Category — Side Effects

Yesterday was lovely, simply lovely. I worked all morning, very early, so I was done work by early afternoon, with plenty of time to take in an afternoon stroll to the bank in the springtime sun. Then I returned home and baked a cake!

It was a day worth celebrating and I wanted to have something special with which to celebrate! Two years ago when I made it to Non-Smoking Fools’ Day I baked a cake and made some really messy, cement-coloured icing that caused me such strife that I very nearly broke up with my girlfriend, who was laughing at my pain over the phone. We laugh about it now, but it was hell at the time!

It ended up being a really ugly cake. I mean seriously ugly. I am no baker and I am certainly no cake decorator. It’s kind of hilarious, how bad it was, really. Witness:

Ugly as it was, it was actually really delicious. So much so that every time we have had some birthday or other cake-worthy party to celebrate since then, Kabuki requests the special coconut icing. I have since adapted it to make it not only even more delicious, but also less sloppy and ridiculous. And a more appetizing colour. Live and learn.

So this year I wanted to make that yummy cake again, complete with the miraculous, if trying, coconut-mascarpone icing that has gone from being my bane to being my specialty. However, this time around I wanted to do something a bit different with it. A few weeks ago I had rewarded myself with a trip to Kitchen Stuff Plus, one of my favourite places in the universe. I went in for a spatula and came out with a haul, including these nifty little guys:

They’re cupcake cups, but made of silicone so you can bake the cupcakes right in them! So cute and colourful. I was itching to post this find on here before, but wanted Kabuki to be surprised on NSF Day, so I kept my mouth shut until now.

The Ugliest Cake In History, however, had become something of a nostalgia by now, after all of our struggles, so I still wanted the cupcakes to reflect the old cake in some visual way. So I adorned each one with one of my ridiculous decorations from the old cake. And since my decorating skillz are so…interpretive that it may be difficult to tell what any of these illustrations are, I made another funky image map to explain them! To view it, click on the image below:

After enjoying a delicious meal that Michelle so kindly brought home from Chipotle, we sauntered over to Kabuki and the Good Doctor’s place to share the cupcakes and congratulations on all of our hard work. The cupcakes were a hit! I am really proud of the both of us.

And I have a whole cake left at home yet to be decorated… There may be more ridiculousness in that department still to come.

I made it through March!!

I have officially made it through the contest period. I expect that phone call telling me I have won my car any day now. I’ll settle for dinner at Chipotle, though, which is what my darling Michka is going to get for me tonight. Yum!

I am also making cake. I would have someone make cake for me but the truth is that my icing is the best icing and I won’t settle for anything else. It will look like it was decorated by a five-year-old, but it will be EPIC in flavour, I promise. I am going to pop by Kabuki’s place after dinner with some kind words and cake to share, and then it’s back home for a nice quiet evening in for two (well, and Punky makes three) with movies and red wine. Sounds like a winner to me!

Let’s have a closer look at that calendar.

I’M A NON-SMOKIN’ FOOL!!!!

Wow, this week flew by. I barely even had time to document the week’s struggle here, which I suppose means that it’s getting easier to live without thinking about smoking all the time.

After all of my talk of side effects the other day, I forgot to mention one very important one: I spend next to no money when I am not smoking! I rarely go out and don’t drink, don’t throw money away on stink-sticks and instead use the cash on other more enjoyable things. Which means that my money jar is already accumulating some serious dough!!

That’s what I’m talking about. I’m fucking rich.

So it’s been nearly two weeks since I last smoked a cigarette and my body is feeling the burn! I have attempted to be pretty positive around here, focusing on the goals and rewards that Kabuki and I set out and patting myself on the back while ignoring the fact that my head hurts, I am cranky and sleepy, my stomach is bloated and I can’t sleep for shit.

While I think it is really important to focus on the good stuff, the reasons for quitting and staying quit, I also think it is worth it to acknowledge the pain of the transition—if only to further remind myself what a hard task I am taking on and what a rockstar I am for doing it. And also because I need to vent about it.

Quitting does a number on a body, especially cold turkey. My head hurts every day and I am really tired all of the time, even when I do sleep a full night. I guess cutting out my only real stimulant has an effect on me. Strangely, though, I also have sleep troubles, waking in the middle of the night and finding myself unable to fall asleep again. Which doesn’t help with the headaches, let me tell you.

Then I have digestive issues: either I can’t go to the bathroom or I can’t stop. I’m bloated and feel like the ugliest lump on the planet. It’s like I have my period all the time. Wait. I guess that’s too much information. Moving on, then.

Kabuki has reported, and I have to say that I have noticed this too, some pain in the breasts. Too much information again? Sorry. Um…I am breaking out a bit, but I think that’s because I am eating more baked goods than usual. Mmmm, nothing cuts a nic-fit like some old fashioned plain doughnuts from Timmy Ho’s!

*Ahem*

I feel a bit sick, too, but not as much so as the last time I quit, two years ago. That time I coughed up nasty coloured substances for about three weeks straight before I finally took a deep breath and enjoyed it. This time I am just a bit stuffed up and am clearing my throat a bit at night before bed. And already most of that has actually passed.

In better news, Michka tells me I snore less. And although I have been eating more baked goods, I haven’t noticed myself eating uncontrollably; I am actually able to curb cravings and tend to eat when I am actually hungry. I hope that means I won’t have to put on the extra few pounds I usually put on when quitting. I’m about as heavy as I want to be.

Also, I know that the sickness, the sleeplessness, even the irritability are my body’s way of working out the addiction. It’s healing itself, which is a painful and slow process. Kinda like the economy or something. But it will get better right? My body, I mean. The economy has gone to shit. That’s why I play Cash For Life.

I’ve already won $34 in the last two weeks! Yeehaw.