As we hurl to the finish line to upload the premier edition of Louisiana Kitchen to the printer there's little room left in my life for much else. Really, here's a snapshot of my thrilling life, which now exists as Option 1 and Option 2.

Option 1:

-Awake in a panic between 4 and 5 a.m.

-Try to sleep, give up, grab sugar-free/no carb Poison Energy drink , adjourn to office.

-Commence work.

-At 7 a.m., begin begging Andrew to dump Cecilia at school.

-Andrew says "yes."

- Kiss Andrew's ass, return to work.  

-Around 11,  slug down pre-prepared Fake Pho from refrigerator at desk or ALTERNATIVE: Starve self all day while getting completely jacked on sugar-free/no carb Poison Energy drinks.

-Work until 3:30.

-At 3:35 pick Cecilia up from Lusher Charter School with laptop in  tow.

-Commence to Magnolia Equestrian Center, where Cecilia's Thoroughbred jumper, Spyboy, lives happily as he munches through piles money.

-Work on laptop from car while Cecilia works either alone or with her trainer, who also munches piles of money as they prepare Cecilia and Spyboy for whatever jumping show they are training for, where money is seemingly used as fuel for massive bonfires.

-Return home around 6-6:30.

-Growl to family that they must either order takeout or sustain themselves on leftovers.

-Open bottle of wine, pour a glass; adjourn to office.

-Remain in office, working until midnight breaking only to refill wine glass.

-Adjourn to bed, quasi-drunk and exhausted.

-Sleep fitfully, enduring panic-y nightmares, fearing failure.

-Repeat.

 

Option 2

Exactly the same as Option 1 except Andrew says "No, I have to meet a client," when begged to do school drop off. I do it myself, and his ass remains unkissed for the day.

 

 

Yes, people , with very little exception, this has been my life for the past month. The upside: Even though I have not set foot in the gym for weeks (and I am a lifelong regular gym rat junkie), I have knocked off 14 pounds over the past months. The downside: I am crazier than ever - and that's saying something.

I mentioned that there is very little deviation from these routines but I have two very important deviations to share, both of which happened this week and both of which were SPECTACULAR.

I broke with my routine to attend an awards ceremony with Cecilia on Thursday night. A gifted writer and poet, in February she was the recipient of a Regional Gold Key Award presented by the Scholastic Alliance for Artists & Writers for a body of poetry. The jury of geniuses (I say this literally, not facetiously) within the organization also named her one of five nominees for the American Voice Award, their highest honor.  On Thursday night we were to learn if Cecilia would proceed to the national awards ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York to collect a medal.

Hooray! We are going to Carnegie Hall to collect some medals! Not only that: Cecilia, my 15 year-old freshman, beat out the four other American Voice Nominees, all of them seniors who won Gold Keys for their senior portfolios. She is now this region's American Voice.

 

Faint with pride, I took Cecilia and her best friend, Julia Adams (who is very much like another daughter, love Jules), to La Petite Grocery for a celebration dinner, where we toasted Cecilia with rose champagne and feasted on the brilliance of Chef Justin Devillier, himself a nominee for the James Beard  Foundation's award for Best Chef: South.  Andrew declined to join in this Estrogen Festival  and enjoyed a peaceful evening at home with our five (I know, I know) dogs.

The other break was yesterday for lunch. Susan and I joined our friend (and Advisory Board member), The Fabulous and Beautiful Nina Camacho, and her friends, Kathy and Paul Ross of Shreveport , for lunch at Maurepas. What a spectacular  three-and-a-half-hour lunch that was.  Maurepas is heavy on inventive cocktails, screamingly fresh local produce (pickled and otherwise) , Gulf seafood and unusual meats, such as goat. The space itself is as inspired as the menu. Very cool.

But the coolest part of the day was Kathy and Paul's reaction to the magazine, which has become a reality and exists as PDFs  in the InDesign program, awaiting our final-final corrections before going on press. Their reaction to the photography, design, and editorial topics and content made all of the sacrifices, the long hours, the frustration, the anxiety, and endless output of cash we do not have worth it.

They were blown away.

We hope you will be, too. It's coming very, very soon.