Uninhabited Spaces

Today was Mark's graduation from the Bachelor of Education program. We were joined at the convocation ceremony by Mark's mother, Joan, his Aunt Carole and a dear friend from Toronto named Jan. After the cermony was over we took a number of photos and then wandered downtown for a lovely brunch at Windmills. We then went over to Mark's Uncle Pat and Aunt Carole's for dinner. I am so proud of Mark and his accomplishment. It was a demanding year for him and he rose to the challenge with great gusto and commitment, earning the respect and admiration of his peers in his Artist in Community Education stream. I look forward to his further adventures in education.

Thought this image captured the state of my brain the past few days. I have a great deal of activity happening on one side while the other is waiting for my holidays and has already packed a suitcase. I seem to have a steady cacophony of thoughts related to the world at large, circling in the following order: earthquake, lapel pins, world food shortage, RFK, wedding, career, mom, Burma, primaries, Indiana Jones, planes, Iraq, school...

We had a wonderful 4-day trip to New York City the first weekend of May. As most folks know, I proposed to Mark under a blossoming cherry tree in Central Park. It was a romantic and memorable day for both of us. We rented an apartment in the Upper east Side with another couple, Ingrid and Edward. It was such a great decision as we basically lived like real New Yorkers, buying fresh baked goods every morning, and a good stock of groceries at Gristedes for breakfast and snacks. We also picked up bagels daily from Tal's , voted best bagel shop in the Upper East Side, and they were definitely worth it. They were less sweet than their Montreal counterparts but certainly just as good, especially when they were still warm. Our friend Ingrid is a "Sex and the City" fan so we just had to try out the goodies at Tasty D Lites , featured in the show a few times. A massive Woody Allen fan, Ingrid was also so excited when we stumbled upon Elaine's , a restaurant that has been the

I am so very pleased to announce that Mark and I are engaged!! The proposal happened beneath a cherry tree in Central Park in New York City on Saturday, May 4. No date is officially set but we expect the wedding to happen in June 2009. That's us just before the "big ask"laying on a blanket of cherry blossoms...