Congratulations To ME!!!

I don't want to toot my own horn, but TOOT, TOOT!!! I quit smoking and I am happy to announce that I made it past the one year mark. I've had this terrible habit since I was 18, which means I've been smoking for ahem-ahem amount of years. Don't have a clue why I was drawn to it in the first place, but never really got serious about quitting till last year after buying a carton for $73. Yup, that is correct. 10 packs of cigarettes for $73. That would be $7.30 per pack, or about $.37 per cigarette. And that was at Walmart, a year ago. I remember when a pack was about $2. On base I could get a carton for $15 back in the day. My sister reminds me of when she bought a carton for my dad for $5. Well thank goodness for raising the taxes. That is what helped me decide to quit.
Right after that purchase I texted my brother about it telling him it was time to quit. He texted, "Let me know how that works out for ya." I knew it was gonna be hard. But two of my close friends quit so I figured that I would try. I've been wanting to quit for a long time, but was always afraid of the weight gain that would follow. What a stupid reason not to quit something so unhealthy.
It didn't happen right away. I ended up going through that carton and buying another one. Yup, quitting smoking isn't easy. When I got down to the last pack, I split the 20 cigarettes over the next days. THEN, Tai goes and buys another one. WHAT?!! So I got another pack extension. But after that one was done, that was it. It was a slow weaning process for me. 7 cigarettes one day, then 5, then 3, then 2, and then pau. NO MORE CIGARETTES!! I bought patches but decided to try without them and I succeeded. That was July 1, 2009. YAY!!
I didn't tell anyone till I was maybe a couple months in, but I celebrated with every passing month. Mom gave me a hug because she was so happy. Now I can say that I passed the one year mark. It wasn't easy, but easier than I thought it would. I hope that others will find a way to quit too.
I quit one thing, but I think it only strengthened my other two addictions, shopping and eating. I thought quitting smoking was tough, now I gotta work on losing all the weight that I gained and stop coming up with reasons to shop. HMPH!!!! Wish me luck!!