be Alert, and The Bike Ride (a 2-fer)

oh hey y'all...i need to be serious and personal here for a minute. if you decide to quit smoking...good for you! i support you. If you decide to use Chantix, it will help, but please be careful. i have just spent a few days inside a hell inside my head. well, not hell, but nearby. the biggest side effect they stress is nausea. oh and gas. so here you go about your non-smoking just fearing the hurl and poot. but there are OTHER side effects that you should at least be aware of so you can get help if you need help. like agitation. like depression. you may feel blood pressure issues that cause problems, your eyes may hurt, and a bunch more. and until you've experienced agitation, i must say it sounds like a wonderful way to get some housework done. but lovelies, this is horrible. there is no comfort in what you feel - it's exactly like the Lou Ferrigno Hulk thing, without the green. and a tiny part of my brain that ran and hid behind the door was terrified that this would all stick like that....and here i was 3 days away from my dream of Squam. which made me more afraid. i've never wanted to know the side-effects of medicines because the mind is a strong facilitator for good healing...or a total jokester when it knows it can convince the colon to just let things rip,and the medicine will get the blame. but i think, in this case, i should have looked into this a bit more....something powerful enough to make me quit smoking must certainly have a few things that need a raised eyebrow. so i'm not saying it's a bad or evil drug...just be fully informed. and if your doctor isn't informed enough by the drug rep that sold it to him, or didn't spend time reading up on it, then before you take the first pill, go to the website and check BOTH the patient info AND the physicians info. so enough ranting about that. i say it because i care. and i am much better today thanks. **now - one of the GOOD things i did for myself yesterday was go mountain biking with husband along the shores of Lake Ontario. we got up early-ish and grabbed some subs, borrowed a bona fide mountain bike for me (the Stinger being more for looks on-road) and headed up to the lake. it was amazing! the surf kicking at us, riding through the waves mid-calf deep, finding a baby snapping turtle about 2" across - it looked all medieval...black bumpy shell and all. we ate our subs and fed some gulls (which if you read the top portion of this post, you'll understand when i say i had a deep understanding of what they wanted). we didn't want to leave, so we kept riding around the park area...saw 6 deer and! yes! More Poison Ivy! happy day i missed it though. i'm planning a trip to Urgent Care today to see about a shot or Something...maybe a medical cheese grater. who knows, but i want this G-O-N-E. it looks gross. it feels gross. and i do not deserve this. so BE GONE IVY! but back to the day...it was wonderful to spend time by my Lake...this year the kayaks never fret about getting wet - husband's new car doesn't have a roof rack, so we couldn't haul the yaks anywhere. we went 1 day to Beaver Lake and used their rentals, but after 15 minutes that was pretty much done. small lake...nothing to see. by next year i'll be craving some white water! enough for this morning here...i'm hungry. have a good day - thank you for being my friend...ignore anything weird yesterday please...and ttfn...L.