Back to (new) normal-ish!

Sorry for the delay in posting- I have, in fact, been feeling progressively better, though I still tire pretty easily. It has been truly wonderful getting back into a normal-ish routine, even if only for a very short while. This routine has included everything from doing some consulting work, conducting an interview for my dissertation, prepping my course lectures for October, and romping around the city, including a three (!) borough day yesterday. Oh, and in this new normal, last week also included a few doctors and hospital visits, but nothing bad/out of the ordinary (cancer stuff) there.

But I'm getting ahead of myself! Last week, in addition to heading up to campus a few times and going to a PhD student dinner at a professor's house, my mom and I got to see some old (as in, known me since I was born old) family friends, David and Debbie, who were visiting from Alaska for a wedding. After I was running late from a hospital visit and then a consulting meeting, we had a nice lunch together down on Kings Highway:

Then my mom and I got our steps in by walking the mile and half or so back home. That night, Greg and I both headed to Williamsburg- he was dancing, and I was grabbing dinner with Emily and Nic G. On our way over there, we caught a beautiful sunset/I snapped a blurry pic of the view that never gets old:

Over the weekend, Greg and I had a little staycation to get some R&R in before my surgery next week. On Saturday, this included a trip to the Tenement Museum and a visit to Frenchette, a fancy bistro in Tribeca that we had been meaning to try:

In the afternoon, we snuck in a visit with these cuties:

And on Sunday, we went for a couple's massage at a spa and then had a nice brunch at an old classic in SoHo:

Then we did some shopping and headed over to Greenpoint to catch a late afternoon snack/a view of the waterfront:

This week has been busy yet again. On Monday, we had our friend Steve over for dinner, and though we missed Nicole, we had a lovely time. On Tuesday, it was my mom's birthday, so we celebrated with a pre-Jewish new year trip to the mikveh and by going out for dinner.

Yesterday was my jam-packed three borough day. My buddy David, who lives in Baltimore but is currently teaching a class at NYU, was in town with his daughter Helen, so we met on the UWS and headed up to his parents' house in Riverdale. When we took Helen for a walk*, she insisted on holding my hand, which was super cute:

After Helen's nap and a drive around Fieldston**, we headed to Wave Hill, a gorgeous park right along the Hudson. Helen was happy to catch some rays and David and I were happy to catch up after not having seen each other in a whole bunch of months. Also, the views were great:

After our walk around the gardens, David dropped me off at the train station and I headed downtown to meet Emily, Lauren, and Nic. G for a showing of Hustlers in the East Village. Then it was back to Brooklyn and straight to bed! A busy-but-lovely three borough day indeed.

This weekend G and I are headed upstate for a concert at a brewery near our house, then its Rosh Hashanah and then its the big one- surgery day on Tuesday. I'm feeling a lot of things- fear, sadness, and tons of anticipation to get this cancer out of me. If I don't post before then, I'll try and have G or someone else guest post on my behalf to update you all as to how everything goes. Wish me luck!

*Hats off to David and Alexa, who are raising a baby who, at barely 14 months, is already talking nonstop. She can count to 10 (!) and had so many words, including "HAND"!
**For those who don't know the Bronx, Fieldston is a SUPER fancy estate section of the city. The houses were absolutely bonkers.