The Fabulous B@ker Blog

What's the recipe for a perfect weekend? Ingredients: Eight extra hours off work on Friday  Dinner with a special sister A perfect night under the stars, chatting with friends, and listening to some great tunes at Fairport Brewing Getting up early on Saturday and getting some delicious bagels A trip to Canandaigua to get some sweet yellow, orange and white pansies for the garden, followed by lunch at PUDGIES! A full day of yard work Dinner with the family An evening walk with Pup Enjoy each ingredient as it happens. Add a dash of sunshine, and throw in a thunderstorm or two. BONUS: Realize it's only Saturday night and there's a whole other day ahead! More yard work, and the promise of a nap. What a perfect weekend! Perfect Weekend Post-Script: The wind and rain swept in on Saturday afternoon, and,  LIKE A ROCK the temperature dropped from 80 and humid to 48, with pouring, cold, non-stop rain. WHAT A BUZZKILL.

They are wed! Knot-tied! Married! What a wonderful wedding weekend it was! Beaming groom, beautiful bride, handsome wedding party. Nic and Carol, along with the Wilkins family hosted a great event that started with rehearsal on Friday night at my old church, St. Mary's. After rehearsal, we headed over to Patrick's parent's place for a delicious (although chillingly cold ~ what's up with the cold weather?!) picnic, after which we headed back to the hotel and Cam and Alex, Annalisse's beau, went swimming. We stayed at the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino Hotel (about 10 miles east of Massena), which was really, really nice, with great accommodations and amenities. It really felt a little like a destination wedding with very nice rooms and a nice pool and spa area. Most of our family, and Patrick's as well, stayed right at the hotel, which also played host to the reception, so it was very convenient. On Saturday morning, we got up bright and early and Annalisse heade...

Crew Kids Hello! It's been a while. How have you been? Well,  we've been super busy which is why I have not taken five minutes to update the blog (my bad!). That's actually a pretty lame excuse for not popping in, so here is the Monday round-up! Annalisse's sophomore year at SU has wrapped up after a couple of intense weeks, and she is making out pretty good this semester. So far, she has three A- grades, and a C ( HIP HIP HOORAY ) in Chem. What an ordeal this has been! She's done very well on the chem homework and lab work, but the tests have been a real challenges. We are crying tears of joy! She does not need to retake it (it was real close...)! Additionally, she secured a position as a Volunteer Coordinator for next fall where she'll be coordinating the volunteers for different nutrition-related community programs. She's super excited about that! Many victories this term after a rocky adjustment in the fall (mostly being heartbroken about no...

I'm so glad this week is over. Between having my first colonscopy ("clean as a whistle" ~ TMI?), and niggly little annoying things at work, I'm maxed out. How long until retirement, again? Oh, yeah...like 30 more years. Blerg. Yesterday I also had a check up with my surgeon/NP, who will now see me once a year for four more years, and all is well. She thinks I'm doing great (and I am!). By the way, we STILL do not have our new car (I think Mark counted 14 weeks since we ordered), but we are told it should be here by May 1. It better be! To top it all off, it's been a nasty, cold, rainy, snowy week. Mark heads to Saratoga for the afternoon for Cam's Liberty League race, and he will pick Annalisse up in Syracuse on the way back so she can attend Alex's track meet at St. John Fisher tomorrow. Then, we have dinner plans with friends on Saturday night. Fun! At this point the weekend looks so busy I'm not sure I'll get my nap in, but you never k...

Jasper turns eight today!  Our lives are so much richer with him as part of our family. He's certainly slowing down a lot, and has weird spasms that make us worry,  but we relish every day with him!! Enjoy your birthday ice cream, sweet boy!

Senior Day at Crew. Flowers for the moms. Yesterday was a great day at RIT crew. In addition to being an absolutely spectacular day weather-wise, Cam's boat left Union College's boat in the dust (on water, of course!), a great race that was followed by a nice ceremony honoring Cam and his crew-mate Katie, the two seniors on the team, celebrating their last home race. At this point, Cam is two-for-four, having lost his first two races, and won his last two. In a time-honored, tradition, Cam, the coxswain, was thrown into the water after this special race: The next couple of weekends will be the real test, starting with next Friday's Liberty League race in Saratoga, then the NYS Rowing Championships the following weekend, then the Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia on Mother's Day weekend. After that, as they say, "that's a wrap" for Cam's rowing career.  It's been a wonderful experience for him!!

Seventy-seven degrees today. Sixty-ish and sunny yesterday. Could it be happening at last? Why yes, it must be happening because WE SET THE PORCH UP YESTERDAY! No turning back (except for the occasional rouge snowy day that I'm sure we will still have). Even the houseplants are asking: When can we go back outside! Yesterday's beautiful Sunday topped off a very busy week that took me to New Orleans for the annual NAGAP conference. I had never been, and I think I can now say that I've "done that." It was ok, but very run down and not really my thing. Perhaps if I was a buxom, attractive girl in my 20s rather than a 50-something mother of college kids I might feel differently about the whole French Quarter/Bourbon Street scene, but it was certainly interesting. I think the funnest time spent in the French Quarter is when my friend Kristen, her husband, Ken, and I took a ghost tour on Friday night. It was mostly ghost stories (with no ghosts in sight - HA!), but a...