Fanging Out On Flies

I recently found a new hobby; growing succulents, carnivorous plants and cacti. I have always been a bit of a brown thumb, with plants dieing all around me. Yet my partner and I got a cutting from a succulent and so far it has grown really well (Pictured left 29-12-06.)





A few days ago my man brought me an addition to my new hobby; a fly trap pictured below. I brought him the Old man Oscar, also pictured below. He loves cacti, and carnivorous plants too.

I am so proud of my trap he caught 3 flies today! He hadn't caught any until today. So I am so happy. Can you see the fly in the trap?:

Still craving a cigarette after 6 months

It has been 6 months and 5 days since my partner and I gave up smoking. I honestly didn't conceive of it being so difficult. For some reason I thought that I could give up at anytime and it wouldn't even bother me. I was very wrong!

I had tried to give up in the past, yet my effort had never been past the first day. Due to the fact my father would go and buy me a packet every time I tried to give up. Therefore I had no idea how hard it was going to be. It was no big deal to smoke when I was younger. At the time I gave up I had been smoking for 15 years, at around 40 cigarettes a day.

I thought that after the initial couple of days of cravings I would be getting along just fine, and would never want a cigarette again, oh how wrong I was. After the first couple of weeks of cravings, of feeling very sick, and having a weird symptoms, I entered the next couple of weeks of more cravings, weird things coming out of my skin, and more feeling sick.
I no longer felt as tired and down all the time, and my energy levels sky rocketed. Sleeping was short, and filled with strange dreams/nightmares. I suddenly felt a new appreciation for so many things, especially the cleanliness of my home. Everything I did and felt was different, it felt like things were no longer going through the cigarette filter.
Yet some of this subsided in the 2nd month of giving up. I can't believe how hard the tobacco companies had me. I was truly hooked, and it was effecting my life in ways I could not have imagined. I am not sure that I still know how badly these drugs/chemicals have effected my brain, and general health.

I still have cravings today, 6 months later. I watched my partners son having a smoke today, and it drove me around the bend. I had to stop myself several times asking him for just one smoke. This is not a nice feeling, in fact it was a down right awful feeling. I can't believe how much just looking at his empty packet in the rubbish bin effected me.

My advice to anyone who wants to give up, go for it! You will feel so much better in the long run. Cigarettes are far worse for you, and effect you in many more ways than you could possibly imagine. I'm sure that the ways that tobacco companies target exact parts of the brain, and how these chemicals really effect you will come out eventually, yet for the time being please please be careful.