The Fabulous B@ker Blog

Another milestone has come and gone: the Junior Prom. After six weeks of preparation, Annalisse celebrated her big night with the perfect date: her longtime friend, Peter. (It was so nice to have her forgo her imaginary boyfriend, Russell, for the night.)  After my nail biting return trip from Austin ( Would I make it or would I miss my daughter's big night?? ), I headed over to where she was getting her makeover (thanks to my niece, Nicole, who took over when I couldn't be there!) and hung out until she was done. After a quick change into her dress it was time to greet Peter and his parents, Sherry and Tom, who came over for some pictures before the kids joined the "big group" (27 kids!) for pictures and the limo ride to the prom. She looked so beautiful and grown up, and Peter was very handsome also. A really special night for all of us! After the prom the kids were invited to a friend's house for a party before going over to her friend Mo's for a sleepo...

The Texas State Capitol at night I arrived back from my trip to Austin yesterday at 2pm, JUST IN TIME FOR PROM PREP, but more about the prom in my next blog entry. First, Austin. I flew out on Monday morning in the middle of a late spring Nor'easter, which brought snow and sleet to the Rochester area (and the East Coast) starting late Sunday night. Just my traveling luck: It's 80 degrees for most of the month of March and when I need to fly, there is a late spring snowstorm. Anyway, I was surprised that my flight was going out on time (6am!) and hopeful we would not be affected by the adverse weather conditions. Not so fast. The plane taxied out then spent an hour Only in Texas on the runway getting deiced. An hour? Really? Unbelievable. l. I was concerned I would miss my 8:30am connection to Austin from Dulles. So, when we landed and I was able to break free from the crowd I was on my way, trying to hustle through the crowds to get to the gate (which seemed to be ...

First Day Home Happy birthday yesterday to our golden boy on his fifth birthday. I can't believe he's five already, it seems like he just came to live with us yesterday... If you've been a long time B@ker Blog reader, you'll remember the heartbreaking story of Casey, our first golden who died by an overdose of chocolate in April 2007. Her sudden death really devastated us, probably more than we ever thought it could. At the time we said "no more dogs," but it soon became apparent that not having a dog left a huge void in our lives. After our search for another golden, which we admittedly were reluctant about because of our experience with Casey's destructive nature, we decided on Jasper and our experience could not have been more different. Submissive, cuddly, loving and non-destructive right from the start, he was, and continues to be the, the PERFECT DOG. We were so fortunate to be able to carry on after the loss of Casey with such a sweet boy. H...

On Monday morning I head to sunny Austin for the week for my association's board meeting and conference. There's always a lot to do at work and at home to get ready to go like: GO GROCERY SHOPPING AND MAKE MEALS FOR THE WEEK SO THEY WON'T EAT OUT EVERY NIGHT, and PACK FIVE DAYS WORTH OF SCHOOL SNACKS IN ADVANCE SINCE NO ONE SEEMS TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT. What have I done to make these people so helpless that they can't cook a meal or pack a snack? It seems there's always a price to pay for being away, doesn't it?

Mabry's Mill We arrived home yesterday afternoon from our 1,400 trek to Roanoke and back during which we visited two colleges: Roanoke College (for the second time) and Susquehanna University. Annalisse like both colleges (they each had its pluses and minuses) and is now really into the college search, looking up many possible colleges to visit. (Seriously? When will we have the time to visit five or six additional colleges all up and down the eastern seaboard?) The trip to see Mom, Dave and family in Arlington was quick but nice, and we headed out to Sue and Ken's after breakfast on Monday morning. That night we mainly hung around and caught up...the weather was so nice!! On Tuesday, after our visit to Roanoke College, we went on a day trip to Floyd, VA and Mabry's Mill, through the twisty, windy roads of the Blue Ridge Mountains. On Wednesday we went out for a light breakfast then headed to downtown Roanoke while Sue and Ken caught up on some work before getting bac...

Reaching for the finish line This has been a pretty good week all around for the Bakers. It started with Annalisse finally securing a prom date (she broke down and asked a guy friend that she's known for years, and he said "yes"; I'm still a little bewildered that no one asked her, and by the fact that her friends didn't help her out in this regard, but I needed to let her work that through herself) , and continued on with a good third quarter report card for her and word that Cam "aced" a calculus exam on Friday (his hardest subject). Then, today, Cam's boat came in first in his race (the prize: the losing a crew t-shirt from the losing team which, according to Cam, is cooler than a medal). So, lots of positives this week. It helps balance out the tough weeks.

Boy, what I had to do to actually get my work done before the end of the day with our April break looming (stay focused!). Isn't that just the way: you try to scrunch a whole bunch of things into a very short amount of time so you can enjoy your time off? The only thing I have to say is TOTALLY WORTH IT! After Cam's race against Ithaca College tomorrow we'll head out on our journey on Easter Sunday. This will be the second Easter in a row that we're on the road, so it's little disappointing that we don't really get to relax, reflect and enjoy the day. Still, fun stuff ahead!

It's been almost a week since my last post. I guess it's pretty indicative of the not very exciting life we're leading right now. Pretty mundane stuff punctuated by the occasional good TV show or nap. HOWEVER, we are looking forward to our little trip to Virgina next week. As often happens, I'm looking forward to a lot of time in the car to catch up on my reading (thank goodness I can read in the car...many can't), and to put some pages between me and my May bookclub selection. We're also looking forward to seeing our Virginia relations and spending some time with Sue and Ken. It will also be our first trip to really look at colleges for Annalisse (Roanoke College and Susquehanna University are the first stops), and I've been feeling a little upset about that, realizing that she'll be out of the nest in a year-and-a-half and it will be just me, Mark and Jasper. It's a good reminder for me to slow down and live for today...which is a little hard t...