Rapparee that's a great plan!

So how's it going these days, Gnu? Did you take that cessation course mentioned last month?

I admire your self control being able to cut down. Cutting down didn't work for me and my 2 packs a day addiction. In 2003 I made the decision to quit with the help of the patch. Main motivation: I finally chose to honour my husband's fear of a fire. Bonus motivation: We had a trip planned that included an 8 hour flight (=11 hours unable to smoke and I didn't want to be miserable for 9 or 10 of those hours), with an overnight non-smoking train ride and a lengthy bus ride into the mix. And I cannot abide nicotine gum!

Basically smoking became more guilt & nuisance than pleasure. Embarrassing truth be told though, if smoking became socially acceptable again I'm not sure I would remain a non-smoker. I think I would, out of respect for my husband and to save my lung capacity for singing. But there is something awfully powerful about tobacco. Cruel stuff. Maybe it's a good thing I couldn't cut down; if I could have I might still be smoking a few, outside the house, even up to half a pack per day just to enjoy it. Pathetic, I know!

Despite the occasional urges, it sure felt good when I hit the one-year mark tobacco-free. My blood pressure was borderline before I quit but I didn't need any medication to balance side effects of the patch.

The biggest tricks to minimize my suffering were all in my head:
1. distraction during an urge to smoke (a bucket of water dumped over me would have certainly been that, but I opted for drier ways)
2. trust that the urge would pass--these are rare now, but still do happen occasionally.

Keep us posted!