Master of my Domain

Today I talked to this married guy I've known for a while and we caught up on the regular chit-chat and then I asked him how his family was doing. It's worth pointing out that this guy is around our age group...so he's still relatively young. The family consists of a wife, young daughter and step-son (think he is eleven'ish). Apparently, the step-son is becoming a man...sort of.

Come to find out the mom has walked in on the son a couple of times to find him flogging the dolphin. In one situation, the son hadn't been home more than 5 minutes from school. The mom walked in his bedroom and saw the son completely naked on the bed taking care of business. Now that is a kid on a mission. Probably came running home from the school bus to release those inner demons as quickly as possible.

Anyway, now my buddy has had a sit down to discuss the new habit. His advice was to take care of business in the bathroom so he can clean up appropriately and not be hassled. And his advice to the wife was to knock before walking into the son's bedroom.

To you new dads...see what you have to look forward to one of these days? And if you knew this guy I'm talking about he is probably one of the last people on earth (except for maybe the naked leprechaun) I would want counseling me about my solo organ career.

Breaking up is hard to do.....or Is It?

Well as the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end. After 14 wonderful years, I have ended my love affair with smoking. I am proud to announce that today is my 28th consecutive day without a cigarette. To the layperson, that is 4 weeks!

Why did I do it you ask? I honestly don't know. When it comes down to it, I love smoking. I suppose the only good answer I can come up with is that I know it is bad for me. Aside from that I love everything about it.

How did I do it you ask? Easy. 4 weeks ago I checked my luggage in at LAX as I prepared for my trip to the Philippines. Once my luggage was on it's way to the underbelly of the plane, I stepped outside, smoked my final cigarette and proceeded to board the plane bound for the land of little people. It wasn't easy but a steady diet of rice and Asian Tang sure helped. I know I know.....you are all curious to hear what I mean by Asian Tang. By Asian Tang, I mean the orange Tang drink. While on vacation, one of the resorts I stayed at tried to pawn off the powdered Tang mix as freshly squeezed Florida orange juice. I knew when I tasted it that something was up, but it wasn't until the next morning that I noticed one of the servers behind the bar mixing powdered Tang mix with water in a pitcher named “OJ”. Busted! But anyways, I digress.

So what does all this mean? It means that I must now retrain my body to function without a Marlboro in my hands. There are many things that prior to 4 weeks ago I had never experienced sober (without a cigarette). I started smoking at 15 so activities such as driving, drinking, gambling and sex are all things that I now get to enjoy smoke free. On a side note, all of those activities are much better enjoyed with a cigarette, but I'm hopeful that in time that will all change.

In closing, I am sure the time will come when I will smoke another cigarette or perhaps even a pack or two (upcoming trip to Starkville), but having experienced this 4 week hiatus, I am confident that aside from those few instances here and there that I will be able to stay the course and continue my journey of being smoke free.