August 2009 Vacation

Shawn and I are on our last day of vacation. We've been in FIP for 10 sunny days...

Friday, August 14:

We left Manhattan around 8:45am. Traffic into the Midtown tunnel was bad. But we didn't hit any traffic in Long Island! Shocker! We stopped at Stop'n Shop for groceries and made it to the 11:30am Sayville/FIP ferry. We had ham and cheese roll-ups for lunch. We laid by the pool all afternoon soaking up the sun. For dinner, we decided to make chicken breasts because we didn't know if Patrick or Tim would be able to make it for dinner. Turns out, Patrick had the day off and arrived on the 1:30pm ferry. Tim couldn't arrive until Saturday. Well, i brined the chicken breasts and added pineapple juice to the mixture. I let it sit for several hours. We attended Low Tea so that we could wave "hello" to the people arriving on the evening ferries. Then went home to make dinner. I also made a pesto pasta dish with homemade pesto. I used bow-ties (farfalle). I also made a salad with a homemade vinagrette. I added a teaspoon of soy sauce as recommended by Melissa d'Arabian (the current Next Food Network Star winner.) After dinner, we watched a few episodes of "The Big Bang Theory" and went to bed.

Saturday, August 15:

I woke up around 9am. We didn't do much besides read news on the internet and get caught up with friends status' on Facebook. That had become our morning ritual during the week! Patrick and I walked Sammy and Teddy on the beach. The beach was gorgeous. And very flat. Great for walking and running. I don't remember what we ate for lunch... I think we had sausages. Yes, come to think of it, we ate sausages. Oh... and I made a pesto pasta salad! How could I forget that! Again, we laid by the pool. Drank cocktails. Attended Low Tea. Tim arrived as we headed to Low Tea. He dropped his bags off and met us there. We skipped Middle and High Tea. For dinner, we had pork loin, brocolli rabe, and salad. After dinner, we watched a few more episodes of "The Big Bang Theory" and went to bed. Tim wanted to go out, but we were all too tired.

Sunday, August 16:

Ascension Party! The annual beach party sponsored by Erik von K who owns much of the commercial property in FIP. Story goes.... he wanted FIPOAA to move the Pines Party to the day so it wouldn't compete with Pavilion. Well, FIPOAA didn't move the party and the feud started. Erik started his own beach party to compete. Now both parties have their pluses and minuses.... dancing on the beach under the stars or under the sun?? Both are a lot of fun! Anyway, we arrived around 1pm and walked through the giant "A" at the enterance. We danced until it closed at 6pm. Fortunately, the party was just one Walk away, so we could easily go home and come back. The sun was shining brightly and there wasn't much of a breeze in the main dance floor area due to the VIP areas blocking the breeze. But there wasa nice breeze near the enterance where they laid sod and built two reflecting pools. Some party goers went into the ocean to cool off. The beach around the party was packed, too. Cute boys on the beach, in the water, and on the dance floor! :) We saw a lot of old friends and met some new friends. Tony Moran spun a fantastic set. And Kelly Rowlands sang two songs. Dean and Dan invited us over for dinner afterwards. Their guest Hoong made a tasty pasta sauce that he slow cooked all day with country ribs, sausage, and meatballs. Coincidentally, I was telling Tim that I was craving it before I knew that we were going to have it... I felt like cooking that same pasta sauce! We didn't stay very long because we were all tired from dancing under the hot sun all day. We went home and went right to bed. No Pavilion for us! Only downside to the day... Patrick couldn't join us. He had to work on Monday. So he departed on the 4:50pm ferry.

Monday, August 17:

Jerry arrived on the 11:30am ferry. Tim and I greeted him with a cocktail! We ate burgers for lunch and lounged by the pool with cocktails. Jerry made tasty margaritas! We went to Low Tea which was still pretty busy. What did we eat for dinner?? I remember we had asparagus as a side. Tim wrapped them in ham and swiss cheese. I made the salad. What was the protein?? Ribs! LOL. That's right. I asked Jerry if he could make ribs! Unfortunately, the cut of ribs was not very good and the ribs were a bit of a disappointment. (Flash forward to Tuesday.... we ate the second rack for lunch and the meat was much better! Mm mm.) After dinner, we watched a few more episodes of "The Big Bang Theory" and went to bed.

Tuesday, August 18:

Tim had to work, so he got up early to drive back to Manhattan. As I mentioned earlier, we ate the leftover ribs for lunch. We had bought two racks but only ate one rack on Monday. The second rack was much better than the first. Again, we lounged by the pool and drank cocktails. Shawn, Jerry, and I went for a walk along the beach. The beach was still gorgeous. Later, we went to Low Tea and stayed until the 7:30pm ferry arrived (close to 8pm.) Yong was on board. We met him at the harbor and walked him to the house. We had chicken parm for dinner. Yummy... the chicken had our special ingredient: bacon! The nice, thick bacon from the Meat Market. After dinner, we watched a few more episodes of "The Big Bang Theory" and went to bed.

Wednesday, August 19:

Hump day! Our vacation hit the middle mark. Earlier in the week, we had talked about going to Cherry Grove for lunch. But we had so much chicken parm left over. So we had chicken parm sandwiches for lunch. We lounged by the pool again and drank cocktails. Jerry made pina coladas (and a virgin one for Yong.) We skippped Low Tea. We invited John and Billy over for dinner. They still had one housemate, Luciano, and one guest, Tom. So we invited them, too. Yong made a lovely dinner. He roasted two whole chickens, butterflied. He used a Gwyneth Paltrow recipe. The chicken was so moist and tasty. Yong also made a side salad and grilled asparagus. Oh... and there were roasted potatoes baking with the chicken. We ate outside. A lovely evening despite the mosquitoes! After dinner and the guests went home, we watched more episodes of "The Big Bang Theory" and went to bed. BTW, fresh produce is really lacking mid-week in FIP.

Thursday, August 20:

Jerry left on the Noon ferry. He needed to get back to run errands and prep for the "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire" test. Yong made chicken salad sandwiches for lunch. Yong and I took a nice walk along the beach. The surf was starting to get rough due to Hurricane Bill in the Atlantic. We lounged by the pool a bit more. Yong took the 6pm ferry home. Shawn and I skipped Low Tea. We bought NY strip steaks at the Pines Meat Market. Prime cut... dry aged. So good. Shawn grilled them to perfection! I made a squash gratin (with gruyere cheese) and salad. We finished watching "The Big Bang Theory" series. And we also watched the most recent episode of "True Blood". We also watched the latest Terminator movie. I wasn't bad.... except for the hokey ending.

Friday, August 21:

We had another lazy day by the pool. We had sausages for lunch. We bought pork chops for dinner. They were cut for us at the Pines Meat Market. Unfortunately, Tim and Patrick couldn't make it. Wicked storm hit the area... but bypassed FIP! Dark clouds approached around 5pm, but quickly disapated. The sun returned quickly! FIPOAA had sent a warning about swimming in the ocean due to riptides. Hurricane Bill is coming up the coast! We went to Low Tea and then came home to grill the pork chops. Again, Shawn grilled them to perfection! I made the romano cheese and black pepper pasta dish. And we had a caesar salad. We fell asleep in front of the TV. We're such old farts!

Saturday, August 22:

Shawn and I walked to check out the beach. The smell of "ocean" was extra strong today. Due to Bill, high tied had covered the entire beach and there was a lot of water still collected. At Beach Hill, you would have to walk through the water to get onto the beach. And the volleyball area was still under water. The surf was VERY rough! Patrick arrived on the 11:20am ferry. We had a hodge podge of stuff for lunch. Patrick ate the extra pork chop, I ate a sausage, and shawn ate a ham and cheese sandwich. Patrick and I walked to the beach. The water was nice yet rough. There were signs warning against going in the water. And Patrick noticed the nautical flags signaling "hurricane". Tim didn't end up coming out. He called and said he woke up with a cold. Shawn and I went to Justin's birthday party at Reflections. We chatted with friends and had a good time. On our way home, we stopped at the Pantry. Later on, we went to Low Tea. Afterwards, we stopped at High Tea for a drink. But then quickly moved to Middle Tea. As usual, Middle Tea was packed. We left around 9pm. For dinner, we had rib eye steaks that Patrick brought. Almost 1 lb each! So much and so delicious! I made the same pasta dish again, but added too much pepper this time. I made a side salad. We also had corn on the cob and fennel. Both grilled. We had so much leftovers. Shawn went right to bed. Patrick and I watched the latest episode of "True Blood" and then went to bed.

Sunday, August 23:

It is now Sunday morning. A cloudy morning. A nice way to end our vacation in FIP. We had a lot of sun. A lot of fun. The week certainly flew by. I'm thinking that we should take the 1:50pm ferry home. It makes me a bit sad to reflect abou the entire week. Vacation is coming to an end. Back to reality. Oh well, we couldn't enjoy things like this without working.


Oh... and I am still smoking. In fact, Icarus bought me a carton of cigarettes from Duty Free. $13!

A Setback

I had a setback this week. Bought cigarettes. But I had an excuse. My dad was admitted to the hospital on September 25 and passsed away on September 28. My brother and I had to make a lot of arrangements in a short time. The Viewing service was on October 2 and we burried my dad on October 3.

But I plan on getting back on the wagon!

Still on track!

I haven't had a cigarette in over a month now.

I do think about it... a few times a day. But the desire is much less. I've been with friends who are casual smokers. Fortunately, they weren't smoking at the time. Otherwise, I might have asked for one!

15 Days

well, it's been just over 2 weeks without a cigarette.

i still have the desire at certain trigger times during the day... mostly during the workday. so fortunately, it's not a constant urge.

7 Days

The last time I had a cigarette was April 26, 2008. It was just after dinner.

I hadn't been feeling well for the entire week before hand. And I was thinking that smoking was making me feel worse. Well, on April 27, I really felt awful. So I just stayed in for 2 days and didn't smoke at all. On Tuesday, I found out that I had Strep throat! So (along with the antibiotics), I decided to continue not smoking.

Well, it's been 7 days now.

There are some tough times. But when those moments pass, I'm fine until the next moment.

Hopefully, I can keep it up!!!

Work...!

Well, I thought, perhaps, that I could have my last cigarette on Saturday night before dinner. I didn't really crave one after dinner. On Sunday, I had some thoughts. But not nearly strong enough to want to have one. On Monday, I thought about it on my way into work. Walk to subway -- fine. Walk from subway to office -- fine. Around 9:30am, I thought about it. Thought about it again... and again. By 10:30am, I caved in and bought a pack.

Argh!

Happy 2008

January 1, 2008! Wow... 2007 passed so quickly. Each year passes faster and faster. But don't most people say that? I have a theory... the brain slows so that time appears to be going faster.

This may be my time to finally quit smoking. Well, that's what I've been thinking over the past month. Maybe I am in that right state of mind to do so.

If not, maybe I'll ramble about other things...

Where has the time gone?

Happy Presidents Day!

Wow. It's been almost a year since I first tried to kick the habit!! I didn't realize it until just now when I signed onto this blog. The first post was in March 2005! Where has this year gone?!?

Well, it's time to try again. It's been pretty cold outside and it's not that pleasant to step outside for a smoke. Cutting back on Roxy Saturday nights ought to help!

I had 2 cigarettes today. The last one was at about 4pm. The pack was finished! I bought Commit again to help me through this.

So, wish me luck! I hope the work stress levels are tolerable and that I don't run out and buy a pack of cigarettes.

-Phil

Baby steps

I've decided to cut back on the cigarettes before stopping completely. I had been smoking about 1/2 pack a day. That's about 10 on the average. I smoked 6 on Tuesday and 7 yesterday. I haven't been feeling like finishing them either. That's another strategy... not finishing them all the time. We shall see...

It's Fall!

It's Fall. I have a bit of a cold. I'm thinking that it's time to pick this up again. I'm not sure cold turkey will work for me. Cutting back slowly, perhaps? I'll give it some thought today.

Smoke Gets in THEIR Eyes!

Since I will be deferring my smoking cessation program for a bit, I have decided to expand the scope of this blog. But I wanted my blog's title to continuing being appropriate for any future entries. Up until now, I had been using "smoke" in its most literal sense. If I were to use "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" as a metaphor, I could expand this to many other areas.

A conversation with a coworker, "George", earlier this week comes to mind. I discovered that "George" is a Christian. He said that he is a Republican because he shares their values. He believes abortion should be illegal and homosexuality is wrong (BTW, he knows I'm gay.) He remarked that Liberals who are pro-choice are forcing abortion rights ON HIM! How crazy is that? I asked, "How could a woman somewhere in middle America having an abortion affect you? If the Conseratives prohibit abortions, they are directly forcing their opinion upon any woman who chooses to have an abortion." He stood by his opinion, blinded by the words of his religion.

Afterwards, I reflected on this conversation. "George" is by no means a fanatic. So, if the average Conservative thinks this way, I believe Liberals are fighting a losing battle. Nothing will ever change Conservative minds if religion is used to support their viewpoint. Nothing. And that's scary. These people don't see that they are using the same tactics as those religious zealots who pervert their dogma for the good of their cause.

Well, we can't change their minds. But we can bring true issues to the forefront, for example:

1. Are Iran and North Korea bigger threats than Iraq?
2. Our president lied to get us into Iraq. Why isn't this a bigger issue?
3. Is the US any safer against terrorism?
4. Should we be scared that our President wants to fight for the freedom of other countries, yet we are losing our own freedom of speech?
5. Healthcare is expensive and many people still lack coverage. What is being planned to address this?
6. Why has this Adminstration not reacted to high fuel prices?

Does this make sense? Should we be scared? Will my idea work? Let me know and spread the word!

-Phil

Defer to the Fall

Now that the weather is nice, I am going to defer my smoking cessation program to the Fall. It will be too difficult to quit in the Pines.

-Phil

Thursday...?

hmm...

OK... Well, maybe Tuesday

Didn't start today. I'll start tomorrow. As Scarlett said, "Tomorrow is another day."

Shame on Me!

Well, I fell off the wagon this weekend. I had two cigarettes on Friday! And several on Saturday. You see, Shawn and I went to Roxy and that environment is not conducive for quitting. It's nice to step outside the club and chat with people. WILL POWER!!!! Since I smoked on Saturday, I had a few today. Let me see... I had 4 1/2.

I'll start this again on Monday.

I have to say... I am torn. I do enjoy smoking. Closing my eyes and taking a deep inhale. Relaxing, yes! ...especially now that the weather is getting warmer. But after not smoking for a few days, I did feel better. Less phlegm in the morning already. Well... on Wed and Thu. Also, I found that when I didn't smoke, I had the munchies. Definitely an oral thing.

When I wasn't smoking, I did find myself getting irritated at people. Fortunately, I didn't snap at anyone... or I didn't think I did? But I found myself catching myself. I just have to get over that hump of not smoking for a week. The first week is the most difficult I hear.

Off to bed. Tomorrow is a second start!

Day 3, Well...

The day went pretty well. Didn't have a strong urge to smoke and took Commit. When I went out to pick up lunch, I didn't have a strong urge... this would have been one of the times I commonly had a cigarette.

But when it was close to quitting time, I got pulled into a problem at work. I couldn't hold out. I bummed a cigarette from a coworker and went outside. Oh well... on the bright side, I didn't have any more!

Ack!

I gave in. Work sucks!

Day 2 Completed

Day 2 is just about over. Well, actually, it's day 2 1/2! I actually started this on Monday morning!

Anyway, this was my first work day without a cigarette. Boy, was it tough. My previous two posts were from my cell phone! I really think that stress is the #1 cause for me to smoke! I caught myself thinking of having a cigarette in the middle of meetings. I had to pop a piece of Commit. Yes, I'm taking the small dosage... about 1/4 of a pill. I keep the bag of them with me.

Let's see how tomorrow goes. It's a 2 day work week for me. I have Good Friday off.

Whew!

Commit helped

Bleah

Ugh! I'd love a cigarette right now!