The Fabulous B@ker Blog

It is with much reluctance that I realized that Christmas is just about two months away. I spend most of my year trying to slow time down so it's not that time again: the decorations, the $$, the stress...ack! I probably thought of that tonight because these last two weeks of October will be extraordinarily busy for me, passing in a blur, I'm sure. This week I've been on the road a lot for day trips to area colleges for work, and this weekend I'm heading to Chicago for my national association's meeting. Then, it's back to work for two days before heading back across the country to Portland, Oregon for a grad fair reception for my association. That's one day out, one in between, and one day back - a long trip through three time zones for just a day in Portland. Although, I am looking forward to my first trip there. Mark's cousin, Kara, has lived there for years so she'll be showing me the sights before I have to check into my fair/reception. Just thin

Today Cam submitted his application to RIT for early decision (deadline: December 1). If accepted, "early decision" means he will withdraw apps to all other colleges and commit to going to RIT. That should not be a problem since HE'S NOT APPLYING TO ANY OTHER COLLEGES. Yup. That's right. This an all-or-nothing proposition, which makes me extremely nervous because he's a B+ student and didn't fare so well on his first round of SATs (he retook them a couple of weeks ago and we don't have the results back yet, but I'm not too optimistic that he "hit it out of the ballpark" based on his previous interest and engagement with the SAT). So, now we wait - and keep our fingers crossed. His major of interest is Bioinfomatics, which I think he chose because it's a combination of biology and computer science, two of his favorite subjects. But, lest we give up all hope that it's RIT or a life spent working in retail, he has hinted that he will con

Happy (GUESS THE NUMBER) Birthday to my "old" man, Mark today. Remember when I was a "prime" number this year? Well, Mark's a square root. Let's just say next year's birthday will probably result in a big part of some kind!!

This past weekend we travelled down to Arlington, VA for Amelie's baptism. How sweet and smiley she is! Annalisse and Mema/Popo served as Amelie's sponsors, so it was really special. It was a fairly quick trip as we didn't get on the road until around 1pm on Saturday, after Cam took his final SAT (he's taken it twice, now, this is it - make or break time), and finally got settled in our hotel around 10pm. Who knew therewere three Hampton Inns in Alexandria?! We found ours on the third try - and it was a little tense by then as Mark was getting really cranky over the whole situation. Anyway, we got settled, got a good night's sleep, and headed out early to drive to McLean/Herndon for the baptism, which was performed at our old Pastor's new church. After the baptism, we made our way back up route 7 for a little lunch at Dave and Mandy's, then took a trip to a German market on the Columbia Pike. Cam is on a mission to try to find Spezi , a soda from Germany t

Today Annalisse celebrates her 15th birthday. Where did the time go? I'm already sad thinking that two years from now I'll have a sophomore in college and a senior in high school. The cruel, cruel trick of time. I'm sure she'll make the best of it at school today, and we'll probably go out for a quick bite after work and before crew. She had her "big" celebration out for dinner with her girlfriends at the Bonefish Grill on Sunday night, which was followed by a family cake-n-ice cream celebration at the house. In true Libra fashion, she's making the most of her special day!

There is a mystery that continues to confound me well into my '40s: Orphan Sock Syndrome. I have a pile of socks on my dresser that for months (years?) has not had a mate. Where the heck do they go? Is there a moment in time when a (non-laundry-doing) member of the family finally discards a hole-y sock, but does not notify me or its mate, sending the left or right footed sock into wearer limbo? Or, worse yet, is there a pair of socks rolled together in one of our drawers whose mate(s) have been left to search for it's match atop my dresser for all eternity? That seems a little clandestine on the part of the happily-matched-other-orphan socks. Every week the orphan socks come together with the mated socks in the wild, wonderful "basket of clean whites," and every week they end up in their pile back on my dresser. Oh, every once in a while there will be a long awaited match, but more often than not the old standbys are welcoming new members to their lonely club. This bo