.
Grin & Bear It



I had a decent weekend. I went with my wife to a bigger sized city in a nearby state. My wife had a workshop to attend, and I was able to go on the trip for free. It was very pleasant to get away.

We also had our annual Halloween Bash & October birthday party yesterday. It also went well. I dressed up as a biker again (having been out of town, I did not get a chance to put together a decent pirate outfit, which had been my original thought. I tried to model myself after the fellow above.

My wife had a few moments where she was grumpy at me during the weekend. It hurt my feelings, but instead of dwelling on it and getting myself upset as has been my typical response, I worked at "letting it go"... the anger and frustration. I did reasonably well. I am 100% sure in each of the 3 instances where it occurred, that I was not doing anything to make her angry... I was trying to be helpful in each case (NOTE: I also am not saying there are not times when I can be aggravating... I can be am trying to NOT BE so, but I am sure in these three instances I was not.). My wife has a tendency when stressed or tired to be "snappy" and even though it has taken me a helluva long time to figure this out, in situations where stress or tiredness are likely, it is best for me to avoid interacting with my wife. She eventually comes around again to her normal self, and we do not have to be at risk for having an argument.

In my effort to become a better person emotionally and spiritually, I am beginning a new journey to modify my pipe smoking. I am not saying that I am quitting. That idea seems too sad to me. Instead, I am embarking on a plan where I will allow myself two days a week in which I am able to smoke my pipe, and five days where I will refrain. I will only smoke my pipe moderately on those two days.... not excessively. I have picked Wednesday and Friday as the days I will indulge.

Quitting smoking my pipe seems sad to me emotionally, but it is something I should do. Yet, for me, smoking a pipe is something I greatly enjoy and have enjoyed since I was a young kid. I also have (perhaps unfortunately) a whole myriad of different "romantic", "historical", and "familial" ties to smoking a pipe. These are harder in many ways to shed than the shedding the physical enjoyment of the nicotine. I will likely write more tomorrow about this topic.

PipeTobacco