The Fabulous B@ker Blog

It was an amazingly beautiful weekend weather-wise, ....and my sisters (and Nicole) and I saw the Carole King musical "Beautiful"  on Saturday. We were in the nosebleed section, but it was really good. Apparently, Mary cried for the entire last 15 minutes as she remembered her teen-hood and the feelings Carole King's music evoked. A fun, fun day. While the girls were doing girl-stuff, the boys visited several pubs trying different brews. They started at Rohrbach's for a German lunch, then came back to the Village of Fairport and walked to a couple of the Village haunts. We met up at the Gate House at Village Gate Square at 5pm, had a great dinner, then came home for dessert and some rousing games of BINGO. The Walldroffs walked away with the big spoils again this time...do I see a pattern here? Poor Cam, he didn't win again...I don't think he can appreciate the "rush" (!) that comes when you yell "BINGO!" and collect all those quarters. H...

Here's a really compelling topic for a blog post: How we did housework all day Sunday... and, boy did it feel good! The days are getting nicer now (weather-wise), and we have been blessed with a couple of sunny, warmish Sundays, which has been awesome. After church (and a bite to eat) this morning, Mark and I went to work on some much needed vacuuming, dusting, laundry, and cleaning of the kitchen floor and washing the rugs. So. Much. Dust. So. Much. Doghair. If we didn't love him so much... One of the things I finally did this weekend was to catch the dry cleaning guy when he was delivering an order back to us on Saturday, and I arranged for my mother's wedding dress to be dry cleaned. They are going to clean it and "heirloom" package it where they put it in a sealed box. That will be cool - I'll put it up in the attic with my dress which is also in sealed box. Both of which my daughter will probably never wear!!! Another thing I did was that I washed a...

Isn't it so cool that today is February 29, leap year day?! I think it would be wickedly fun to have a birthday or something like a wedding anniversary on this date (which, apparently - according to Facebook - one of my coworkers does...). This is actually my third Leap Year post since the inception of the Fabulous B@ker Blog. You can read the first entry here , and the second entry here. I work with some negative naysayers, and when I mentioned how fun it would be to have a leap year birthday, one of them launched into a tirade about how that would not be a good idea (computer systems get confused, when do you celebrate in the "off" years, etc.). Still, I think it would be awesome. Another young lady I work with is about ready to give birth to her third son, so I instructed her today would be an ideal day for Bryce to make his entrance into the world...alas, Bryce seems to have other ideas (but the day's not over yet!!). So, I hope you were able to make the ...

Perhaps you have noticed that I have not been posting much. It's mostly because this cold, dark, rainy, snowy February has been the longest shortest month. When I get home from work, all I want to do is to get into my fluffy clothes, eat dinner, take pup for a quick walk after dinner, and head upstairs to my "cave" to read, watch TV or some online show, and head to bed around 8:30 - 9pm if I really push it. I'm certainly not getting the most out of my days (which also makes me cranky), and it seems I'm just biding my time, waiting for the next season to arrive. So, all of this makes me very cranky. In addition to winter in general, other things that are making me cranky these days: Owing income taxes Mom's house is still not sold My waistline is expanding and I have not exercised, per my New Year's resolution.  Things that make me moderately cranky: Cam got an "I" (incomplete) grade in the fall term that he as not yet resolved. Grrrr... ...

In the past couple of weeks I finished a book and a TV series that I feel compelled to recommend because they were both so good, and really engaging. First up, may I recommend The Boys in the Boat,   a true story about an underdog rowing team from the University of Washington (as in Washington state) and their bid for the 1936 Olympics, held in Berlin on the cusp of Hitler's rise to power. This book was soooo interesting, and not just because our kids were in crew (that made it very interesting, though, as I understood the incredibly important role of the coxswain better), but because of the deep dive the author took into this event in history, and the interesting way he presented all the characters' background. In the spirit of Laura Hillenbran's  Unbroken   (fun fact: Louis Zamperini, Unbroken's protagonist, also competed at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, as did the famous Jesse Owens) and Seabiscuit ,  The Boys in the Boat was a real page turner and an excellent ...

As you may remember, Annalisse is studying Nutrition and Dietetics at college. As she enters the spring term of her junior year, she is starting to understand a little about what her future interests will be. Will she be a nutrition educator and counselor? Will she work in a clinical setting like a hospital or a nursing home? Will she work with children? The elderly? Eating disorders? My advice to her: Become a registered dietitian and get a great gig on one of the morning shows advising on nutrition and wellness topics! I think she's beginning to explore ways that she can use her outgoing, friendly personality in this profession. After all, you might be the smartest nutritionist in the room, but if you can't connect with people how effective will you be? So, here is a little demo video she made last week. It's not great, but at least, when she's on the Today Show, you can say you saw a video of her when she was still in college!

Just like being there Here I am, safe and sound in the north where there is no (or very little) snow. Unless you live in a cave you probably heard about the massive, historic blizzard that hit the northeast last weekend. Of course, one of the hardest places hit was Washington, DC, where I had spent the week and had hoped to depart from on the weekend. But no. My plans for leaving Saturday, then Sunday, were scrapped by the big storm, which was actually a pretty bad one and lived up to its hype. Complicating things was the fact that the DC area (and areas east, west, north, and south) were not prepared to deal with the management and removal of upwards of 2' of snow. So, with much determination (and $100 spent paying kids to shovel me out over several occasions), I "escaped" the frozen wasteland of Northern Virginia on Monday afternoon. Other than the exciting storm, I spent a very pleasant week with Mom Shiao. After her daily treatments and any other running ...