Highlights of Off-Blogging Times:

1. Our friend D came to visit us after his adventures on the Camino de Santiago. One day we took him to Fitzgerald Park, where we marvelled at the magical mirrored tree.



And played in the playground.


And then in the evening, went out dancing, leaving us in a sort of exhausted euphoria.



2. Our next highlight was a visit to Tel Aviv. We got a chance to hang out at the beach, walk around the downtown shops and markets, and still do plenty of family stuff. My youngest cousin got married, his older sister had her first baby, and we had a celebratory lunch for my father's 60th birthday. On top of all that, everyone was congratulating us on our engagement and wanted all the info & details. Of course, we didn't have the info to offer up, but we just developed a generic narrative for people. Funny how these things go!










3. Jon came home to Cork before me because of work, so I ended up coming back just a few days before my 32nd birthday. Before I left Jon bought me surprise tickets to a Tracy Chapman concert that I'd been dying to go and see. However, the concert was on the night of the day that I arrived back in Cork. Things should have still gone smoothly, but of course they did not. My Tel Aviv-Heathrow flight left late, so I missed my connection to the Heathrow-Cork flight. Luckily I got one 2 hours later, but I nearly had a heart attack when I thought I might miss the concert!







4. The day after the concert, we had an appointment with the Cork wedding registrar at an ungodly hour of the morning. I was tired, but excited & nervous.
A very friendly woman met with us and went through some fairly simple questions and instructions. Then she told us to pick a date for our civil ceremony...!
So, we are getting married on Friday Sept 25th in Cork! Yay!
We are also planning a post-wedding party in Toronto and one in Tel Aviv, but for now we will have a wee little ceremony in September.




5. Next, my brother and his partner Emily came to visit us in Cork for a bit. We had a great time checking out St. Finnbarre's Cathedral, ringing the Shandon Bells, heading out to Blarney Castle, and other shenanigans.









OK, this post has taken me much longer than I expected. Enjoy this last little video, and I hope to be back soon.
Shalom!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9NgXIkyiwk