Syzygy - 10:13 am on Jan 9, 2010 (gmt 0)

Thanks for reminding me of that thread, VT.

That's four and a half years I've been off the 'evil weed', although I have to hold my hands up in answer to Ken's question. Yes, I still get cravings and, on about three occasions over that time, always when too much alcohol is involved (usually cocktails), I've smoked a cigarette or two.

Have always regretted it the next day - that lingering stale smell around my face, hair, hands and clothes, and a mouth like the bottom of a budgie's cage (although I fully accept that the cocktails might well contribute). Yuk!

The life-changing momentum of that first year of quitting, as described in that thread, continued. Exactly a year after posting it, and thus two years after quitting smoking, I left my job at a London publishing house, I company I'd been with for over 15 years.

Six months later I quit London too and moved to a sleepy suburb in the Netherlands to be with the wonderful woman described in the opening post of that earlier thread. Life is good - very good.

It is no exaggeration to say that quitting smoking was the key to opening up a whole new life, one I could never possibly have imagined.

Syzygy