Things around the White household have been fairly hectic lately. Besides the busyness of everyday life, over the past week and a half, my wife and I have been watching a deck being built in our back yard. The construction hasn’t bothered us too much, not directly anyway, but it has thrown our dog out of whack – which indirectly impacts us.

Progress on the deck was slowed due to weather but as the weekend approached I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Everything would be wrapped up just in time for a few days of beautiful weather. Unfortunately, I had a busy weekend ahead of me and I was concerned that I wouldn’t get time to properly enjoy a cigar out on the deck.

On Saturday I spent the bulk of my day in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania cheering on the members of Stowe Archers as they competed in a State Championship Shoot. The kids did great and the adults didn’t shoot half-bad either. On Sunday my family spent the day attending my nephew’s baptism – which was followed up by a party.

Finally, Sunday afternoon, I saw my opportunity to break away and have a little time for myself. Don’t get me wrong, celebrating with friends and family is nice and all that but, as an introvert (in person anyway, I’ll talk your ear off online….) I find the whole event mentally exhausting. I was in desperate need of a little time to myself to decompress.

I kissed my wife and daughter goodbye and made a quick stop over at Sir Stogies to pick up a couple cigars. As I pulled into the parking lot I drove past a couple of the regulars sitting out back, enjoying cigars. I ran inside, picked up a couple of sticks, and headed home after chatting for a bit.

When I got home I immediately began pulling out patio furniture and setting up my peaceful little spot to relax. I had finished up and just sat down to read how to get furniture factory China to send over my furniture, and my wife and daughter got home. With Pandora playing, a cold beer on the table in front of me, and a cigar at the ready, I began to relax.

It was an amazing few minutes….

Once my wife and daughter were situated, they came outside to join me. My daughter ran out into the yard and proceeded to play on her swing set. My wife sat down at the table and we talked. Our dog laid in the grass, beside the deck, and I puffed slowly on my cigar. It was an amazing few minutes.

In an effort to better position herself in the shade, my wife moved her chair around the table. Our light conversation was interrupted by a sudden “Ew, that thing stinks”. So that my wife wouldn’t be directly down-wind of my cigar, I opted to move my chair, which put me right into the sun. Not a big deal but a minor annoyance nonetheless.

The conversation shifted from light to moderately serious and it was continually interrupted with “Hey Daddy!” or “Mommy, look at this!” Our daughter wasn’t intentionally trying to be rude but she was succeeding in getting my blood pressure up. Finally, she went in to the house to play.

As the cloak of peacefulness began to descend on me once again, my in-laws stopped over for a quick visit. My in-laws are great and I like when they visit, however, my dog becomes a giant pain in the ass when they arrive. Ordinarily our dog behaves well and is fairly relaxed. When my father in-law visits, our dog gets all wound up. He’ll listen for a minute and then forgets that he is 60 pounds but wants to be a lap dog anyway. To make matters worse, his leader (we don’t have a fence so we use a long dog tie-out to keep him away from the busy street) repeatedly got wrapped around chairs.

When my in-laws said their goodbyes, our dog went back out to the grass to sleep. The breeze began to pick up and my wife went inside. The little annoyances were chipping away at my sanity but I had two inches of cigar left and it was going to awesome! At that moment my phone rang. Every fiber of my being told me to ignore the call but I took it anyway.

As I hung up the phone, my wife stuck her head out of the house and asked me if I wanted to run out for a quick bite to eat for dinner. My cigar was cold in the ashtray and starting over while the house was empty was out of the question.

By this point you’re probably wondering about the moral of the story? Well, it is very simple. Sometimes, no matter how beautiful the weather, you just can’t beat sitting in a dark & smokey cigar lounge.

Do you have a relaxing place at home to enjoy a cigar?