The Fabulous B@ker Blog

Sure, he's been to Greece, Italy and France. And he has all the technology he could ever want. But, one of Cam's dreams came true on Monday when he was offered a job as a KITCHEN ASSISTANT at 4-H Camp Bristol this summer (a two week stint, plus one week of training before camp starts). In his position he won't be JUST a kitchen assistant, that's just a stepping stone on the path to Camp Counselor. Last summer he passed the "counselor in training" part of the process, and this year, along with helping out in the kitchen, he'll help with camp supervision and other camp activities. Next year, if he's successful, he can be a junior counselor, then the next year, a senior counselor. I don't know what it is about Cameron and camp. He seems like the least likely kid who would become so enamoured with the great outdoors, sleeping in a cabin and, taking cold showers, and eating in a mess hall; but there's obviously something about it because all winter ...

Not a lot. Gone are the days that we travel to someplace warm (Florida, Arizona , Virginia) for February break as we scale down financially and the kids are busy all the time. Although, I do have evidence that we used to do that stuff. We're even wearing shorts in the pictures. I've been off since last Wednesday and it's mostly been a techno-cation (did I just coin new American phrase?). I spent a lot of time playing with my new iPhone (my Christmas present that I received on February 13) and getting that situated (officially replacing the iPod as the The Greatest Invention in the World ) . Then, between Cam's birthday celebration and running the kids around (including a day of skiing on Friday), I was able to catch missed TV episodes including The Office, Flight of the Conchords , and Lost, with a little Entourage thrown in (I'm half way through Season 3). The week went too fast, and now it's back to the grind until our next break in April, when we head to...

Yesterday was a busy day for all as Cam turned Sweet 16. As with other years, I lament: Where did the time go? I wonder if I'm the only mother who relives my child's birth day (I would expect not), glancing at the clock every couple of hours to recall "what I was doing 16 [or 13] years ago at this time." I started the day by bringing my car for an inspection and 30,000 mile checkup/maintenance ($$), from then we were were on the run for the rest of the day: we headed to the eye doctor so Cam could get his contact lenses (his birthday present), I took Cam and his friend Bonnie to the skating rink for a couple of hours,then, it was out to dinner at the Plum Garden with Lena, Ken, Nara and Jim. Cam's friend Bonnie came along, too. Whew! I couldn't even stay awake during Lost (I'll have to watch it online today) since I didn't get to squeeze in my nap. It was a busy day, but a good one. Thank God Cam is not focused on getting his driver's permit like...

You've probably heard by now of the terrible tragedy when flight 3407 dropped from the sky and nosedived into a house about an hour from here, just outside of Buffalo. What a shocking and very sad situation for the victims, 50 in all, including one person on the ground. It's at times like these that I often find myself pausing to consider the times I've flown, and will fly, and how that "could be me." Then I slap myself. We can't let fear, of flying or other things, rule our lives or we would never travel, experience new places, meet new people, or taste new food. We'd never even leave the house. And it would be just our luck that a plane would crash into it.

Here's another one of those occasional pop-culture posts... One hundred twenty-nine channels and nothing to watch has forced me to the Internet to find my entertainment. For the last month or so I've been catching up on the first two seasons of AMC's Mad Men , the critically acclaimed and stylistic period drama about Madison Avenue Ad Men in the early 1960s. I'm totally hooked. It feels like a flawless representation of a time when smoking all day long was just another part of life, and you didn't go much past noon without your first bourbon. Not to mention rampant extramarital affairs and oppressed women. Of course, I don't know for sure if it's true to life because I was barely born when in the time the show was set, but what fun! Check it out if you get a chance.

Lately I've been really grateful for a husband like Mark who seems to be discovering his "feminine side" more than ever as he grows older. He's always been willing to go shopping, taken an active interest in our home decorating and furnishing, enjoyed going to arts and crafts fairs, and such. All that's just gotten even better as I discovered last week that he's taken to watching Sex and the City every night from 7-8pm on WB. Imagine: I have someone in MY OWN HOUSE that I can curl up on the couch with to watch Sex and the City! It's almost unimaginable! I feel like I'm only a couple of episodes away from getting him to watch last year's SATC movie. What's next? A trip to the salon for pedicures followed by a nice hot non-fat/decaf/sugar-free vanilla latte at Starbucks?

A happy (cold, frigid) birthday to my sister, Mary, today! Known to her many subjects as the Queen of the Family, we all hope she has a wonderful day!

Note to groundhogs everywhere : Get out of that hole! I mean it! I'm not kidding! I really need winter to be over so I can rejoin that segment of the population that actually likes to go outside. Go on! Get out! Update 9:18am: This is bad news indeed.

Last night Annalisse and Mark attended our church's Father/Daughter Snow Ball. As you can imagine if you know Annalisse, there was a big build up for her first "formal" dance that included finding just the right dress and endless speculation of how she should wear her hair. At the beginning of January we found a cute little black and white dress at BonTon for 70% off (luckily she liked it better than the dr ess that cost $60). Finally, the big day came and she got ready for the "Ball" and she and her "date" left around 5pm. The reports at 8:00, when they returned, were of a really fun night with good food and a lot of dancing with her "posse" (the group of friends she hangs with at church). In the meantime, Cam and I went out to our favorite Thai restaurant before coming home to hang with the dog. A vision of things to come, I'm sure!