So def having some technical difficulties getting my posts for last week on the interweb. I keep trying to put them on the line, you know, to exchange a gram them, but they wont post. So here is attempt number 3. 
May long weekend #cigarSunday what a glorious thing it is to have 3 days off instead of 2. So knowing what the next few weeks were going to bring for me, 2 conferences in 3 weeks, we decided to take advantage of the weather this weekend to get our little slice of summer time heaven set up. The Casa Del Ryan Pool.
To be honest it is really one of the main reasons i even wanted to buy the house we have, having been a water bug most of my life the thought of having a pool in my backyard was a life long dream. Its above ground and not very big, but on the hot sweaty days of summer it is our saviour. 
The deck surrounding it is pretty killer as well, which is why all #cigarSundays have taken place there since this tradition started in the early pages of this blog. 
I am a little obsessed with the pool and go a little overboard with cleaning it on initial set up, but I like to know that it has been totally disinfected and that any bacteria from the previous fall and winter has been obliterated. My family for the most part just stands back and lets me go at it, because getting in the way or "helping" as they like to call it, can cause whining, nashing of teeth and sarcasm, so its best just to come out at the end and give the old tucker a ' great job dad' and quickly head back into the house. #perfectionistic #frankspeak
Anywho, it took 2 days but happy to report everything is up and functioning so once the weather heats up a bit, we will be open for business. 
So to celebrate the achievement of pool set up and getting the workouts out in this week, #cigarSunday was needed.
This week I went back to a new favorite with GlenDronach 12 year old scotch and a new cigar, the Romeo and Julieta Short Churchill.
Again, shout out to my outlaws for bringing this cigar back from a recent trip to Cuba.
It came in a 3 pack, all of which were in tubes, once i cracked the tube seal and had a smell of this little beauty i was in love. It has a light leather nose and is the medium tan color. I was pretty pumped to give this lil fella a try and figured the GlenDronach would be a great scotch to pair with it as it is extremely easy drinking and has such a sweet and vibrant flavor.
The Short Churchill was easy to cut and light, and a fantastic flavor, it almost had a nutty, cherry flavor which really set off the GlenDronach. It has a great ash, didnt burn to quickly and I could smoke it past the band and the flavor never became harsh or unpleasing. 
My only wish is that it was Presidente length because while it didnt burn quickly I wish there was more of it so that my time on the deck with a cigar could continue.
My wife and former sweetheart ( pictured above) also tried it and really liked the flavor. While she is not a regular cigar smoker, does enjoy the occasional one and would def try one on her own. She is going to have to pry the other two out my cold dead hand though haha. 
I am already looking forward to the next one this weekend as I seem to be on track with my workouts.
This #cigarSunday will be away from my beloved pool deck as I will be in London Ontario attending a conference. 
Anytime I travel, it is always an adventure, so stay tuned for next weeks blog, I am sure it will be filled with lost luggage, interesting travel companion stories and a what not to do when visiting another city.
Sean "BigBoyRunning" Ryan 

You can always tell a lot about someone by how they speak about their parents and more specifically about their mothers. There are many factors that can occur over a lifetime that can enhance, complicate, destroy or strengthen bonds that children have with mothers. 
As i was picking out a mothers day card before Mothers Day, I was standing beside another man that looked completely lost amongst the rows of flowery poems and glittery card faces, muttering to himself that he had no idea what to get.
Next to him were two women. As we all searched amongst the rows of sentimental greetings, the women were discussing the hows and whys the relationships they had with their respective mothers were not in great situations. 
They discussed this openly and loudly so i have no problem repeating this conversation here.
I wont go into detail but it focused around mistrust, alcohol abuse, poor decision making, and inability to communicate, resulting in not seeing or speaking to each other or having interaction with grandchildren until apologies were extended. ( I am paraphrasing - the details were more graphically expressed in the card reading cue)
As I was trying to find the simplest ' Mothers Day Humorous' card, I couldnt help but think to my own journey with my mother and how lucky that i have been to not be in a situation as described by my fellow card shoppers.
I am not going to go into an infinite number of reasons as to why my mom is awesome because my brother and I know why, her grandchildren know why and her friends and family know why and that is really all that matters.
I love my dad, he gave me some great attributes and taught me some things that have both helped and challenged me as I have moved through the world.
But there is no one in my life that holds a candle to what my relationship with my mother means and has meant to me over the last 40+ years. 
We are so similar it is scary at times, it means we dont always agree, but never on the things that really matter. Tattoo discussions usually end abruptly and with much sighing haha.
She is the strongest, caring, and hardworking person I know.
So thank you mom, I loves ya.
Okay now that the mothers day schmultz is over, lets talk booze and cigars!
So knowing that I was going to be away from my inventory for Mothers Day and possibly driving to and fro, and not wanting to repeat the horrific soda water choice of last week, I selected a Shiraz to accompany my cigar. I picked the Wine Men of Gotham Shiraz Grenache, yes, yes it was totally because Gotham was in the name so well done marketing team, comic nerds will totally buy your product. 
The website described the wine with a nose of spice and herbaceous aromas with a hint of confectionary. This wine has a palate of blackberry and dark chocolate flavors that are mild and sweet. I did get the blackberry but i dont know that i tasted any dark chocolate. I was very happy with the wine on its own and i could see having this in the 'a glass of wine before bed' category for me personally. 
It did not pair well with the cigar though. So I stopped really drinking it until i had finished my cigar. Happy to say I have a new cigar to review this week also.
A big thank you to my favorite mother and father in law, but more mother in law i was told haha, who on a recent trip to Cuba, took pity on me and purchased a small army of Cuban cigars for me.
I decided to give the Belinda Corona Standard Brand B a whirl. Looking up some info it is a machine made cigar and it is the only cigar that the brand currently makes. It is a medium strength and is pre cut so that you can smoke it right out of the tube. 
When i first popped the tube it had a great smell, leathery and coffeey. The tube kept it fairly good condition and was not dry when it came out. It did burn quickly off the hop, so i was a little suprised at that, but once it burned about a quarter of the way it slowed down and smoked smooth. Like i said above, the wine did not go well with the cigar and was throwing off the taste at the beginning, but once i stopped sipping the wine and just focused on the cigar it was a more enjoyable experience. Had to work at a few pulls, but i am used to having the full end off the cigar and not a manufactured slice off the back. 
This to me would be a great golf course cigar. The tube to protect it while you are searching the woods for your ball ( that might just be me though) and a cigar that will keep its burn if you have to set it down to 3 or 4 putt a whole or two.
Anytime you can spend a Sunday with mom and have a drink and cigar in hand is a well spent Sunday.
To all the moms out there, and people that provide momness to others that need it, I hope you had a fantastic day and continue to be celebrated the entire year.
Sean " BigBoyRunning" Ryan

This week is going to be completely different for a #cigarSunday post in that it didnt happen on the weekend but early on a Monday morning, and there was no use of scotch or whiskey in the making of this post. 
This weekend marked the culmination of hard work that 4th+ year students of StFX have achieved by having their various degrees bestowed upon them by the faculty and administration of the University. This is always a very busy weekend with many events, and gatherings, 2 of which are planed by the organization that i work for. 
I love this time of year, it is great to see so many happy students and families celebrating both the successes and challenges that each student faced during their time here. It is super fun to meet parents and siblings and to be able to share in that excitement. To pass on a funny story or two about their times here that the parent may not have known and to see such love and support for students.
Sadly it is a time for students to say goodbye. Goodbye to the school that they love, to some of the friends they have met and shared time with, and in some ways goodbye to another phase of themselves. 
While I will ALWAYS make fun of the tears at the end of the night/morning as now graduates huddle together at the 330am-5am breakfast, in group hugs as tears gently roll down cheeks into egg mcmuffin style sandwiches, I am excited for them. This is now the time for them to move on from the safety of their schooling and tackle the challenges of the 'real world'. To take all of their promise, enthusiasm and work ethic and put it into the work force, into more in depth education, and most importantly share the knowledge they have worked so hard to achieve. In this day and age of technology friends will not be far away or inaccessible as they once were so the sting of loss or ending currently being felt will give way soon to thinking of the future, of possibility, and of growth.
For me the end of graduation signals the beginning of summer. One team of student leaders are finished up and heading off for the next adventure and one team of student leaders are getting ready to take office and get ready for the year ahead.
So having made it through the emotional roller coaster that is graduation weekend, it was time to celebrate with a drink and a cigar. 
We finished up with most of our duties by about 5:30-5:45am Monday morning. So it was time to smoke em if you got em. Friend of the show Pat decided that he would like a cigar as well so knowing that he didnt smoke many cigars i selected 2 Don Thomas Classico Presidente cigars. They are a great medium smoke and have a very good burn and ash. As we did not accompany these cigars with any scotch or whiskey I wanted to make sure that i picked something that was going to be a good cigar on their own.
I really enjoyed mine. Not sure what Pat thought, but he gave it a good try. We had some others join in and they brought their own cigars as well. Nik and eventually Nick both joined in with a darker cigar that i did not recognize and a friend of Pat's from highschool jumped on board as well, so it was a nice little group to share some stories from the night, have a couple of laughs and watch the sun come up over beautiful StFX campus. 
As much as I enjoy my #cigarSundays having some fellow cigar smokers, enjoying the sun rising on another day, and thinking back about all the great people graduating and some of the funny things that happened along the way this year was the perfect ending to the weekend.
Until Homecoming,
Sean "BigBoyRunning" Ryan