Has it been a week already?...

You bet it has - Now give me a cigarette!!!

Um, excuse me...

So, I quit a week ago. So far, what can I say about not smoking short of "It pretty much sucks". There have been so many times I've wanted a cigarette, just to kick back and unwind. I think that's what I miss most: the unwinding. I've been wound...

But Vicky has been my favorite reason for not smoking. I like spending time with her and getting close to her without having to worry about how I smell. We spent a lot of time together this weekend, which is always nice. Saturday afternoon, we drove down to Carlsbad - looking for the ever-elusive replacements for my ratty denim jacket and my far-too-old leather jacket. As I've said before, I have a thing about jackets. I'll wear pretty much anything but my jackets are kind of signature items, so I chose them carefully. And, of course, we haven't been able to find anything, which has probably been irritating Vicky to no end. It has to be perfect - it's like meeting the woman you're going to marry. (Or, if you're already married, it's like meeting the woman you're going to illicitly sleep around with in cheap motels...) I'd gone with Vicky in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, a smart move considering it was raining... Then, we walked into Geoffrey Beene - and I saw it. It's a kind of a mock-corduroy, brown jacket that you can imagine getting kidnapped in and escaping through a forest, hunted by dogs, swimming upstream in a river, finding yourself in a war zone, escaping from a prison camp on a stolen motorcycle, stealing the secret plans, and kissing the scientist's beautiful daughter just before she takes off for America... I liked it...

And then, she bought me two more. But, hey, she only spent about $120. (God, I love outlet malls...)

Of course, being healthier is okay, too. I've been able to work out with more intensity. I don't feel so out of breath at times. Even after a week, I can see a difference.

Mind you, food tastes the same and my sense of smell is still the way it was. I guess I never smoked enough to screw those up... just enough to, you know, LOVE IT.

In fact, now that I mention it, I'd really like to have a cigarette...