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Since Parker was a teenager you knew he would be doing exciting adventurous things in his life. He loved the outdoors, hunting and fishing, and exploring. This wasn’t just a casual love; it was his passion! You could see it in his face and in his eyes when he talked about his plans. These adventures were when he came alive!

Reading about this adventure they say, “the trail covers the most variable terrain the planet has to offer, from the heat of the Mojave Desert in California to the high-altitude granite peaks of the Sierras. Then volcano-hopping in the central region of Oregon before finally inching toward Canada through the wonderment of the Cascade Mountains in Washington.”

In the past I would smile and say there he goes again, I even thought it when he said he was going on this trip. I just thought he was a fun loving kid who loved to experience life outdoors hiking, fishing, hunting, discovering. I thought this was just another hike.

When I read about this trip and the dangers like considering the challenges of the weather that can change dramatically and quickly. “The desert, blistering in the daytime, can drop below freezing the same night. In the higher altitudes of the Sierra Nevada and Cascades temperatures can range from nearly 90 degrees to below freezing, with snow even in the summer months.” Now I see how very brave he is to take on this adventure with just a back pack which will carry a sleeping bag and sleeping pad for protection from weather and the environment, a few changes of clothes, a few cooking utensils and not much else.

Parker leaves the first of March and I will be praying for my grandson, Conor and John Patric and I ask all of you to please keep them in your prayers as well!

My quest this week was to loose my two pounds which I’m happy to say I accomplished! I didn’t come up with a fabulous new recipe this week. I just concentrated of proportion size vegetarian meals. I could actually feel my body getting lighter.

This past week was leisurely and quiet! Just the best kind of week to read my favorite book of the moment and study about Thomas Merton a Trappist Monk who lived in a Monastery in Kentucky.

I am taking a Road Scholar trip to Kentucky with my best friend Starr the week of my 81st birthday to learn about his life. We will visit the Abbey of Gethsemani where Thomas Merton lived and wrote and later in life became known as the greatest spiritual writer of the Twentieth Century. He spent twenty-seven years at Gethsemani and is also buried there. I have been reading about his life in his book “The Seven Storey Mountain.” I also loved “An Invitation to the Contemplative Life,” which is a gift to all of us to know how to live a life full of significance. I am looking forward to this study trip!

I enjoyed my quiet week days then “boom” Saturday brought a weekend of excitement. My grandson had a soccer game which I was able to attend in New Orleans.

He was so excited about his (hat-trick). I looked up hat-trick and found out (in football) it is three goals scored by one player in a match. I imagine all sports are using this term now. My son Duke decided to take him and me to lunch at one of his favorite restaurant, The deli at Martin’s Wine Cellar on Barron street in New Orleans!

Each year St. Tammany Hospital foundation Kicks off the Mardi Gras season with the Gurney Games. Teams of costume racers, parade with their Theme decorated Gurnies and race, dance, and raise money for St. Tammany Hospital. Laissez Les Bon Temps Ruler! which is a Cajun-French Phrase meaning “Let the good times roll.”

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It was a day of “Joie de Vivre,” (the joy of living) which is the attitude which prevails in New Orleans “The Best City in the World!”

It’s nice to have good news that the weight is falling off again. I have lost my two pounds again this week. Yeh!

I find it is much easier to loose weight if you don’t have too many events and dinners to go to. I am so tempted to eat when I’m presented with a menu. It seems I want everything on that menu and just forget buffets, I have to sample everything.

This week wasn’t one of those weeks so I was able to control myself and cook all the good vegetarian dishes I have grown to love. When you eliminate beef and chicken and fish (cooked in butter) you can save so many calories. So I choose to keep animal and fish protein to enjoy when I’m not cooking for myself and enjoying meals at restaurants or eating with the family.

Bailey invited me to go to a play at the Sanger Theatre in New Orleans, “The Book of Mormon.” I’m embarrassed to say much I loved it. It was outrageous, shocking and so funny. I’m embarrassed because it was also sacrilegious and offensive and yet I laughed my head off.

I spend the night at Bailey Apartment and since she had so much to do that day I cooked a fabulous vegetarian meal. I have to tell you about the salad. This is my receipt for the week: Mediterranean Polenta & Vegetable Salad.

1/2 c Polenta, 1/2 c water, 3 tbsp. Nutritional Yeast, 1 tsp. Garlic Salt, 1 tsp. Onion Salt, 2 tsp. Humas, 1/2 salt, 1/2 White Pepper.

Put all ingredients in a pot and cook until thick. Cover the bottom of a pastry ring with Reynolds Wrap then press polenta in the pastry ring about 1/4″ thick. Put in refrigerator to cool for about 15 minutes.

Make Avocado dip with a large Avocado, a small lime, diced fine garlic and Sea Salt. set aside. Braise red, yellow, (or) Orange peppers & cut into strips, set aside. Chop Onions, set aside. Chop tomatoes with a little basil or Cilantro, set aside. Chop baby Arugula, set aside.

Now you are ready to Build your salad. This will make about (four potions). Put some of the Avocado on top of polenta, than strips of pepper, Chopped onions, then tomatoes, top with Arugula. Slip the Reynolds Wrap off pastry mole and place the stack on your plate, sprinkle with top with Balsamic Vinegar and serve.

Almost everyday around 9am or 9:30am the group join up in the exercise room. Louise and Charles are, sister and brother, who know the value of exercise from their early years as professional dancers. I would love to do a story on them if they will ever give me permission.

Jeff is a retired New Orleans Police officer. He gives Louise and I instruction when we need it. It’s so nice to have our own personal exercise instructor.

I have never been dedicated to exercise so having these friend, who encourage me, is helping me become a Better Me. I know in my mind how important exercise is so I am trying hard to convince my body to accept an everyday routine. I have not been focused on exercise this week because I’m reading a new book I can’t seem to put down. This was responsible for my missing two days of exercise.

This week has been a difficult one for me with my diet as well. I have wanted to slip back into my old habits of eating more than I should. I also love food and I somehow had cravings for some of my favorite dishes. I didn’t however snack at night so that was good.

Also I seem to have been a very lazy week for me about cooking healthy food. Instead I have chosen to eat out with my daughter Jete’ at one of my favorite restaurants “Sawasdee,” a Thai restaurant in Mandeville enjoying Panang Curry.

I also grabbed a frozen Margherita pizza with Roma Tomatoes, Basil and Mozzaerella & Provolone Cheese at Whole Food. I love this Pizza but never stop at a couple slices and purchasing it at Whole Food doesn’t make it diet friendly.

My grand-daughter Bailey turned twenty-seven on February 27th. Max and I cooked a belated birthday dinner for her Wednesday night. We made “Grilled Vegetables and Polenta with Peach and Ginger Sauce” from “Cafe Sunflower,” an Atlanta Celebrated Vegetarian Restaurant which is one of Bailey, Max and my favorites!

One of the best things I love to do is cook with these two incredible young people. So this was such a fun evening to be cooking with Max for Bailey!

This is Saturday morning, February 2nd and I slowly stepped on my scale to assist the damage. Oh dear! I’m up one pound. Do I let myself feel like a failure or do I give myself a break and say, “next week I will be back on track, this is just a little set back?”

Sunday, January 20th was a day of celebrating and cheering! Our boys in gold, the Saints, were marching down the field within yards of a final touchdown that would have won the game sending us to fight it out against the Patriots in the Super Bowl !

This play brought the celebrating to a sudden stop as silence and shock were witnessed on our faces. I was doing so good on my diet plan, not grazing through all the fabulous appetizers, gumbo, drinks and wine.

This is the kind of thing that all dieters fear. A disappointing moment that turns your best intentions into the reason your mind and spirit tell you, “oh what the heck let’s eat” and you throw reason to the wind.

My commitment is two pounds per week and to loose forty pounds by the end of May. As we called it a night I knew I had totally blown my diet by indulging with food and spirits that left my taste buds in ecstasy. Waking up Monday morning aware I would have lots and lots of work to do to to be true to myself and my plans for a better me.

I exercised more, ate better and pulled off my second best week since I begin my weight loss program the last week of December. Today I was down three pounds. Thank your lord! I know the determination came from him.

There is a saying , “when you fall down pick yourself up and start over!” So that is what I did because I am determined at eighty there will be “a Better Me!”

My receipt of the week: Green juice

One cucumber, 2 (medium to large) carrots, a 1″ piece of ginger root, 4 to 6 stalks Kale, 3 big hands full spinach, 3 stalks celery, 2 big stems of broccoli, 1 Apple or pear of your choice. Use organic vegetables!

I drink this green juice in the afternoon and love it! You can also squeeze 1/2 of a lime or lemon in the juice before you drink it. Now it’s time to juice and say goodbye for now! Talk to you next week and if you wish to chat please send me a message!

This has been a very successful week! I have exercised four times thanks to Louise and Charles. They faithfully go to exercise everyday and call me when they are on their way to the gym. Since I have added exercise and followed my vegetarian plan I have lost 2 more pounds!

I am not a person who likes to exercise, I’m sorry to say, because I do know how valuable it is. I was a hit and miss exerciser when Louise called to say they were headed to the gym before I became committed to loose my forty pounds. Now I’m dressed and waiting for their call.

I also want to share one of my favorite soup recipes with you. I am a snacker at night so now I have a bowl of warm soup when I feel a need to indulge myself at night. It’s great tasting and actually helps me get ready to go to bed.

Ginger-Lemongrass Soup- contributed by Candle Cafe’, New York

this serves to 8 people

8 cups of water, 1 stalk lemongrass. trimmed, peeled, and thinly sliced. Bring the water and lemongrass to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes; discard the lemongrass and strain, reserving the water.

1 teaspoon sesame oil, 1 cup yellow onion, peeled. halved, and thinly sliced, 2 tablespoons minced ginger root. Heat the oil in a sauce’ pan and cook the onions and ginger until the onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Transfer to soup pot and add the reserved water; bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Turn off heat.

At this point you are to stir in 3/4 cup of Miso into the soup and serve with 1 cup of enoki mushrooms and 1 cup of thinly sliced scallions (green part only) for garnish and serve immediately. ** (I will use a varieties of mushrooms in this soup)

You do not want to reheat the soup with the Miso already in the soup because too much heat can kill the good properties of Miso. So I add the mushrooms and scallions to the soup then pour a cup in a bowl and add a divided portion of the miso to my cup of soup. (Miso is rich in essential minerals and a good source of various B vitamins, vitamins E, K and folic acid. As a fermented food, miso provides the gut with beneficial bacteria that help us to stay healthy, vibrant and happy) Good gut health is known to be linked to our overall mental and physical wellness.

You can now store the remaining soup in refrigerator until you are ready for another bowl or two adding the miso again at that time.

I hope you enjoy this soup as much as I do and find ways to also change it up or add your twist to it. My daughter says she would like to add thin rice noodles to it. Thai Kitchen makes them and it is a great addition to this soup.

This year 2019, I am determined to be a better me. I have made my share of New Year resolutions and have never kept them more than a few weeks. This year I am working on my health, a little late, but at eighty it’s time to quit procrastinating and finally tackle this problem of my weight.

I have gone on every diet you can think of and loss weight only to gain it back. So here goes another try, this time not to just loose the weight but to be healthy. I figure I am very lucky to be healthy and young at eighty so I need to keep on keeping on! This time it will no longer be by luck. It will now take doing all I can do to live out my life healthy. If you care to join me on this journey jump right in and we can encourage each other!

If you haven’t read this book, do so now, it’s very inspiring and sensible. It is like an encycopedia on how to eat and enjoy your vegetables. It’s funny, endearing, and interesting. I’ve tried to eat vegetarian before but never really studied the principals or details on how to accomplish a vegetarian diet so it never worked.

I have to tell you before the holidays I checked out the Crazy Sexy Diet from the library before I decided to purchase it . I wanted to see if it was as good as I was told. I skimmed through the book and went on the 21-Day cleanse. I tried the recipes given in the cleanse and it liked most of them and the diet worked. I felt great, loss weight, had lots of energy, and much less joint pain, so I bought the book!

I put the Crazy Sexy Diet aside during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and of course regained all the weight and the join pain I had loss. So now I’m starting all over again determined to return to my energetic self and joints without pain.

I have completed the first week of the diet and have loss 6 pounds. Remember you always loose more weight your first week because you loose mostly water weight. A healthy weight loss is 2 pounds per week. So at this rate I will loose my 40 pounds by the end of May giving myself a few weeks, for what I call, wiggle room!

I would love to have you join me on this journey! The best way to succeed is to have a body of support. If you are interested please follow my blog and lets talk by email katybaquetdongieux@gmail.com. So come on in the water’s fine!

At seventy I purchased a franchise, Painting With a Twist and located it on the west bank of the city in Gretna, La. People seemed to be surprised that I would start a business venture at seventy. I scratch my head and wondered why?

Are you supposed to sit around and do nothing as you age? I have always been involved in some business or other since I got divorced at age thirty five so why stop now. Also I certainly did not feel seventy!

Actually one of my daughters started Corks and Canvas with a partner after hurricane Katrina devastated our city. It later became Painting With a Twist after they franchised. I was the seventh person to purchase a franchise. Yes, I did purchase it because I felt I always wanted to stay independent if I could.

At eighty I’m still in business with a group of very talented artist who I’m very fortunate to have working for me now for four, five, six, and seven years and a couple of new artist bringing up the future. These women blow my mind with their talent and are really great friends; “we are a true family” at Painting With a Twist in Gretna, Louisiana.

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Tomorrow afternoon, December 29th I have invited my grandchildren to be my guests to paint Feathered Friend! Actually my grandson Parker, and his special girl, Whitney, said they wanted to paint and chose this particular Painting class to attend. I decided why not invite all the grandchildren and their significant others to paint. So ten of us will be sipping and painting and enjoying snacks while we paint and enjoy each other company at my studio. What a way to say goodbye to 2018 with joy and togetherness!

There are so many famous and profound art quotes but my favorite one is by -Pablo Picasso- “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up”

It makes me think that the tragedy of life is, as we become adults, we loose our joy of play and Judgement and comparison come into our lives. In growing into adults we become less loving and less fun! Oh the shame of this! Maybe a place like “Painting With a Twist” can help us rekindle the child in each of us.

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How about this kind of fun and uniqueness! This kind of self expression! I wouldn’t have wanted to miss this night if my life depended on it!

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Everyone expressed themselves differently as you can see and that is ok. Creativity is the theme at “PWAT.” Some decided to totally go astray and paint their own thing and that’s ok also. What’s important is to bring out the artist in your soul, to have fun, to enjoy yourself!

“The whole culture is telling you to hurry, while the art tells you to take your time. Always listen to the art.” ~Junot Diaz

Christmas Eve

My son shares the children at Christmas with his ex-wife so he celebrates with them on Christmas Eve. I joined them at the Westin Canal Place Hotel to celebrate. The hotel, which looks over the French Quarter and Mississippi River, was looking beautiful and festive.

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We checked in arriving with a small tree, presents to be opened, games to be played.  The rooms at the Westin are nice and large so it feels more like home than a hotel and oh the view we had!

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Anita, Duke and myself went to Mass at St Patrick’s church, a historic landmark and stunning example of Gothic Revival architecture. It has been declared a National Historic Landmark located in the 700 block Camp Street. We tried to get the boys to join us but they had other plans which wasn’t exactly the answer I was looking for.

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We dined at Marcello’s restaurant a cozy Italian restaurant with Northern Italian fare. It’s located where St Charles meets Girod Street in the Warehouse District. The food was excellent and the staff very friendly.

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Gene joined us for dinner and for our Christmas celebration with the family at the hotel.

Now we met up with Gunner and Dennis and opened presents and laughted and clowned and had a hillarious time!

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After we opened presents and everyone played games until 1am! I snuck under the covers, closed my eyes, and dreamt of sugar plums fairies!

Now it’s time to say goodbye to 2018 and wish everyone a Happy, Prosperous 2019 filled with love!