It’s been 20 years ago today that I quit smoking for good. It was my thirty-eighth birthday and I was just barely pregnant with the twins. Once, several years earlier, I had quit for seven years. After I became a cocktail waitress I started smoking again in self defense. The smoke at the bar was really bothersome, so “knowing I could quit anytime I decided” I picked up that other “first” cigarette. Well, long story short, it was easier to quit at the bar than to give up cigarettes a second time.

When I quit for the final time it was 1985. There are still occasions when I really want a cigarette, but I know how much easier it is to get hooked again and have managed to persevere in my determination to never smoke again.

The temperature is -13 and should be on its way to warming up to the mid-teens to 20’s. The clouds should be returning and act as a blanket to keep some of the daytime warmth through the night. Right now, the sun is shining and the snow is glistening. The eagles are soaring and searching for food. The moose are basking in the sunlight. We should have about 8 hours 15 minutes of daylight today.

So, as I’ve been writing this, I’ve been watching the frost inside my windows melt in the sunlight as I’m sipping my latte freeze. I can have a latte freeze today. After all, I’m celebrating an anniversary and a birthday!