The Godfather, The Queen, The Slayer, and The Chef

Several weeks ago, Jeanette's brother Mike and his wife Krystal made us an offer we couldn't refuse: they asked us to be godparents to their daughter. Last weekend, we made it official by participating in MacKenzie's baptism. Appropriately enough, the event took place on Mother's Day and our niece looked adorable in her baptism best.

Her godparents were looking pretty cute too...

...but all eyes were on MacKenzie, who seemed to love her frock and all the attention. She smiled and cooed all through the ceremony, and then giggled her greetings to adoring guests at the reception that followed. We were thrilled to see the family, especially so considering that we hadn't been to Harriston since Thanksgiving. After a long, snowy winter, we were thrilled to spend a great day with an array of mothers, godly and otherwise.

Our jet-setting continued over the Victoria Day weekend, though this time we headed in separate directions. Jeanette headed to Manhattan for work, while I flew to Ottawa for a reunion with my beloved "Scooby gang".

It has been a vampire's age since we were all together, so we celebrate like we did in the old days -- with a pot luck dinner and episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Some of us even caught up with Buffy's "season eight" in comic book form.

The weather also cooperated enough to allow us time for some lakeside hijinks...

... some bird-watching...

...and some watching of damage done by birds. Check out this tree pecked to pieces by a pileated woodpecker (say that five times fast):

And speaking of unusual meals, during my flight back to the T-dot, I read a fascinating article in The New Yorker about up-and-coming Chicago chef Grant Achatz. During my experience without tastebuds, I often found myself wondering how a professional chef would cope in a similar situation. Well, lo and behold, this article describes that very thing.

Achatz underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatment roughly around the same time I did -- and continued working even after his taste disappeared. It's a fascinating story with some interesting information on oral cancer that challenges conventional theories about how taste works. Curiously, sweet was the first taste to return for Achatz and the article suggests a link to our hominid ancestors to explain why, and yet my experience was the exact opposite. Could be that I'm the next step in human evolution... or at the very least, the missing link.

Back to School

It's official: I'm headed back to school. Graduate school and elementary school.

After six amazing years in publishing, I have decided to return to my original career plan and become a teacher. To that end, I have been accepted to *deep breath* the Institute of Child Studies' two-year Master of Arts in Child Study and Education Program in the Department of Human Development and Applied Psychology at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. Or ICSMACSEPDHDAPOISEUT for short. At the end of the program I'll have earned both a Masters degree and teacher certification for primary grades (kindergarten to grade 6).

My decision to change careers has not been an easy one to make. Publishing has been incredibly rewarding and continues to be an amazing creative challenge. I will especially miss the wonderful people with whom I've have the pleasure of working these past six years. Despite all these positives, my recent tango with cancer resulted in some major soul-searching. I realized that as much as I enjoy editing books for kids, I have always missed working with children directly. Also, Jeanette and I decided we should no longer delay our plans to set down roots outside of the city and a teaching career offers better opportunities for moving to more affordable pastures.

I'll be working until mid-August. The program begins in September, so if all goes well I will be certified to teach by 2010. The year we make contact... (with earning a salary again.)