind, and stress, can do terrible things to you if you let it.


Here is a link to the New York Post article in case you want more information about it...


12 girls illness mystery