“I’m
gonna slit her throat if she doesn’t shut up.”
“Perhaps
he won’t mind the broken nose.”
“Right
now, I just wanna scream!”
Sound a little violent? Yeah, well that’s how I felt a few days ago
when I decided to quit smoking.
*Cue
the cheers*
I may smile and nod when people say, “Congratulations,” or “Good for you!” but really, I’m on day
six and I’m still struggling with the
want, need, desire, or craving to pick up that almost three inch (that’s what he said) rolled up tobacco
goodness and take a long, deep inhale.
Needless to say, between my day job as an Internal
Investigator, the sexy muse as a romance author, an editor for several pieces
pending publication, and a commuting-mom-there-is-a-baseball-game-oh-crap
mother, I haven’t had a whole lot of time to think about what my body is going
through. So, in my spare time this morning (wait,
what’s spare time again?) I looked it up. I mean, I know what I feel, which
is more energetic (that’s a welcome addition), productive, and for some strange
reason, I wake up rested in the morning now, instead of wanting to hit the
snooze button some ten or fifteen odd times.
Mr. Internet told me, on several websites, that my
body has already experienced several changes. My blood pressure is lower,
carbon monoxide is out of my system (yuck!),
I’d test nicotine-free, and apparently, my taste buds have recovered. (Trust my hips when I say I had no problem
with food before.)
However, while the health benefits sound pretty on
paper, and yes, the additional energy is a huge help, in my mind, it is still friggen
day six of no cigarettes. Keerist! I
know though, that without a doubt, I will not pick up another one today or
tomorrow, or the day after. Want to know
how I do it?
My children, both of them, root me on day after
day, telling me how proud they are and allowing me to explain to them just how
bad it is for them should they ever want to take it up. In a roundabout way if
you look at it, I quit for them. In the long run, it helps them. When I have a four-year old and an eight-year
old asking why I smoked, and why I quit, it’s a revelation. And I am sure you are sitting there saying,
“Yeah, yeah, Deserie, but that doesn’t tell me how you did it.”
You’re right.
I’ve tried it all. The gum (which isn’t really gum),
the patch, prescription drugs, lollipops, it all. What worked for me, and trust me when I say I
have absolutely no willpower, was cold turkey. I didn’t plan it, but I did it
anyway. Smoked my last cigarette last
Thursday, May 2, 2013 at eight o’clock at night while sitting on the phone with
a friend who was encouraging me to try and stop. The next day, oddly enough, I woke up with a
severe head cold, and while I have heard several stories about people getting sick
when they quit smoking, for me, I thought this was too soon to be related. Now, of course, at day six, I am sick again,
and this time I do think it’s related. I drank a ton of water on Friday, and kept
chewing gum. And while everyone is
concerned about gaining weight when they quit, I actually gave in to my body’s
craving and snacked. Not a lot, but just
enough that I wasn’t an absolute b-i-t-c-h.
I can always lose the weight through exercising, but can I really grow a
new pair of lungs or a heart should those cease working for me?
No.
And really, what’s more important than your life.
So, as a recent smoker who has decided to take
that step, I’ll tell you this. You can
do it. Yes, it’s going to be hard. Yes,
it will be a damn pain. However, you, my dear strong, beautiful woman,
can do this.
.jpg)
Blurb: Bari has always felt a presence lurking deep inside of him, waiting to get out. After being injured in Iraq, where he was in-service with the Special Forces Team, he suddenly finds himself thrust back into his hometown, forced to face his past, and finds that what’s lurking inside of him is real, waiting, and running out of patience fast. What happens as the evil of his past merges with his wants of the future? What happens when the man and beast inside crave a female from his past? What happens when Bari learns that he is anything but human?
D.C.
Stone is an e-book author and full-time fraud investigator when she isn’t
diving into the world of Fiction.
She
lives in the north-east with her incredibly supporting husband, two kids, and
the all American black Labrador puppy. She’ll deny any association with the
grumpy cat that also resides in the house, but he is there, never-the-less.
After
serving eight years of service with the United States Air Force, she went on to
transition into the world of Financial Crimes and became a lead investigator
for many years.
Reading
has always been a passion of hers, getting lost in a good, steamy romance one
of her favorite past times. That passion took a back seat as soon as she
discovered her own love for writing and recreating her own stories and
characters. Her writing concentrates on
Romance with specifics in Paranormal, Suspense and Erotica.
Now,
when she isn’t trying to solve a new puzzle in the world of fraud, she is
engulfed with coffee, her laptop, and all those crazy characters in her head.
Trying to keep up with that crazy bunch is a skill many would yearn to have.
She
is a member of the Romance Writers of America, New Jersey Romance Writers, and
the Liberty State Fiction Writers. Come stop by on Facebook, Twitter or her
website and say hello!
