You people are wonderful. If I ever get time, I'll respond to all of the comments I'm getting. Don't think that I'm ignoring you, please. I'll find some time to respond today while I'm on my lunch break.

Wow. Five days without a cigarette. Several quits ago, I tried the "tapering down" approach, and it was disastrous. I didn't know why then, but I know why now. I would go for hours without a cigarette, looking forward to having one at my predetermined time, holding out until then, and feeling the sweet relief once I finally got to light up again. Well, that didn't work for me because, logically, I was simply putting myself through a constant "quit and re-start" phase over and over again. I would quit for five hours, my body would start to rid itself of the nicotine, and then I would simply reintroduce the drug again. I would deny myself the nicotine for six hours, light up, get that nicotine in me again, and start the withdrawal process over again.

I was in agony for a solid week before I realized that, logically, that simply wasn't the best way to quit. It makes me wonder, however, what's gonna happen when I go from using this 21mg patch to the 14mg patch. Will I be in withdrawal? Hmm. I guess I'll hafta wait and see.

Well, it's nearly time to get ready for work. I can't wait to go back, really. I've had four days at home and I'm going batty trying to find things to keep me occupied.

*sigh* Big breath. It helps most times to feel that clean air bouncing around my lungs. It feels good to be able to take a big breath without coughing and wheezing afterwards. But I'm still wanting to smoke in the mornings -- especially the mornings. I can't wait until I don't feel a void anymore -- a void I can't seem to fill just now.

I was going to type here how many hours it's been since I had a cigarette, but it's getting too difficult to calculate in my tiny brain. It's now easier to say how many days it's been. So, it's been 5 days and 12 hours since I've had a cigarette. I'm breaking my arm here patting myself on the back.