A FREE FOR ALL BLOG....BRING WHATEVER YOU HAVE TO THE TABLE

[owlfeather]

Having a "moment"?  Feeling blue?  Feeling the love?  Did the Sun come out for you today?  Do you wish the Sun would come out for you today?  I had an idea, and thought I would go for it.  On this Blog, bring whatever is going on with you today.  Whatever challenge you feel, whatever milestone you feel, all of it.  Let's chit-chat. 

[owlfeather]

I found myself "romancing" the smoke this morning.  Memories came up in living color.  Sitting by a camp fire on a cold and crispy Fall morning, with the first cup of steaming hot strong coffee and the first.....................NOT!!!!!!!!!  CHANGE THE CHANNEL............smelling the early morning smells, so fresh and crisp, listening to the birds singing in the day, sipping my wonderful coffee/tea, starting up a batch of pancake batter, frying the bacon, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....that is so much better.....

Next....

[avalons1]

Great Idea Owlfeather!

Today I'm feeling tired and a little down.  I haven't felt quite myself since I quit.  Guess it is going to take a while.   

[owlfeather]

Tired is normal, feeling a bit strange is too.  Go with the flow, let it happen.  I get a bit weird myself.  I look back at some of the stuff I write, and think, Huh?  Who was that?

We call it coccooning.  Changes neccessary to become the Butterfly.....

[pir8fan]

Mmmmmm! Smelling the bacon frying! I can see the little bubbles in the pancake batter!

It is another day in this paradise we call Freedom! As I move forward in my recovery (both from cigarettes and from heart surgery) I give thanks for the opportunity to smell that bacon again! And I give thanks for all the Friends that I have! As I raise my voice in thanksgiving, I remember my friends that are strugging (both with health and addiction), and I ask that they be blessed as I have been!

Now if you will flip those pancakes, I will get the butter and syrup!

[YoungAtHeart]

I have been through all that you are describing.  In addition, for some reaso, I have been experiencing cravings the last few days - lots of them, actuslly.  I am not going to smoke ever again, but these :memories" make me kinda' want one.   I am nine weeks into my quit - so not THAT far along - and these were not unexpected (thanks to all the folks on here who have warned me - but uwelcome nonetheless.

It's raining and very breezy here - but went for a walk, anyway.  It sure helped!  And, guess what?  I got a bit damp, but I didn't melt!!!!!!!

Owlfeather - I am remembering the drums, and dsncing in a circle in my mind!

[owlfeather]

K, Tommy, my homemade Blackberry Jam or some Maple syrup on your cakes???

[owlfeather]

Ah, Youngatheart, yes, we are making NEW MEMORIES now, healthy happy NEW MEMORIES.  Didn't that lovely misty rain feel so good on your skin, and did you raise your face to it?  And the smell of the rain.  Oh!  Heaven scent.  

[pir8fan]

Never had homemade Blackberry Jam! Actually never had any kind of jam on pancakes! But I will try it!

[owlfeather]

Ditto Joni!  Attitude of Gratitude!!!!!!!!!!!!  

I am going to get a load of rotten straw for my garden, so will be back in a little while.  Keep it chittin and chattin...........

[owlfeather]

Oh my, my, my!  You are in for a treat Pirate Man!!!!!!!  

[YoungAtHeart]

Doesn't rotten straw root and produce plants from it?  I remember one year I put straw in between my raised veggie beds, and left it there to winter over --- and in the spring the darned stuff sprouted "STRAW" plants --- EVERYWHERE!!!!!  

What did I do wrong????

Are you using the rotten straw as mulch for the winter over????  Or - do you just like bad smells?  🙂

[stonecipher]

Feeling kinda blue myself and "missing" that morning cigarette, too!  I caught myself and thought, why am I missing it now, after all these mornings?  It's been awhile since I had a smoking thought so strong.  Maybe it is the seasonal trigger thing?  Cause fall is sure in the air here.  Feeling a bit spacey, too.  Hmmmmm.

I had some bacon, oj and a piece of toast (No pancakes, but boy that sounds yummy) with my morning coffee, and have just been putzing around doing little household chores and making some arrangements for a little trip this weekend,  til I head out to work. . .I wish I was full of pep and ready to take on the world.  But I'm not.  And it happens that the world will do just fine without me taking it on today, so I am declaring today a "one foot in front of the other" day.

Nice chatting.  Great idea!!!!!

[jeri9]

Good idea Owlfeather! (Thanks for the blog); Today I welcome the cooler weather after bakeing this summer......Fall is my favorite time of year. Since my quit  this past August, I been pretty close to this site and done a heck of whole lot of reading. It seems that most people go through basically the same things (not all.....just some) at pretty much the same intervals. I was wondering why I had to be different. I am referring to an incident that happened last night just as I was setteling in for bed. I was really tired from my days work. Here I am, 30 days into my quit and I start coughing and up chucking gook for at least almost an hour......I'm like......everything I have read....this is a 2 or 3 week occurance. I thought until this happened I was going to be one of the few this did not happen to. But it did. And I am glad it happened. My lungs feel more clear today than ever.......I was thinking this morning.....it's amazing to have the EX family. So much knowledge there, so many helping hands.......I am lucky!! 2 strips of bacon and one pancake for me! I got the fresh squeezed OJ!!

[aztec]

When we have a habit that we do over and over it makes a literal groove in

our brains. So lets make new grooves. I am working on the exercise one.

I use to do yoga everyday for a long time, Now I have a fitness machine that

I want to do strength training on. It was one of my rewards for quitting.

when I do exercise I feel so much better.

I was reading in Furhmans book Eat to live and he said to exercise twice a day like we would take medicine. that is a great thot.

I use to be so athletic,

So lets make new grooves and let the old smoking ones get full of cobwebs.

warm regards

aztec

[lisa11209]

Ah, Aztec, good idea to let the old smoking grooves get full of cobwebs. Tommy, jam on pancakes is yummy. Along those lines, have you ever used toasted waffles to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Nice desert item. Thanks for starting the conversation, Miss Owl.

[owlfeather]

LOL Youngatheart!!!!!   Cow pies and rotten straw are like French Peerfume to me!   You more than likely did not use Straw.  You used Hay.  Hay has seed.  Straw does not.  I have used and will use hay if I can't get straw.  I just throw a layer of newspaper or cardboard down on the green growing patch, and throw more straw/hay over that.  I keep putting layer after layer of mulch.  Straw, weeds that don't have seed on them yet, leaves, wood chips, whatever I can get my hands on.  That way I never have to till.  I always have ongoing, rich, decomposing material,which makes rich soil,  and just poke a hole and put the plant/seed in.................^__^.

[owlfeather]

Yes Stone, (I love that name), the change of seasons bring on smoking memories.  As we work thru each season, and Holiday, our quit gets stronger because we make NEW memories.  I think that is why the one year Milestone is such a happy and fulfilling one.  we have gone thru all the Holidays and all the seasons.....You seem to have a strong quit going and an understanding of how to keep it going.......Such a quiet strength.....

[owlfeather]

O.K. Jeri.  I am ready for a second breakfast!!!!!!!!!  I know huh?  It sounds like you did some deep breathing the day before.  When I do, the next day or so my lungs do some serious cleansing.  I try to breathe in from my tummy, and breathe out thru my pursed lips, untill all the breath is out of my lungs, sucking my tummy in to get the very last bit of air, way down deep in my lungs.  That way we get the Carbon Dioxide to move on out....then the cleansing starts.  CONGRATS ON 30 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  YOU GO GIRLLLLLLLLLLLL..............

I love Fall too.  We are glad you are here Jeri.  One day at a time, we all win.........

[owlfeather]

Hi Aztec!  Yes, new grooves.  Just a groovin'.....and a movin........  I always feel better when I excersize.  I try to be consistent ....try to... You are such an inspiration.  O.k. I will try to do my yoga today.  

[owlfeather]

Hi Lisa!  Yes, yes, I have made pancakes, let them cool, and made pb&j sandwiches to pack for an outing with the grandkids!  Really good!  I am going to try that with waffles!!!!!!  How fun!  

[ryan44]

Sure wish I could have some of those pancakes or bacon but I'm on a new diet. I call it the half diet. Just eat half of what you normally eat. Not sure if it will work but it makes sense to me. Been doing it for the past week and at least it made my heartburn better. Not sure about the  weight   lose Yet because I don't have a scale. Unfortunatly weight gain has been the result of eating instead of smoking. Now I want to walk instead of eat.

[jojo_2-24-11]

Hi Owl, I wasn't feeling myself for the past couple days. Woke up today in a much better way, IT"S MY 55th Birthday! Can't believe it! Where did all the time go? After all the birthday text wishes this morning, I continued my work at the job and now I'm going to work out at the gym, then, this evening for dinner myself and 2 out of 3 daughters will be going to one of our favorite places for wings and logs and I'm sure a Jamaican coffee!

[reneenc1]

Great blog post, Owl feather!  I absolutely love the smell of rain ~ one of my favorite smells.  Today is two weeks quit for me and I am elated.  I will be blogging about it later.  I have had jelly on waffles for breakfast and it is so good!  Breakfast for dinner is yummy too, actually breakfast anytime of the day is gooood!  Happy Birthday, Jojo!!

[Dadman2]

Hi Owlfeather, and everybody else!

I'm still feeling good since yesterday, and I attribute much of it moving about and getting the blood flowing. I'm enjoying it while I can, because I've been around long enough, and know my body and my mind well enough to know that this good feeling can be short-lived, and that I can, and almost certainly will, hit a stumbling block again, and will have to face the challenge, whether it is the urge to smoke, or another factor which causes anxiety and/or depression, or maybe for no reason at all.

So many good things mentioned here in all of these comments on this blog: wings, jamaican coffee, campfires, pancakes and bacon pb&j, daughters, grandkids, grooves, groovin, yoga, 2nd breakfast, blackberry jam, pumpkin pancakes, garden, maple syrup, memories, fall, exercise, the smell of rain.......

All these good things mentioned by everybody here. If you read through everyybody's posts, these good things far outnumber the mention of cigarrettes. 

[owlfeather]

Makes sense to me Ryan...eat less and move more!  

[owlfeather]

HERE YOU GO JOJO!!!!!!!!!!!!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!

http://youtu.be/bfN_drxLoFE

Have a marvelous time with your girls!   You so deserve it, and we are glad you are feeling better!!!!!!!!!!   

[owlfeather]

CONGRATULATIONS ON 2 WEEKS RENE!!!!!!!!!!!  HOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[maggie_8-1-2010]

What a fabulous idea Owl! As for the pancakes..I love em - several ways actually but one of my faves is to spread a bit of marionberry (made in Oregon) jam and drizzle with sugar free, warmed up of course, syrup. I love bacon but I took myself off it a while back. Only for a very special occasion.

All the images and smells and such conjured up by me as I read all the comments is fantastic. It helps to sooth a person's mind. Perfect for this time in my life. 

You all take real good care! Thanks Ma'am!

[owlfeather]

Dadman, you are doing sooooooooo good.  I love the way you look for the good things in life and embrace them...KEWL BEANS......... you're kids are lucky to have you for a Dad...........add to that good things list....ridiing my bicycle  ..^__^..

[maggie_8-1-2010]

Every birthday girl deserves a special cake! Here you go Jojo!

Fit for a princess!

[owlfeather]

Hi there Miss Maggie!  Ymmmmmm Marionberry.......warmmmmm...on pancakes....mmmmmmmmmm.... Here.. we can crumble some bacon and put just a little bacon bits on your pancake.......Good?  Who's gonna take us on a walk on the beach?  

[Ex_Nancy]

Hi all...I've been out running errands...got a lot of stuff done! Life is GOOD! ♥   img alt="" src="" />

[owlfeather]

Oh my,my, time for a third breakfast.  Heck who needs lunch and dinner?  What did you buy Nancy?  Something pretty???

[Ex_Nancy]

Did you know that Canadian bacon is MUCH lower in fat than real bacon and that it is used for Eggs Benedict?  Wow, lets have breakfast for dinner tonite.  😛    img alt="" src="" />  

[Ex_Nancy]

Happy Birthday Jojo!!! xoxo ♥      img alt="" src="" />

[owlfeather]

I love Canadian Bacon.  Canadian Bacon and pineapple is my favorite pizza....

[pir8fan]

Did someone want to walk on the beach! I am up for that!

img alt="" src="" />

[Ex_Nancy]

Hi Tommy...is this from where you live? It looks a lot like the pier Dale frequents! 🙂

[owlfeather]

Let's go for a swim!!!!!!!!!  

[avalons1]

Happy Birthday JoJo!

[cyn9]

Great blog owl! Can I have pancakes for dinner? I always put chopped up zuchinni from my garden, in my pancakes, Makes them moist & fluffy. Happy BD Jojo! 

[owlfeather]

Chopped up zuchinni?  Really?  Hmmmmmmm...Maybe I'll shred it.  I like to mix shredded zuchinni 1/2 and 1/2 with cheese.  It's goooood that way.....

You can have any kind of pancakes you want!   Cause you did not smoke today!