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To Smoke or Not To Smoke

Who all saw "The View" when Whoopi decided to quit smoking? Who all saw the show Oprah did last week on quitting smoking? My hand goes in the air. "Pick me, pick me" I say.

Yes, I have been following Whoopi's progress and yes, I watched the Nation's top experts on Oprah show us why we should quit, and supposedly how. The main Dr. on the show worked with people in the audience and had some cutting edge technology for testing the damage smoking had already done to them. So here I am. A post-menopausal woman who has been a smoker for the last 40 yrs. Since leaving my brick and mortar business earlier this year, I have gained a ton of weight and doubled my pack-and-a-half-a-day habit.

To be perfectly honest, I don't know if I'm feeling like it's hard to breath and I get fatigued easy because of the increase in smoking or the increase in weight, or both. I have always been a huge advocate of smoking, especially when I personally paid for the whole EPA 1993, 526 page report on smoking and found out most of the propaganda the public was getting fed about second hand smoke was BS. In a more controlled study done by the World Health Organization after the EPA study, they showed second hand smoke was so insignificant, and actually children of smokers had 22% less episodes of lung cancer. (For those of you who want to see for yourselves, go here http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9776409?dopt=Abstract).
I may feel it's in my best interest healthwise to quit, but I resent the hell out of the Government intruding in my life to tell me I have to.

I have been studying the different drugs, etc associated with smoking cessation. I really thought that Dr. Oz (that appeared on Oprah) had the magic answer, but he just gave the same old plan that has been around forever! I looked at the new drug Chantrix. I read quite a few of the 75 reviews on their site and it scares me more than smoking does! Wellbutrin or Zyban are supposed to be pretty easily tolerated, but there too, I'm not sure enough about my health to know if they would be safe for me. I've also been looking into NLP (a form of changing your behavior to stop old habits) and acupressure. They both seem a lot safer, just not sure how easy it will be or how well they work.

If your curious about NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) for quitting smoking, see the pagehere. Just scroll down the page to the guy lighting up a rolled dollar bill and click on it. It's a very interesting concept and once you learn how to use it, it's supposed to be good in so many other aspects of your life. Maybe I can quit smoking and lose weight! WOW.

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"Ditch Your New Year's Resolutions" Day- Pt 2

Always January 17th- I love this! I think everyone should have a "plan B". I don't have any to ditch today, even tho one of my resolutions is to quit smoking (I don't know if there's enough drugs in the world), but it is to 'quit smoking this year' so I still have plenty of time to work on it. LOL.

For those of you who would like some inspiration for your resolutions outside of the normal “Top 10”, here are some we should all probably consider. It is never too late or never too early to make a fresh start.

1.) Call an old friend you haven’t been in touch with for awhile. It’s amazing how people love to know you’re thinking of them. Heck, call more than one.

2.) Stop and tell the people the people you love, you love them, or how much they mean to you. It’s so easy to say “I love you” automatically. Instead, take the time to actually say it so you know they feel it. We have a tendency to take so much for granted.

3.) Don’t blow molehills into mountains. As they say “this too shall pass”, (whoever “they” is). We all have challenges. Sometimes it’s the way we think of them that make them large or small. Keep moving toward the light at the end of the tunnel.

4.) Grow your sense of humor, it’ll help with #3 above. Remember what it was like the last time you really laughed? Try looking at things from a “funny side”.

5.) Be encouraging to yourself and those around you. It’s so easy for us to be discouraging, sometimes without even knowing it. Try looking at things like a child who believes anything is possible.

And for those who are hell-bent on keeping some resolutions, here are a few that would be easy to keep. (Some of these are sort of ‘borrowed’ from Mike Douglas over at Buzzle.com, with my commentary thrown in).

1.) I want to be plump, beautiful, and look like the actresses of yesterday instead of the anorexic Barbie dolls of today.

2.) Assert yourself. Never surrender the control of that TV remote to anyone in the house.

3.) Be more self-absorbed: All me, all the time. (How To Win Friends and Influence People) LOL

4.) Buy your husband a cookbook. One can't always eat in a restaurant. It’s time he learned how to cook some decent food. His cooking was hopeless last year. (If you’re a man reading this, it’s probably not that she can’t cook, she probably just doesn’t want to).

5.) Procrastinate forever. Why do today what you can postpone for how long?
(I know this is 6, so this isn’t ‘symmetrical’, so to speak, but I had to add in my favorite)

6.) Last but not least, get your husband or boyfriend to take on exercising in a big way. You deserve someone hung like Brad Pitt. (Once again, if you’re a man reading this, don’t try it the other way around. No matter how hard you try, you’ll never turn us into all boobs and butt and no mouth). LOL

I think that’s enough to think about the New Year for now. Have a great day and “get rid of the guilt”.

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'Ditch Your Resolutions' Day- Pt. 1

When : Always January 17th


Yep, believe it or not they have come up with a day to help us out of our New Year’s Resolutions. You read that right. It’s “help us out of” not ‘keep our’ resolutions. For many of us, even tho it’s barely 2 weeks after New Year’s, there are probably a few resolutions we made that we have broken and feel guilty about already (especially if they were made after a few glasses of champagne). If you haven't accomplished, broken, or given up your New Year's resolutions, tomorrow is your chance to get out from under them.

In honor of the day, I thought it would be fun to pass on this bit of New Year’s Trivia.

These are the ‘Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions’ people make. Any of these look familiar?


  • Lose weight

  • stop smoking

  • stick to a budget

  • save more money

  • get a better job

  • get organized

  • exercise more

  • be more patient at work/with others

  • eat better

  • be a better person
  • New Year’s Eve Tradition Beginnings


    The first New Year’s Eve ball to drop in Times Square happened in 1907.
    The New York's Waterford crystal ball is 6ft dia. and weighs 1070lbs.
    Did you know that in Flaggstaff, AZ they drop a pinecone on New Year’s Eve?
    Bangor, Maine dropps a purple beach ball decorated with Christmas lights.
    Seattle, WA. does their countdown with an elevator.
    The first ‘Tournament of Roses’ parade was in 1890.
    The baby to signify the New Year was first used in Greece in approx. 600BC

    If You Want An Extra Special New Year’s Eve


    The largest annual New Year's Eve celebration happens in Sydney, Australia.
    The Aussies set off approximately 80,000 fireworks off of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. (if you decide to go, don’t forget to book online thru All About Travel).


    For Celebrating With Our Jewish Friends
    I must admit, I am not Jewish and do not know a much about this. If anyone would like to add something, please feel free to comment.

    The Jewish New Year is called Rosh Hashanah. While most of us know that much, did you know that Rosh Hashanah means “head of the year”?
    Apples and honey are eaten to symbolize a “sweet new year”.
    Rosh Hashanah, which actually lasts for 2 days, is considered to be ‘one long day’.
    For 2008 Rosh Hashanah begins from sundown Sept. 29th and ends at night on Oct. 1st.



    For Those Who Celebrate the Chinese New Year, Gung Hay Fat Choy!

    The Lunar New Year’s first cycle of the Chinese zodiac dates as far back as 2600BC.
    The first day of the year can fall anywhere between late January and the middle of February.
    In 2008, on the Western calendar, the start of the New Year falls on February 7th.
    This year is The Year of the Rat, and if you were born in 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, or 1996 you were born under this sign. If you weren’t born in these years but would like to see what Chinese Zodiac Sign you were born under, go to http://www.chinese.astrology.com/

    And Last But Not Least

    Did you know that a raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top?

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    Before I Start On New Year's Resolutions...

    I am one for making New Year's Resolutions. We all usually pick the things we dislike about ourselves and try to give it up (sort of like 'lent' only instead of 40 days, we hope it's permanent). Before I make my resolutions, I like to look at last year's and see how I did and what I still need to work on, sort of my own "2007 in Review". I thought I would post the following "2007 in Review" for you. No, it's not my year in review, but I think you'll enjoy this much more! A special thanks to our friends at 'Jibjab.com'.

    Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

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