Weekends are wild

I'm still cutting down on smoking, but I haven't felt like it much lately. Those fleeting feelings of "this is more trouble than it's worth" that I felt on the second or third day of low-dose Chantix? Gone. Wish they would come back to visit.

On the other hand, I do find that I can go much longer in between cigarettes than I used to. My fabulous brother-in-law is in town, and this afternoon we all went out to lunch. I had to ride in a non-smoking car for fifteen minutes to a non-smoking restaurant where we had to sit there and eat, not smoking, for something like an hour, and then there was another fifteen-minute non-smoking ride back home.

Now, a couple of weeks ago, I probably would have stood outside in the 100-degree parking lot behind the restaurant and smoked a cigarette after lunch before getting back into the non-smoking rental car. But today? I just zipped along, almost like a non-smoker, and when I got home and got comfortable, it was still about fifteen or twenty minutes before I thought, "Hey, I want a cigarette."

That's progress, man!

I am noticing how automatically I reach for cigarettes without thinking about it. It reminds me of a man who quit smoking back in the 80's. He said he almost tore the pockets off his shirts reaching for his cigarettes without thinking about it.

I don't know how anyone ever quit smoking cold turkey. Seriously. I don't know how they did it, but they have my eternal awe.

And in other news, my smart sister Amy is still going strong on her quest to quit. YAY, AMY!!!!!!! You Are Iron Woman!!!!!!

She has my eternal awe, too!

Gonna go bake a coconut cake now..... Well, really, it's a white cake. It'll be coconut after it has been embellished somewhat.

For anyone who's curious, here's my family coconut cake recipe. It's killer.

Coconut Cake

Ingredients:
- 1 box white cake mix
(eggs, water, oil, as directed)
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup sugar
- Large container Cool Whip topping
- Angel sweetened flake coconut

Directions:
- Bake one box of white cake mix, as directed, for the 13x9 pan directions.
- After you get it out of the oven, mix together one cup milk and one cup sugar. Heat over low to a slow boil while stirring.
- Poke holes all over the cake; pour milk & sugar mixture slowly and evenly all over the cake, allowing it to drip into the holes.
- Let the cake cool completely.
- When it's utterly cool to the touch (on top and on the bottom of the pan), spread a large container of Cool Whip all over the cake.
- Add Angel sweetened flake coconut all over the Cool Whip. Actually, you should use a whole package of the flake coconut, and pressed it into the Cool Whip so that it's *really* saturated with coconut.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- In between servings, keep it covered and in the fridge. It'll spoil if you leave it out of the fridge. And trust me, spoiled coconut cake has been known to make grown men cry.

I know it sounds too simple to be good -- but it's just deadly. Cross my heart and hope to die. Oh, wait. I'm quitting smoking in the hopes of *not* dying. OK -- cross my heart and hope to quit smoking!