Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there who have earned that phenomenal title “father” in some form or sense of the word. A special shout-out goes to my daddy, Milton Walters, who I think is absolutely AWESOME. Yesterday, he, my hubby, and I spent some time celebrating him. Barry and I drove to River Ridge to pick my daddy up and take him to lunch. He chose Bobby Hebert’s restaurant on Veteran’s Blvd in Metairie. We started off with an appetizer, Fried Eggplant Sticks. My daddy and I both ordered the Bobby and Deke’s Mardi Gras Pasta (shrimp, crawfish tails, bell peppers and onions in a creamy alfredo sauce), and Barry ordered the Cajun Cannon Redfish (sautéed redfish topped with crawfish & mushroom cream sauce; served with vegetable du jour). Everyone enjoyed their lunch choices. Next, we visited Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream: Coffee Lovers Only for my daddy; Strawberry Blonde for me; and Peanut Butter Cup Perfection for Barry. YUM! Afterwards, we headed over to PJ’s for coffee and conversation. As a Father’s Day gift to my daddy, Barry made reservations to take him on a tour in July of the PT-305 in New Orleans. That particular boat also holds special meaning to Barry because of his own dad who is no longer with us. Apparently, he did some work related to that type of boat during World War II.
@ Superior Grill
The other man in my life that needs some Father’s Day love is Barry. He is the father of my two incredible sons, Andrew and Barry, Jr. and works hard to provide for his family. After we dropped my daddy off at his house yesterday afternoon, Barry and I drove to St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans and checked into the Best Western Plus St. Charles Inn. Surprisingly, we were not celebrating him for Father’s Day. I wanted to see the author Matthew Pearl at Octavia Books last night, so Barry volunteered to take me and suggested we spend the night since we could get a free stay using his travel points. After the event, we went back to the hotel and walked over to Superior Grill which is on the corner next to the hotel. Since we had eaten huge lunches and ice cream earlier with my daddy, we opted for chips and salsa with our margaritas. It was a low-key and relaxed evening. It was a terrific way to end an already amazing day.
This morning, Barry and I woke up early, ate breakfast at the hotel, and traveled back home. He is spending today relaxing. Our boys have decided to get Barry an accessory for his grill which he uses all of the time. In fact, he is grilling burgers this evening for dinner. I hope, dear reader, that those of you who have a father or father figure in your life get to spend some time with him this weekend or in the near future. And, for those of you who have had your father called to his heavenly home, I hope you get to spend some time in remembrance of him. He will always be a part of you, and his memory is worth celebrating. Happiness!
“Dads are like chocolate chip cookies; they may have chips or be totally nutty, but they are sweet and make the world a better place, especially for their children.” ~ Hillary Lytle
On Tuesday, I ordered a few more scrapbook supplies. I pulled some pictures from Andrew’s trip to Ireland, set up my Scrap’n Easel, assembled a laser die cut, and semi-laid out the page. Now that my room is set up specifically for scrapbooking, I can leave everything out and leisurely work on my pages. After lunch, I met a friend of mine, that I had not seen in a few years, for coffee. It was a nice couple of hours catching up with Angie. Visiting with her made me realize that I want to carve out more time this summer to connect with my friends that I do not get to see on a regular basis. Friendships bring an enormous richness of joy to one’s life; however, they need to be cultivated in order to flourish.
Another tidbit about me, the scrapbooker, is I am as slow as a snail when it comes to scrapbooking. Depending on the project, it takes me some time to think about the layout. If the project has an overwhelming amount of photos, choosing the best ones can slow me down. I act as if I am preparing a layout for a prestigious magazine, and my career depends on the finished product instead of making a memory keepsake for the members of my family. HA! Even though I did not get as many layouts completed as I had hoped, I still had a terrific time with my friends, and I learned some new techniques using supplies (embossing enamel, antique brilliance wax, rust effect paste, and gel pens) to make my scrapbooks more interesting. I have all summer to finish working on this project for Andrew. I will have more time to make decisions about the layouts, the photos, and what I want to say or rather what Andrew wants to say about his recent adventure in Europe.
In addition, my scrapbooking weekend has inspired me to get better organized in my scrapbooking room. Yesterday, I cleared everything not related to scrapbooking out of my room with the exception of a file cabinet. Then, I vacuumed, dusted, and mopped. My goal now is to organize all of my supplies. I bought a new sticker binder, while at the event, to house ALL of my stickers. My old binder can barely zip, and I have stickers in various places. I want them all in one central location divided by category. I also need to reorganize my paper by color/pattern and clear out old page kits of completed layouts. This will allow me to create new page kits with all of the necessary supplies, so the next time I want to attend a crop, I can grab and go. Getting organized will take awhile; however, in the end, the time spent will be well worth it. The organization will create time and space for me to actually scrapbook…hopefully, more than once a year.
Turning off the light and letting the door close behind me on Friday afternoon was bittersweet because it was the last time I was walking out of my 8th grade classroom. Yep! I have officially left my position teaching 8th grade language arts. I will no longer teach grammar, writing, or inspire students to read Poe. That is the bitter part. Even though I have decided to leave the classroom, I will remain at Holy Ghost Catholic School. That is the sweet part.
This past week has been an unbelievable week of proud moments for me. It started with Barry, Jr. graduating from Southeastern Louisiana University with a B. A. in General Studies. He chose not to walk at graduation which was initially disappointing for me; however, ultimately it was his decision, not mine, and I soon realized that walking across that stage is not for everyone and not walking does not make me any less proud of his accomplishment. Now, it is time for Barry, Jr. to embark on a new adventure. 
On Thursday morning, I attended Andrew’s Undergraduate Awards Ceremony at St. Thomas Aquinas. Andrew and I were both overwhelmed with all of the awards that he received. He was recognized in Physics, English III AP: Language & Composition, Theology III, and Computer Science. He received the Sacristan Award for serving at the school Masses. He received the St. Michael’s College Book Award for demonstrating a commitment to volunteerism and leadership in community service endeavors. He also received the Cash, Coudrain & Sandage Scholarship for embodying the mission of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic High School. WOW! While I am proud of Andrew’s achievements, I am most proud of how humble he was when being recognized at the ceremony and how humble he is in general.
On Friday morning, Andrew and the Class of 2019 had Senior Step Up Day. Four generous moms had shirts made for all of the students to wear. The students, driving their vehicles, paraded onto the STA campus and parked in the senior parking lot. It was an exciting moment for them.
Andrew and I started out at the movies where we watched A Quiet Place. Both of us enjoyed it even though we were tense the entire time. I treated myself to popcorn and an Icee. YUM! I haven’t had movie popcorn in years.
pastry puffs with liquid nitrogen. The pastry puffs are about the size of a cheese ball but look and taste like Trix cereal; however, when you bite into them, smoke comes out of your nose and mouth…like it does from a dragon. Terrific experience! YUM 3!
I had rough drafts, lesson plans, and graduation tasks to complete. I admit, I was disappointed because of everything that I wanted to do during the break, this was on the top of my list to accomplish. This would have been possible had I been able to take care of the school stuff the week before break. Unfortunately, the week before my break was pretty hectic. You win some, and you lose some. The silver lining is that I now plan to scrapbook Andrew’s trip to Ireland, Wales, and London. Furthermore, I will start organizing the materials next weekend.
Yesterday morning, my hubby and I brought Andrew to the airport, so he could embark on his journey to Ireland, Wales, and London. I will not see my baby again until April 7th. It will be an unusual week being home alone with just my fur babies. I guess it will give me a taste of what it will be like when Andrew goes off to college.
I realize that I am probably one of the last humans on the planet that waited so long to watch Stranger Things. In my defense, I do not have much time to watch television, and there are few shows that I watch alone in real time or with Andrew. He is just as busy during the school year as I am, so coordinating our schedules to watch a couple of hours of television together can be difficult. However, we manage to squeeze in some time here and there for our favorite shows. Andrew and I had finished watching Parks and Recreation during Mardi Gras break, so we decided to start watching Stranger Things. Many of my friends, family, acquaintances, and even some of my students encouraged me to watch it since they thought it would be a show that I would really enjoy. Boy, were they right. Stranger Things is SUPER awesome! I’m obsessed with it. I absolutely LOVE that it takes place in the 1980s. The show is basically about a group of geeky kids who meet an unusual girl with special abilities around the same time that one of their friends vanishes into a mysterious place that is home to a disturbing creature. It is like the X-Files meets the Goonies. The seasons are not very long, so we blew through both of them within a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, the next season does not come out until 2019. Alas, Andrew and I will just have to watch Beyond Stranger Things which delves into the secrets of the Stranger Things universe, specifically Season 2 and re-watch the two seasons prior to Season 3 premiering next year.![MC900432635[1]](https://katloyacano.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/mc9004326351.png?w=500)
Three weeks ago I assigned myself some action steps for improving my health that I wanted to complete by today. Unfortunately, I did not complete them all. I have been working quite a bit at school and helping Andrew get ready for his upcoming trip to Ireland. Instead of admonishing myself, I am praising myself for the steps that I did accomplish (week 1). After all, I do have until the end of the year to complete this goal.
The Kat Files 