Stop Smoking: Staying Quit

As you go through the first days and weeks without smoking, keep a positive outlook. Don't blame or punish yourself if you do have a cigarette. Don't think of smoking as "all or none." Instead, take it one day at a time. Remember that quitting is a learning process.

After you've quit, the urge to smoke often hits at the same times. For many people, the hardest place to resist the urge is at home. And many urges hit when someone else is smoking nearby.

Now that you aren't buying cigarettes, you probably have more spending money. You should calculate and find out just how much money you have saved daily!

Average cost of a pack of cigarettes in the U.S. is $5.31

Beating an addiction to nicotine takes a lot of willpower and determination. You should feel great about yourself for making it so far. Now is the time to focus on sticking with it.

Check out this very helpful website!

click image for smokefree.gov

Remembering my Aunt Jan.

It should not be surprising to those who knew her that I also think about my Aunt Jan around Mother's Day. To think of her is to remember a wonderful person that was never loud, angry, or intrusive. My Aunt Jan was the very person to show me that reading books was a pleasure not a burden. Aunt Jan was the person that introduced me to another genre of novels other than Science Fiction. When she read she insisted on diversity; horror, sci-fi, drama, romance...it didn't matter to my Aunt Jan.

 Aunt Jan gave me her copy of Steven King's 'The Stand' and I read it cover to cover.Since then I've read everything King has written and read most of his contemporaries works. She was right, horror can move you!

She could digest a book in one sitting, she could read in a room full of people&activity and be a part of everything going on.

 Aunt Jan passed away around a decade ago. The world is a lesser place without her in it.

A few years ago my cousin Vicki sent me one of my Aunt Jan's original copies of Steven King's 'Dead Zone'. It is one of my most cherished possessions.

I would give anything to let her know that her influence culminated in my becoming a published author.

Aunt Jan and I never said it to each other very often, but I did love her very much.

Thank you Aunt Jan for being such a positive influence in my life.

I will always miss you.

Matrimony: How Does the World View the Institution of Marriage?

Residing here in N.C. I have heard many opinions on the subject of gay marriages. Personally, I am of a conservative mind. My eccentric slant begs to ask: Why bother? Marriage is a failing, antiquated, religious holdover.

Yahoo news asks this question:

North Carolina's Amendment 1 reaffirmed the "defense" of marriage, but for whom are we saving the hallowed institution?

Backlash over North Carolina's vote

They go on to say:

These days, barely half of eligible Americans are yoking themselves to each other, an all-time low. A half century ago, 72% of Americans took marriage vows. The recession, a scapegoat for many societal ills, has been blamed for accelerating these rates, but marriage was already in decline. The way things are going, spouses will be a minority group.

And the rest of the world, how do they feel about it?

Nuptials are passé in Britain.

The French don't see the point.

 New Zealand says the breakdown of the traditional family costs $1 billion a year.

 In Asia (Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and Hong Kong), women aren't hooking up.

This drives mothers and demographers crazy, since their aging societies need new blood to keep up the population.

What is marriage:

Marriage historically was rooted in financial arrangements. Today's economists describe American mating — in an age when women are becoming as financially independent as men — as "hedonic marriage," based on love and companionship. Other scholars have bandied about models of passionate love, but a generation that may not subscribe to the "living in sin" notion can indulge in lust without marital constraints.

Click for the facts on marriage.

here you will find charts,graphs, and stats on marriage

After Surviving Martian Winter,Rover Opportunity Again on the Move

click image for very cool video of Opportunity's three year (and counting) trek on Mars

at The Huffington Post.com

After spending nearly five months conducting experiments in one spot, the NASA rover moved for the first time this week, rolling off the rock outcrop where it hunkered down for the Martian winter.

The mission team received confirmation late Tuesday that Opportunity successfully drove downhill. Engineers will check its power supply before directing it north to study dust and bedrock.

Opportunity will have to wait until there's more sunlight before it can head south where there's tantalizing evidence of clay deposits believed to have formed in a warm and wet environment early in Mars' history.

Since landing in 2004, Opportunity has surpassed expectations. Its twin Spirit lost contact in 2010 not long after it got stuck in a sand trap.