~~~Heart Tugs~~~


 *GrammaCeeCee*

 GrammaCeeCee shares with fellow members the beautiful gift she received from her son...a gift that brought tears of joy!

 "My 35 year old son...gave me the greatest gift last night and I just wanted to share it with you...

 He said, "Most of the things I find pleasureable in life are the gifts you gave me as a mother... You taught me to love music, to appreciate romance, gave me the belief that things will always work out, and taught me to treat people how I wish to be treated."

 "He made my heart happy and it's smiling, too! (This is what I've taught my 2 year old granddaughter.....she makes Gramma CeeCee's heart smile)."

 Thanks for sharing CeeCee! His words and actions are indeed a reflection of YOU!

 ........_..%..
 .......(_).\/..
 ....../.|.\.|..
 ...../..|......
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 ......./..\...
 .......D..D..

 Special Delivery...Flowers


 ~~~News in Review~~~

 .__`
 .(__)
 ...}...
 ~`-~..Our thoughts and prayers
 ...{....for Carol and her family


 *dolphun (Carol)*

 Information about Carol and her son's fire>>
 From lilacmamma on 5/12/2005 7:47:46 AM

 We are trying to see if a local bank has a fund set up for donations out there, for these families,Carol will try and see if it is possible,,,,,,I am sure any little bit would help so many families ~~~and I would be glad to help also~~and sure others here also would!!


http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/

 .......___.............
 ....{l`--.--`..........
 ...{{\.......`..........No new members today
 ...{/``-`--,/=`....
 ...`\._._`;`..\.\.....But the door is always
 ....................|.|.....open!
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 ............l`\.././.._...
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 ~~~Group Therapy~~~

 ........................._..--n--.
 .........................\|'-------'|-,
 ......(.........)........|...........| ))
 ......`).....(..........|...........|-'
 ..C(__).(__)D........'._____.'

 Come on in for a cup of coffee/tea/juice and a wee chat!


 If you've ever posted for HELP...what did you expect to hear?
 Were you looking for gentle words, a kick in the butt, advice, or acceptance?


 How to Help another Quitster Cope With a Crisis

 If you are a friend of a person who has just experienced a crisis or traumatic event, it can be difficult to know how best to help this person. You may be wondering what's the "right" thing to say and how you can best help your friend. Below are a few suggestions for helping friends who are experiencing a crisis:

 - Manage Your Own Anxiety. It's normal to feel anxious, even afraid, when someone is expressing a lot of emotion. Remain calm and give this person your undivided attention.

 - Listen Without Judgment. Many people feel very vulnerable when seeking help from others, and, as a result, they need to experience acceptance and compassion in order to feel safe being vulnerable. Judging someone's experience is often experienced as rejecting, and is usually not helpful. Listen to your friend's experience and refrain from evaluating it.

 - Affirm Your Friend's Feelings. Acknowledging a feeling such as sadness, helplessness, or anger can give your friend permission to experience and express it. Sometimes just being able to identify the feeling can result in a decrease in anxiety and an increase in a sense of control.

 - There's No Manual. Unfortunately, there's no manual detailing how we should react to a crisis. Some persons freely express their feelings, some don't. Each one of us will react to a crisis in a different way. There are no "right" or "wrong" reactions to a crisis. As a friend, your best approach is to openly share your observations and concerns while simultaneously giving the person permission to react in her/his own way.

 - Applaud Friend's Decision to Seek Help. It can be hard for some to be vulnerable and ask others for help. Some may feel ashamed for not being able to cope with the crisis on their own. Affirm that seeking help is a sign of strength, not weakness and applaud the person's courage.

 - Take care of yourself. It's not uncommon for us to seek out support for ourselves when helping someone in crisis. The experience of helping someone can be emotionally draining and can touch on some powerful feelings of our own. Eating healthily, exercising, and seeking out help when needed are all ways of taking care of yourself so that you can effectively support your friend.

 A perfect example -- Some quitsters have recognized that they need a time out from Quitnet...a time to take care of themselves.

 .O...O..O...O..O..O....
 /W\/I\./N\/N\/E\/R\...
 ./.\./.\./.\./.\./.\./.\....

 WINNER'S CIRCLE

 When responding to a post for HELP...think first before you respond....Your choice of words could help save a life or....cause further anxiety! We're not here as professionals. We're here as friends helping friends!

 Have a Nice Day!

 ...........u...........................................
 ..._,O_/......O........O.u........O........
 ../.(..).....u/O\....../|V......../|\u.....
 ===>>===<<====<<====<<===
 .....bb..........``...........``........``......

 Cheers...Here's to the smokefree life!

http://momsplace.www1.50megs.com/rules.html

 ~~Members and Statistics~~


 Come Vine with Me!

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 ................Angelface71....\_\|/_/....BozzyCA..........
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 ..............cathycameron....\_\|/_/....carole1226.....
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 ..............CindyLouHoot....\_\|/_/....cd1958...........
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 ..................ClearColors....\_\|/_/....Cochina..........
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 .......................dolphun....\_\|/_/....donna135......
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 ......................driven47....\_\|/_/....Dungot2old....
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 .............GrammaCeeCee....\_\|/_/....hellodollyUT...
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 ........Joanneheathermary....\_\|/_/....Kat1033.........
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 ................kb-smokefree....\_\|/_/.....kingsmama....
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 ...................Ladybug70....\_\|/_/....lavenderMN....
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 .........................Leela4....\_\|/_/....lil_mouse........
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 ............LivingInFreedom....\_\|/_/....lilacmamma....
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 .......................lindaokc....\_\|/_/....marc0022.......
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 ......................maude41....\_\|/_/....Mikeyfan........
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 .....................mimiforsix....\_\|/_/....Misty101........
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 .........................NeedU....\_\|/_/....pghill......... ..
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 .........................PuffNC....\_\|/_/....quitgrandma..
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 ......................rebekkah....\_\|/_/....rosiereal58....
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 ..............sassylady19672...\_\|/_/....saharris.........
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 .....................skylarann....\_\|/_/....Sucha1...........
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 .........................ToniOL....\_\|/_/....toughgirl73...
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 ......................unlocked....\_\|/_/....yzingup1.......
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 Please don't forget to pick up your Grape Hug today!
http://www.link4u.com/grapevine.htm

 *Today there are 46 members on the Friendship Vine

 *The 46 members between them have approximately..


 ..........[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]....
 ..........][......*........................*.....][...
 ..........[]...........67+ children...........[]....
 ..........][.......36+ grandchildren........][...
 ..........[]............19+ cats...............[]...
 ..........][............12+ dogs..............][...
 ..........[].......2 parrots, 2 turtles......[]...
 ..........][............a lot of fish...........][...
 ..........[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]....

 The 46 members of this club have together saved $28,683.21 and 3 years, 218 days, 12 hours of their lives!


 ~~~Today's Top Headlines -- Friday May 13, 2005~~~


 *Maude41 (Maude)*

 We're singing praise for you because today you are a TWEENER!!!!!

 ........................===..................
 .....O................|.....|.................
 .......|.............O....O*..........|\...
 ........................................O....

 So crank up the tunes and let's PARTY!
 50 smokefree days and going strong. Maude you are one awesome quitster!

 Just say where and when and we'll be celebrating with you at your Wiener Roast! Yehaaaa!!! Throw a few more logs on the fire, pull out the weenies and roast to your heart's content!

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 ..........................(_)^(_)()(_)^...Yummy!
 ........................^^^^^^^^^^..

 Congratulations Maude! We're mighty proud of our newest TWEENER!

 ..........................<\/><\/>
 ...................<\/></\></\><\/>
 ...............</\>.....................</\>
 ...............<\/>....TWEENER....<\/>
 ...............</\>......................</\>
 ...............<\/>.....50 Days......<\/>
 ...............</\>........Quit.......</\>
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 ...................</\><\/><\/><\/>
 ..........................</\></\>
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 ............................/../.\..\.
 .........................../../...\..\.
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 Weenies are flying all our the Q in honour of YOU!!!



 The Quitnet Cheerleaders are out in full force rootin' and tootin' for two awesome SOKsters... both celebrating their 3 month anny!!!!

 ......O/.......\O/.........\O/.......\O.....
 ....<Q....'----U----'......I..........T>...
 ....../.\.....................(.\......../.\...

 \\O//\\O//\\O//\\O//\\O//\\O//\\O//O\\O//\\O//
 ~clappin' and cheerin' and screamin' with joy!~


 *BozzyCA (Janis)*

 Holy moly...Bozzy is zippin' through her quit in style!

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 Balloons, music, noisemakers and dancing!!

 Yahooooooo...yehaaaaaaa...yippity do da day!!!!
 You're lookin' mighty fine today as you hurdle over your 3 month smokefree quit. WTG Q-buddy just keep moving forward with that awesome quit tucked safely in your bag of dreams!


 *Rosiereal58 (Vicki)*

 Yipeeee!!! What a day for a celebration!!! Your circle of friends have you surrounded Vicki in celebration of your 3 months....without even a puff!!!!

 ......._......_......_....._....._.........
 ...__( )__.( )__.( )__( )__( )__......Vicki!!!
 .......--.'...--.-- .--.-- .--. .--. -- .--'......
 ...../ _ \../ _ \./ _ \./ _ \./ _ \........We're mighty
 .....(/ \)...(/ \).(/ \).(/ \)..(/ \).........proud of you!!!

 Stand proud and enjoy your praise....for you have fought this battle with determination and courage!!!!!


 C*O*N*G*R*A*T*U*L*A*T*I*O*N*S

 .~~~BozzyCA and Rosiereal58~~~.

 .~~You two ROCK OUR WORLD!~~.

 .....................qQQQQq...
 ...............qQQQQQQQQQq
 ............qQQ.....~**~....QQq
 ..........qQQ.....................QQq
 ..........qQQ.......Three.......QQq
 ..........qQQ.......Months.....QQq
 ...........qQQ.......Quit........QQq
 ...........qQQ....................QQq
 ..............qQQ...~**~...QQq
 .................qQQQQQQQQq
 ......................qQQQQQQqqq
 .........................................qqq

 There's a sweet smell of success surrounding you girls and it's contagious!!!!!

 .......................)........(................
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 .............="'^"""^""^"""^""=......
 ............(//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\}....
 .............~\~~~~`~~~~~/~.....
 ................`~-------------~.............`


http://www.asandboxgreeting.com/yourownmusic.html

 ~*~*Fireworks~~*Thunderous applause~~*Cheers and tears of joy~*~*

 ~*~*~*~What a fabulous array of quitsters!!!!!~*~*~*~

 ~*~*~*~Congratulations to each and every one of YOU!~*~*~*~*



 ~~~~~~~~Special Feature Story~~~~~~~


 To date, the following VP's have registered:

 dolphun (Carol) ~~> Flying dolphin -- (Mojo)

 Sucha1 (Marsha) ~~> Siberian Husky -- (Sucha)

 kb-smokefree (Trina) ~~> Midnight Cat -- (Indigo)

 Rosiereal (Vicki) ~~> Hologram of a Pretty Awesome Woman -- (Carmelita)

 Driven47 (Diane) ~~> (Moses)

 NeedU (Susan) ~~> Siberian Snow Kitty-Cat -- (Micha)

 Carole1226 (Carole) ~~>Looks like camel, talks like parrot, walks like turtle -- (Carottle)

 donna135 (Donna) ~~> Orange tabby cat -- (FredII)

 lilacmamma (Nina) ~~> Koala bear -- (Gordy)

 quitgrandma (Gail) ~~> Hummingbird -- ( Fiesty)

 GrammaCeeCee ~~> Wild Thing -- Max

 LivingInFreedom (Gina) ~~> Robin -- Roberta

 Joanneheathermary (Jo) ~~> Silver Dragon -- FaithHopeCharity

 saharris (Sandi) ~~> Little Black Himalayan (reincarnated) -- EWOK

 Kat1033 (Kathi, Kat) ~~> Unihye or a Cornena -- TaVa
 (cross between a Unicorn and a Laughing Hyena (but a really, really cute one and funny like Whoopi in the Lion King)


~~**Please register your pet**~~


Soon, I will try to draw a scene with all our VPs in attendance...I will upgrade as each quitster introduces his/her pet....so feel free to register your pet!!!!! Post in the club or email it to me!



-===*===`.`.`.`.`.`Points to Ponder`.`.`.`.`.`.`===*===-

 .../............
 ../|............
 *..\_O_....
 ......(...)\...
 ....../--\.|..
 ......|...|.....
 .....d...d.....

Fight to the finish!

SMOKING MYTHS

No one has to smoke - it's a free choice.