The Fabulous B@ker Blog

How can a (late) 40-something-year-old woman be so enraptured by technology? Am I not living during the perfect time? What if I were born during caveman time? Would I have been fascinated by the wheel? (Can I ask more questions??) So what was your first clue that I'm a techno geek? Is it how I incessantly write about how much I love my iPhone, or the fact that I chose to buy a MacBook Pro over a new dishwasher last year? Or maybe it's the fact that I created an online journal (lucky readers of the Fabulous B@ker Blog!) where I espouse my love for technology at every turn. I guess I'm what the industry might call an "early adapter of new technologies." I would only qualify that by adding " if/when I can afford them ." With the release of every new gadget and development of every new technology, it seems that no idea is beyond realization. In the last ten years, and especially in the last three year or so, technology advances are moving so fast they and ha...

Last night at 11:45pm I returned from my whirlwind trip to Ft. Lauderdale for my association's board meeting. Have I said lately how much I think flying is a pain-in-the-butt? Not to beat a dead horse (butt), but what a hassle! I guess it's what happens when you live in a second (or third) tiered city - you have to fly to a hub to connect with a flight to anywhere worth going. The trip started out well enough when I scored an early flight on standby and got into Ft. Lauderdale a little early (I say a little early because the flight left 45 minutes late and circled the airport in a holding pattern for 45 minutes before landing), and by a "little early" I mean I got in 1/2 hour before my original flight was planned to arrive. Oh well. I stepped outside the airport and was born anew. Humidity and the fresh smell of the tropics after a rainfall. WONDERFUL! I know Florida is probably crazy warm in the summer but boy did that heat feel good. I made my way to the hotel/resor...

Tomorrow I will be flying the friendly skies south to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, for a weekend meeting of the national association I belong to (to which I belong?). I'm definitely in a bit of "warm weather denial," what with the frosty and frigid conditions 'round these parts for the last two months. I just can't bring myself to pack shorts and/or capri pants, although I did pack a bunch of short sleeved shirts and some sandals for good measure. After all, it will be 80 degrees there, and sunny, of course. Even so, I have a hard time wrapping my brain around the fact that, as I write this, I am stationed directly in front of the space heater trying to warm up and there's a distinct possibility that tomorrow at this time I could be sitting on a deck (OR BY THE POOL) sipping mojitos. So, off to Ft. Lauderdale (cool, since I've never been there) I will go, and after one full day and part of another, I will board a plane again on Sunday to try to deal with the ...

A couple of weeks ago at work we were talking about drinking coffee and tea, and one of my coworkers, a very calm, serene lady, talked about how drinking her morning coffee is like a ritual. I knew exactly what she meant. For me, it's lining up all the little events in a morning that calm and center me for the day, and it goes a little like this: After the kids are off to school and the dog is walked and taken out ("the World is Jasper's toilet"), I get in my car and go a couple of blocks to the corner gas station where I get my 20 oz cup of Green Mountain Coffee. The mixture is always the same: 1/2 decaf hazelnut and equal parts for the other half, which consist of some combination of Wild Blueberry, Chocolate Raspberry Truffle, and a wildcard flavor (according to the season) like Gingerbread, Southern Pecan, Peach, or Tropical Coconut. [These coffee combinations will probably make some readers gasp in their craziness but they are OH SO YUMMY.] Then, I come home, po...

Lately (well, specifically since my holiday break) on every Friday I trick myself into thinking I'm still "on vacation" by telling myself that I have two days left to my break. Somehow it makes it seem like there's more time than just a weekend until I'm "back to the old grind," as Nonnie used to say. Oh, the things we tell ourselves to get through the day!

Every once in a while I'm reminded how much I enjoy the "dead teenager" and story-teller type songs from the '70s. Having experienced most of my childhood and teenhood in the late '60s and through the '70s, I really felt fortunate to be able to tune in to 1340WMSA and hear these gems: Seasons in the Sun - Terry Jacks Rocky - Austin Roberts/Dickey Lee Honey - Bobby Goldsboro Billy Don't be a Hero - Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods The Night Chicago Died - Paper Lace The Night The Lights Went Out in Georgia - Vicki Lawrence Patches - Clarence Carter Ode To Billy Joe - Bobbie Gentry Alone Again (Naturally) - Gilbert O'Sullivan (this one I actually like, for real) These songs, and others like them that I'm certain I've missed, have provided hours of ridicule for me an my friends over the years. They sure don't make them like that anymore! (Do you have any to add?)

Happy birthday today to my "middle" and still much older sister, Carol. Having a birthday on a Monday sure makes it a little easier to get through the day. Have a great one!!

January is one of my favorite months. I can hear your *gasp* of disbelief at this statement since I've often vocalized my disdain for winter, but hear me out. January is a no-pressure-stay-inside-hunker-down kind of month. The holiday hubbub is over, the decorations are put away, there are no big dinners to prepare for...you get the idea. The weekends, by nature, are usually uncluttered so a lot of time can be spent wrapped in a blanket and sitting by the fire with a favorite book or movie. FROZEN, SNOWY, HEAVEN! The best we can hope for is a really good snowstorm that sends the town out to stock up on milk, bread and eggs, and the feeling like no other when the school closings scroll across the bottom of the TV (and, if I'm lucky, my college is closed, too - which it usually is if it get's bad enough for Fairport to close). So here's to January's white, cold glory!

On days like these, the first day back to work after 10 days of vacation, I'm thinking I should have married for money instead of love. If I married for money, I could sleep in every day and come downstairs to my chef-made breakfast (it would probably still be Green Mountain flavored coffee [or, my other faves, Canaltown or Fingerlakes Roasters] and an "everything" bagel), then, I could meet with my personal trainer, then join "ladies who lunch" for a healthy midday meal. THEN TAKE MY DAILY NAP. With Pup. In the evenings, I could have low fat, healthy dinner at home (again, my chef could cook and the help would clean up), or I could go out to dinner every night! Instead, the alarm went off at 5:45am and we all dragged ourselves out of bed, eyes barely open, and stumbled through the morning on our way to school and work. My sweatpants will really miss me this week.

Welcome to 2011! The year of Cameron's high school graduation, and the year of my 30th MCHS reunion. May it also be a year of health, happiness, fun and travel! Every year feels like a new beginning, with new "resolutions"; doesn't January 1 feel so good? A clean slate. We're all well rested and ready to face the new year!! Have a wonderful 2011!