{Cigarettes and Crocheting}

Last night I dreamed about laundry and how much I had to do when we still smoked. Happy Anniversary to us! It's been four years since Brian & I stopped smoking. Now, we can wear an article of clothing more then once, (hence, there is less laundry each week), I don't huff & puff climbing two sets of stairs with said laundry, we are $20.00 richer each day (a pack of cigarettes averages $10 here), and we are no longer offensive to the people around us. Each day without those stinkers is a good day.

Going back four years......I knew that I would need something to do at night while I was sitting in front of the tv to keep me occupied so I would not think about smoking. Smoking isn't only a physical addiction (which was being taken care of by a nicotine patch and inhaler) but also a mental addiction. I needed an activity that would keep my hands occupied. {Crocheting} would be my salvation. I enlisted Brian's niece Donna to teach me some of the basics and she provided me with my first pattern. I ran to {Michael's} to purchase the yarn for my first crochet project.....an afghan for Steph.

It took me a few tries to get it right. Somehow my rows got longer as I went along so I had to do some ripping out. Eventually I got it done and Steph loved it. Over the next year I made afghans for all of Steph's college roomies....6 in total, three for { Project Linus }and one for Brian. The next year I made two Christmas gifts and two baby gifts and another afghan for Steph .... I was afghan crazy. I'm not even going to mention all the scarves I crocheted. I really believe that the crocheting helped me finally kick the stinky habit.  Currently I'm working on an afghan for Danny in his Lehigh colors. It should have been done already but the {quilting} has me snagged right now. I promised I'd have it done before the end of the Thanksgiving break.  Sheet....that's only three weeks away.