Okay, now this is just plain miserable. Two days without a cigarette.

I had to go to work today. That means I had to leave the house, walk past the table my ashtray used to sit on, get in my car where I chain-smoked, and go to my office, where I’d take a break every hour on the hour to smoke a cigarette. Reminders everywhere.

But, I’m through the first two days. They say things start getting easier on the fourth day. We’ll see about that. All I know for sure is that Day Two was just plain miserable. Icky miserable. Sucky, even. I was okay at work as long as I stared at my computer screen and did non-vital busy work. My attention span can now be measured in seconds rather than minutes. Every time I stood up to start another project, my feet would try to lead me outside to the loading dock, otherwise known as the company’s smoking area. I went through three packs of gum.

Tomorrow may be bad, too, but I’m optimistic that this will get easier. (They say it’s easier to quit heroin or cocain than it is to quit tobacco. Dunno if that’s true or not, but it makes me feel better somehow.)

The doctor told me last week that I had dangerously high cholesterol levels. That’s fun. So now I’m on medication and a funky diet. Today the dentist told me my wisdom teeth are “erupting.” That sounds like fun. Though the doctor seems to think I’ll be on meds for life for cholesterol, I’m hoping that a combination of diet, exercise and quitting smoking will get me off the medication. It’s expensive stuff!

Geeze, it’s gonna be a tough gig this weekend, sans cigarettes… Whimper whimper whine.

But, when I woke up this morning, I could breathe. I haven’t had a coughing fit all day, and that funny little pain in my chest has gone away.