Finding Normal

Forgive me, Friends, for I have not written. It has been 6 days since my last post. (I'm not even catholic!)

Everytime I go camping I absolutely love it, but come home so UTTERLY exhausted that I always think I won't do it next year. Horse Hockey, we love it too much. I can't seem to shake the sleepiness of it, though, and it is already Wednesday. I think I need a couple more days off to recover. . .

Johnny managed to go to the campground (Twin Mills) with us on Thursday. I knew he wasn't feeling great yet, but he sucked it up and went anyway. He attempted to help set up camp, but really I prefer him to NOT help. I'm a little control-freakish in that way. I want to set up camp my way and in my time. In all actuality I never let him help set up -- just ask anyone who has ever camped next to us. So, it was all good. . . he rested and I set up camp.

I think he was surprised at his lack of energy until well into the weekend. I have to remind him that he is lowering his blood count with every round of chemo, and it is bound to take longer to recover each time.

We had the most amazing weekend camping with our friends. There were about 20 families from Niles that went to Twin Mills. Before we went, I sent out a message via Facebook to the people that I knew were going and mentioned that we should put together a Niles potluck on Saturday. So, those people told other's that were going, and so on, and so on. . . For the potuluck on Saturday evening, there were three picnic tables heavily laden with food, and 120 people! It was an amazing site. I was really quite proud of our little community gathering and hope that it becomes an annual part of our Labor Day Camping Weekend.

Johnny and Quinn left bright and early this morning to go bear hunting in the U.P. Yes, Quinn went to his first day of school and is now missing three days. There are learning experiences in many places other than the classroom, no? Tomorrow (Thursday) is opening day, and fingers are crossed that a very big (yet non-aggressive toward humans) bear comes in for Quinner to shoot. They have been baiting several places and all of the baits have been hit hard and often, so we know there are plenty of bears up there. I would just like it if one came home to fill our freezer! My dad and another friend, Herb, drove Johnny and Quinn up to the cabin. I know Johnny wasn't up to the drive, so it was really nice that Dad and Herb took them up. I just talked to Johnny a few minutes ago and he said that he basically laid around today after checking the baits. I can tell the drive wore him out.

I would like to thank everyone for providing meals since Johnny's diagnosis. To tell you the truth, we still have leftovers in the freezer and have had full bellies during times when we couldn't even think about preparing our own meals. The time has come, though, to get back to business as usual with our lives -- as much as we can, anyway. I have asked Lori Brawley to not schedule anymore meals for the time being. I may need to ask for help again after Johnny's surgery or if things start to get bad at any point during Johnny's chemo treatments. As I said in one of my earliest posts, the power is back on and we will turn to our friends (our generator) when the time is again right. I can't even figure out the proper words to use to convey our appreciation to all of you (and there have been A LOT of you!). I haven't told the kids yet, and I can guarantee you they aren't going to be happy! I may be calling some of you for recipes. . . new favorites have been discovered! Again, thank you, thank you, thank you. We love you all sincerely.

There are only two weeks left until the Escanaba in Da Moonlight production, and there are still plenty of tickets remaining. Please contact me soon if you are interested in attending. Send me an email (toad4mimi@aol.com) or a message via Facebook.

Golf Outing plans are coming together very nicely. Over 25 teams have already registered, but there is still plenty of room. Get your registration filled out soon!

Thanks for sticking with us on this journey. Our friends are truly what will get us through all of this. We certainly couldn't do it alone.