Saturday, November 28, 2009

Hello to you all.....Still recovering from Thankagiving dinner by eating more turkey! We aare a small family these days but my daughter still cooks a big, wonderful Thanksgiving Day dinner for us. This year it was my daughter Robin, her 6 year old son Billy, my son Robert, my mom (who is visiting from Illinois for the winter), and myself. We  enjoyed each others company and our big old fashion dinner and now we are getting back to our daily routines. I am attending a donor appreciation luncheon at the South Texas Blood and Tissue Center on Monday. I am honored to meet someone whose life was saved by mulitiple blood transfusions, and I happen to be one of the donors. Then on Wednesday I am off to Jacksonville Fla  for more GetQuit Clinics. For more information on this go to http://www.mygetquitstory.blogspot.com/. Of course I am quilting and sewing, and block swapping,  and thinking about christmas gifts and how many will actually be finished in time. We live life abundantly because we live blessed lives! Every day I thank God for the life He has given me. It is part of the reason I do what I do!

Today I am inviting you to a Pay It Forward Challange. It works like this:  If you would like to participate in a PIF please post a comment here. Hopefully three brave souls will be interested - if more than three express interest I will draw names to determine the winners. The three people chosen will get a small, handmade gift from me within the next year and must post this logo on their blog along with a PIF entry. I will choose the participants a week from today.

Peace and Prayers
missd

Monday, November 23, 2009

Good Morning...It is almost Thanksgiving and I have rested up from my GetQuit Clinics in Charleston, West Virginia. I am so happy with the results and very moved by the stories people have. I look forward to my next round in December. If you or someone you know is trying to quit smoking please visit http://www.mygetquitstory.blogspot.com/. Helpful information and my quit story is there. Yours can be too, as soon as you succeed in getting quit! You can do it with treatment and support! Now back to my 2nd passion...quilting:

When I returned home I had a lovely siggie from Helen of Aunt Hennys Blogspot. I also have 2 ready to mail out this afternoon. These little blocks are so much fun to make and to receive. If you want to join in our fun go to www.quiltsandsiggies.web-log.nl . Annelies in the Netherland manages this swap..and has a beautiful siggie herself.

WIPs:
I am currently trying to finish some heavy quilting for Quilts for Kids. It is such a pretty little quilt and I have filled it with love. It requires heavy quilting because it will be given to a child in the hospital and will be washed and dryed  in industrial washers and dryers. If you are into quilting for charity go to http://www.quiltsforkids.org/. They will send you precut fabric for the top and instructions for making it. It is a good thing, and I plan on sending an extra quilt and some gallon plastic bags. I don't believe they ask for too much. God bless them for what they do.

Friday, November 6, 2009

My GetQuit Story

I have a story to tell. It is my GetQuit story.

It started when I got married. I was married at an early age and to an older man. He smoked and all of his friends smoked. Since I was the youngest person in the group, I started smoking too, so I would fit in with my husband and all of his friends. It was what you did in my little town, you got married, you drank, you smoked. You were a grown up and that is what the grown-ups did.

My husband and I were married for 30 years before he passed away. We raised 3 children and they all grew up to be smokers. All 3 of them also married smokers. My daughter, like her mom, married an older man. After trying for 13 years they finally had a son. His name is Willard Lee, after both of his grandfathers. We call him Billy. Due to a tramatic head injury my son in law was unable to work, so for financial reasons, the 4 of us moved in together. Sadly Billy's daddy passed away 2 months before Billy's 4th birthday. We told Billy his daddy was in heaven. One day Billy came to me and said "Nana, if you and mama go to heaven too, who will take care of me?" I held on to this little child as tight as I could and promised him that I, and his mama, were going to be here with him for a very, very long time. Even when he was a grown up man, we would be here for him. That seemed to satisfy Billy, but it did more than that for me. It changed my life forever. I looked into those angel eyes and I knew that I would have to do everything within my power to make sure I would be around that long. I knew the first thing that I would have to do is to quit smoking.

So, after 40 years of smoking and nine failed attempts at quitting, I made an appointment with my family doctor. He had been nagging me for 3 years to quit. I told him I was ready and would need some help. He prescribed Chantix, a prescription drug that is suppose to help people quit smoking. So I took it home and put it on my dresser, and promptly forgot about it. I also continued to smoke. Three months later, back at the doctor for diabetic blood work up, and he asked how the quitting was going. I had to tell him I never filled the prescription. He gave me another lecture and another prescription, which I filled on my way home. I put it on my dresser, and promptly forgot about it.

Finally, in late July I said to myself: OK...its now or never. I swore this was not going to be another failed quit attempt, because this time I had made a promise and a committment that I intended to keep. I set my quit date as 08-08-08 just because it sounded cool. I did smoke that first week because I could, but I took the Chantix as directed and signed up for the on-line e-mail support and the 7:00pm phone call. I credit this wonderful support program with helping me quit. I received a phone call every evening at 7:00pm. It became a matter of pride to push the button on the phone that said no, I did not smoke that day. And I did take it one day at a time and I know you won't believe me, but it was easy! I had no nicotine withdrawal symtoms at all and I had the support program. The e-mails came every day, then once a week, then monthly and lasted for a year. They gave me little exercises to do, they informed me of changes taking place as my lungs healed, and they taught me ways to handle situations where I might be tempted to light up. More importantly, they taught me to think of my self as a non-smoker.

Now, one year, 2 months and 28 days later I am still smoke free. I am also honored to have been chosen as a GetQuit Ambassador. I get to travel all over the United States and tell my Quit Story to others who face the challanges and the struggles of quitting. Hopefully, God willing, I can pay it forward. Maybe what I say will give some else the courage to find their own motivation to quit.

So, little sister Tammie, that is why I am thankful for Chantix. It enpowered me to become a non-smoker and to  keep my promise to a little boy with angel eyes.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Viva La Siggies

I just mailed off my first siggie to Annelies in the Netherlands. I am so excited to get in on this. I will recieve a list from her with names and addresses of people from all over the world. And we will swap siggies! How exciting is that!! If anyone out there wants in on this here is the link: www.quiltsandsiggies.web-log.nl