The Fabulous B@ker Blog

B@ker bloggites: so sorry I've been lax in posting. It's been a really busy couple of weeks so I have a lot of catching up to do. Here's the Cliffnotes version of what's new: College Pick-Up: We picked Cam up from his first year at RIT last Friday afternoon. He didn't do as well as he expected this term (two Bs, two Cs) so that was pretty upsetting for all of us. He always says he's going to to better next term...we'll see. Overall his GPA stands at a 2.77. He'll need to get that up if he eventually wants to go to grad school. All in all a tough year for him, although he loves RIT I'm not sure he was prepared for the rigor. Not a great note to end on, but we march onto next year. He starts his camp job the last week in June and apparently a lot of siting around is planned until then. The plan is to work with one of the RIT faculty members on some research when the professor returns from a conference next week. In the meantime, he could be found ...

This is finals week for Cam. He's had one final already (Calculus - he thinks he did well), today he has Computer Science and on Friday he has Biology. I can already feel my stress levels rising as I compulsively check the RIT grade portal waiting for grades to trickle in. I'm really hoping he ends up with a 3.0 (B average) or better as he needs to maintain a certain average for his paltry (but necessary) scholarship and will also need a 3.0 or much better to reach his (current) goal of graduate school. All in all, he's had a great first year. There were the roommate hiccups, but he seemed to adjust to college life quickly and really bonded with the crew team, a true bright spot of the year. when he comes home on Friday the plan is that he will work with a faculty member on some research that will take about three weeks (he can do it from home) and then he leaves for his camp job (this year he is the Archery Specialist - I think he'd better get some training...), whic...

Late Saturday night the German exchange students arrived by bus from NYC/JFK airport around midnight. Poor kids! They were exhausted after almost 24 hours of travel. They were expected around 10pm but apparently got delayed going through customs. Needless to day, they weren't the only tired ones! Caroline is with us until June 6. Two years ago we were happy to host Caroline's sister, Belinda, when she came as part of the exchange Cam participated in. I keep almost calling Caroline "Belinda" as they are very much alike in speech, appearance and mannerisms! I'm thinking the Fischer's won't find Annalisse "very much alike" Cam when she visits their family at the end of June. Could two kids be more different?! So plans are underway for all kids of activities. There is talk of a trip to Seabreeze or Darien Lake, and I think we are hosting a bonfire at our house on Sunday night. Of course, everyone wants to go to the mall. The kids simply go CRAZ...

Last night was the last Downstage show for the 2011-2012 season. It was really cute and featured many skits by the seniors in the group. For the crew, there were a lot of tears afterward as the sophomores and juniors said goodbye to the graduating seniors Claudia, Shelby, Dillon and Nick. As always, many Downstage alumni attended, and it was also great so see so many of the seniors from last year who were Cam's classmates. For your viewing pleasure, I present this year's Downstage movie. Also posted, the fake trailer leading up to last night's show. Great job, kids!! The Downstage Trailer Click here for the the 2011-2012 Downstage Movie!

Four Wicked Girls Whew! I haven't posted since last Monday, which is probably the longest I've ever gone without blogging. This spring has simply been out of control. Last week I had a meeting every night except Thursday, but that night I certainly kept busy packing and prepping for our big adventure to Raleigh-Durham early Friday morning. I'm trying to figure out how I might get out of some of these evening commitments so life can become a little more manageable. Of course, being on the go so much doesn't help. Enough of the whining! Now more about the fun... This year has already been so much fun with all the travel I've had the chance to do. For the third time in five months I've visited a city I've never been to before (first, there was Puerto Rico in January, then Austin in April) as my sister Mary, niece Nicole, and Annalisse flew to Raleigh-Durham to visit my nephew Anthony and see the show Wicked (!). As always, there was a lot of laughter (goo...

Talk about a busy time in our lives. It seems like every weekend is taken up, and lately I've been out just every weeknight with a meeting or am otherwise engaged. Oh well. Someday I'll be old and creaky and will be longing for the days when I was so busy, I suppose. Li'l Miss Johnson Most of last weekend was filled with Annalisse's play, Harvey, in which she played the part of the maid, Miss Johnson, and had exactly one line - something like "I'm sure I don't know Miss Harrison" AND EXIT STAGE LEFT . It was sort of a family joke after her starring role last year. Still, she had fun and the production was really cute. The kids did a great job!!  Bronze! The other part of the weekend was taken with travelling on Sunday to Whitney Point, NY, about 2 1/2 hours from Fairport, for Cam's race. He called on Saturday morning to let us know he had qualified for the finals so we knew we'd head there on Sunday to catch his race. He was ...

Last week we got tickets to see one of my fave bands, Train with MAT KEARNEY this summer (in August) at CMAC, a nearby venue. What a great concert it's going to be!! While the summer plans are shaping up nicely (blog post planned for today or tomorrow on that), this morning I'm really really in a Train mood. I've spent a lot of the last hour watching videos of some of my favorite Train songs, and, in particular, "Drops of Jupiter," a song that was popular in the summer of 2001.  It's a poignant song for me that brings back memories of the summer my Dad was diagnosed with blood cancer. Everytime I hear it I think of that time, the worry, and looking back, the happiness of having my Dad with us. If you 've never had a chance to hear "Drops of Jupiter," take a listen here. It's a great song!!