10.23.00

Dear Invisible Internet Friend, Casual Reader, and Everyone In-between,

I'm going to take a short internet break, but please don't be alarmed. This is not an attention needy GOODBYE FOREVER message and my brief departure is not the result of some dreadful life changing event. I simply need a bit of time to get used to not smoking. To "catch my breath", if pitiful puns please you. (Not to mention alarming alliteration.)

Let me explain. Have you ever taken a hot shower for too long? It starts out feeling good, but after awhile the bathroom is so steamy you can barely breath, let alone see. Your skin becomes puckered and stingy and you no longer feel refreshed, but sluggish and dull. When you finally do step out, cool dry air hits you like a blast of clarity and you feel nothing but relief.

Quitting smoking has been like that transition, only slower.

It's also been a bit like being dragged kicking and screaming into the gaping maw of an aching and joyless hell, but the two parts are evening out now. Honest.

One thing I'm profoundly sure of is that I will never smoke again. Well, there are two things I've grown sure of. I will never smoke again, AND I can't stand this website anymore. I loathe the limitations of diaryland and I despise the layout. The creepy b/w pictures of me alone are precious enough to make me ill.

So, I'm taking a break to rethink what it is I'm really doing here and to maybe re-invent "Pinch Me, I'm Dreaming". It began very casually, but after nearly a year and a hundred hits a day later, I'm ready for a change. I imagine you are too.

If you care to be notified of my new URL when I return, please join the list. I might even update there from time to time. (Rest assured, you will not be subjected to spam as long as you do not check any of their newsletter options during sign up.)

To everyone who wrote during the initial stages of my quit, from forty miles outside of Chicago, to the wilds of Nigeria, there aren't words to describe my appreciation. It's like I've had the whole world rooting for me. Overwhelming.

Thank you.
Grazie.
Mo dupe lowo e.
Gunax lbh.

Goodnight little reader, I won't be gone long. I'd miss you too much.

xoxo,
Gracie

P.S. I'll be keeping an eye on some of favorite online reads, and I suggest you do the same. Keep up with them, and you'll hardly miss me. Trust me on this one. Marquis, Jen, Rob, Lisa, Kev, Metrocake, and always, Uncle Bob. Be good you guys. See you on the flip side.