How I Quit Smoking

One year six months and two days ago I quit smoking for what I hope is that last time. This is officially the longest I have ever quit (yeah me!) by about 10 days. Some days it is still a battle, but most days it is like I never smoked. How did I do it? Not the patch, or gum, or hypnosis, but the single girl way …

I was to be a bridesmaid in a wedding for the lovely SnH in the summer of 2005 and that meant traveling back toward the centre of the universe for a holiday. I hadn’t traveled home since I had moved so there were many, many people to see, places to go and cocktails to be had. It was being called the great wedding tour of 2005 as I was going to be attending a stag and doe, a bridal shower and stand in a wedding (yes for three different couples) all in the span of 10 days.

To back up a little, I had been thinking about quitting smoking for some time but knew that quitting before the wedding was foolish as many of my friends back at the centre of the universe still smoked, including SnH, her mother and all of the other bridesmaids. Trying to quit before a stressful and party filled time would be an absolute failure for me so instead I did what any reasonable person would do, I increased my nicotine intake in preparation for never having it again.

The great wedding tour of 2005 was fantastic. I was out all the time. I was doing lunch with one small group, early cocktails with one person, with another and then joining a party late in the evening and catching up over pints and pints of beer. This was the routine for week leading up to the wedding. As you can well imagine my liver (and my lungs) were primed for the main event. Eight straight days of partying had me prepared to be the best kind of bridesmaid ever, the slightly tipsy on the dance floor, but in control fun girl that every bride wants at her side. The two days leading up to the actual wedding we were running around town picking up last minute things, having dinners together, drinking wine and beer, smoking (about 1 ½ packs a day each) and laughing a lot – well SnH was a bit stressed, but the rest of us were definitely laughing.

The big day came and we spent the morning getting our hair done, putting on our make up and making our way to the mother of the brides house to don our dresses and have our photos taken by the photographer. From the time we woke up until the time we got the ceremony someone always had a cigarette on the go, on the way to the ceremony we had to stop at a gas station so that all the bridal party could pick up an extra pack of smokes – because heaven forbid we should run out at the country club.

The wedding ceremony was beautiful and the happy couple was hitched by late afternoon. Following the ceremony we had to do pictures for about an hour outdoors around the course, but all the champagne was being served indoors so we sent someone off to get cigarettes and some champagne to make sure the bridal party was properly lubricated and smoked up for the pictures. We smoked and drank and laughed and played for the photo session. Everyone had a ball (and about 4 glasses of champagne). Once pictures were done it was cocktail hour (read 3 more cocktails) and then some dinner.

I had been on holidays for over a week now and my pocket book was a little thin from the great wedding tour and all the auxiliary events so when I noticed that no one else at the head table was drinking the white wine on my table I thought to myself, I like white wine, summer is a great time to drink white, I could save a bit of cash by having the free white wine for a few hours ... white wine it is. Over the next few hours I drank the entire litre of wine. Some with dinner, some through speeches then after dinner while mingling before the dance floor got going.

At about midnight the best man bought everyone interested a shooter. Why not I thought, it is a lovely gesture and still drinking for free this is good. Then the groomsman I walked down the aisle with bought me a beer. Then I bought a beer, then he bought another beer and then I had a little more wine and we hit the dance floor for a few tunes. Then came what I would call the tipping point of the evening. Mr. Groomsman, his girlfriend and I headed back to the bar one more time and ordered a shoot, a shoot of banana and Jack. I had never had a banana and jack before and it was free and again I thought why not. As it was going down I knew I shouldn’t have drank it but by then it was much too late. One more beer and then we would get on the last bus back to the hotel.

Being the good bridesmaid that I was at the end of the evening I helped to round up the last of the folks for the bus, made sure I had all my stuff and that the bride was happy. Just as we were about the pull the bus away the bride yelled “Stop, we don’t have the flowers, I want the bouquets.” “ I’ll get those” I said and quickly hopped of the bus. It was at this moment that I new things were not well, my vision became blurry and I couldn’t walk very well but I got the flowers went back to the bus, put them on my lap and we were on our way.

The ride home was to be about a half hour and I thought maybe if I just close my eyes for a few minutes everything will be fine. I closed my eyes and the world started to spin and the bus started to bounce (very bad combination), so I did what every drunk person does, I closed one eye and held on to the seat in front of me for dear life. I just kept telling my stomach, half an hour that is all you have to do, hold on for half an hour and then we will be off the bus and everything will be fine. And you know what my stomach listened. For 30 minutes my stomach held on listening to my pleas. At minute 31 we were still on the bus and my stomach proclaimed times up! and I threw up all over the bus, then out the window and on the bouquets. Then I was sick in the hotel room.

It was mortifying. I had been such a good bridesmaid up until that point and then in one truly fowl swoop it was all gone, I was no longer a bridesmaid I was (and probably always will be) the girl that threw up on the bus. The next day I was toxic. I don’t know if I have even felt so sick. I couldn’t even think about smoking, I was hung over, with little to no sleep, my throat burned and the embarrassment was almost worse than the other three put together.

The hangover lasted about three days and my throat burned for about five so the first few days of withdrawal from smoking was beyond easy. After that my determination, the encouragement of my friends and the promise of this dinner if I stay quit gave me the extra will I needed to keep going. And now here I am smoke free for one year and six months and I guess I have SnH and Mr. Jack Daniels to thank for that.

Happy 1 ½ year wedding anniversary SnH and hubby!

Xo
The Single Girl