Hi Jenny!

Graupel is a great word, thank you for that fun fact!  I love fun facts!  I got graupeled on during a camping trip a few years ago and was like, "What is this stuff?  It looks like hail but doesn't sting when it hits me!"  And now I know! 

Yeah, y'all's weather has been crazy out there!  There was some snow in San Diego county one time when I lived there and one of my clever neighbors got a cooler full up in the mountains and then built a small snowman on the beach for her xmas cards.  So creative!

Oh--I live in Minneapolis.  We have a good theater scene here!  Very stoked for Hamilton next month.  Good camping hiking and swimming too in the warmer months.  

Also a good place to quit smoking, turns out.  After yoga the other week I overheard these ladies talking about how stressed they were to (1) rent their air bnb to smokers because they made the place stink, even when the guest smoked outside and (2) one of them was having a houseguest who smoked in her car and her clothes reeked of it.  Normally this would've made me defensive and craving a spiteful cigarette, but instead I realized I had no idea how other people felt about third hand smoke.  These ladies seemed nice and weren't being catty.  They were honestly distressed.  I chalked this up as the universe trying to tell me something.  

So proud of us!  And to quote the OG Minneapolis Lady theme song (from Mary Tyler Moore show, lol), "We're gonna make it after all."

Have a great day!!!

Erika

Erika,

Michigan or a different M state were going to be my 3rd and 4th guess…  

We are gonna make it! Love it!

Jenny

Hi Jenny,

My son fixed the gutter drain today.  I am not sure if I need the gutter itself fixed, it is a little bit askew but not detached.  No the big limb did not hit my neighbors house just mine.  I am lucky there wasn't worse damage.

I have been sleeping a lot since being home again.  A LOT . My sinuses were better and then last night not so much.  Hopefully just a weather/allergy combo and not an infection.  All it did yesterday was rain with wind and chilly.

I am so glad you are feeling better.  Laughing and having an appetite again , yay.

Some of the benefits of not smoking that are my favorites so far are no coughing , and no phlegm from smoking, and not having that dependency of a required need to smoke.

                                         Lisa

Graupel, live and learn. Derived from the German word for barley. 

Enjoy a smoke free day everybody.

Paul

Lisa,

so great you’re getting so much sleep! All those days of cold, then noise at your son’s place, I’m sure you needed it very much. 

Nice that your sinuses have calmed down some. Hopefully they will again. Not fun stuff when it’s weather or allergies and not fixable. 

Yes, that dependency of needing to smoke is definitely something I don’t miss at all. Climbing into bed, wondering if I’d be “needing” to get up in an hour to go back out? That wasn’t fun. 

You’re going to get another dot tomorrow! I was thinking of your smiley face stickers and how your February calendar page must look. Are you going to rip it off and hang it next to your calendar? Would be nice to have it visible somewhere. 

Btw, which state are you in? If you don’t mind me asking. I think you said before? I’m thinking Michigan or Massachusetts, but I was wrong on my guess with Erika. Memory isn’t great, but I’m hoping I can get a better idea where we all are.

Jenny

Erica,

Congratulations on 2 months today !!!    You are a 2 star gal now !!!

I wondered about you when Minnesota was having that blizzard.  Yeah, I was really challenged with the ice storm we had and all the other non perks that came with it.  Before I quit , that was something that I would deal with by smoking even more and that would make my anxiety even worse .  I didn't realize smoking was making my anxiety issues worse until I quit.

                                             Lisa

Hi Jenny,

I am Michigan gal.  I have lived here my whole life and in the same area.  I stayed here because I wanted to be near family.  Have you always lived in California ?

My 4 week and 1 month are on the same day tomorrow.  So I guess I skip the 4th dot and move on to the star ? What do you think ?  Yes, I am going to cut out February on my mini calendar and put it up on the wall.  I need to see it and it looks fabulous, so full of smiley faces.  March will get green smiley faces , February had pink ones.

                                            Lisa

Hey Lisa... I definitely feel you regarding the anxiety that accompanies a smoking habit. I am still using 6 nicotine lozenges a day, and I am noticing that when I do get anxious, it is not usually the stressful situation or stressful person that makes me anxious.  It is the urge to pop a lozenge and the wait that comes with being able to have one. I am trying to find new ways to cope with boredom, laziness and everyday minor stresses or uncomfortable situations. I think I need to get my passion back for wanting to quit the lozenges. I used to use 12 a day. I have been telling myself that I have done a good thing by cutting my intake in half, but at the end of the day, I would like to be quit. I read Leo's Top Ten Tips for quitting and it moved me and made me feel hopeful again! There are a lot of positive things to do and more positive ways to think than waiting and depending on a nicotine lozenge in order to fill a space or boredom or loneliness or to pump yourself out of a little laziness. With that being said, I am off to chew some gum!

You are so so so right, Lisa.  My anxiety went from a 6 to a 2.  It's exhilarating!  Or . . . serene I should say.  Lol.  Thank you for reminding me about the double star!  And congrats on your star!!!!  I loved reading about your decorated calendars--such an awesome idea.  

Hope your gutter wasn't too badly damaged.  Glad it was just the corner that got hit.  We are two midwestern gals who are due for a pleasant spring!   Maybe not until May though according to Farmer's Almanac.  But that's soon enough.  This past month flew by.  I wonder if living my life from smoke to smoke was making time pass slower.  It sure seems that way.

 OK, have a wonderful evening!

-E

Lisa,

Yay, I guessed right! Well, I gave 2 guesses, so I suppose my chances were good. I actually lived in Michigan for maybe 4 years as a small child. I think it was a tiny town called Gobles. We may have lived in a couple towns, really. I don’t remember much, since we moved from there when I was maybe 5. I remember making tunnels in the long snow mounds that the plows made. I also remember dressing our cats up in our gazebo, lol. My 2 main memories of Michigan. We were in Tennessee before that, then came to California, so it’s pretty much all I know. 

Ah yes, February is the month for moving straight to the star! Yay!! I love that you’re putting up your calendar page. On to the green smiley faces! I really love you have a paper calendar. So many people don’t anymore. I have a moose one my friend in Canada sent me. I have a tiny moose obsession. I really want to see one in person someday. A live one. I’ve seen taxidermy ones and they just aren’t that cool.  

Jenny