Thursday - Day Twenty-Four
Weight: 215

The geese were covering the front lawn at work when I arrived this morning. Wall to wall feathered creatures. They took to the sky and I saw them in their “V” flight pattern heading south.

I ate too much today as usual. Rolo candy. Hot cocoa. I’ve been drinking decaf tea the last few days at work. Today I felt my old stress symptoms creeping back up on me.

I ran 3 miles and walked a fourth today at the gym. Then I did a cycle of the circuit weights. I put the weights on position number 4 at each station.

I was hoping that my lungs would get better and better quickly. Instead, the biggest improvement was in the first couple of days. I know that my lungs will slowly heal over the next few months. I‘ll just have to keep running and improve just like everyone else: with hard work!

I am doing fine on the cigarettes so far, but I must control the eating!

Friday - Day Twenty-Five
Weight: 214

Next weekend will be Thanksgiving. I am trying to get some months behind me as a non-smoker. I am fast approaching the end of the first month. I am a little tired today from my workout last night. But not too bad. My knees haven’t given me too much trouble either.

During class today, we tore a machine apart: Preventive Maintenance. Yuk! However time flew by today.

The weekend has started but it will not be a good one. Dot has to work tonight, tomorrow morning, tomorrow night, and Sunday night. What a drag.

I spent the evening watching TV and looking at a DAK catalog, and dreaming about a laser disk drive for my computer. I just don’t need the added expense right now. And watching TV is not my idea of an intelligent way to kill time. I’ve been doing it much too often since I quit smoking.

Saturday - Day Twenty-Six
Weight: 215

I tried to watch what I ate yesterday, but it gained a pound anyway. I don’t know if it’s the lemon drops, or food, or candy bars. Too many calories somewhere. Maybe I’ll do better today.

Woke up feeling poorly. My left eye appeared to have conjunctivitis (all red). Murine only brightened the red up. I put in some of Dot’s drops. We’ll see what happens.

Sunday - Day Twenty-Seven
Weight: 216

I have quit smoking, and given up coffee/tea, but I am overeating. Lemon drops are continually popping into my mouth. I ate a box of cheese crackers today. (Better Cheddars) 70 calories per serving. 14 servings per box. 980 calories, just like that. I also ate some cake today (as well as last night). I feel like I am turning into a pig. If I wasn’t exercising, I would really be gaining weight. As if 20 pounds in 30 days wasn’t “really gaining weight.”

I got my new VGA monitor and video card for my computer yesterday. It is really nice! Unbelievable improvement in video quality.

I am on day 27. The newness of not smoking has worn off a little. The thrill of victory doesn’t call to me as much as it did before. I have to work at my motivation each day. Putting on weight is becoming less and less acceptable but the need for stuffing my face has not decreased. I must find a solution! I haven’t had a cigarette in over 3 weeks!!! [Here I drew 3 happy faces in my journal.]

Monday - Day Twenty-Eight
Weight: 217

FOUR WEEKS BEING A NON-SMOKER

Happy Monday to me. . . One thing about quitting smoking this time around: Mondays have not been the problem that they were in 1986 when I tried to quit. The weekends are more of a hassle than the workweek is . TV and eating have replaced the old TV and smoking.

Today is the next to last day of the course I am sitting through. The rest of the year I am scheduled to work on developing portions of the new course on our new machine. I am 4 weeks into my quit program.

After class I headed home. I watched a movie, and a football game (The Raiders beat the Dolphins 13-10).

Four weeks behind me, and a lifetime ahead. At first I had faith that it was possible to quit. Now I have hope that I actually will do it!

Tuesday - Day Twenty-Seven
Weight: 216

Today is the last day of the course I am sitting through at work. Thank goodness! Tomorrow is the last day of the workweek!!! I am fast approaching the magic land of 35 days! I am looking forward to getting that day behind me!!!

When I got home from work tonight I was on the verge of throwing in the towel for a brief period of time. I snapped out of it after jogging a half mile, but I was upset because of a financial issue that had popped up.

We went out to eat at Chi Chi’s. Last time we ate there and set in the no smoking section was November 20, 1989. Exactly one year ago today! Must be something about this time of year that breeds non-smoking attitudes.

Wednesday - Day Thirty
Weight: 215

Started working on the course materials for the new course, but I couldn't get much done on the area I started on, because the documentation for that part of the machine was not available, and there was no actual machine put together to trace out the items I needed to include in the course. So I moved over to the Power Distribution area. And got one drawing completed before I got a harassing phone call concerning a financial matter, which was none of my doing. I hadn't been treated like that since I was a teenager, and I was very upset. By the time I finished giving the jerk a piece of my mind he hung up. But I felt oh so much better for getting my feelings out.

Dotti and I watched the movie "It" tonight. We had recorded the first half of the movie on Sunday and the second half on Tuesday night. I like being able to watch movies in one sitting.

I'm in the 30 days decade now. Won't be long until I am into new territory. This financial business has put a strain on me, but I'm holding up so far.