The Fabulous B@ker Blog

A little over a year after receiving Ron Chernow's Alexander Hamilton bio for Christmas (2016), last night I finally finished it. There are several reasons for the delay in getting to the end (hey, it's the journey, not the destination, right?), among them: It's not a light read, nor it it particularly dense. I would say it's very readable for a historical biography. It's very long. I read it on my iPad (I had to purchase the iBooks version when I found the book print too small to read without a lot of light - it sucks to get old). In the iPad version, there was 1,600 pages of text, plus 400 additional pages of acknowledgments, pictures/documents, and references.  At first, I would read the book in small bites, fitting it in among 15 or so other books I read this past year. The monthly bookclub book was always there beckoning me, taking priority. I won't even mention all the Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO and other shows that kept tempting me (and winning...)...

Just a quick plug for our favorite RD2B - Annie B! She is making her way in the pre registered dietician world by sharing her fave food preps and demos on her YouTube channel. I've had the pleasure (or the pain) of being her camera man (woman) and director for several of her demos. They are fun! Next stop, Good Morning America? Enjoy, and keep checking back!!

OMG am I cranky! So cranky and lazy that I have not managed a post since Christmas. The winter blues are in full force, and this winter has been very brutal so far; freezing temps, tons of snow, and cloudy, dark days. In fact, we have not even had our Greco Christmas yet as it has been postponed twice because of hazardous weather conditions. I really could use some sun and surf right about now. Seriously! But, the new year is marching on. Cam is busy learning his new job, and on Monday Annalisse started her new rotation at St. Peter's Health Partners in Albany. She will be there for 10 weeks, then starting (I think) her community rotation. It's going fast, and I am wishing it away a little because I really want spring! It's hard to believe she will be done with "school" for good soon. Well, mostly. She still needs to finish her online master's degree, but I think she'll definitely need a break from academics (with the exception of studying for the RD exa...

Christmas Eve has come and gone, today Christmas 2017 cold and blustery with one kid asleep upstairs for the first time since he moved out in January, and one far away in Florida. Christmas came with an opening of gifts (we are calling this Christmas "Practical Christmas" because the nature of the gifts are things we needed - like an EZ-Pass and AAA). After lounging a bit, we were joined by our Shiao relatives for a delicious breakfast, and now, a relaxing day of hanging at home awaits. Every year I seem to experience a sense of dread as the year flies by and we are once again entering the holiday season. I think it's because I feel like the years are passing so quickly, the kids are getting older, we are losing loved ones to advanced age, and there is a true sense of our own mortality. Oh, how much time we had from an 18-year old's view. This has been a very disconcerting and unsettling year for me with the political landscape. I always though I was on the "...

When I think about the blog, I often think about how I started it right before we got Jasper in 2007. (For those keeping track at home the B@ker Blog is almost 11 years old.) So, it's a little sad to think that Jasper has aged right along with the blog, but he, sadly, is definitely in decline. He's had seizures approx. six times since the beginning of 2017, and it seems like every one take a little toll on him.  Additionally, he has arthritis and is plagued by small, twitchy muscle spasms. We have options to determine what is causing the seizures; we could do a cat scan (or in his case, a dog scan), but we've decided not to do that. If the test did determine he has epilepsy, we would have the option of medicating him, which is not ideal (the medicine would make him drowsy and dopey). If a cat scan revealed something more serious going on with his brain, like cancer, we would not do anything heroic for him at this stage of his life. As a result, we just enjoy every da...

I don't know what got into me...was it laziness? The winter blues? A certain type of sadness that takes you over when the kids are gone and it doesn't seem like there's much to write about? The routine of the day-in and the day-out that just goes too quickly and is generally pretty boring and mundane? Whatever is is (or was), I feel really, really guilty about not checking in with the blog for almost a year. So much has happened, most of it good (all of it pretty good, really). Since we last chatted: Annalisse On April 2 our prayers (and pleas!) were answered when Annalisse got the long awaited internship match with Russell Sage College (or Sage College, as the grad school is known), along with entry into the Nutrition grad program. Whew - I would rank that as one of the most stressful waiting periods in recent memory! Since that day we all continue to be super excited (and grateful) that she made it happen. It was three years of very hard work on her part, and coun...

The year is starting out pretty well for the Bakers. Cam secured the UR job full-time (he just needs to sign a contract which could take up to two weeks - we will all breath much easier when it's official), so we're all really happy that this job odyssey has worked out for him. Truthfully, he's been pretty lucky in this whole process ~ things have really gone in positive way for him. I expect once the job is locked in he'll finalize his plans to move in with his friends. On Tuesday, Annalisse and I took a quick trip down to NYC to visit New York Presbyterian Hospital for a dietetic program open house. She met seven or eight of her friends there and they attended the two-hour program, after which she was pretty overwhelmed. The day was very, very nasty with cold, blowing, icy rain that hit your face like pin needles. We got back to Albany around 8:30pm and each snuggled into our beds, tired from the busy day. Yesterday, before heading back to Rochester she met wi...

Well, 2016, your time has come. Time to move on from a year with some great high points and what seemed like a lot of worrying with a couple of low points thrown in. We certainly did a lot this year: our first trip abroad, Cam graduated from college, moved to Maryland, then moved back. Annalisse took a trip to Italy and had a productive summer, as well as finishing her next to last term at SU.  But, I feel a general sense of malaise and apprehension going into 2017 with Trump at the helm. I think his election has affected a segment of Americans in a way we have never experienced before. Some are jubilant, others are filled with dread for the future. The contentious election and its result has pulled people apart more than ever before. We will have to wait and see how things go.  And 2016 - what a year for loss of famous figures, celebrities, and pop stars .  I usually make a list of goals for the new year, and they never seem to change. They usually revo...

Merry day-after-Christmas from the Bakers! It's been a great holiday, filled with friends, family and a great gift or two (like a new iPad Air and tickets to the SU/Duke basketball game in February!). I am especially thankful to have family around this year. It might have been a different scenario, where Cam was coming home from Maryland to spend a few precious days, and I continue to be happy and relieved that he is back in Rochester.  We are still waiting for the UR job to be wrapped up, and the position was supposed to be posted before the end of last week, but...bureaucracy. Annalisse finished a very stressful term at SU. Her grades were disappointing to her (she ended with a 2.8 for the term and a 3.2 overall), with a C and a C+ in key courses, but what can you do? I know she really tries, studying for weeks before a test, and it all ends up falling apart with the test. Even so, she will spend the break getting her internship applications in order, and we can only hope for...

Happy Thanksgiving to all!! I am sitting in the living room pup at my feet, both kids are hanging out watching a "Parks and Rec" marathon, and thinking how overdue I am for a blog entry. I'm trying to think about why I am not so engaged with the blog these days. While a lot of great things have happened this year, some of the year has been a struggle. Moving Cam down to Maryland, and the uncertainty (and huge expense associated) that followed definitely put a little bit of damper on my mood at times.  I have also been a little cranky about some work stuff, and a desire to maybe be doing something different professionally (although, I do count my blessings daily for having such a great job, but I think I'm ready for some new challenges). I think the prospect of a low likelihood of selling my mother's house weighs heavily as well, as it costs each of us approx. $100 to keep all the bills paid and just feels like it's hanging over all our heads. But there...

Well, hello there! This little B@ker Blog hiatus is definitely the longest I've taken. I just haven't felt much like dropping a note during this incredibly busy month of travel for work during the week, and crazy, overcommitted weekends. So, what's been going on? Lots, and not a lot! 21! Of course, October started with Nic's birthday on October 4 and our little kid turning 21, and all the fanfare you can image would go along with that. On the 5th, her birthday, she held a little happy hour celebration at a Mexican restaurant in Syracuse. Cam, Alex and a bunch of her camp and nutrition friends went, so she was super happy to celebrate with them. She could not overdo it, though, because the next day she had her first food education program for the semester, as well as her first improv show that night. That same night, Sue flew in from VA for our girl's weekend in Vermont. What a great weekend that was! As always, it's so much fun to be with "my gir...

Our 23 year old has moved back home. Alas, we did not make him move into the basement (you know that old adage about adult children moving back in their parent's basements?). No really, it's okay! He's home and ready to push the "reset" button on his young career. We went down to Gaithersburg on Saturday, loaded up ~ again ~ and headed back home this morning. I'm mostly relieved he's back home (including the mouse incident in his apartment on Saturday night) -  I'm not a big city person and it's always a little stressful being near DC with the crazy traffic and a gazillion people around. He's super excited to see his friends again, begin coaching at Rochester Boat Club (and just participating in crew in general), and hopefully settling into the new job at UR.  We managed to absorb all his stuff back into the house, but are keeping must of it together as we expect he will be out again within a couple of months or so, once he finds out how the UR...

Here is an update in the continuing saga of "Cam's Career and Quality of Life" journey: He found out on Tuesday that he got the Bioinformatician job at UR. In his understated way, he was very excited. I think we can chalk the last couple of month up to a life lesson, one of which he learned plenty about himself, what he wants to do, where he wants to live, and the importance of having a network, especially of friends. The shaky part of the scenario is that the position is a temp one through the middle of December, with a potential for permanent hiring based on funding. We're just going to take it one day at a time. If nothing else, it buys him a little time to look for a job that better suits him. He is also liking the course he is taking, and plans to continue to gain skills in that area.  When he got back to his apartment on Tuesday, he spoke with the office to made arrangements to break his lease, which will require two months rent payment. While a lot of ...

The Baker's new ride Today, we finally got a new car to replace the black Honda Accord that we gave to Cam when he moved to Maryland (which we officially signed over to him yesterday - going to the DMV is not my favorite thing to do). Today we signed on the dotted line for a 2016 Prius. I'm really looking forward to zipping along in this cute little car, which we pick up on Wednesday. It will be great to have two cars again, as having one has been an inconvenience, but not too, too bad. Both kids are home for the long Labor Day weekend. Cam came home Thursday evening, and we picked Annalisse up on Friday afternoon. Cam had his interview at UR at 3pm on Friday, and will know if he gets the job by Tuesday or Wednesday. I'm pretty nervous about it, mostly for him because I know he wants it so badly and he will be very disappointed if he doesn't get it. Right after the interview, around 5pm he came into the house, changed his clothes, and was off to with his buddies ...

Well, hello there. Looks like the B@ker Blog took a bit of a summer vacation. Once again, busyness has taken over, and at the end of each quick day, I am too worn out (lazy...?) to post! The journey since my last post has taken us to Raleight-Durham North Carolina and back, with a visit to Cam, Sue and Ken, and nephew Tony thrown in. Annalisse and I travelled 1,750 miles in six days to check out possible dietetic internship (DI) programs for next year. On the way down we stopped to spend the weekend with Cam ( who is doing better, although disappointed he didn't get the job at Wayfair in Boston - his interests did not meet their needs ~ DUH ~ he's interested in big data and they needed a coding monkey.  I think that probably came through in the interview. LOUD AND CLEAR.), before heading down to Roanoke (well, technically Salem, Virginia), for an overnight with Sue and Ken, and the bonus of spending time with Cousin San. On Monday morning, with Sue and Ken joining us, our fir...

Deuces Here we are a week after a stressful week, with another...stressful week. On Monday, the week started off with me (and Mark, I'm sure) already feeling a bit beaten down from the events to move Cam. Still, we were excited for him to start his new job, and were really looking forward to hearing about his first day. Well....it was terrible. As described by him, he went in, spent an hour with his boss, and was then told "Ok, go do your stuff." He had no idea what he was doing and did not know what to do. He was upset, feeling lost and unqualified, and felt like he couldn't even go back the next day. Uh oh. I tried to calm him down, and let him know that quitting after one day, or even several days, is not an option for a whole host of reasons, among them that we did not have the $$ to move him back and he had signed a year lease. Then Monday night, he saw a mouse in his apartment. I'm pretty sure that ranked as on of the worst days of his life (so far!)...

Today tops off what has been an alternately exciting, frustrating, and stressful week. Rarely have I had a week where every day brought new stressful, frustrating, expensive experiences. Here goes... As you know, this was the week we moved Cam down to Maryland to start his new job. So, on Monday I went to work, knowing that Tuesday I would have to take Annalisse to Syracuse to move her belongings out of her current apartment and into her new apartment, as she had to vacate by July 31 (a development I learned about only the Friday before). STRESSOR #1 . As a result, we headed out to Syracuse with the intention of simply moving her stuff from her old apartment to her new, but NO: It turns out we had to completely empty out her current apartment and move everything home since she could not get into her new apartment until after August 20 ( STRESSOR #2 ). Now, all of you know I'm a good planner. I had emailed the rental office earlier in the month asking about this process, but nev...

Chillaxin' at the pool Can it be that it has been almost 3 weeks since I updated the blog?! SHAMEFUL! But a super busy three weeks it has been. This summer is really flying by (sadness), but there is still so much to look forward to, like our trip down to Maryland as Cam starts his new job in Rockville. We will head out on Wednesday, bright and early, with our trailer containing all Cam's Earthly belongings ~ well, maybe not everything, but what he will need to get started in his new place. He is renting a "super studio" in Gaithersburg, at least for the first year, since the info on Craig's list about sharing a house seemed kind of sketchy. His new apartment features a "sleeping area," with no door, but it will fit his full-sized bed he bought at Ikea last year. We also got him a full-size futon so we will be able to stay with him when we visit. The apartment complex looks really nice, so I hope it works for him. On Thursday, we will work to g...

I know the lawns are getting brown. I know it's sometimes hard to sleep at night with all this heat. BUT I LOVE IT! This weekend has been a banner one, with beautiful weather and time spent with good friends. It simply doesn't get any better. The weekend started with a quick trip to Massena for my 35th reunion. I just went only for the Friday night get together, as Mark and I needed to attend our dear friend Kay's dad's memorial celebration on Saturday. Mark could not come along as he can't get away from work (having just taken two weeks vacation), so I started the day in Massena with lunch with my sisters and cousins, followed by a listing of Mom's house with a new agent and a party for Aunt Carol's 96th birthday. Later in the day I joined my girl's (and Ken, Sue's husband) for dinner at Sabad's before heading to the reunion get together at the Massena Country Club. As always, it was great reconnecting with friends (and ignoring those who I ...

Well, it's official. One of the Baker chicks is flying the nest. Cam will start his new position at Omnitec Solutions, contracting to the NIH, in Rockville, MD, on Monday, August 1. In his own words, from his Facebook page: I am happy to announce that I have accepted a software developer position at Omintec within the National Institutes of Health. I will be helping psychiatric researchers connect to the resources they need within the NIH to better aid in their studies. Starting in the DC area August 1st. Now, to find housing. We are trying to figure out what he can afford and with the options in that area (DC), which is notoriously expensive. Rent a room? Find a studio? We've got some time so I'm hoping an option becomes clear in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, lots of relief all around in the Baker house!!