The Fabulous B@ker Blog

How is it possible that it is the end of the year already? At times it is very disconcerting how fast the years go now. It seems as good a time as any to reflect on the highs and lows of the last year, which, overall, was a pretty good one. If I had to think about a theme (or, in this case, several themes) for 2011, they would be: Milestones ~ Connections ~ Travel ~ Fun Milestones An 18th birthday, a high school graduation, a 30th class reunion, starting college, a 16th birthday, a 50th birthday. WOW, those are a lot of exciting, important events for one year.  I made it through mostly all of them without a lot of tears (of happiness). Milestones really do help us mark the passage of time, don't they? Connections This was truly a year of connections - spending time with loved ones and reconnecting with those who mean a lot but who we don't see all the time. Cam's graduation and celebrating Annalisse's Sweet 16 and Mark's 50 gave us many great oppo...

Among all the merriment and celebrations (and laying on the couch watching movies and naps) I do actually count on getting certain things accomplished during the week between Christmas and New Years. I'm happy to say I'm making pretty good progress on my yearly chores this week. Here's a sampling of the compellingly mundane stuff I do during this brief window of sanity before January hits again: File all the kids special momentos collected over the last year in their "memory tubs" in the attic. This year there was some great stuff because of Cam's graduation and Annalisse's Sweet 16. I'm just hoping they'll appreciate it when they buy their first home(s) and I get to give them 5 or 6 large plastic tubs containing their artwork/projects (from daycare on up), report cards, school papers or essays I thought they might find interesting later, magazine and newspapers highlighting significant current events, t-shirts from special events or camps or...

Aline in July Aline in her younger days A very happy 81st birthday to my mom, Aline, today.  I hope she has a  great day!

Two days after Christmas I finally have a chance to post an update on all the festivities. Saturday's Christmas Eve followed a very intense, busy week at work and it took me a little while to unwind and realize I actually have 10 DAYS OFF! HURRAY! One of the great dilemmas this year was when/where to go to church on Christmas Eve. We love our church, but our services were at 5:30, 7:30 and 11pm, none of which really fit into the Christmas Eve plans of getting to Aunt Mary and Uncle Peter's in a reasonable time for their annual family party, which started anytime after 8pm. Sure, the 5:30 service would have worked for us, but...OH ALL THOSE KIDS. If we attended the 7:30 service, we would not have gotten to the gathering until after 9, and 11pm - forget it. We considered going to our old church which had a 6pm service, but it's a little too contemporary for our taste. So, for the first time that I can ever remember we did not go to Christmas Eve service. This bothered me ...

The only thing better than the feeling of a Friday night is... A FRIDAY NIGHT THAT BEGINS A VACATION WILL LAST FOR 10 DAYS! If you want to find me I'll be on the couch in my sweatpants.

Today is the Winter Solstice, which means...we made it through the darkest part of the year. Every day it will become a little lighter, which is of great joy to me. I'm always amazed when, at some point in January I leave work and all of a sudden it's light instead of dark out. The seasons certainly do turn, don't they? Though still in darkness, we will find the light in the days to come as we celebrate Christmas...with a little help from the 700 lights on our tree. Side note: Looks like we'll be having a white Christmas as there is still no snow, and even though the Winter Solstice marks the beginning of winter, it means we have just three more months until the ground comes alive again! It's the eternal optimist in me, I suppose.

Arise...now commences the longest work week of the year. Or, if you ask Annalisse, the longest school week of the year. Or, if you ask Cameron, the longest, most awesome sitting-alone-in-the-living-room-playing-video-games-and-watching-movies-wrapped-in-a-comforter-with-Jasper-nearby-while-everybody-else-is-at-work-or-school week of the year. I guess it all depends on your point-of-view.