Smoker's Cough

Tomorrow marks my one year anniversary of quitting smoking.

In terms of method, I went cold Turkey after having been a pack-a-day smoker off and on for about 5 years.

It was hard. My skin burned and itched and my head pounded. I was irritable and restless for over a month. I gained 10 pounds. I yelled at people. I doubled my consumption of butter and tripled my consumption of booze. I chewed on pens until they broke and stained my lips with ink.

I can now say with pride (well tomorrow) that I have gone an entire year without so much as a single drag off a cigarette. I am proud of this accomplishment. I'm going to pat myself on the back and eat some chocolate.

2 summers ago, I went on a trip to Delaware with my friend, Piia. At the time, I was at my peak of heavy smoking. We took a Carolina Trailways bus down and were unfortunately seated at the back by the very foul smelling lavatory. We snuck bottles of scotch and took pictures of each other with towels wrapped around our heads.

Does anyone remember SARS? (Sudden acute Respiratory Syndrome)
Well, Piia and I got to Delaware and immediately began to have respiratory problems. We her hacking, wheezing, phleming....You name it. We were convinced that we had SARS.

We however were not going to let this keep us from enjoying the beach. Nor was I going to let it stop me from smoking. So I was swimming in the ocean, smoking and hacking things up...Very attractive. Let me just say that a hacking smoker's cough is the pinnacle of glamour.


photo credit-Carrie Thomas