The Fabulous B@ker Blog

Another late night. Last night was the Macklemore concert at RIT, which was Annalisse's second major concert in four days. On Thursday she traveled with her friend, Taylor (and Taylor's family) to Cleveland to the Taylor Swift concert (that's a lot of "Taylors"...), and then there was the spring concert at RIT. She saw two of her fave artists in one week. Annalisse's taste in music is pretty aligned with mine in most cases, but we part ways with Macklemore, who is apparently the deep-thinking, message-filled rapper of our time, kind of like the 90s Eminem. She was beyond excitement in the hours leading up to the concert, and met up with some friends there. Ironically, she did not see her brother among the 6,000 fans but, according to Twitter, he thought it was a pretty amazing concert, too. Ah, but there will be Hell to pay for all this FUN. Today she has driver's ed after school and won't be home until about 8:15. I'm sure she will be cranky a

I arrived home late last night from my week in Florida at the Gaylord Palms , a beautiful resort in Kissimmee, just outside Orlando, where I was attending the NAGAP board meeting and annual conference. Now before you get too envious, I have to let you know that although I was in a sunny, hot, climate I spent a precious few moments enjoying the weather and the resort. I was busy with meetings, board commitments or conference activities for the entire week, with the exception of Wednesday morning, when I took my time getting ready for our noon lunch and had a chance to wander around for a bit. I am absolutely not complaining about this ...just trying to stem your envy! ;)  It was so wonderful to spend time with my inspiring, wonderful, smart colleagues who have become such dear friends. One of the greatest things about coming back was that spring has finally sprung in Rochester. The grass looks greener than when I left, the buds are on the trees and the plants are peeking their h

Silky ball of fluff. Home for two days. A very Happy 6th Birthday to our favorite family member, JASPER! He spent his day so far being annoyed that people kept putting a SpongeBob party hat on him, but his day will get better when we take him to Country Max to pick out a special treat. If the weather warms up a little we may also take him to Moonlight Creamery for a doggie sundae (on Sunday!). Also, in honor of his birthday, Annalisse, Nic and I are getting pedis today (Ok, not really. But I need to have cute feet for Florida). He has enriched our life in so many ways! "Why why why the party hat?"

Last night was a very romantic Downstage show. Of course I'm being a little facetious. Well, maybe it turned out to be more romantic than expected. Blake, one of the Downstage kids and one of Annalisse's best friends, asked her to the Senior Ball during the shows opening moments. They, and we, knew about "the big ask" ahead of time, so I was able to queue up the camera to capture this very special (although not necessarily spontaneous or unplanned) moment: Very cute! The big night is Saturday, May 18, and we've had her dress for a couple of weeks now. They'll have a lot of fun together. Here's where the real romance of the night happened: Unbeknownst to us, there was real romance lurking behind the scenes and during the last skit they were joined by a Downstage alum from 2008 who called upon his longtime girlfriend, also a Downstage alum, and proposed with a sparkly ring. The DS kids knew it was going to happen, but the girlfriend and the audien

Next week I head to Orlando for the NAGAP board meeting and annual conference, and I cannot stress enough how much I am looking forward to it. It's such a refreshing week of connecting with my colleagues and a welcome change of pace from everyday life. Waiting for spring and the nice weather is taking forever this year, and all the bad news in the US over these last few weeks (months...years...) really gets one down. I will state again how lucky I am to be involved with NAGAP! It is truly a professional highlight that I will always cherish!!

This is probably the longest I've gone without checking in. There's just not a lot that's blog-worthy right now. Life is rolling along with its ups and downs. Some "Ups": We had a fun time last weekend seeing "Wicked" (me for the second time, Mark for the first, and Annalisse for the third), and Mary and Carol both visited to go to the show. It was nice family time. Also, the weather is finally getting nicer!!! Some "Downs": We have been shaken once again with another unspeakable act of terrorism with the bombings at the Boston Marathon. The devil is alive and well. There is evil, but events like this demonstrate that there is so much more good in people than evil. Still, thinking of those who were killed and those who were gravely injured is just heartbreaking. At the Bakerhaus we are gearing up for all our renovations this summer. This week the plumbing will be done, followed by the resulting repairs to the wall and ceiling. Then, our

Unlike the previously aforementioned (is that a word?) "Banner Tuesday," today is definitely a glorious Sunday. It's warm, breezy and we have not received the rain that was forecasted. After church it seemed like the perfect day to: Clean the bathroom (not really, but it needed to be done) Brush the dog Play catch with the dog Play hide and seek with the dog (wow that all sounds extremely cat[dog]-ladyish and pathetic) Make rice for the week (a staple in Annalisse's diet with her IBS issues) Catch up on last week's season premier of "Game of Thrones" Get psyched for the new season of "Mad Men" (WOOT WOOT!!) starting tonight at 9 Mark found out last week that he will be on a Rochester-based project for six months beginning the third week in April, which is awesome news. With all the work we're doing around the house this spring, along with all the activities associated with Annalisse's graduation, that will work out perfectly

It's a banner Tuesday. After having a long weekend with Monday off, I woke up to a spectacular covering of snow and it's been snowing and blowing on and off all day. Did I mention it's April 2? Right. Then, this afternoon, I had my first ever dental crown. There's a temporary crown in until I get my real crown in two weeks. I will also need new retainers as a result. Drill. Drill. Ca-ching. Ca-ching. I think I want a do over of today. Crappy, crappy Tuesday.